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Rookie rosters growing at Devil’s Bowl Speedway

PHOTO: Jeff Haskins of Wells, VT is gunning for Rookie of the Year honors in the Bond Auto Parts Modified division at Devil's Bowl Speedway.

New racers trying out Vermont’s fastest half-mile

WEST HAVEN, VT -- Rookie stock car drivers from around the northeast will learn their craft on the asphalt half-mile at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in West Haven, VT this summer. The track’s weekly NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program has more than a dozen rookies registered to date, with several more expected to enter by the season opening Spring Green event on Sunday, May 6.

The headline Bond Auto Parts Modified class has freshman racers Joey Roberts, Andy Smith, and Jeff Haskins, each with vastly different racing backgrounds. After success in Sportsman and Renegade cars, Roberts, of Georgia, VT, will make his open-wheel debut in the No. 50x Bicknell chassis sponsored by Vermont Life Safety. South Glens Falls, NY driver Smith was a frequent winner on both the clay and asphalt Devil’s Bowl surfaces in the former Duke Stock class, and will pilot the No. 91 E-Z Marine & Storage/Weller’s Auto Parts Bicknell. Haskins, of Wells, VT, ran the first five stock car races of his career last season and earned an impressive seventh-place finish at Devil’s Bowl in his Dirt Wheels-built No. 95 Fuller Sand & Gravel/Concrete Professionals, Inc. car.

Seven rookies populate the Late Model driver roster. East Montpelier, VT teen and fourth-generation racer Joey Laquerre made a big splash while testing the waters in four Devil’s Bowl starts last year. Rutland, VT driver Jesse Carris has purchased the former Jacob McGrath car and will begin his racing career, and Danny Sullivan of Morrisonville, NY comes to the Late Models after a solid Sportsman career at Airborne Speedway. Manhattan police officer and former open-wheel Formula 2000 and Sprint Car standout Tad Uzzle of Wappingers Falls, NY makes his full-fender debut, as does New Hampshire native and former Granite State Mini Sprint champion dirt tracker Johnny Chesnut, now living in Elizabethtown, NY. Rookies planning part-time schedules include multi-time Allison Legacy Series winner Emily Packard of East Montpelier, VT and former Canaan Fair Speedway and Twin State Speedway standout Kyle Davis of Pittsford, VT.

The entry-level four-cylinder Bomber division has seen growth in the off-season and claims Vermont-based rookies Jacob Doran of Benson, Kyle Watrous of Bomoseen, and Bristol’s Josh Masterson, a former Enduro winner at Devil’s Bowl.

The Devil’s Bowl Speedway season begins on Sunday, May 6 with the historic Spring Green event, and weekly Friday night racing returns to Devil’s Bowl beginning May 25 with the People’s United Bank Memorial Day Special. Discount season passes are available. For more information, call (802) 265-3112 or visit www.devilsbowlspeedwayvt.com.

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