by RacingNews | Aug 29, 2014 | Devils Bowl, NASCAR
WEST HAVEN, VT – A two-day delay at Devil’s Bowl Speedway was worth the wait for a handful of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series drivers on Sunday, August 24. Eight different stock car racers carried the checkered flag after twin features at the annual “Double Stack Night” presented by Sugar & Spice Restaurant, which was postponed from Friday by rain.
Jason Durgan of Morrisonville, NY won a rough opening 25-lap main event for the Bond Auto Parts Modified division. After starting fourth, Durgan nosed past Jason Reome to take the lead at lap 14, then survived the third and final restart of the race four laps later to cruise to his second victory of the season. Vince Quenneville, Jr. finished second, and Joey Roberts made a nifty three-wide move in the final corner to take third place. Jessey Mueller was fourth with Jamie LaFountain fifth.
Durgan’s win came at the right time as the season begins to wind down; Durgan entered the race weekend ranked 21st in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national standings and a tight second in the battle for the National Rookie of the Year presented by Jostens title.
In the nightcap, Devil’s Bowl point leader Todd Stone of Middlebury, VT rolled out a backup car after wrecking in the first race to dominate the event. Mueller snuck into second spot on a lap-17 restart but was unable to catch Stone. Roberts, Quenneville, and LaFountain rounded out the top five finishers.
Stone now leads Roberts by 35 points (846-811) entering twin 50-lap features at the Mekkelsen RV Vermont 200 Weekend season finale on September 13-14. Leon Gonyo (806) is third, five more points back.
East Montpelier, VT teenager Emily Packard fell inches shy of a perfect sweep in the Late Model division. Packard won the opening 25-lapper in convincing fashion as Rich Lowrey, Jr. and Josh Masterson fought hard for second place. Contact on multiple laps saw the pair trading the second spot before Lowrey ultimately took the position. Masterson was third, followed by Jamie Fisher and Robert Bryant, Jr.
In the second race, it was Packard and point leader Fisher running hard in the final frames as they battled for the win. Packard led laps 21-24 in a door-slamming duel, but Shelburne, VT veteran Fisher held the bottom lane and won a drag race to the finish line by a margin of victory estimated at less than three inches. Bucko Branham finished third with Jamie Aube and Walt Hammond, Jr. in tow.
Fisher’s performance was enough to extend his championship lead, though his advantage remains a narrow 13 points over Masterson (660-647) and just 15 on Packard (645) entering the 100-lap season finale.
Fifteen year-old Champlain Valley Union High School football star Richard Lowrey, III, of Charlotte, VT – whose father Rich finished second in the opening Late Model feature – won the first of two 15-lap Renegade races. Lowrey won a squeaker over point leader Robert Gordon, with rookie Scott FitzGerald third. Milton, VT driver Gordon stole the show in the second event after Lowrey was eliminated in an early crash. Jim McKiernan finished second, while another 15 year-old, Dylan Rabtoy, took third place.
John McCarron of Rensselaer, NY took his second Central Vermont Motorcycles Mini Stock win of the season after passing Harold LaVair with one lap remaining in the first 15-lap feature. Mike Whalen, Jr. and LaVair’s son, Bobby LaVair, followed McCarron through to complete the podium finishers. Bobby LaVair, a resident of Saranac Lake, NY, continued his good day with a victory in the second feature, followed by Jake Noble in second and Whalen in third.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway will close its NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season when action returns for the Mekkelsen RV Vermont 200 Weekend on September 13-14. The two-day show features special events for the Vermont State Late Model Championship Series, the Northern Modified Challenge Series, and the North East Mini Stock Tour, and much more, along with a Saturday-night barbecue and bonfire.
by RacingNews | Aug 22, 2014 | Devils Bowl, New England
WEST HAVEN, VT – Devil’s Bowl Speedway has disqualified driver Robert Bryant, Jr. and the No. 3RB car from the Brown’s Quarried Slate/Brown’s Orchard & Farm Stand feature race held on Friday, August 15. Bryant crossed the finish line in second place behind winner Josh Masterson in the 30-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series feature race for the Late Model division. (more…)
by Jay | Aug 15, 2014 | Devils Bowl, Vermont
No Victory Guaranteed as Summer Winds Down at Devil’s Bowl Speedway
Parity prevailing in weekly NASCAR divisions; NEAR antique racers to visit Friday
WEST HAVEN, VT – Devil’s Bowl Speedway has been the site of more surprise moments during the summer of 2014 than at perhaps any other point in its 48-year history. While past seasons have seen one or two drivers dominate a particular division, nothing seems to be guaranteed this year.
Parity has ruled the Rutland County track during weekly NASCAR Whelen All-American Series events. Through 13 feature races for the headline Bond Auto Parts Modified division, nine different drivers have carried the checkered flag. Twenty year-old Cody Sargen broke into the winner’s circle last Friday, joining Jason Durgan and Johnny Scarborough as first-time winners during the year. Veterans Todd Stone, Ron Proctor, Leon Gonyo, and Vince Quenneville, Jr., have won, as have up-and-comers Jessey Mueller and Joey Roberts.
(more…)
by Jay | Aug 9, 2014 | Devils Bowl, Vermont
First-Time Winner Sargen Left Speechless at Devil’s Bowl Speedway
Emily Packard wins Late Model Triple Crown
WEST HAVEN, VT – Cody Sargen usually has a way with words. On Friday, August 8 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, though, the congenial 20 year-old was left speechless in victory lane. The Greenfield Center, NY driver from won perhaps the most competitive NASCAR Whelen All-American Series race of the season for his first-ever victory, but was just part of a memorable night at the track. Seventeen year-old Emily Packard was perfect on the night in winning a Triple Crown in the Late Model division, while Robert Gordon, Jake Noble, Jeff Murray, and Kaitlyn Baker were also winners.
Sargen fought for the win from the opening circuit of the 30-lap Bond Auto Parts Modified feature race. He led the first lap from the outside pole position, but surrendered it to Billy Lussier on a restart just one lap in. Sargen fought back on the outside to lead lap 6, then waged a thrilling battle with fellow youngster Jamie LaFountain. The pair officially traded the lead six times at the start/finish line between laps 7 and 21, and many more times through the corners.
(more…)
by Jay | Aug 2, 2014 | Devils Bowl, Vermont
Mueller Rallies for Unlikely Win at Richards Memorial
Masterson cops Late Model feature; Duquette, LaVair win
WEST HAVEN, VT – Jessey Mueller left the crowd speechless at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Friday night, staging a spectacular comeback to win the third annual C.J. Richards Memorial presented by Carrara Masonry & Concrete. The 19 year-old from Olmstedville, NY took the fourth round of the Northern Modified Challenge Series with the win, and was joined in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series victory lane during the evening by Josh Masterson, Shawn Duquette, and Bobby LaVair. (more…)
by Jay | Jul 27, 2014 | Devils Bowl, Vermont
Gonyo, Quenneville Split Northern Modified Challenge Wins at Airborne Park
Veterans win in series debut at historic New York track
SOUTH PLATTSBUGH, NY – The Northern Modified Challenge Series made an entertaining first appearance at Airborne Park Speedway on Saturday, July 26, running a pair of 30-lap feature races. Veteran drivers Leon Gonyo and Vince Quenneville, Jr., scored the victories, each posting his first victory on the Northern Modified Challenge Series.
Gonyo, of Chazy, NY, started on the pole position by virtue of a random draw in the opening feature. He led every lap, but found himself under nearly constant pressure from Jessey Mueller during the race. Mueller, who won the opening NMCS event of the season at Thunder Road in Barre, VT, made multiple attempts for the lead on the outside lane, settled for the runner-up position. Travis Bruno took third place, followed by Jason Durgan.
(more…)
WEST HAVEN, VT – A two-day delay at Devil’s Bowl Speedway was worth the wait for a handful of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series drivers on Sunday, August 24. Eight different stock car racers carried the checkered flag after twin features at the annual “Double Stack Night” presented by Sugar & Spice Restaurant, which was postponed from Friday by rain.