PHOTO: Devil’s Bowl Speedway and sister track Albany-Saratoga are for sale as of Monday, according to owner C.J. Richards. (VMM photo)
WEST HAVEN — One of Vermont’s three weekly short tracks is for sale.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway, a paved half-mile track operating in 2011 under NASCAR sanction, is for sale, according to founder and owner C.J. Richards. Richards, 74, built the West Haven facility in 1967 and operates another track, Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., under the Champlain Valley Racing Association umbrella. Albany-Saratoga is also for sale.
Devil’s Bowl opened as a dirt track in 1967, was paved in 1972, and reverted back to dirt in 1975. Richards and CVRA acquired Albany-Saratoga in 1977, and also operated Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y., during the mid-1980s. Under the guise of Richards’ sons Bruce and Jerry and daughter Sharon, both tracks were paved in 2010 and joined the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series last January.
Richards insists, despite declining car counts this season and weather-related cancelations in each of the last two weeks, that both Devil’s Bowl and Albany-Saratoga will finish their 2011 racing seasons as originally scheduled.
“We’ve made a commitment to NASCAR and our supporters, and we will see those through to the end of the year,” C.J. Richards told Vermont Motorsports Magazine on Monday. “Hopefully someone will pick up the Vermont track and keep it going.”
Richards says the decision to sell the New York facility is mostly due to pressure from land developers in the Capital District area.
“The business climate has really been on the forefront in Malta lately,” Richards said. “Malta is in one of the hottest areas in country in terms of growth.”
Albany-Saratoga Speedway’s next event is scheduled for Friday at 7:00pm; Devil’s Bowl Speedway is scheduled to run at 6:00pm on Sunday.
