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Bates Penalized Following Devil’s Bowl Late Model Victory

Driver keeps win, docked points and purse after infraction

WEST HAVEN, VT – Devil’s Bowl Speedway has announced that Late Model stock car driver Hunter Bates has been penalized following his NASCAR Whelen All-American Series victory on Friday, May 31 for a technical violation.

The front tread width on Bates’ No. 9NY Chevrolet was found to exceed the maximum allowable tolerance in post-race inspection, due to the offset of the wheels on the car.

Though Bates will keep credit for the victory, the following penalties have been applied:

• Loss of $700 winner’s purse, to be redistributed through the full finishing order
• Loss of 25 driver championship points
• Driver will start last in all Late Model qualifying and feature races on Friday, June 21

Devil’s Bowl Speedway promoter Mike Bruno said that while he believes that the infraction was unintentional on the part of Bates and his team, the infractions cannot be overlooked.

“After looking carefully at the violation with the technical inspection staff, we believe that the infraction was simply an oversight,” Bruno said. “Still, the integrity of the inspection process needs to be upheld. Hunter Bates is a good young driver and ran a respectful race. It’s just an unfortunate situation.”

Devil’s Bowl Speedway returns to action on Friday, June 7 with the People’s United Bank 100 – the second round of the four-race Vermont State Late Model Championship Series. The Bond Auto Parts Modifieds, the Renegades, and the Central Vermont Motorcycles Mini Stocks will be in action, along with the first Spectator Races of the season for street-legal vehicles. Racing is scheduled to begin at 7:00pm. General admission is $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, and free for children 12 and under.

Devil’s Bowl Speedway is located on Route 22A in West Haven, VT, four miles north of Exit 2 on U.S. Route 4. For more information, visit www.devilsbowlspeedwayvt.com or call (802) 265-3112. Devil’s Bowl Speedway is on Facebook at facebook.com/DevilsBowlSpeedway and on Twitter at @DevilsBowlSpeed.

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