PHOTO: Devil’s Bowl champion Todd Stone of Middlebury, VT won the Florida Modified championship at the 48th annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway.
Devil’s Bowl champion grabs another title at New Smyrna Speedway
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL – Todd Stone is bringing another piece of hardware home to Vermont. The Middlebury stock car driver survived a rough race Wednesday night to clinch the Florida Modified division championship at the prestigious World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway. The title backs up his 2013 Devil’s Bowl Speedway track championship and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Vermont State title.
The week-long World Series event saw Stone compete in four events over six nights. He opened the series on Valentine’s Day with a runner-up finish, won on Saturday, finished fourth on Monday, and inherited a second victory after a heart-stopping run in the 75-lap finale on Wednesday.
Stone was racing for the lead with Fort Myers, FL veteran Doug Moff in the finale when they made contact and spun into the backstretch wall with 19 laps remaining. Neither suffered serious damage and were able to avoid two more accidents to make their way back to the front of the field. Stone led laps before Moff was able to scoot past and cross the finish line first. Moff was later stripped of the victory in post-race inspection for an unapproved cross member, handing the win to Stone.
The consistent finishes were enough for Stone to hold off Florida favorites Jerry Symons and Kevyn Terry for the championship, making him the first Vermonter to win a title in any division in the 48-year history of the World Series.
“It’s awesome,” Stone said. “My team and my dad and I came down to have some fun, and it was a lot of fun. To run against the regulars here and be competitive and win the championship, that’s a huge accomplishment for us. My team worked really hard all week and we’re all really enjoying this a lot.”
Upon returning home, Stone will begin preparing for defense of his home track championship at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in the Bond Auto Parts Modified division. He’ll face top runners Jessey Mueller, Vince Quenneville, Jr., Ron Proctor, Hunter Bates, and Leon Gonyo as the season opens on Sunday, May 4 with the historic Spring Green event. The race also includes NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season openers for the Renegade and Central Vermont Motorcycles Mini Stock divisions as well as the American-Canadian Tour Late Models.
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, or to order discount season passes, call (802) 265-3112 or visit www.devilsbowlspeedwayvt.com. Devil’s Bowl Speedway is on Facebook at Facebook.com/DevilsBowlSpeedway and on Twitter and Instagram at @DevilsBowlSpeed.