PORT ROYAL, Pa. — Right after he secured his first 410 win Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway, Devon Borden moved the five-foot trophy close to his hip and let the boldness fly.
“We’re trying to double up,” the 18-year-old said, referring to his next stop Saturday at Port Royal Speedway. “And pile these up right here.”
Borden delivered on those words with authority and unmatched intensity at the Juniata Valley clay oval, obliterating the field by 9.440 seconds to win his second feature in as many nights.
The Raymond, Wash., native, tabbed by Mike Heffner to drive his treasured No. 27 in June, led all 25 laps from the outside pole to compose a weekend to remember.
“This is just crazy, absolutely crazy,” Borden said. “Last night I picked up my first 410 win at Williams Grove and then we come here and do the same thing. Just a heck of a weekend. Man, things couldn’t have gone much better. It’s cool to be in victory lane here.”
Borden was so far ahead that Jeff Halligan thought he led once he raced to second from eighth in the waning laps.
“I just kept passing cars and saw nobody in front of me,” said Halligan, who eventually took a quick glance at the scoring pylon down the frontstretch and put the pieces together.
Pat Cannon started on the pole, but once the green dropped, Borden latched onto the cushion and went full bore with his byname, “Daredevil Devon,” coined by Heffner.
His lead swelled to five seconds by lap five and only grew once he worked into traffic. Borden’s advantage then eclipsed 10 seconds with less than five laps remaining.
“They call this place the Speed Palace because this place gets up on the boards and it’s fast,” Borden said. “This is why I really wanted to come here this weekend. … I knew I could run well here and compete for the win because I can run the boards here.”
Halligan started to cut into Borden’s lead on the bottom in the final laps and thought he would’ve had something for the eventual winner if a caution were to come out.
But the race went nonstop and Borden’s intensity never stopped either.
“I’ve always dreamed of winning at places like here and Williams Grove,” said Borden, who’s now won in his 27th and 28th career 410 races. “Man, this year has been just so good. I was planning on running 360s the whole year. Man, things didn’t quite go as planned. It sure is awesome being in this Heffner No. 27.”
Three-time reigning Port Royal track champion Logan Wagner hustled to a third-place finish from the 15th starting position. Mike Walter II and Blane Heimbach completed the top five.