PHOTO: Devil’s Bowl Speedway will host stock car events on both asphalt and dirt surfaces in 2014. (MemorEvents photo)
Dirt events in fall, track to remain asphalt long-term
RUTLAND, VT – Devil’s Bowl Speedway has unveiled an exciting and diverse stock car racing lineup for 2014. The fast half-mile track, located in West Haven, VT just 20 minutes from Rutland City, will pay homage to its past and future with a summer slate of asphalt racing and a three-race return to its original clay dirt surface in the fall. The announcement was made before a crowd of nearly 300 at the Banquet of Champions on Saturday, February 1.
The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series pavement season will open on Sunday, May 4 with the historic “Spring Green” event. The Bond Auto Parts Modified, Renegade, and Central Vermont Motorcycles Mini Stock divisions will open their championship schedules, and will be joined again by the exciting American-Canadian Tour Late Models.
The weekly Friday night season kicks off one week early in 2014, on Friday, May 16 at 7:00pm. Special events dot the summer schedule, beginning with the first of two appearances by the Vermont State Late Model Championship Series on Friday, May 30. The Coca-Cola Firecracker extravaganza returns on Friday, July 4, with the double-points Mid-Season Championships on Friday, July 18. There will be two “off weeks” during the season, on Friday, June 13, and again on Friday, July 25.
The third annual C.J. Richards Memorial 67, a special Modified event run in honor of the track’s late founder and in tribute the inaugural 1967 season, has been scheduled for Friday, August 1. The Friday night schedule ends on August 22 with a double-feature blowout for all four weekly divisions.
The asphalt season draws to a close with the blockbuster Vermont 200 Weekend on September 13-14. The event includes championship finales for all regular classes as well as the Vermont State Late Model Championship Series, and has quickly become a “must see” event in the Northeast.
Following the completion of the regular season, a professional team of dirt track preparation experts will transform Devil’s Bowl Speedway into a newer version of its former self by laying natural clay over the existing pavement. The track operated with that same dirt surface for its first four years and again from 1975 to 2009. The Richards family paved the track in 2010 as part of a long-term vision of overall growth at the speedway.
Dirt events will be held on Friday, September 26, on Saturday, October 4, and on Saturday, October 18, with the division lineup to be announced soon.
Track co-owner and promoter Mike Bruno has stressed that Devil’s Bowl Speedway will forever remain in its current asphalt layout, but that he realizes that a strong segment of local race teams and fans enjoyed dirt racing at Devil’s Bowl for many years. Two years of extensive research combined with the recent closure of nearby Canaan Fair Speedway in New Hampshire prompted Bruno’s decision.
“We are proud of the growth of our asphalt program over the last few years, and we remain committed to weekly NASCAR asphalt racing at Devil’s Bowl. Nothing will change that,” Bruno said. “We have one of the best paved facilities in the area, and it happens to be surrounded by 75 acres of the best natural racing clay in the country. We will keep supporting the outstanding asphalt racing that we enjoy every week, but we also want to give back to the dirt fans that supported Devil’s Bowl for almost 40 years.”
Bruno has sought advice from industry experts including dirt track promoters Lyle DeVore of Albany-Saratoga (NY) Speedway, Jeremie Corcoran of Canandaigua (NY) Speedway, C.V. Elms of Bear Ridge (VT) Speedway, and several others. Corcoran has headed up a similar asphalt-to-dirt transformation of Michigan’s Berlin Raceway in each of the last two Septembers, and said that adding the clay – at least in his experience at Berlin – has actually improved the asphalt racing.
“[Corcoran] told me that the clay is removed from the asphalt almost immediately after the race [at Berlin], and then the winter weather sort of cures the track,” Bruno explained. “In the first pavement race at Berlin after the clay was removed, lap times were faster than the previous track record.”
Devil’s Bowl Speedway is located on Route 22A in West Haven, VT, four miles north of Exit 2 on U.S. Route 4. For more information, visit the all-new www.devilsbowlspeedwayvt.com or call (802) 265-3112. Devil’s Bowl Speedway is on Facebook at facebook.com/DevilsBowlSpeedway and on Twitter and Instagram at @DevilsBowlSpeed.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway – West Haven, VT
2014 Schedule of Events (subject to change)
No. – Day/Date – Event – Time – Surface
1. Sun. 5/04 – Spring Green/American-Canadian Tour – 1:30pm – Asphalt
2. Fri. 5/16 – Regular Event – 7:00pm – Asphalt
3. Fri. 5/23 – Regular Event/Enduro Series – 7:00pm – Asphalt
4. Fri. 5/30 – Vt. State Late Model Championship 100 – 7:00pm – Asphalt
5. Fri. 6/06 – Regular Event – 7:00pm – Asphalt
— Fri. 6/13 – OFF – No Racing
6. Fri. 6/20 – Mini Stock 25 – 7:00pm – Asphalt
7. Fri. 6/27 – Regular Event (Late Models OFF) – 7:00pm – Asphalt
8. Fri. 7/04 – Late Model Triple Crown/Enduro/Fireworks – 6:30pm – Asphalt
9. Fri. 7/11 – Modified Twin 25s – 7:00pm – Asphalt
10. Fri. 7/18 – Mid-Season Championship (Double Points) – 7:00pm – Asphalt
— Fri. 7/25 – OFF – No Racing
11. Fri. 8/01 – 3rd Annual C.J. Richards Memorial 67 – 7:00pm – Asphalt
12. Fri. 8/08 – Regular Event/Enduro Series – 7:00pm – Asphalt
13. Fri. 8/15 – Regular Event/NEAR Antique Racers – 7:00pm – Asphalt
14. Fri. 8/22 – Double Features – All Divisions – 7:00pm – Asphalt
15. Sat.-Sun. 9/13-14 – VERMONT 200 WEEKEND – 1:30pm – Asphalt
16. Fri. 9/26 – Dirt Event #1 – TBA – Dirt
17. Sat. 10/04 – Dirt Event #2 – TBA – Dirt
18. Sat. 10/18 – Dirt Event #3 – TBA – Dirt