DEVIL'S BOWL SPEEDWAY

West Haven, Vermont

  
CJ in the grader - a familiar sight.

A CLICK-ON DIRECTORY TO AREAS OF THIS PAGE
Forgive our mess it will always be under construction

EARLY DEVIL'S BOWL SEASONS:
The Overflow From Fairmont
Sportsman
Late Model

Nostalgic Shots From Early Seasons

Nostalgic Ads From Early Programs

Devil's Bowl Finds Its Own Identity

The Pavement Era

SECTION 2
Recent Improvements

Cars After the '70's
Pavement was Gone
Title 2
Title 3
Title 4

SECTION 3
Title 1
Title 2
Title 3
Title 4
Title 5

SECTION 4
Title 1
Title 2
Title 3
Title 4
Title 5
Title 6

                                           
[Left] A very young C.J. Richards awards a trophy to racing legend Steve Danish at the old Fairmont Speedway -around 1965.  [Middle] Promoter Charles "C.J." Richards worries out an impending rainstorm at Devil's Bowl with his then-partner Tony Parisi [Right] Richards talks with Bear Ridge's C.V. Elms, another noted Vermont promoter.

     Just as the Fairmont Speedway and the Champlain Valley Racing Association were starting to hit their stride in 1966, the town of Fair Haven began to make a fuss about the traffic, the noise, and the dust that they claimed were making life miserable for certain townspeople on Saturday nights during the race season. The same town that enjoyed the financial benefits of the track was about to drive the track away.

    C.J. Richards began looking around for another place to have his races, and he finally settled on some land on Route 22A, a few miles north of Fair Haven, in West Haven, Vermont. The valley there had some of the finest clay anywhere in the region. When wet, it could pull the shoe right off your foot. Still, controversy would plague the CVRA as particular relatives of Richards in West Haven were upset to have the track nearby their farms.

    Richards would struggle with first-year problems out at the Bowl. Besides his disgruntled relatives spreading manure on Saturday nights right next to his track and leaving dead cows beside the track boundary fences, he also had some problems with the track surface. The track had been constructed partly in very cold weather, and frost remained in the clay for a good part of the first season - causing seepage even during race programs. The high-powered cars he now had running would tear the surface up and leave it a rutted mess by feature time.

Courtesy of Ed Fabian
Old Reliable, Charlie La Duc - the heart and soul of Devil's Bowl, in his final car.

    But, C.J. persevered, and his track became established for years to come. The track went through one down cycle in the 1970, when the Richards family actually closed it for a while. Richard's announcer, Tom Perry, re-opened it as West Haven Speedway and promoted races for a couple of seasons. Now, the track is approaching it fortieth anniversary. Despite the fact that it has one of the latest opening dates due to the late spring moisture in that area, it continues to succeed and its unusual Sunday night date allows it to attract a good and varied field of cars.

 

Terraserver photo of the Devil's Bowl site in the late 1990's.

Contemporary Devil's Bowl logo

Terraserver map of the che late 1990's.

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EARLY SEASONS

The Overflow From Fairmont
and, Early Sportsman Division Competitors

Courtesy of Wes Moody
The first Devil's Bowl officials: Ted Vogel, Sr, Paul Cummings, Howard Cameron,
Bunny Bunnelle, Jim Frye, and Tom LaPlaca.
 

Cavalcade of Auto Racing Charlie LaDuc Orwell, VT His Henry J was one of the most popular Devil's Bowl cars ever. CVRA File Photo	Cavalcade of Auto Racing Chet Doaner Rutland, VT  His Corvair was typical of the wide variety of late model bodies on modifieds of this era. Courtesy of Wes Moody	Courtesy of John Grady Dexter Dorr Cohoes, NY A Manchester, VT native, he became a premier car builder in the 1970's and beyond. Courtesy of Norm Vadnais Chuck Ely Photo	Courtesy of John Grady Wes Moody Saranac Lake, NY He would actually become a promoter for CJ in 1984 Courtesy of Wes Moody
Former George Rogers Car Courtesy of CJ Richards Bob Harrison Chittenden, VT He made a career out of buying other drivers' cars to run for a year or so at a time. Former Quenneville Car Devils Bowl Yearbook	Courtesy of Neal Davis Vince Quenneville, Sr. Middlebury, VT A true hall of fame candidate. He will have his own page here some day. Courtesy of Neal Davis	Cavalcade of Auto Racing Mert "Socks"Hulbert, Oak Hills, NY A Track Champion at the Bowl Courtesy of John Grady Bob Frazier Photo Courtesy of Norm Vadnais	Courtesy of Neal Davis Jerry King, Rutland, VT A former Pico and Fairmont runner.
Courtesy of Janice Colburn David McMahon, Rutland, VT The former Jim Kohler 31	Courtesy of Ed Fabian Tommy Correllis, Mechanicsville, NY The New England Tower #2	Cavalcade of Auto Racing Ed Foley, Leicester, VT Courtesy of Norm Vadnais	Source Unknown - Help Me Out Pete Corey, Crescent, NY This car would be sold to Chet Doaner for the Bowl
Courtesy of Pascal "Magnum" Guy Chartrand, Montreal, QU The same car in which he lost that heartbreaker at Fairmont three years prior to this shot.	Dragon Family Photos Beaver Dragon, Milton, VT Most of his Bowl driving was in the Richards #75	Cavalcade of Auto Racing Harry "Boo" Duffany, Shoreham, VT He began his career in the hobby division at Fairmont.	Devils Bowl Yearbook Will Cagle, Tampa, FL He had periods where he totally dominated Devils Bowl Courtesy of John Grady
Cavalcade of Auto Racing Roger Gauthier, Fort Edward, NY The Norm Scarborough Mustang Bob Frazier Photo Courtesy of Norm Vadnais	CVRA File Photo Could this be Ed Allen ? Steady Ed says it is him. Photo Source Unknown Probably Frazier Photo The same car following Vince out of the pits at the Bowl around 1968.	Courtesy of Wes Moody Wes Moody, in a heat lineup at the Bowl	Courtesy of John Grady Bruce Doestal, Johnstown, NY
Courtesy of Norm Vadnais Joe Messina, Troy, NY The Ken Tremont 115	Courtesy of Norm Vadnais Russ Shaw, Bomoseen, VT The Taggart / Rooney 43	Courtesy of Arnie Ainsworth Butch Jelley, Pownal, VT	Cavalcade of Auto Racing Chuck Ely, Bennington, VT
Courtesy of Wes Moody Wes Moody wins the Langhorne qualifier in the late '60's	Schenectady Collection Otto Graham Site Tommy Corellis, Mechanicville, NY	Courtesy of Jerry King Ray Sitterly, Amsterdam, NY	Courtesy of Chris Companion Ed Delmolino
Courtesy of Wes Moody Roger Gauthier, Fort Edward, NY The Al Ryan coupe	Courtesy of Wes Moody Jim Hoyt, Saranac Lake, NY	Courtesy of Vogel Family Roger Gauthier Fort Edward, NY The Scarborough Mustang	Courtesy of Wes Moody Anybody know any of these guys ?
Courtesy of Wes Moody Dutch Reed, Glens Falls, NY The Clayton Ryan coupe

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Early Late Model Division Competitors

Courtesy of Ed Fabian Bob Gaskill, Williamstown, MA CVRA File Photo	Courtesy of Ed Fabian Bobby Dragon, Milton, VT Courtesy of C.J. Richards Gets trophy from Norm Spafford	Cavalcade of Auto Racing Bruce Loomis, Granville, NY
Courtesy of Ed Fabian John Luleck Hampton, NY	Courtesy of Ed Fabian Ray Nutting, Rutland, VT Courtesy of Norm Vadnais	Source Unknown Graham Trudo, Orwell, VT
Courtesy of Ed Fabian John Williams, Brandon, VT Devils Bowl Program	Courtesy of Ed Fabian Albert Luleck Poultney, VT	Gater Racing News Photo Barry Purdy N. Bennington, VT Cavalcade of Auto Racing Courtesy of Ed Fabian
Courtesy of Ed Fabian Dave Dufford, Granville, NY	Devils Bowl Program Don Accavello, Rutland, VT Courtesy of Ed Fabian	Courtesy of Ed Fabian Don Charbonneau, Brandon, VT
Saratoga Auto Museum Dexter Dorr, Manchester, VT Courtesy of Norm Vadnais	Courtesy of John Grady Foster Wendell, Greenfield Ctr., NY	Courtesy of CVRA Website Jack Harrison, Pittsford, VT
Courtesy of Rich Palmer Skip Wilcox, Trenton, NJ & Whitehall, NY	Source Unknown Johnny Peoples, Wilton, NY	Courtesy of C. J. Richards Ron Woods, Danby, VT
Courtesy of Ed Fabian Skip Haines, Granville, NY	Courtesy of Ed Fabian Wayne Potter, Rutland, VT	Courtesy of Ed Fabian Harry Peek, Schenectady, NY
Courtesy of Ed Fabian Johnny Bruno,  Castleton Corners, VT CLICK HERE for a Bruno Family racing page.	Courtesy of Arnie Ainsworth Ron Bisson,  VT	Courtesy of Tim Rogers Butch Rogers,  Castleton, VT

Photo by A and A Ward
A late model heat, including Johnny Bruno (22) form up for a restart around 1981.

Full a full - size view of this page click on the thumbnail photo at right >>
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        From Devil's Bowl Program                                                     From the Devil's Bowl Program
Snack Bar Menu 1967       The Devils Bowl Concession Midway Around 1967

 
Courtesy of the Saratoga Automobile Museum
Devil's Bowl Programs commemorating Vince Quenneville, Sr.
CLICK HERE for Vince's Page

Steady Eddie Allen
Photos Courtesy of Ed Fabian
Someday, these will be moved to his own page.
 
 
Last 2 Photos Courtesy of Ed Fabian - 1st from Devil's Bowl Yearbook

Courtesy of Norm Vadnais
Good Luck - this one doesn't come out too well.
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Both Photos Courtesy of Ed Fabian
[Above] Vince Quenneville looks to the outside of another legend, Sonny Rabideau in Leo Vallaincourt's Corvair. [Below] This picture of the 38 crew working on Vince's car has one of the few shots of car owner Norm Scarborough [standing in back], a big curmudgeon of a guy.

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Devil's Bowl Develops Its Own Identity

The Track Had Developed It's Own Cast of Stars

Source Unknown Probably Bob Frazier Photo Vince Quenneville, Sr., Whiting, VT Guy Chartrand's car is in the background and Eddie Allen is following Vince.	Courtesy of Norm Vadnais Eddie Allen, Fair Haven, VT	Devils Bowl Program Photo Charlie LaDuc Orwell, VT
Devils Bowl Yearbook Photos Chet Doaner, Rutland, VT	Courtesy of Norm Vadnais Ed Foley [211], Brandon, VT & Butch Jelley [X], Pownal, VT	Courtesy of Norm Vadnais Mert Hulbert, Oak Hills, NY

The Pavement Era

The Track Loses What it was Famous For - For a While

Courtesy of Jim Ladabouche Marcel Godard was a top runner with the pavement mods that invaded the Bowl after the paving.	John Grady Photo Veteran Ed Pieniazek drove the Rose #93 at the Bowl.	John Grady Photo CJ remembers Denis Giroux as one of his best pavement mod drivers.
Courtesy of Ed Fabian Chargers were a support division unique to the pavement era.	John Grady Photo Tough-minded Dave Depew was an early star in the chargers.	John Grady Photo George Rettew, with the famed Holiday Magic team out Agawam, MA, may have run the Bowl on occasion.,

RECENT DEVIL'S BOWL UPGRADES
 

CVRA Photo New stands and fencing

CVRA Photo From behind the pond

CVRA Photo New stands from infield

CVRA Photo Turn 2 safety barriers

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