Matt Janczuk Invades Devil’s Bowl Sunday Night & Wins $5,000 Prelude To The Vermont 200

Story By: DEVIL’S BOWL SPEEDWAY – WEST HAVEN, VT – Matt Janczuk is a legend at the Utica-Rome Speedway, and he’s off to a good start at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, too.

The Oneida, N.Y., racer won the Mike’s Fuels “Prelude to the 200” at Devil’s Bowl on Sunday, August 6, in just his second-ever start at the track, copping a $5,000 prize and a guaranteed starting position in next month’s Fabian Earth Moving Vermont 200.

In his only other start at Devil’s Bowl, he finished third in the Vermont 200 in 2020. Janczuk – who serves as Chief of Police in Hamilton, N.Y. – owns eight Sportsman Modified championships and 76 wins at his home track, Utica-Rome. He came to Devil’s Bowl with a brand new Teo Pro Car RXD chassis to shake it down for the $10,000-to-win event in September, and he got a solid notebook to start with.

Janczuk turned the fastest lap in his time trial group for the Sunoco Sportsman Modified division and won his qualifying heat before drawing the fifth-place starting spot for the 67-lap feature race on Sunday night. Home track favorite Frank Hoard III was dominant early on, turning a stretch of bad luck around by taking the lead on the opening lap. The Manchester Center, Vt., native held on for the first two-thirds of the race before Janczuk crept up on the slippery track surface and took over at lap 46.

Janczuk pulled away as the laps wound down and beat Hoard to the finish by a healthy 3.293-second margin of victory; incredibly, he is the 14th different feature winner in as many races at Devil’s Bowl in 2023.

Hoard’s runner-up showing was his best result of the season. Orange County (N.Y.) Fair Speedway regular Dominic Roselli finished third in a rare Devil’s Bowl appearance after starting sixth. Devil’s Bowl championship contender Justin Comes started and finished fourth, and Can-Am (N.Y.) Speedway regular Tyler Corcoran continued a streak of strong big-race performances with a fifth-place effort.

Former Vermont 200 winner Zach Sobotka finished sixth ahead of Gary Edwards III, Tim LaDuc, and Brian Calabrese. Forty-one drivers attempted to qualify for 32 starting positions; heat winners were Roselli, LaDuc, Janczuk, and Sobotka. Consolation rounds were won by Brent Warren and David Boisclair. Calabrese picked up the Elmo’s Pit Stop $100 Hard Charger Award after starting 29th and finishing 10th. LaDuc collected a $250 bonus on Saturday’s first-round qualifying night by winning a special Dash for Cash. Rookie Josh LeClaire posted the fastest lap in time trials.

A.J. Munger reversed his string of bad luck in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Sportsman division with his second win of the year in a 30-lap race on Sunday. The Benson Landing, Vt., runner started fifth and stalked leader Alex Layn until there were just five laps remaining, and he then took the lead and ran away for the victory. Layn settled for second place ahead of William Duprey, Anthony Ryan, and Scott Towslee.

Point leader Randy Ryan finished sixth, followed by Jason Quenneville, Katrina Bean, Kamden Duffy, and Steve Miller. Saturday heats were won by Bean, Justin Lilly, and Layn, and Lilly won the $100 JTL Auto Sales Dash.

Milton, Vt.’s Josh “Boomer” Patterson broke the new-winner streak in the Hoosier Daddy Racing Novice Sportsman division, becoming the year’s first repeat winner in 13 races on Sunday. Patterson came from seventh starting position and took command for the final 10 circuits of the 25-lapper, getting past point leader and early race leader Tyler Travis. Patterson fended off Adam LaFountain for the win, after LaFountain’s drive from ninth at the start. Travis held on for third place ahead of Matt Wade and Eric Shaw. Saturday’s heat race wins went Shaw and Ed Bell, and Shaw also won the $100 Dash race.

Orwell, Vt.’s Raymond Hanson put together a two-day, three-segment run to earn the overall victory in the Friend Construction 500cc Mini Sprint division. The cumulatively scored race saw former champion Hanson finish third each of in the first two 10-lap segments on Saturday night for a score of six points (3+3), and then he drove from the back to win the final segment on Sunday to bring his total to a race-low seven points.

Teenagers Gage Provencher, Logan Denis, and Chayton Young were next in the overall finish; Provencher tallied nine points (5+2+2) to take the runner-up finish. Denis (4+4+3) and Young (1+5+5) each logged 11 points, but Denis was given the tiebreaker for third place overall based on his better finish in the final segment. Roger LaDuc beat Kevin Smith in a tiebreaker for fifth place overall at 16 points apiece.

The Mini Stock division was busy on Saturday night, running three feature races and a B-feature. Orwell, Vt.’s Jakobee Alger won the first feature race, his second victory of the year, which was a the held-over 15-lap run from Fair Haven/Poultney Auto Supply Night on June 25. Mark Mahoney, Damian Olden, Scott Chandler and Ryan Patch rounded out the top five finishers in that race, and Alger’s teammate Jacob Demgard won the B-feature.

In a pair of 15-lap split features for the regularly scheduled Mike’s Fuels event, two drivers scored their first victory of the summer. Proctor, Vt.’s Austin McKirryher won the opening round over Mark Mahoney, Jake Barrows, Jake Mallory, and Griff Mahoney. In the nightcap, Fair Haven, Vt.’s Chase Allen topped Brian Blake, Craig Kirby, Levi Cram, and Richard Fleury.

The 9th State Cannabis Crown Vic division was also in action on Saturday night, with Rutland, Vt.’s Jackson Ducharme scoring his first win in a 15-lap feature. Norm Morrill was the runner-up and Rob Steele finished third.

Devil’s Bowl Speedway is off for a summer break until Saturday, August 19, as Friend Construction presents an action-packed double feature program for all six weekly divisions along with the Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Series and kids racecar rides at intermission.

Sportsman Modified

A Feature 1 (67 Laps): 1. 33X-Matt Janczuk[5]; 2. 13-Frankie Hoard III[2]; 3. 80-Dom Roselli[6]; 4. 51-Justin Comes[4]; 5. 64-Tyler Corcoran[9]; 6. 38-Zach Sobotka[12]; 7. 73-Kevin Chaffee[16]; 8. 21-Gary Edwards III[18]; 9. 54-Tim LaDuc[7]; 10. 21C-Brian Calabrese[29]; 11. 11-Josh Sunn[23]; 12. 25-Billy Lussier[31]; 13. 85P-Mike Palmer[8]; 14. 33-Mike Fisher[1]; 15. 50X-Evan Roberts[25]; 16. 36-Brian Whittemore[24]; 17. 29-Max Dolliver[20]; 18. 7-Josh Leclaire[10]; 19. 66B-Jason Bruno[14]; 20. T69-Travis Green[19]; 21. 514-James Hanson[32]; 22. 98H-Walter J Hammond[13]; 23. 88M-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald[3]; 24. 2-Brent Warren[21]; 25. 44-David Rogers[11]; 26. 60-Jim Ryan[28]; 27. 02-David Boisclair[22]; 28. 35R-Neil Stratton[17]; 29. 11X-Josh Masterson[30]; 30. 5-Tanner Siemons[27]; 31. 13A-Troy Audet[15]; 32. 26-Tyler Jashembowski[26]

Consi #1 (10 Laps): 1. 2-Brent Warren[2]; 2. 11-Josh Sunn[1]; 3. 50X-Evan Roberts[6]; 4. 5-Tanner Siemons[3]; 5. 21C-Brian Calabrese[8]; 6. 22R-Dylan Rabtoy[4]; 7. 25-Billy Lussier[5]; 8. 66-Adam Piper[10]; 9. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[9]; 10. 357-Marty Kelly III[7]; 11. (DNS) 1D-Wayne Stearns

Consi #2 (10 Laps): 1. 02-David Boisclair[2]; 2. 36-Brian Whittemore[1]; 3. 26-Tyler Jashembowski[6]; 4. 60-Jim Ryan[3]; 5. 11X-Josh Masterson[8]; 6. 514-James Hanson[4]; 7. 22-Johnny Bruno[5]; 8. 88H-Walter Hammond Jr[7]; 9. 78-Vince Quenneville[9]; 10. 60W-Anthony Warren[10]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 80-Dom Roselli[2]; 2. 88M-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald[3]; 3. 7-Josh Leclaire[1]; 4. 98H-Walter J Hammond[4]; 5. 35R-Neil Stratton[7]; 6. 11-Josh Sunn[8]; 7. 5-Tanner Siemons[5]; 8. 25-Billy Lussier[10]; 9. 357-Marty Kelly III[6]; 10. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[9]; 11. 66-Adam Piper[11]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 54-Tim LaDuc[1]; 2. 13-Frankie Hoard III[2]; 3. 85P-Mike Palmer[3]; 4. 66B-Jason Bruno[8]; 5. 21-Gary Edwards III[5]; 6. 2-Brent Warren[4]; 7. 22R-Dylan Rabtoy[7]; 8. 50X-Evan Roberts[6]; 9. 21C-Brian Calabrese[9]; 10. 1D-Wayne Stearns[10]

Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 33X-Matt Janczuk[1]; 2. 51-Justin Comes[3]; 3. 33-Mike Fisher[2]; 4. 13A-Troy Audet[4]; 5. T69-Travis Green[7]; 6. 36-Brian Whittemore[5]; 7. 60-Jim Ryan[6]; 8. 22-Johnny Bruno[9]; 9. 88H-Walter Hammond Jr[10]; 10. 78-Vince Quenneville[8]

Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 38-Zach Sobotka[1]; 2. 64-Tyler Corcoran[2]; 3. 44-David Rogers[4]; 4. 73-Kevin Chaffee[3]; 5. 29-Max Dolliver[5]; 6. 02-David Boisclair[6]; 7. 514-James Hanson[8]; 8. 26-Tyler Jashembowski[10]; 9. 11X-Josh Masterson[7]; 10. 60W-Anthony Warren[9]

Saturday Night’s Results

Sportsman Modified

Dash 1 (8 Laps): 1. 54-Tim LaDuc[2]; 2. 13A-Troy Audet[1]; 3. 60W-Anthony Warren[4]; 4. 44-David Rogers[5]; 5. 7-Josh Leclaire[3]; 6. 60-Jim Ryan[8]; 7. 22-Johnny Bruno[7]; 8. 78-Vince Quenneville[6]

Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 13A-Troy Audet[3]; 2. 54-Tim LaDuc[15]; 3. 7-Josh Leclaire[13]; 4. 60W-Anthony Warren[11]; 5. 44-David Rogers[5]; 6. 78-Vince Quenneville[10]; 7. 22-Johnny Bruno[8]; 8. 60-Jim Ryan[2]; 9. 514-James Hanson[9]; 10. 2-Brent Warren[7]; 11. 25-Billy Lussier[12]; 12. 51-Justin Comes[6]; 13. 13-Frankie Hoard III[17]; 14. 85P-Mike Palmer[16]; 15. 50X-Evan Roberts[1]; 16. 36-Brian Whittemore[4]; 17. 357-Marty Kelly III[14]

Hot Laps 1: 1. 44-David Rogers, 00:18.509[13]; 2. 13A-Troy Audet, 00:18.596[1]; 3. 60-Jim Ryan, 00:18.672[17]; 4. 7-Josh Leclaire, 00:18.702[8]; 5. 54-Tim LaDuc, 00:18.709[7]; 6. 60W-Anthony Warren, 00:18.780[14]; 7. 78-Vince Quenneville, 00:18.823[11]; 8. 51-Justin Comes, 00:18.857[3]; 9. 2-Brent Warren, 00:18.877[15]; 10. 85P-Mike Palmer, 00:18.917[10]; 11. 25-Billy Lussier, 00:18.927[9]; 12. 514-James Hanson, 00:18.952[4]; 13. 22-Johnny Bruno, 00:19.007[2]; 14. 36-Brian Whittemore, 00:19.041[16]; 15. 13-Frankie Hoard III, 00:19.043[5]; 16. 50X-Evan Roberts, 00:19.276[12]; 17. (DNS) 357-Marty Kelly III

Limited Sportsman

Dash 1 (6 Laps): 1. 44-Justin Lilly[2]; 2. 60-Randy Ryan[4]; 3. 00-Steve Miller[5]; 4. 12-Katrina Bean[1]; 5. 75-AJ Munger[6]; 6. (DNS) 751-Alex Layn

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 12-Katrina Bean[1]; 2. 60-Randy Ryan[6]; 3. 211-Anthony Ryan[3]; 4. 23T-Scott Towslee[5]; 5. 77J-Bob Kilburn[4]; 6. 25-William Lussier Jr[2]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 44-Justin Lilly[1]; 2. 00-Steve Miller[5]; 3. 44D-William Duprey[3]; 4. 18-Daryl Gebo[6]; 5. 07-Hunter Nutter[2]; 6. 19X-Freddie Little[4]

Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 751-Alex Layn[2]; 2. 75-AJ Munger[1]; 3. 42-Kamden Duffy[3]; 4. 813-Jason Quenneville[5]; 5. 53-Gary English[4]; 6. 34X-Robert Gauthier[6]

Hot Laps 1: 1. 813-Jason Quenneville, 00:18.800[15]; 2. 211-Anthony Ryan, 00:18.814[16]; 3. 12-Katrina Bean, 00:18.846[1]; 4. 77J-Bob Kilburn, 00:18.890[7]; 5. 00-Steve Miller, 00:18.904[12]; 6. 60-Randy Ryan, 00:18.923[17]; 7. 23T-Scott Towslee, 00:18.977[18]; 8. 751-Alex Layn, 00:18.978[8]; 9. 44-Justin Lilly, 00:19.014[9]; 10. 25-William Lussier Jr, 00:19.019[11]; 11. 42-Kamden Duffy, 00:19.054[2]; 12. 18-Daryl Gebo, 00:19.054[6]; 13. 07-Hunter Nutter, 00:19.075[14]; 14. 53-Gary English, 00:19.113[4]; 15. 34X-Robert Gauthier, 00:19.213[5]; 16. 19X-Freddie Little, 00:19.284[10]; 17. 75-AJ Munger, 00:19.313[13]; 18. (DNS) 44D-William Duprey

Novice Sportsman

Dash 1 (6 Laps): 1. 77-Eric Shaw[1]; 2. 78-Don Williams[3]; 3. 40-Ed Bell[2]; 4. 5-Nick Austin Neil[4]; 5. 49-Allen Hewitt[5]; 6. 99-Russell Farr III[6]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 77-Eric Shaw[2]; 2. 78-Don Williams[7]; 3. 49-Allen Hewitt[1]; 4. 9-Tyler Travis[8]; 5. 2X-Michael Clark Jr[3]; 6. 4X-Joshua Patterson[4]; 7. 10X-Aaron Clark[6]; 8. 28X-Bobbi Hults[5]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 40-Ed Bell[1]; 2. 5-Nick Austin Neil[5]; 3. 99-Russell Farr III[2]; 4. 00-Patrick Miner[8]; 5. 52X-Adam Lafountain[6]; 6. 510-Matthew Wade[3]; 7. 12-Randy Edson[4]; 8. 75-Derrick Counter[7]

Hot Laps 1: 1. 9-Tyler Travis, 00:18.802[13]; 2. 5-Nick Austin Neil, 00:18.870[1]; 3. 52X-Adam Lafountain, 00:19.034[9]; 4. 78-Don Williams, 00:19.035[15]; 5. 28X-Bobbi Hults, 00:19.231[8]; 6. 00-Patrick Miner, 00:19.242[10]; 7. 49-Allen Hewitt, 00:19.314[7]; 8. 510-Matthew Wade, 00:19.397[14]; 9. 40-Ed Bell, 00:19.401[16]; 10. 12-Randy Edson, 00:19.436[5]; 11. 4X-Joshua Patterson, 00:19.475[11]; 12. 77-Eric Shaw, 00:19.480[12]; 13. 75-Derrick Counter, 00:19.613[4]; 14. 99-Russell Farr III, 00:19.702[6]; 15. 10X-Aaron Clark, 00:20.125[3]; 16. (DNS) 2X-Michael Clark Jr

500cc Mini Sprints

Feature Segment #1 (10 Laps): 1. 48-Chayton Young[5]; 2. 17-Chris Lennox[11]; 3. 68-Raymond Hanson[12]; 4. 24-Logan Denis[10]; 5. 11A-Gage Provencher[8]; 6. 54-Roger Laduc[6]; 7. 4-Tommy Kasuba[3]; 8. 67-Kevin Smith[4]; 9. 9Q-Quinn Quenneville[2]; 10. 10-John Smith[9]; 11. 5-John Carleton[7]; 12. (DNS) 12-Aiden Benoure

Feature Segment #2 (10 Laps): 1. 67-Kevin Smith[1]; 2. 11A-Gage Provencher[4]; 3. 68-Raymond Hanson[6]; 4. 24-Logan Denis[5]; 5. 48-Chayton Young[8]; 6. 54-Roger Laduc[3]; 7. 4-Tommy Kasuba[2]; 8. 9Q-Quinn Quenneville[9]; 9. (DNF) 17-Chris Lennox[7]; 10. (DNS) 10-John Smith; 11. (DNS) 5-John Carleton; 12. (DNS) 12-Aiden Benoure

Hot Laps 1: 1. 24-Logan Denis, 00:20.340[3]; 2. 68-Raymond Hanson, 00:20.543[4]; 3. 10-John Smith, 00:20.578[10]; 4. 11A-Gage Provencher, 00:20.586[8]; 5. 5-John Carleton, 00:20.631[2]; 6. 54-Roger Laduc, 00:20.719[6]; 7. 17-Chris Lennox, 00:20.801[7]; 8. 48-Chayton Young, 00:20.910[12]; 9. 4-Tommy Kasuba, 00:21.058[5]; 10. 67-Kevin Smith, 00:21.247[11]; 11. 9Q-Quinn Quenneville, 00:21.520[9]; 12. (DNS) 12-Aiden Benoure

Mini Stocks

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 54JR-Jakobee Alger[4]; 2. 83-Mark Mahoney[8]; 3. 25-Damian Olden[1]; 4. 6-Scott Chandler[3]; 5. 39-Ryan Patch[2]; 6. 3-Jarrod Colburn[14]; 7. 4-Chase Allen[12]; 8. 47-Jacob Mallory[6]; 9. 1X-Austin McKirryher[13]; 10. 27X-Brian Blake[16]; 11. 27-Adam Mahoney[5]; 12. 18-Luke Fellows[11]; 13. 54X-Ron Alger[7]; 14. 4D-Donald Olden[10]; 15. 143-Cody Dion[17]; 16. 18X-Jake Barrows[9]; 17. (DNS) 70X-Niclaus Clark

B Feature 1 (8 Laps): 1. 51-Jacob Demgard[1]; 2. X9-Levi Cram[2]; 3. 10-Griff Mahoney[4]; 4. 44-Craig Kirby[5]; 5. 88-Nicholas Melotti[6]; 6. F30-Royal Harrison Jr[3]

Feature #1 8/5 (20 Laps): 1. 1X-Austin McKirryher[7]; 2. 83-Mark Mahoney[10]; 3. 18X-Jake Barrows[12]; 4. (DNF) 47-Jacob Mallory[5]; 5. (DNF) 10-Griff Mahoney[8]; 6. (DNF) 88-Nicholas Melotti[1]; 7. (DNF) 143-Cody Dion[9]; 8. (DNF) 54X-Ron Alger[4]; 9. (DNF) 3-Jarrod Colburn[6]; 10. (DNF) 6-Scott Chandler[11]; 11. (DNF) 25-Damian Olden[2]; 12. (DNS) F30-Royal Harrison Jr

Feature #2 8/5 (20 Laps): 1. 4-Chase Allen[5]; 2. 27X-Brian Blake[9]; 3. 44-Craig Kirby[8]; 4. X9-Levi Cram[7]; 5. 44D-Richard Fleury[10]; 6. 03-Alton Mccoy[4]; 7. 39-Ryan Patch[3]; 8. 4D-Donald Olden[2]; 9. 54JR-Jakobee Alger[11]; 10. (DNF) 51-Jacob Demgard[1]; 11. (DNF) 18-Luke Fellows[6]; 12. (DNF) 27-Adam Mahoney[12]

Hot Laps 1: 1. 54JR-Jakobee Alger, 00:23.267[1]; 2. 83-Mark Mahoney, 00:23.637[18]; 3. 25-Damian Olden, 00:23.712[23]; 4. 6-Scott Chandler, 00:23.544[6]; 5. 39-Ryan Patch, 00:23.824[25]; 6. 3-Jarrod Colburn, 00:23.731[8]; 7. 4-Chase Allen, 00:23.566[3]; 8. 47-Jacob Mallory, 00:23.708[19]; 9. 1X-Austin McKirryher, 00:23.882[21]; 10. 27X-Brian Blake, 00:23.743[5]; 11. 27-Adam Mahoney, 00:24.686[16]; 12. 18-Luke Fellows, 00:23.724[12]; 13. 54X-Ron Alger, 00:24.043[2]; 14. 4D-Donald Olden, 00:23.976[24]; 15. 143-Cody Dion, 00:24.273[11]; 16. 18X-Jake Barrows, 00:24.334[4]; 17. (DNS) 70X-Niclaus Clark, 00:24.334; 18. (DNS) X9-Levi Cram; 19. (DNS) 51-Jacob Demgard; 20. (DNS) 44D-Richard Fleury; 21. (DNS) F30-Royal Harrison Jr; 22. (DNS) 44-Craig Kirby; 23. (DNS) 10-Griff Mahoney; 24. (DNS) 03-Alton Mccoy; 25. (DNS) 88-Nicholas Melotti; 26. (DNS) 81X-Willie Rice

Crown Vic

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 18-Jackson Ducharme[1]; 2. 91-Norm Morrill[2]; 3. (DNF) 227-Rob Steele[3]