QUEENSBURY, N.Y. — NASCAR is back in Vermont.
A meeting with drivers and owners in Queensbury, N.Y., on Friday evening introduced the Daytona Beach, Fla., sanctioning body as the new governing organization for Devil’s Bowl Speedway in West Haven and sister track Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., for 2011. The two tracks will join NASCAR’s Whelen All-American Series, where drivers from nearly 30 tracks in the United States and Canada compete against each other weekly for state, provincial, and national championships; NASCAR previously sanctioned both Devil’s Bowl and Albany-Saratoga during the 1970s.
Officials from the Champlain Valley Racing Association, which owns and operates the two speedways, made the announcement to a group of about 100 people on Friday. Bob Duvall, NASCAR Director of Developmental Racing Series Operations, was on hand and spoke for just over an hour alongside Bruce and Jerry Richards of the CVRA. Press conferences are scheduled on Saturday for 10:00am in Saratoga, N.Y., and at 1:00 in Rutland to introduce NASCAR to the media.
Duvall explained Friday that by becoming NASCAR-affiliated, the CVRA tracks will receive a multitude of benefits including point funds and medical insurance for competitors, and marketing and public relations assistance among other things. Each track will receive a NASCAR point fund of $16,500 — including $10,000 for the headline Crate Sportsman division — and drivers will take part in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series state and national championships across four divisions.
“The competitors, as well as the [officials], I think feel that from a perspective of association [that] this will elevate the tracks to a completely new level,” said Duvall. “What I’m sensing is that it was a big step up for the race tracks to now be a part of the NASCAR program.”
For the most part, operations will stay the same at the CVRA tracks as have been customary, utilizing the same officials, rules, and procedures. The CVRA was founded in 1967 by C.J. Richards; his children — Bruce, Jerry, and Sharon — assumed control of the organization and have made many changes over the past few years, including turning both track surfaces from dirt to asphalt.
“We are definitely turning a page here and joining the NASCAR family,” said Albany-Saratoga promoter Bruce Richards. “We are ecstatic about what’s going on.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever worked harder than the last year with going to pavement,” said Devil’s Bowl promoter Jerry Richards. “We have a master plan [and] we have restructured our whole business. The drivers and owners will finally get the recognition they deserve. We’re moving the bar up, here.”
As the only NASCAR-sanctioned track in Vermont, the Devil’s Bowl Speedway Crate Sportsman champion will be named the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Vermont State Champion. All NWAAS state champions receive a $2,000 bonus based on the number of NASCAR-sanctioned tracks in the state in addition to the posted track point funds; with five NASCAR tracks in New York, that state’s champion will receive a $10,000 bonus.
Wells, Vt., driver Don Miller, who was the 2010 Devil’s Bowl Sportsman champion, was pleased to have a chance at racing for a national championship. “It’s actually kind of stunning, and I’m excited for it,” Miller said. “If we have a year like we did [in 2010], I think we’ll at least be in the mix to win some good money.”
The NWAAS national championship is determined through a point system held by NASCAR; points are distributed based on the number of NASCAR-licensed drivers in every feature race, at two points per car up to a maximum of 20 cars; the race winner is also awarded a five-point bonus, making the maximum amount of points 45 (20 cars X 2 points, + 5 bonus “win” points = 45 points) in one feature race. A driver’s best 18 finishes during the season are counted toward the national championship.
NASCAR has not sanctioned a weekly racing program in Vermont since its relationship with Barre’s Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl and the former Catamount Stadium in Milton ended in 1985.
Vermont Motorsports Magazine will have full coverage of the Rutland press conference on Saturday.Stay tuned to the VMM Twitter page for live updates on Saturday afternoon.