{"id":24870,"date":"2019-04-01T11:29:02","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T15:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=24870"},"modified":"2019-04-01T10:30:03","modified_gmt":"2019-04-01T14:30:03","slug":"bruno-purchases-king-of-dirt-racing-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2019\/04\/bruno-purchases-king-of-dirt-racing-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruno Purchases King of Dirt Racing Series"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bruno Purchases King of Dirt Racing Series<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Series founder Hazer to take on advisory role<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WEST HAVEN, Vt. \u2013 A new era for the King of Dirt Racing Series has begun.  Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway owners Mike and Alayne Bruno and King of Dirt (KOD) founder Rob Hazer have agreed to terms of the sale and transfer of the Northeastern dirt track stock car racing organization, effective immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Hazer created the KOD tour in 2015 to elevate teams in the Sportsman Modified division with a professional, affordable, and uncommonly competitive set of special events.  The cars, which utilize the popular and economical General Motors \u201c602\u201d crate engine, typically play a support role for Big Block and Small Block \u201c358\u201d Modifieds at weekly tracks in New York State but have taken hold as the headliner in Vermont and New Hampshire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the direction of Mike Bruno, the King of Dirt Racing Crate Modified Series will continue to operate in 2019 with a six-race championship, along with single special events for 358 Modifieds and Pro Stocks; the same schedule that was previously announced by Hazer will remain in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bruno was approached by Hazer in early March and the deal came together quickly.  Hazer chose Bruno specifically because of his commitment to the Sportsman Modified division and the GM 602 crate package; Bruno has promoted Sportsman cars as the weekly headline class at Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway in West Haven, Vt., since 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m honored that Rob Hazer asked me to take the reins, and I sincerely appreciate his confidence and his friendship,\u201d Bruno said.  \u201cHe built the King of Dirt Racing Series and I hope to carry his vision forward, but I\u2019m also excited to take it to the next level.  The KOD events at Devil\u2019s Bowl have been great, and our fans and officials have already gotten to know many of the drivers and teams.  I\u2019m confident that we\u2019ll give KOD a good home, and I know that we\u2019re all looking forward to growing the series in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hazer cited a need to concentrate on a series of recent health issues as his motivation to transfer ownership.  Bruno, in turn, has asked Hazer to stay on the KOD team in an advisory role.  Hazer will continue to provide media and marketing support for KOD events, along with occasional race-day duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKing of Dirt Racing is a viable and recognizable brand,\u201d Hazer said.  \u201cThe series will be in good hands with Mike Bruno at the helm.  His group is a cohesive unit, and when you combine that with KOD\u2019s strong team of people, the sky is the limit.  I have to focus on my health, but I will remain involved and I truly appreciate Mike being so adamant that I stay on board.  I\u2019ll be more in the background, but racers can still contact me with questions if they want to.  I can\u2019t thank everyone who has been involved since the beginning enough, and I\u2019m confident that Mike will take KOD into a positive and bright future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KOD has crowned a Crate Modified champion each year since 2015 and will do so again in 2019.  Connor Cleveland and Rocky Warner have each earned two KOD Crate Modified championships, and Warner leads all drivers with 10 KOD wins.  Full-fender Pro Stocks were a KOD championship division in 2015-18 as were 358 Modifieds in 2017-18, but both have been scaled back to single special events in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The King of Dirt Racing Crate Modified Series schedule remains intact as previously announced and opens on Sunday, May 26 at Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway with the \u201cMemorial Day Kickoff 50.\u201d  The annual 30-lap \u201cFriday Night Lights\u201d race will be Friday, June 7 at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., followed by the series\u2019 first trip north to New York\u2019s Plattsburgh Airborne Speedway and the 30-lap \u201cPlattsburgh Border Brawl\u201d on Monday, July 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devil\u2019s Bowl hosts the \u201cLeon Gonyo Memorial 40\u201d on Sunday, August 11, followed by the prestigious \u201cMr. Crate Track USA\u201d 30-lapper at Lebanon Valley (N.Y.) Speedway on Saturday, August 31.  The KOD champion will be crowned on Friday, September 6 in the \u201cNortheast Crate Nationals 100\u201d at Albany-Saratoga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Albany-Saratoga Speedway is the site of KOD\u2019s special events for the Pro Stock and 358 Modified divisions; Stone Motorsports presents the $1,000-to-win, 35-lap Pro Stock race on Friday, July 19, and Lebanon Springs Excavating hosts the 358 Modifieds with a $3,000-to-win, 35-lapper on Friday, September 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three of the six KOD Crate Modified Series races will run in conjunction with major Modified events; the KOD races at Airborne and Lebanon Valley both complement the Super DIRTcar Series, while the August 11 race at Devil\u2019s Bowl is held in conjunction with the inaugural \u201cBattle at the Bowl\u201d Big Block\/Small Block Challenge event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The King of Dirt Racing Series is online at www.KingofDirtRacing.com<\/a> and can also be found via social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.  For more information, call Mike Bruno at (802) 236-9141, Media Director Justin St. Louis at (802) 355-3282, or email kodracingseries@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

King of Dirt Racing Series 2019 Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day\/Date \u2013 Track \u2013 Location \u2013 Division<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.       Sun., May 26 \u2013 Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway, West Haven, VT \u2013 Crate Modified<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.       Fri., June 7 \u2013 Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, NY \u2013 Crate Modified<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.       Mon., July 1 \u2013 Plattsburgh Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, NY \u2013 Crate Modified<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.       Fri., July 19 \u2013 Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, NY \u2013 Pro Stock<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.       Sun., Aug. 11 \u2013 Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway, West Haven, VT \u2013 Crate Modified<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6.       Sat., Aug. 31 \u2013 Lebanon Valley Speedway, West Lebanon, NY \u2013 Crate Modified<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

7.       Fri., Sept. 6 \u2013 Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, NY \u2013 Crate Modified<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

8.       Fri., Sept. 13 \u2013 Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, NY \u2013 358 Modified<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bruno Purchases King of Dirt Racing Series Series founder Hazer to take on advisory role WEST HAVEN, Vt. \u2013 A new era for the King of Dirt Racing Series has begun.  Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway owners Mike and Alayne Bruno and King of Dirt (KOD) founder Rob Hazer have agreed to terms of the sale and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devils-bowl","category-vermont"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24870"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24871,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24870\/revisions\/24871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}