by Jay | Dec 28, 2011 | Devils Bowl, New England, Vermont
NASCAR sanction, youth vs. experience, changing of the guard among highlights
WEST HAVEN, VT — The 2011 stock car racing season was one with many important moments in Devil’s Bowl Speedway. The West Haven, VT track closes out one era as another begins, but not before a look back at the top five stories of the year.
5. Weather abbreviates racing: Mother Nature wreaked havoc on Vermont in 2011, and Devil’s Bowl wasn’t spared as seven races were lost including the final four events. Track management has offered Thor, the Greek god of thunder, a 2012 season’s pass in exchange for taking racing season off.
4. Spring Green is an instant classic: The American-Canadian Tour Late Models had a spectacular Devil’s Bowl debut at the Spring Green, and fans were treated to a thriller. Eleven lead changes highlighted the race including a 40-lap slugfest between Craig Bushey and eventual winner Brian Hoar. ACT opens the 2012 Devil’s Bowl season with the 112-lap Spring Green on May 6.
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by Jay | Dec 23, 2011 | Devils Bowl, New England, Vermont
New rules to pit David “602” crate engines against 358-cubic inch Goliaths
WEST HAVEN, VT — The past and future will clash in a horsepower war at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in 2012. The buzz around the West Haven, VT stock car track has turned to the rulebook, as the headline NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Modified division will pit David against Goliath next summer.
The Modified rulebook embraces the modern-day General Motors “602” crate engine — a cost-effective, momentum-dependent motor — but throws a lion into the ring by allowing the return of the 358-cubic inch engine — an unlimited, high-tech, high-horsepower fire breather. The move will allow Devil’s Bowl teams to compete at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, NY and other tracks, and vice versa.
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by Jay | Dec 23, 2011 | New England, Vermont
Dirt Track Racing Front Runner edges out ACT Tiger Champion O’Donnell
BURLINGTON, VT — Dirt track stock car racing driver Kevin Chaffee has been named the Vermont Motorsports Magazine 2011 Driver of the Year by the readers of www.vtmotormag.com
Over 13,000 votes were cast across eleven categories in a two-week online poll at the Vermont Motorsports Magazine website. Fairlee, Vt., driver Chaffee earned 26% of the vote in the overall VMM 2011 Driver of the Year category. The DIRTcar Sportsman Modified, USAC Dirt Midget Association, and Sprint Cars of New England winner edged ACT Bond/WIX Tiger Tour and Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl Tiger Sportsman champion Derrick O’Donnell, of Bradford, Vt., by 35 votes for the award.
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by Jay | Dec 17, 2011 | Devils Bowl, New England, Vermont
Spring Green opener May 6; Friday nights highlight summer; Vermont 200 returns
WEST HAVEN, VT — Devil’s Bowl Speedway has announced an action-packed 18-event championship stock car racing schedule for the 2012 season. The West Haven, VT track, a semi-banked asphalt half-mile sanctioned by the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, will host open-wheel Modified, full-fender Late Model, and entry-level Renegade and Bomber classes throughout the summer.
After a pair of Sunday afternoon open practice sessions on April 22 and 29, Devil’s Bowl Speedway’s 46th racing season opens with the historic Spring Green event on Sunday afternoon, May 6. The American-Canadian Tour Late Models will highlight the program, and the NASCAR Modified, Renegade and Bomber divisions will open their championship schedules at the event. Racing in all four weekly divisions will be held on Sunday afternoons for on May 13 and May 20 as well.
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by Jay | Dec 12, 2011 | Devils Bowl, NASCAR, New England, Vermont
CHARLOTTE, NC — Stock car driver Ron Proctor of Charlton, NY was honored as one of the country’s most decorated short track competitors on Friday, as nearly 800 champions and supporters from the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series gathered for a black tie awards gala at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC.
Proctor won the NASCAR Modified Track Championship at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in West Haven, VT, collecting two victories and top-five finishes in all nine feature races in 2011; he also won the NASCAR Modified title at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in his native New York. Despite a checkered history dating back 30 years, as a first-time NASCAR license holder, Proctor was eligible for and won the Rookie of the Year prize in both Vermont and New York.
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by Jay | Dec 11, 2011 | New England, Thunder Road, Vermont
Barre, VT – Montpelier’s Dave Pembroke was honored as the 2011 “King of the Road” at the 2011 Thunder Road Banquet of Champions on Saturday, December 10 at the Barre Elks Club. Pembroke put together one of the biggest comebacks in Thunder Road history to claim his second career Late Model title. During their first season in a Ford powered ride, Pembroke and his family team erased an 80 point deficit with back-to-back feature wins at mid-season. The Vermont State Employees Credit Union/Lamoille Valley Ford team earned the first Thunder Road track title for Ford in over twenty years. The Barre Elks Club was sold out with team members, officials and fans on hand to honor Pembroke, who claimed a $5,000 point fund check.
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