Devil's Bowl Returns to Storied Surface for Special Event Run
Posted By Tj Ingerson On February 2, 2014
Categories: Devil's Bowl
PHOTO: Devil's Bowl Speedway will see a dirt surface back on the track for the first time since 2009 for a special three-race slate at the end of the 2014 asphalt season. (Justin St. Louis photo)
--by T.J. Ingerson (@TJIngerson)
VMM Editor
RUTLAND -- Devil’s Bowl Speedway will make a brief return to its storied history in 2014 as the half mile oval will see a clay surface return for a special three-race run in September.
The announcement was made by owner and promoter Mike Bruno at the Devil’s Bowl Banquet of Champions to the near-capacity crowd.
“The week after our last pavement race, for three weekends, we’re going to put the clay back on Devil’s Bowl,” Bruno announced to the assembled crowd. “I’m interested in doing this as a novelty. I want to have some Sprint Car racing and I want to have some Modified racing on dirt. We haven’t announced our schedule, but our (Northern Modified) Challenge Series, a couple of (the races) will be held at Devil’s Bowl at the end of the year rather than go to other race tracks.
“With Canaan Speedway being closed, that opened up a big (opportunity) for us to be able to get a lot of people to come to Devil’s Bowl when they don’t have a place to race. I’m looking at it as a tool to make some extra money when our season is over with.”
Bruno stated he consulted with Canandaigua Speedway promoter Jeremie Corcoran, who put a clay surface down at the famed Berlin Speedway in Marne, Mich., for a World of Outlaws Late Model event. Corcoran informed Bruno that when Berlin pulled up the clay and returned to an asphalt track the following season, the track saw record setting lap times.
“I want everybody to know that this is just for three weekends at the end of the year and that’s it,” Bruno said. “We are not going to be full-time dirt racing. It’s not going to affect our pavement racing.”
Bruno stated that specific dates and divisions to be run have not been officially determined, but he has held discussions with Albany-Saratoga Speedway promoter Lyle Devore and the Sprint Cars of New England.
“Canaan had a big play in it,” Bruno told Vermont Motorsports Magazine. “I’ve gotten to know Mike Mason really well and he was the one that was going to be behind if Canaan was going to have any dirt racing this year. I saw the amount of cars that were there at the end of the year and those guys are looking for a place to race, especially when you can put 120 cars in the pit area like that, and I hear from people all the time ‘hey, I wish you were dirt at Devil’s Bowl.’
“I don’t want to own a dirt track. I’m just too busy with what I do. But in a deal like this when our regular season is done and over with, we can put the dirt on and run a few races and hopefully make some additional money.”
Bruno said the success of the event at Berlin Speedway before, during, and after sold him on the idea of doing the special events at Devil’s Bowl.
“I’m really good friends with Timmy Fuller and I got asking him about it,” Bruno said. “He’s always bugging me about putting the dirt back down on Devil’s Bowl. I was reading an article online about Berlin putting the clay down for the World of Outlaws Late Models. I called Timmy up and said ‘Hey Fuller, Corcoran put the dirt on down there,’ and he says to me ‘he’s standing right next to me. You want to talk to him?’ It just happened that quick.
“I got on the phone with (Corcoran) and he told me about how they put the clay down. But they had to truck they clay in. I don’t have to. I can truck it out of the back meadow and that was an important part of it. Another one was how the track cleans up and how the times were faster in the spring. They had record setting times and that kind of sold me on the deal. That little piece sold it. They’re putting on a historic track and taking it back off for a novelty race.”
Bruno said that he hopes the event can become part of a yearly tradition at Devil’s Bowl at the end of the year while attracting some of the dirt faithful fans to see the improvements that have been made to the facility.
“That’s exactly what it is,” Bruno said. “It’s kind of a cross promotion.”