WEST HAVEN, Vt. – Tim Fuller won $10,000 after a dominant run in the final 40 laps of the Slate Valley 100 big-block/small-block modified race Sunday at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
Mike Mahaney led the first quarter of the race before being slowed by a flat tire. Matt Sheppard grabbed the lead and held it from lap 29 through the final restart at lap 54, but Fuller was hot on the outside lane and blew past Sheppard three laps later for the winning pass.
The final 46 laps went without a caution flag which allowed Fuller and Sheppard to stretch out from the pack, but there was no shortage of passing as drivers including Marc Johnson, Michael Maresca, Adam Pierson, Mat Williamson and Erick Rudolph put on great battles in the top 10.
Williamson ended up finishing third, followed by Pierson in fourth and Rudolph in fifth.
Championship contenders Justin Comes and Tim LaDuc were the stars of the Sportsman show until Justin Stone arrived at the front.
Point leader Comes took the lead from Brian Calabrese at the 12th lap, but LaDuc tracked him down at lap 22 to take command as a long green-flag run developed from lap 17 to the finish.
LaDuc built a substantial lead, but Stone’s car came to life late and he sliced his way through traffic to reach LaDuc in the final five laps. Stone stole the lead at lap 38 and held of a final-corner charge from LaDuc for the $2,000 victory.
Comes leads LaDuc by a too-close-for-comfort 18 points entering the season finale on Saturday, Oct. 2.
Limited Sportsman point leader Troy Audet continued his incredible run that began on Aug. 15 and earned his fifth win in the last seven races. Audet started 16th on the field and was already inside the top five on lap four.
He took the lead from Justin Lilly after a restart on lap 11 and seemed to be cruising to another win, but Evan Roberts broke free from an intense battle for second with Kyle Kerr and made a run at Audet’s lead on the last lap.
Roberts made hard contact with Audet in the final corner and got both cars badly out of shape, but Audet was able to recover and hang on for the win. Kerr was able to pounce and steal the runner-up finish – his best ever – by six feet.
Rookie Daryl Gebo posted his sixth win of the season after a rough-and-tumble first feature for the MIni Stocks. Gebo bided his time as the field scrambled early and often, finally taking the lead from Ronnie Alger on lap 14.
On his 37th birthday, Chris Sumner took his seventh Minii Stock victory of the year in the second feature and put himself in prime position to lock up the championship next week. Brian Blake mounted a serious challenge in the final three laps, but Sumner held him off coming to the finish line.