Story By: DEVIL’S BOWL SPEEDWAY – WEST HAVEN, VT – Poultney, Vt.’s Dave Camara, a Vermont racing icon from the 1990’s and 2000’s began 2024 under the radar, with little talk of what – if any – his racing plans would be, until just before Devil’s Bowl’s 58th season opener, when it was announced Camara would come back to race in West Haven all year.
And Camara fired off well, jumping into the points lead early, holding it for nearly the entire first half of the 2024 season, running in the top-five and grabbing numerous Elmo’s Pit Stop Hard Charger awards.
But the Mid-Season Championships didn’t go his way, and his lead was lost. Bringing him to Hometown Heroes Night this past Saturday, July 13.
Camara finished 2nd in his heat race and started 4th in the 30-lap feature. It only took Camara six laps to seize the lead from Brian Whittemore, and from there he went unchallenged, collecting his first win in 14 years at Devil’s Bowl after some time away from racing.
Tanner Siemons and Tim LaDuc joined Camara on the podium. Joey Scarborough was 4th and Whittemore finished 5th. LaDuc was the Elmo’s Pit Stop Hard Charger, racing from 14th to 3rd.
Camara wasn’t the only driver to break the mold of winners this past weekend. Mike Clark, Jr., won his first O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited feature on Saturday night, after moving up from the novice class for 2024. Clark passed Hartland, Vt.’s Tyler Travis with a few laps to go to claim the victory. Travis finished as the runner-up with Eric Shaw claiming 3rd. Kamden Duffy continued turning his season around with a 4th place run. Gary English was 5th. Duprey made the Amsoil/Clean Engine Hard Charger by going from 16th to 6th.
Race fans couldn’t lose with the Hoosier Racing Tire Novice Sportsman Feature, as underdog favorite Russ Farr and young Raelin Dunham squared off to see which driver would win their first open-wheel “big car” feature. Dunham started on the pole but Farr took the lead on lap two, pacing the field for the vast majority of the race. Dunham never let him get too far ahead, keeping him in her sights the entire race. She passed him with two laps to go to score her first win in a sportsman modified-type car. Dunham was a winner in the mini sprint ranks before moving up to the novice class at the end of 2023.
Speaking of those mini sprints, Orford, N.H.’s Chris Pierce made his first appearance in Devil’s Bowl Speedway’s victory lane in the Friend Construction sponsored division, breaking the streak of Ray Hanson, Quinn Quenneville and Gage Provencher’s domination. Pierce started on the outside of the front row with Tommy Kasuba to his inside. Pierce dominated, and would not allow 2nd place finisher Hanson to pass him, taking his first win. John Smith ran well in 3rd, charging from the back. Kasuba was 4th and Provencher was 5th.
The Fisher Auto Parts Mini Stocks initially saw Jason Porter take the checkered flag and enjoy the spoils of victory. Porter was a big-time winner in the class in 2018 and 2019, but took some time away from Devil’s Bowl, only recently returning for enduro events. Saturday was his first mini-stock feature in some time. Ron Alger was 2nd, netting his best result of the year. Griff Mahoney was 3rd after a midweek engine change and Chase Allen followed up his back-to-back wins with a 4th place effort. Jarrod Colburn’s hot streak continued with a 5th.
The enduro was won by Tim LaDuc. Starring dead last, LaDuc surged through the field, topping the usual suspects of Devil’s Bowl Enduro juggernauts
like Andrew Lopes, the Wanners, Brent Wilbur, and Porter. Airborne Park Speedway Renegade driver Richie Turner was 2nd with Wilbur 3rd.
Racing returns to Devil’s Bowl Speedway Saturday, Jul 20 for Legends Night, featuring all regular divisions, plus the 9th State Cannabis Crown Vics and the Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Series! It is also the return of the Vince Quenneville, Sr. Memorial race, a 38-lap, $2,00-to-win Sunoco Sportsman Modified Feature! General admission is $15, kids 12 and under are always FREE! Infield tailgating is $20. Pit prices are $28 for members and $38 for non-members. Dry camping is FREE! Racing starts at 7PM.
Sportsman Modified
Rutland Regional MedicalCenter A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 26-Dave Camara[4]; 2. 5-Tanner Siemons[10]; 3. 54-Tim LaDuc[14]; 4. 11VT-Joey Scarborough[8]; 5. 36-Brian Whittemore[1]; 6. 60-Jim Ryan[3]; 7. 514-James Hanson[5]; 8. 66-Adam Piper[7]; 9. 78-Vince Quenneville[16]; 10. 13-Frankie Hoard III[12]; 11. 60R-Randy Ryan[6]; 12. 22-Johnny Bruno[21]; 13. 13A-Troy Audet[15]; 14. 25-Billy Lussier[9]; 15. 22J-Bubba McPhee[18]; 16. 17-Bruce Loomis[20]; 17. 7-Josh Leclaire[19]; 18. T69-Travis Green[22]; 19. 51-Justin Comes[25]; 20. 2-Brent Warren[24]; 21. 8-Kevin Chaffee[26]; 22. 75-AJ Munger[2]; 23. 00-Pat Miner[23]; 24. 60W-Anthony Warren[11]; 25. 357-Marty Kelly III[13]; 26. 11X-Josh Masterson[17]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 60-Jim Ryan[2]; 2. 36-Brian Whittemore[1]; 3. 11X-Josh Masterson[9]; 4. 25-Billy Lussier[4]; 5. 514-James Hanson[3]; 6. 13A-Troy Audet[8]; 7. 7-Josh Leclaire[6]; 8. T69-Travis Green[7]; 9. 51-Justin Comes[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 66-Adam Piper[1]; 2. 26-Dave Camara[2]; 3. 13-Frankie Hoard III[6]; 4. 5-Tanner Siemons[5]; 5. 60R-Randy Ryan[3]; 6. 357-Marty Kelly III[7]; 7. 17-Bruce Loomis[9]; 8. 00-Pat Miner[4]; 9. (DQ) 8-Kevin Chaffee[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 54-Tim LaDuc[7]; 2. 75-AJ Munger[1]; 3. 11VT-Joey Scarborough[2]; 4. 78-Vince Quenneville[8]; 5. 22J-Bubba McPhee[6]; 6. 60W-Anthony Warren[5]; 7. 22-Johnny Bruno[4]; 8. 2-Brent Warren[3]
Limited Sportsman
Rutland Regional Medical Center A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 2X-Michael Clark Jr[3]; 2. 9-Tyler Travis[1]; 3. 77-Eric Shaw[5]; 4. 42-Kamden Duffy[4]; 5. 53-Gary English[9]; 6. 44D-William Duprey[16]; 7. 78-Don Williams[2]; 8. 1VT-Marty Hutchins[14]; 9. 4X-Joshua Patterson[7]; 10. 23T-Scott Towslee[17]; 11. 27X-Cody O’Brien[15]; 12. 06-Steve Miller[8]; 13. 52X-Adam Lafountain[12]; 14. 25-William Lussier Jr[6]; 15. 40-Ed Bell[20]; 16. 19X-Freddie Little[18]; 17. 813-Jason Quenneville[11]; 18. 75-Derrick Counter[19]; 19. 77J-Bob Kilburn[10]; 20. 44-Justin Lilly[21]; 21. 751-Alex Layn[13]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2X-Michael Clark Jr[2]; 2. 4X-Joshua Patterson[3]; 3. 44D-William Duprey[7]; 4. 25-William Lussier Jr[4]; 5. 1VT-Marty Hutchins[6]; 6. 813-Jason Quenneville[5]; 7. (DQ) 44-Justin Lilly[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Tyler Travis[1]; 2. 42-Kamden Duffy[2]; 3. 77-Eric Shaw[3]; 4. 53-Gary English[4]; 5. 23T-Scott Towslee[7]; 6. 52X-Adam Lafountain[5]; 7. 75-Derrick Counter[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 78-Don Williams[1]; 2. 19X-Freddie Little[2]; 3. 06-Steve Miller[3]; 4. 751-Alex Layn[5]; 5. 27X-Cody O’Brien[6]; 6. 77J-Bob Kilburn[4]; 7. 40-Ed Bell[7]
Hot Laps 1: 1. 9-Tyler Travis, 00:18.632[20]; 2. 42-Kamden Duffy, 00:18.721[4]; 3. 53-Gary English, 00:18.732[6]; 4. 77J-Bob Kilburn, 00:18.738[8]; 5. 78-Don Williams, 00:18.789[21]; 6. 23T-Scott Towslee, 00:18.817[19]; 7. 27X-Cody O’Brien, 00:18.818[15]; 8. 77-Eric Shaw, 00:18.851[18]; 9. 1VT-Marty Hutchins, 00:18.913[7]; 10. 813-Jason Quenneville, 00:19.011[17]; 11. 4X-Joshua Patterson, 00:19.084[16]; 12. 75-Derrick Counter, 00:19.104[3]; 13. 751-Alex Layn, 00:19.122[10]; 14. 44-Justin Lilly, 00:19.134[11]; 15. 40-Ed Bell, 00:19.154[1]; 16. 06-Steve Miller, 00:19.248[14]; 17. 52X-Adam Lafountain, 00:19.343[9]; 18. 19X-Freddie Little, 00:19.529[12]; 19. 25-William Lussier Jr, 00:19.606[13]; 20. (DNS) 2X-Michael Clark Jr; 21. (DNS) 44D-William Duprey
Novice Sportsman
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 76-Raelin Dunham[1]; 2. 99-Russell Farr III[2]; 3. 12VT-Aiden Benoure[3]; 4. 5-Nick Austin Neil[5]; 5. 2X-Josh Bussino[6]; 6. 28X-Bobbi Hults[7]; 7. 24-Logan Denis[12]; 8. 74S-Keegan Tabor[9]; 9. 47-Winston Forbes[10]; 10. 8-Jason Kerr[11]; 11. 510-Matthew Wade[4]; 12. 77X-Matthew Cram[8]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 76-Raelin Dunham[1]; 2. 510-Matthew Wade[3]; 3. 99-Russell Farr III[2]; 4. 2X-Josh Bussino[4]; 5. 47-Winston Forbes[6]; 6. (DNS) 24-Logan Denis
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77X-Matthew Cram[2]; 2. 28X-Bobbi Hults[4]; 3. 12VT-Aiden Benoure[1]; 4. 5-Nick Austin Neil[3]; 5. 74S-Keegan Tabor[5]; 6. 8-Jason Kerr[6]
500cc Mini Sprints
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 15P-Chris Pierce[2]; 2. 68-Raymond Hanson[7]; 3. 10-John Smith[5]; 4. 4-Tommy Kasuba[1]; 5. 11A-Gage Provencher[9]; 6. 17-Chris Lennox[4]; 7. 727-Jenna Zak[13]; 8. 9Q-Quinn Quenneville[10]; 9. 25D-Destin St Clair[11]; 10. 67-Kevin Smith[3]; 11. 73-Vern Woodard[8]; 12. 81-Alex Reed[6]; 13. 4J-Tucker Jones[12]; 14. (DNS) 743-Ashleigh Kulzer
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 15P-Chris Pierce[2]; 2. 17-Chris Lennox[4]; 3. 73-Vern Woodard[6]; 4. 25D-Destin St Clair[7]; 5. 81-Alex Reed[5]; 6. 743-Ashleigh Kulzer[1]; 7. (DQ) 727-Jenna Zak[3]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 11A-Gage Provencher[6]; 2. 10-John Smith[4]; 3. 9Q-Quinn Quenneville[3]; 4. 4J-Tucker Jones[7]; 5. 67-Kevin Smith[2]; 6. 4-Tommy Kasuba[1]; 7. 68-Raymond Hanson[5]
Mini Stocks
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 13P-Jason Porter[21]; 2. 54X-Ron Alger[5]; 3. 10-Griff Mahoney[15]; 4. 4-Chase Allen[18]; 5. 3-Jarrod Colburn[16]; 6. 4C-Chris Charboneau[17]; 7. 39-Ryan Patch[8]; 8. 79-Jeremy Brownell[7]; 9. 66C-Cody Vanguilder[4]; 10. 22B-Quinton Bishop[19]; 11. 25-Damian Olden[6]; 12. 44M-Richard Fleury[2]; 13. 54JR-Jakobee Alger[11]; 14. 5-Christopher Hewitt[1]; 15. 34C-Luke Marcheski[3]; 16. 81X-Adam Mahoney[10]; 17. 27X-Brian Blake[13]; 18. 83-Mark Mahoney[12]; 19. 80-Dawson Thompson[14]; 20. 1-Willie Rice[20]; 21. (DNS) 19-Chris Sumner
B Feature 1 (6 Laps): 1. 68-Eric Messier[8]; 2. 6A-Adam Stewart[2]; 3. 39M-Mike Bussino[3]; 4. 51-James Murray[4]; 5. 47-Jacob Mallory[1]; 6. 57-Carl Lapoint[5]; 7. 71-Mary Gardner[6]; 8. 143-Cody Dion[7]; 9. (DNS) 29-Tom Severance
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 54JR-Jakobee Alger[6]; 2. 34C-Luke Marcheski[2]; 3. 4C-Chris Charboneau[4]; 4. 3-Jarrod Colburn[8]; 5. 39-Ryan Patch[5]; 6. 66C-Cody Vanguilder[3]; 7. 1-Willie Rice[10]; 8. 47-Jacob Mallory[7]; 9. 51-James Murray[1]; 10. 71-Mary Gardner[9]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 13P-Jason Porter[10]; 2. 19-Chris Sumner[5]; 3. 25-Damian Olden[4]; 4. 80-Dawson Thompson[7]; 5. 4-Chase Allen[8]; 6. 83-Mark Mahoney[6]; 7. 5-Christopher Hewitt[1]; 8. 6A-Adam Stewart[2]; 9. 57-Carl Lapoint[3]; 10. 68-Eric Messier[9]
Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 10-Griff Mahoney[7]; 2. 79-Jeremy Brownell[4]; 3. 44M-Richard Fleury[1]; 4. 27X-Brian Blake[6]; 5. 54X-Ron Alger[3]; 6. 81X-Adam Mahoney[5]; 7. 22B-Quinton Bishop[8]; 8. 39M-Mike Bussino[10]; 9. 29-Tom Severance[9]; 10. 143-Cody Dion[2]