BRADFORD, Vt. — Chris Donnelly saved his best for last in the McGee Family Dealerships Sprint Cars of New England event at Bear Ridge Speedway on Saturday.
The seven-time tour champion fought through traffic before making a late charge into the lead to score his first win of the season in a 25-lap race presented by Green Mountain Gear-Heads.
Sophomore driver Nick Comeau started the race on the pole position but was overtaken on the first lap by veteran racer and fellow front-row starter Jim Lowrey Jr. Lowrey held the point for the first two circuits before another long-time SCoNE racer, Jake Williams, made his way to the front.
Williams was glued to the inside lane on the multi-groove surface and was able to pull about five car-lengths away from a torrid battle for second through sixth that involved Lowrey, Troy Comeau, the father-son duo of Floyd and Travis Billington, and eventually Donnelly. Travis Billington and Comeau each had an outstanding run on the outside lane while Donnelly picked his way through on both grooves.
Comeau had a bobble in the second half of the race that shook things up, allowing Donnelly to fill a hole and make some big moves. Once he broke free from traffic, Donnelly chased down Williams and overtook the lead on lap 18. Donnelly was sailing off uncontested before the race’s lone caution flag, which flew on lap 22 when Kadyn Berry’s car broke its front suspension.
With the field stacked up two-wide behind him for the Delaware-style restart, Donnelly was able to scoot away for the final three laps and score the 41st win of his SCoNE career, extending his all-time record for the tour. Williams was unable to recapture the magic he had in the first 22 laps and fell out of second place after the restart, allowing Travis Billington to take the runner-up finish.
Floyd Billington and Clay Dow got past Williams in the final moments to finish third and fourth, respectively.Â