{"id":11931,"date":"2013-03-29T19:04:40","date_gmt":"2013-03-29T23:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=11931"},"modified":"2013-03-29T19:05:31","modified_gmt":"2013-03-29T23:05:31","slug":"sights-sounds-smells-and-speed-come-to-life-at-devils-bowl-spring-green","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/sights-sounds-smells-and-speed-come-to-life-at-devils-bowl-spring-green\/","title":{"rendered":"Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Speed Come to Life at Devil\u2019s Bowl \u201cSpring Green\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prestigious ACT event and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series kick off schedule<\/span><\/i><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"helliwellmud2011\"<\/a>WEST HAVEN, VT \u2013 Spring in Vermont is a beautiful time of year.\u00a0 New flowers bloom in the meadows, birds chirp away, and the aroma of fresh-cut grass hangs in the breeze.\u00a0 All of that will go unnoticed on Sunday, May 5, though, as the brightly-colored, loud-as-thunder, rubber-burning machines of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and the American-Canadian Tour charge into Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway for the 39<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> annual \u201cSpring Green\u201d stock car spectacular.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearly 80 drivers and race teams from around the northeast and Canada are expected to pack the pit area of the Rutland County speed plant as the season opens with the historic Spring Green event.\u00a0 With as many as 40 roaring Late Model cars expected to attempt qualifying for the 113-lap main event \u2013 one of the American-Canadian Tour\u2019s oldest and most prestigious races \u2013 the season definitely comes in like a lion at Devil\u2019s Bowl.<\/span><\/p>\n

[nggallery id=61]<\/p>\n

Wayne Helliwell, Jr. has the Devil\u2019s Bowl opener circled on his calendar.\u00a0 In two visits to the fast half-mile track, the Dover, NH driver has had two very different experiences \u2013 in 2011, he crashed in his qualifying heat and took a 100-mile-per-hour mud bath off the backstretch; last year, he posted his first-ever ACT Late Model Tour victory and went on to win the series\u2019 championship.\u00a0 He says the Devil\u2019s Bowl track is one of his favorites.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely excited to get back.\u00a0 I like it, and I liked even when we had that wreck,\u201d Helliwell said.\u00a0 \u201cThe speed is awesome.\u00a0 The high-speed entry into the corners makes you use a lot of brakes, and the side-by-side racing is some of the best anywhere.\u00a0 Devil\u2019s Bowl really suits my driving style.\u00a0 I can\u2019t wait.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Helliwell\u2019s Bruce Bernhardt-owned No. 27 EKeys4Cars.com\/Unique Ford-sponsored entry leads a group of ACT invaders that is expected to include 2011 Spring Green winner Brian Hoar of Williston, VT, former Devil\u2019s Bowl and ACT champion Jean-Paul Cyr of Milton, VT, New Hampshire Motor Speedway winner Ray Parent of Tiverton, RI, two-time Devil\u2019s Bowl feature winner Brent Dragon of Milton, VT, and Oxford 250 winner Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. of Hudson, NH.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The ACT stars won\u2019t be able to rest easily, though, as a strong contingent of weekly Late Model competitors from Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway plans to defend the home turf.\u00a0 Title contenders Kevin Elliott of Rutland, VT, Bryan Town of Claremont, NH, Dan Petronis of Mechanicville, NY and 2012 Rookie of the Year Robert Bryant, Jr. of Rutland, VT will be on hand, along with Devil\u2019s Bowl regulars Hunter Bates of Middlebury, VT, Jesse Carris of Rutland, VT, and rookies Seth Bridge of Mendon, VT and Josh Masterson of Bristol, VT, the 2012 Mini Stock champion at Devil\u2019s Bowl.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Late Models won\u2019t be the only stars of the day, as the Spring Green event also opens the championship season for the Bond Auto Parts Modifieds, Renegades, and Mini Stocks of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.\u00a0 Vince Quenneville, Jr. of Brandon, VT will attempt to repeat his Spring Green victory from 2012 in the Modified class, but he\u2019ll have to go through two-time defending track champion Ron Proctor of Charlton, NY to do it.\u00a0 Other top contenders include Alex Bell of Cambridge, NY, sophomore drivers Joey Roberts of Georgia, VT and Jeff Haskins of Wells, VT, and double-duty driver Hunter Bates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robert Gordon of Milton, VT will open his Renegade title defense against Richie Turner of Fairfax, VT and highly-touted rookies Stephen Donahue of Graniteville, VT and Ray Germain, Jr. of Bristol, VT.\u00a0 The Mini Stock title chase is wide-open with Masterson graduating to the Late Models; Bobby LaVair of Gabriels, NY searches for his first title with the rest of the division in hot pursuit.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 39<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> annual Spring Green is scheduled to begin at 1:30pm on Sunday, May 4.\u00a0 General admission is $20 for adults, $18 for seniors (62+), and free for children 12 and under.\u00a0 Discount season passes are also available.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prestigious ACT event and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series kick off schedule \u00a0 WEST HAVEN, VT \u2013 Spring in Vermont is a beautiful time of year.\u00a0 New flowers bloom in the meadows, birds chirp away, and the aroma of fresh-cut grass hangs in the breeze.\u00a0 All of that will go unnoticed on Sunday, May 5, though, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[55,201,1,14972,200],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-act","category-devils-bowl","category-uncategorized","category-touring-series-news","category-vermont"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11931\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}