Sweet Wins Duel with Helliwell at Devil’s Bowl

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

West Haven, VT – Nick Sweet came out on top of a race-long duel with defending American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Champion Wayne Helliwell, Jr. to take the People’s United Bank 100 at West Haven, VT’s Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Saturday, June 4, becoming the first repeat winner of the 2016 season.

The Barre, VT driver had surrendered the lead to Helliwell on the race’s final restart on lap 92 following Ryan Olsen’s spin. But Sweet dove back inside Helliwell two laps later to regain the top spot for the final time. Helliwell then came under attack from Dillon Moltz, allowing Sweet to pull away in the closing laps for his sixth career ACT Late Model Tour win.

Sweet grabbed the lead on the start from polesitter Bobby Therrien and led the 29 laps. Helliwell, a three-time ACT winner at Devil’s Bowl, then swung to his outside to assume command. Although Sweet continued to dog Helliwell through lapped traffic, he was unable to regain command as the race threatened to go caution-free.

But a trio of yellow flags, beginning with rookie Mark Jenison sailing off the backstretch on lap 79 and ending with fellow rookie Devin O’Connell doing the same on lap 85, allowed Sweet to pull even with Helliwell. Sweet slid up the track in turn one on the lap-85 restart, but recovered quickly and worked his way underneath Helliwell to retake the point with 10 laps to go. Olsen went around in turn one two laps later, setting up the final dash to the checkered flag.

Helliwell held off Moltz for second, while Rich Dubeau earned a career-best fourth-place finish. Luke Hinkley completed the top-five. Brad Babb, Todd Davis, Therrien, Josh Masterson, and Brent Dragon rounded out the top-10. Sweet unofficially retakes the ACT point lead after Eddie MacDonald struggled all night in a back-up car.

The ACT Late Model Tour heads to Groveton, NH’s Speedway 51 on Saturday, June 18 for the Generation Next 151. Post time is 5:30pm.

For more information contact the ACT offices at 802-244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com.

ACT LATE MODEL TOUR

DEVIL’S BOWL SPEEDWAY – PEOPLE’S UNITED BANK 100

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

Pos   Start Pos   Driver   Car #     Hometown   Laps

1. ( 2 ) Nick Sweet ( 40VT ) , Barre, VT , 100 Laps
2. ( 3 ) Wayne Helliwell, Jr. ( 27NH ) , Dover, NH , 100 Laps
3. ( 6 ) Dillon Moltz ( 5CT ) , Waterford, CT , 100 Laps
4. ( 4 ) Rich Dubeau ( 30NH ) , Lebanon, NH , 100 Laps
5. ( 5 ) Luke Hinkley ( 31NH ) , Claremont, NH , 100 Laps
6. ( 12 ) Brad Babb ( 15NH ) , Windham, ME , 100 Laps
7. ( 17 ) Todd Davis ( 34NH ) , Claremont, NH , 100 Laps
8. ( 1 ) Bobby Therrien ( 5VT ) , Hinesburg, VT , 100 Laps
9. ( 7 ) Josh Masterson ( 11NY ) , Charlotte, VT , 100 Laps
10. ( 10 ) Brent Dragon ( 8NY ) , Milton, VT , 100 Laps
11. ( 11 ) Mike Ziter ( 54VT ) , Barre, VT , 100 Laps
12. ( 8 ) Scott Payea ( 37VT ) , Miton, VT , 100 Laps
13. ( 23 ) Brandon Atkins ( 4NY ) , AuSable Forks, NY , 99 Laps
14. ( 28 ) Kyle Welch ( 9NH ) , Newport, NH , 99 Laps
15. ( 15 ) Emily Packard ( 9ME ) , E. Montpelier, VT , 99 Laps
16. ( 16 ) Steve Miller ( 00NY ) , Vergennes, VT , 99 Laps
17. ( 20 ) Eddie MacDonald ( 17MA ) , Rowley, MA , 99 Laps
18. ( 13 ) Rowland Robinson, Jr. ( 28ME ) , Steuben, ME , 99 Laps
19. ( 9 ) Aaron Fellows ( 29NH ) , Croydon, NH , 99 Laps
20. ( 18 ) #Devin O'Connell ( 1VT ) , Madison, CT , 99 Laps
21. ( 14 ) Robert Bryant, Jr. ( 3CT ) , Rutland, VT , 99 Laps
22. ( 22 ) #Ryan Olsen ( 61NH ) , N. Haverhill, NH , 99 Laps
23. ( 27 ) Seth Bridge ( 26ME ) , Mendon, VT , 98 Laps
24. ( 24 ) Jim Zullo II ( 10VT ) , Claremont, NH , 98 Laps
25. ( 21 ) Claude Leclerc ( 11QC ) , Lanoraie, QC , 97 Laps
26. ( 25 ) Mark Hudson ( 82MA ) , Norton, MA , 95 Laps
27. ( 26 ) Jeff Morse ( 99NH ) , Cornish, NH , 82 Laps
28. ( 19 ) #Mark Jenison ( 22RI ) , Warwick, RI , 77 Laps

Lap Leaders: Bobby Therrien, pole; Nick Sweet, 1-29; Wayne Helliwell, Jr., 30-89; Sweet, 90-91; Helliwell, 92-93; Sweet, 94-100. (5 lead changes among 3 drivers)

Time of Race: 51:28   Margin of Victory: 0.873 seconds

Cautions: 4 (laps 79, 79, 85, 91)

Heat Winners: Aaron Fellows, Brent Dragon, Mike Ziter

Consi Winners: Robert Bryant, Jr., Josh Masterson