{"id":15198,"date":"2014-02-04T08:00:22","date_gmt":"2014-02-04T13:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=15198"},"modified":"2014-02-04T05:30:08","modified_gmt":"2014-02-04T10:30:08","slug":"stone-gonyo-receive-top-honors-devils-bowl-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/stone-gonyo-receive-top-honors-devils-bowl-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Stone, Gonyo Receive Top Honors at Devil&#8217;s Bowl Ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[nggallery id=170]<br \/>\n<em>Capacity crowd recognizes champions and award winners<\/em><\/p>\n<p>RUTLAND, VT \u2013 Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway honored the achievements of its star stock car drivers on Saturday, February 1 at the annual Banquet of Champions, held at the Holiday Inn Rutland-Killington in Rutland, VT.  The sold-out crowd of nearly 300 guests enthusiastically applauded the champions of the track\u2019s four NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions along with the Northern Modified Challenge Series, the Vermont State Late Model Championship Series, and the Enduro Series.<\/p>\n<p>Todd Stone of Middlebury, VT was officially crowned the champion of the headline Bond Auto Parts Modified division after a record-breaking season of 10 victories in 17 starts.  Stone\u2019s crew chief Jeff Carter received NASCAR\u2019s UNOH Ultimate Mechanic Challenge prize, and the owner\u2019s championship, won by Gardner Stone, was accepted by long time team member Rob Lowell.  Hunter Bates was honored as the Modified division\u2019s runner-up, with Vince Quenneville, Jr. third.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nVeteran Modified racer Leon Gonyo of Chazy, NY received a standing ovation and the track\u2019s highest honor with the second annual John Bruno Award.  Named in honor of the late multi-time champion driver and owner, the John Bruno Award is given in recognition of a lifetime of achievement in racing while maintaining high standards of conduct on and off the track.  Gonyo is a veteran of more than 40 years of racing at several paved and dirt tracks in the U.S. and Canada; the biggest victory of his career came in the 1986 Yankee 200 at Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway, and he is still a regular weekly competitor at the track.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Bergeron of Claremont, NH collected the Late Model division championship in his first season racing at Devil\u2019s Bowl.  The long-time racer\u2019s four wins were enough to fend off rookie Josh Masterson by a scant four points.  Another rookie, Brandon Atkins, was third overall.  Richie Turner of Fairfax, VT picked up hardware for his Renegade division title, and Benson, VT\u2019s Jake Noble was crowned the champion of the Central Vermont Motorcycles Mini Stock division.  Rookie of the Year awards were presented to Modified racer Jamie LaFountain, Late Model driver Masterson, Renegade freshman Brad Bushey, and Mini Stock runner Chuck Bradford. <\/p>\n<p>Brandon, VT driver Quenneville received awards for winning the inaugural championship of the Northern Modified Challenge Series, and Nick Sweet of Barre, VT went home with the Vermont State Late Model Championship.  Eric \u201cMongo\u201d Messier of Hinesburg, VT was also recognized as the first-ever Enduro Series champion at Devil\u2019s Bowl.<br \/>\nSeveral other special awards were given during the evening, with sportswriter Tom Haley and Devil\u2019s Bowl staff member Jeff Champine among the honorees.  Haley received the second annual Award of Excellence for his outstanding coverage of the speedway in the Rutland Herald, while Champine \u2013 affectionately known by racers as \u201cThe Tire Guy\u201d \u2013 received the first-ever Dedication Award for his unwavering commitment to the track.  Each received a raucous standing ovation.<\/p>\n<p>Renegade rookie Stephen Donahue provided one of the evening\u2019s several humorous highlights as the Sportsmanship Award winners were announced.  Having been in attendance to receive his fourth-place point trophy earlier in the evening, the soon-to-be-16-year-old was absent when his name was announced as a Sportsmanship Award winner.  Once he was retrieved from the hotel pool, he returned barefoot and wearing swim trunks to accept his award.  Other Sportsmanship awards were given to Modified driver Dave Snow, Late Model rookie Seth Bridge, and Mini Stock veteran Matt Monaghan.<\/p>\n<p>The keynote address was given by Tom Donahue, Executive Vice President and CEO of the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce, with closing speeches given by legendary broadcaster and race promoter Ken Squier and Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway promoter Mike Bruno.  Prizes were also given prior to the awards ceremony from Bond Auto Parts, Five Star Racecar Bodies, and New England Racing Fuel.<\/p>\n<p>In his speech, Mike Bruno revealed the full 2014 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Schedule, which begins on Sunday, May 4 with the historic Spring Green for the American-Canadian Tour Late Models.  Weekly summer Friday night racing begins one week earlier in 2014, on Friday, May 16.  Other highlights include the Vermont State Late Model Championship Series on Friday, May 30, the Coca-Cola Firecracker special on Friday, July 4, the third annual C.J. Richards Memorial 67 on Friday, August 1, and the Vermont 200 Weekend season finale on September 13-14.<br \/>\nBruno also announced the return of dirt track racing with a three-event post-season schedule beginning in late September.  Events will be held on Friday, September 26, on Saturday, October 4, and on Saturday, October 18.  Further details will be announced soon.<\/p>\n<p>Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway is located on Route 22A in West Haven, VT, four miles north of Exit 2 on U.S. Route 4.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway Banquet of Champions<br \/>\nSaturday, February 1, 2014 \u2013 Holiday Inn Rutland-Killington, Rutland, VT<br \/>\n2013 Award Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>John Bruno Award<\/strong><br \/>\nLeon Gonyo, Modified competitor<\/p>\n<p><strong>Award of Excellence<\/strong><br \/>\nTom Haley, The Rutland Herald<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dedication Award<\/strong><br \/>\nJeff Champine, Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway staff member<\/p>\n<p><strong>Track Champions<\/strong><br \/>\nBond Auto Parts Modified \u2013 Todd Stone, Middlebury, VT<br \/>\nLate Model \u2013 Chris Bergeron, Claremont, NH<br \/>\nRenegade \u2013 Richie Turner, Fairfax, VT<br \/>\nCentral Vermont Motorcycles Mini Stock \u2013 Jake Noble, Benson, VT<br \/>\nEnduro Series \u2013 Eric Messier, Hinesburg, VT<\/p>\n<p><strong>Series Champions<\/strong><br \/>\nNorthern Modified Challenge Series \u2013 Vince Quenneville, Jr., Brandon, VT<br \/>\nVermont State Late Model Championship Series \u2013 Nick Sweet, Barre, VT<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rookies of the Year<\/strong><br \/>\nBond Auto Parts Modified \u2013 Jamie LaFountain, Keeseville, NY<br \/>\nLate Model \u2013 Josh Masterson, Bristol, VT<br \/>\nRenegade \u2013 Brad Bushey, Cambridge, VT<br \/>\nCentral Vermont Motorcycles Mini Stock \u2013 Chuck Bradford, Addison, VT<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sportsmanship Award<\/strong><br \/>\nBond Auto Parts Modified \u2013 Dave Snow, Brandon, VT<br \/>\nLate Model \u2013 Seth Bridge, Mendon, VT<br \/>\nRenegade \u2013 Stephen Donahue, Graniteville, VT<br \/>\nCentral Vermont Motorcycles Mini Stock \u2013 Matt Monaghan, Colchester, VT<\/p>\n<p><strong>Five Star Racecar Bodies Awards<\/strong><br \/>\n$500 Certificate \u2013 Brandon Atkins, AuSable Forks, NY (Late Model)<br \/>\n$125 Certificate \u2013 Brad Bushey, Cambridge, VT (Renegade)<br \/>\nMD3 Nose \u2013 Vince Quenneville, Jr., Brandon, VT (Modified)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bond Auto Parts Awards<\/strong><br \/>\nTodd Stone, Middlebury, VT (Modified)<br \/>\nSeth Bridge, Mendon, VT (Late Model)<br \/>\nBrad Bushey, Cambridge, VT (Renegade)<br \/>\nJake Noble, Benson, VT (Mini Stock)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tire Certificate Awards<\/strong><br \/>\nRon Proctor, Charlton, NY (Modified)<br \/>\nBrandon Atkins, AuSable Forks, NY (Late Model)<br \/>\nRobert Gordon, Milton, VT (Renegade)<br \/>\nGarry Bashaw, Lincoln, VT (Mini Stock)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[nggallery id=170] Capacity crowd recognizes champions and award winners RUTLAND, VT \u2013 Devil\u2019s Bowl Speedway honored the achievements of its star stock car drivers on Saturday, February 1 at the annual Banquet of Champions, held at the Holiday Inn Rutland-Killington in Rutland, VT. The sold-out crowd of nearly 300 guests enthusiastically applauded the champions of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"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":[201,1,200],"tags":[15798],"class_list":["post-15198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devils-bowl","category-uncategorized","category-vermont","tag-devils-bowl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15198","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\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15198\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}