Duane Provost (Photo: Stafford Speedway/Driscoll MotorSports Photography)
STAFFORD – Arriving at Stafford Motor Speedway Saturday, Duane Provost wasn’t quite optimistic about his chances to win a Limited Late Model championship.
When all was and done on the day the Palmer, Mass. drive did exactly enough to accomplish the feat.
Provost finished third in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature to clinch his first division championship.
Provost beat out 2015 Limited Late Model champion Albert Saunders by two points in the final standings.
Saunders lost his right front wheel during a third lap front stretch skirmish and ended up 10th. Saunders came into the day leading Provost by 12 points.
“It still hasn’t sunk in yet,” Provost said. “Coming into the race I knew I was down quite a few points. I wasn’t really anticipating getting up there. Some unfortunate things happened and I’m glad I wasn’t part of that. I work hard every week.
“We kind of missed some stuff during the summer and didn’t quite finish it well. But from the beginning of the year and the end of the year, week in and week out I tried to put this in the top-three. I’m glad finally after 12 years of doing this I’m finally able to bring down a championship.”
Provost finished the season with one victory, 12 top-five’s and 15 top-10’s in 17 starts. Saunders had two victories, 12 top-five’s and 15 top-10’s in 17 starts.
Paul Arute of Tolland got his fifth victory in 16 starts in the feature. David Tefft of Southampton, Mass. was second.
Go Brian go glad to c the kid is ok
Is the 88 associated with the 87? The 87 clearly wrecked the Saunders kid on purpose.
It appears the driver of the 87 has never won a race and probably never will, he has no respect for fellow competitors. He starts up front every week and does everything he can to screw with the other drivers who are clearly faster and more skilled than he is. That being said, RJ Surdell’s actions yesterday clearly show he is no racer, just a wanna be that is never gonna be! Congrats to Provost, you got a gift, but you were right there all season. To Saunders, hold your head high , you did what you had to do, you can’t fix STUPID, which best describes Surdell !
Onlooker you should have seen this is the way Surdell drive’s every week he’s not picky who he takes out
Whats funny is i see all the other drivers in that division doing the same thing, ive seen the 28 on numerous occasions loose control door slamming other cars, including taking out the 87 and 88 on two separate occasions and if you watch the in-car video that was posted the 04 slams the 59 ( who was a little loose) sideways into 87 coming out of 4 and then tries to pass both of them on 2nd lap, but cause the 87 retaliated hes stupid or how bout the 82 and 28 smoking every time they hit the gas in middle of turn ALL year cause it sure aint tire smoke. Maybe Stafford should do some better officiating on track and post race inspections and then all of these demolition derbies will stop. BTW congrats to the 88 on a well deserved championship.
Knowthefacts, the 82 smokes because he absolutely mashes the throttle in the center of the corner. You can here it when he’s by himself, slams the throttle in the center of the corner, nobody else in that division does that
It looked to me like the 87 was not in control of his car as he smashed into the Saunders kid. Either that or he was retaliating against the wrong guy, he got bumped from behind by another car before he lost control and hit the 04.