Sunday, May 27—WEST HAVEN—Vermont’s Devil’s Bowl Speedway is set to begin its season of stock car racing, with a mix of 19 weekly and special events. The Rutland County track, in its 52nd season, will return to full-time dirt racing on a half-mile surface for the first time since 2009, and competition will again be sanctioned by the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.
The biggest event in Devil’s Bowl Speedway history will be held on the weekend of Sept. 15-16, with a race format never attempted before at any track: The Vermont 200 for Sportsman Modifieds. The race, which will be open to any driver, is for Northeast-style Sportsman Modifieds with the 602 crate engine package and will pay a minimum of $10,000 to the winner. At 200 laps in distance and with a record total purse estimated at $35,000, the race will be the longest, richest event ever held for the division at any track.
The weekly Sunday night racing season opens with a Memorial Day special on the evening of Sunday, May 27, to kick off the new half-mile dirt track era. The winged Sprint Cars of New England (SCoNE) tour will make its first of four appearances for the season at the opener, and the King of Dirt Racing Series (KOD) organization will have its first stop of the year as well, with a Sportsman Modified race that drew 42 entries last year.
The SCoNE Sprint Cars will also be in action at the Coca-Cola Independence Day Firecracker, with a special mid-week date on Tuesday, July 3; at a rare Twin 20 double-feature event on Sunday, Aug. 12; and at the Labor Day Special on Sunday, Sept. 2.
All three KOD tours will each make stops at Devil’s Bowl as well. The Sportsman opener on May 27 kicks off the season, and the ground-pounding KOD Small Block 358 Modifieds will have a special mid-week event on Wednesday, June 6. The KOD 358s will also headline the C.J. Richards Memorial 67 on Sunday, July 29, and the KOD Pro Stocks will run their Carl Vladyka Memorial 29 during the Vermont 200 Weekend in September.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway will also hold two independent special events for 358 Modifieds: Twin 20-lap feature races on Sunday, July 15, and a 30-lap feature on Sunday, Sept. 2.
The weekly Sunday night schedule is highlighted with special extra-distance races for all of Devil’s Bowl Speedway’s regular Sportsman Modified, Limited Sportsman, Super Stock, Mini Stock, and 500cc Mini Sprint divisions, as well as special promotions for fans at nearly every event.
The season wraps up on Sept. 23, with the re-created “Mountain Man 200” Enduro event. The survival-of-the-fittest race will feature bone stock, nearly-street-legal vehicles with amateur drivers racing for 200 laps and $2,000 to win.
The full season schedule is available online at www.devilsbowlspeedwayvt.com.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway is located on Route 22A in West Haven, four miles north of Exit 2 off of Route 4 and 20 minutes from Rutland.
Photo by Barry Snelling, courtesy Devil’s Bowl Speedway
In its 52nd season, Devil’s Bowl will return to full-time dirt racing on a half-mile surface for the first time since 2009.
