Chad Edwards Takes King Of Dirt Sportsman Series Opener

Story By: ROB HAZER / KING OF DIRT – WEST HAVEN, VT – Sunday night at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Fair Haven Vermont was wild to say the very least. What started off as a night sure to see Scott Duell in victory lane after turning the J-Tees Screen Printing fast time ended with Chad Edwards surviving a spirited battle with Duell, Warner, LaDuc, and others to reach DKM Fabrication Victory Lane presented by R3 Graphics.

A record setting 42 Sportsman Modified were on hand at Devil’s Bowl Speedway Sunday night to open the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? King Of Dirt Racing DIRTcar East Region point battle presented by Andy’s Speed Shop, Dodson Construction, and Dean’s Electrical. Fans were treated to their money’s worth in an action packed Green Mountain State Clash.

On a very challenging track it was Cody Bleau led the first 20 laps earning $400 in lap money from Devil’s Bowl Speedway and sponsor, while fighting off challenges from Joey Scarborough, Chad Miller, and Kenny Tremont Jr.

On lap 21 Bleau would surrender the lead to the Tremont 115 with 2015 King Of Dirt Sportsman champion Rocky Warner pressuring and eventually taking second. Blue then found his hands full with Scott Duell who had worked his way from 12th to challenge inside the top five for position.

Tough break for Chad Miller who saw a great run come to an end with mechanical failure, which re-set the field for a double file restart. On the restart fans were on their feet when Scott Duell made a daring outside pass around Rocky Warner and Tremont off turn two and taking the lead. Sadly one lap later Duell would suffer mechanical failure and pull into the pits.

At this point in the race drivers such as Adam Pierson, Kevin Chaffee, Tim Hartman Jr., and Jeff Watson were working their way forward. Tim LaDuc who had been sent to the rear for contact with the 27 of Jeremy Pitts had managed to work his way back to the top 10 and would be a factor in the closing laps.

Back up front on a lap 30 restart Warner went high, wide, and handsome around Tremont to the lead. Fans were on their feet as the hall of fame 115 went toe-to-toe with arguably the best Sportsman Modified driver in the past decade. Warner’s lead was short lived as he entered turn three got up over a bump, corrected it, but left Tremont nowhere to go and contact was made. Both drivers ended up stopped in turns three and four, but would rejoin the field.

At this point ‘Lunchbox’ Chad Edwards who had hung around in the top five for most of the race had the lead seemingly dropped in his lap. He’d lead the final five laps holding off a high flying showstopper in Tim LaDuc for the win. Cody Bleau would salvage 3rd, while Adam Pierson and Tim Hartman Jr. would round out the top five.

KOD NOTES: Tim Hartman Jr. who started 26th on the grid earned the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger. A story of sportsmanship involving Hartman Sunday night, as he was there subbing for Andrew Buff who suffered a concussion a week prior and wasn’t cleared to race. Hartman sacrificed his own points run to help a friend. 42 Sportsman Modifieds set a Devil’s bowl Speedway track record, making three car count records KOD owns including 70 at Malta and 56 at Utica Rome. During the drivers meeting series promoter Rob Hazer discussed his decision to allow the Tremont 115 and Hackel 97 compete, as they were track regulars and it would be unfair to make them sit out. He did note they would not be scored any points for the evening on the KOD tour and that would be the only track they would be participating in for Sportsman Modified events. No driver at the time had any concerns with it. Scott Duell had a bad fast racecar setting the J-Tees fast time and winning his heat race. A thrilling move to take the lead over two powerhouse drivers ended just two turns later when the drive flange gave way and Duell went to the pits. Justin Severance made his first ever KOD tour start at Devil’s Bowl Speedway and when the checkered flag flew he had earned a 9th place finish. Currently he leads the KillerCrate Newcomer Of The Year standings over five-time Lebanon Valley champion Jeff Watson.

WORD FROM THE PROMOTER: “I have to thank Mike Bruno for having us in. All things considering with the challenging spring track conditions, it was a good show. One the fans will be talking about for a while. It had its highs, it’s lows, and it’s fair share of drama. Track management and officials were super hospitable and that is greatly appreciated. I’m proud of the drivers who took to the challenge with reasonable concern rather than flat out foolishness. Remember, eyes are always open and notes are taken. At the end of the day we had many twists and turns through the nights racing. And it was only the first race of eight for the KOD/DIRTcar East Sportsman. Thank you to all the drivers who came out, the fans who were in attendance, and our marketing partners for making our series a success. We look forward to getting to Utica Rome on the 18th for the next Sportsman race.”

MAY 28, 2017 1-800-GOT-JUNK? KING OF DIRT RACING DIRTcar EAST SPORTSMAN MODIFIED SERIES PRESENTED BY ANDY’S SPEED SHOP, DODSON CONSTRUCTION, & DEAN’S ELECTRICAL FEATURE FINISH AT DEVIL’S BOWL SPEEDWAY (35 LAPS) – 1) Chad Edwards, 2) Tim LaDuc, 3) Cody Bleau, 4) Adam Pierson, 5) Tim Hartman Jr. (Sub98), 6) David Schilling, 7) Bobby Hackel IV (NP), 8) Kevin Chaffee, 9) Jackie Brown Jr., 10) Justin Severance, 11) Jeff Watson, 12) Rocky Warner, 13) Vince Quenneville Jr., 14) Kenny Tremont Jr.(NP), 15) Brian Pessolano, 16) Billy Lussier, 17) Justin Smith, 18) Jimmy Ryan, 19) Scott Duell, 20) Jeremy Pitts, 21) Ricky Sanville, 22) Chad Miller, 23) Michael Sabia, 24) Brian Whittemore (NP), 25) Jack Lehner, 26) Connor Cleveland, 27) Joey Scarborough, 28) Cody Hunt.

KOD/DIRTcar East Sportsman Heat #1 Results (10 Laps) – 1) Scott Duell, 2) Rocky Warner, 3) Brian Whittemore, 4) Connor Cleveland, 5) Ricky Sanville, 6) Bobby Hackel IV, 7) Jackie Brown Jr., 8) Tim Hartman Jr., 9) Randy Howe, 10) Chris Clark, 11) Cody Albun.

KOD/DIRTcar East Sportsman Heat #2 Results (10 Laps) – 1) Joey Scarborough, 2) Jeremy Pitts, 3) Chad Edwards, 4) Adam Pierson, 5) James Meehan, 6) Michael Sabia, 7) Jimmy Ryan, 8) Justin Severance, 9) Lenny Pillsbury, 10) Kevin Ward, 11) Michael W. Fitzgerald.

KOD/DIRTcar East Sportsman Heat #3 Results (10 Laps) – 1) Tim LaDuc, 2) Kevin Chaffee, 3) Chad Miller, 4) Justin Smith, 5) Jordan Fornwalt, 6) Cody Hunt, 7) Jeff Fadden, 8) Wayne Sterns, 9) Billy Lussier, 10) Adam Gage.

KOD/DIRTcar East Sportsman Heat #4 Results (10 Laps) – 1) Kenny Tremont Jr., 2) Brian Pessolano, 3) Cody Bleau, 4) Jack Lehner, 5) Rob Maxon, 6) Vince Quenneville Jr., 7) David Schilling, 8) Justin Comes, 9) Thomas Kimball, 10) Jeff Watson.

KOD/DIRTcar East Sportsman Consolation #1 Finish (10 Laps) – 1) Bobby Hackel IV, 2) Ricky Sanville, 3) Jackie Brown Jr., 4) Tim Hartman Jr., 5) Randy Howe, 6) Jeff Fadden, 7) Lenny Pillsbury, 8) Billy Lussier, 9) Jordan Fornwalt, 10) Chris Clark, 11) Cody Hunt, 12) Adam Gage.

KOD/DIRTcar East Sportsman Consolation #2 Finish (10 Laps) – 1) Justin Severance, 2) Jimmy Ryan, 3) Jeff Watson, 4) David Schilling, 5) Vince Quenneville Jr., 6) Justin Comes, 7) Michael Sabia, 8) James Meehan, 9) Rob Maxon, 10) Kevin Ward, 11) Thomas Kimball, 12) Michael W. Fitzgerald.

King Of Dirt Racing DIRTar East J-Tees Screen Printing Time Trial Results – 1) Scott Duell (17.455), 2) James Meehan (17.544), 3) Chad Miller (17.602), 4) Kenny Tremont Jr. (17.603), 5) Brian Whittemore (17.667), 6) Joey Scarborough (17.804), 7) Kevin Chaffee (17.806), 8) Jack Lehner (17.812), 9) Connor Cleveland (17.833), 10) Justin Severance (17.861), 11) Tim LaDuc (17.862), 12) Brian Pessolano (17.869), 13) Rocky Warner (17.888), 14) Chad Edwards (17.893), 15) Justin Smith (17.935), 16) Cody Bleau (17.941), 17) Jackie Brown Jr. (17.947), 18) Adam Pierson (17.949), 19) Jordan Fornwalt (17.985), 20) Rob Maxon (18.004), 21) Bobby Hackel IV (18.012), 22) Jimmy Ryan (18.013), 23) Adam Gage (18.051), 24) Vince Quenneville Jr. (18.062), 25) Ricky Sanville (18.087), 26) Michael Sabia (18.143), 27) Cody Hunt (18.188), 28) Justin Comes (18.201), 29) Tim Hartman Jr. (18.208), 30) Jeremy Pitts (18.266), 31) Wayne Sterns (18.320), 32) David Schilling (18.351), 33) Randy Howe (18.403), 34) Kevin Ward (18.419), 35) Billy Lussier (18.581), 36) Thomas Kimball (18.680), 37) Chris Clark (18.794), 38) Lenny Pillsbury (18.812), 39) Billy Fadden (18.874), 40) Jeff Watson (18.889), 41) Michael W. Fitzgerald (19.730), 42) Cody Aubin (DNT).

Hoosier Tire Hard Charger – Tim Hartman Jr. (26th to 5th)
Fast Axle Superior Sixth – David Schilling ($50 Certificate)
J-Tees Screen Printing Fast Timer – Scott Duell (17.455)
Andy’s Speed Shop Bonus $250 – Chad Edwards
DTD Lap Leaders – Cody Bleau (1-20), Rocky Warner (21-30), Chad Edwards (31-35).
KillerCrate Newcomer Of The Race – Justin Severance (9th)