Brian Calabrese Dominates CJ Richards Memorial 67 at Devil’s Bowl

Story By: MIKE BRUNO / DEVILS BOWL SPEEDWAY – BARRE HAVEN, VT – Brian Calabrese made no bones about it in victory lane. He loves racing at Devil’s Bowl Speedway. His affection for New England’s Fastest ½ mile likely grew fonder Saturday night as the veteran pilot from Johnstown, NY. dominated in the 67-lap Prelude to the 200 CJ Richards Memorial race. The win gave Calabrese not only the $5000 first prize check, but a guaranteed starting spot in the 2025 Vermont 200.

Several invaders made the haul to “The Bowl” to challenge the weekly regulars, but Calabrese was the class of the field. He finished fifth in his heat race and started 12th, just outside of the redraw group. It didn’t matter. Richard Murtaugh led the first 12 laps while facing a steady challenge from Travis Bruno. Calabrese snatched the top spot away from Murtaugh on lap 13 and never gave it back. Points leader Joey Scaborough settled in to secure the second position. Scarborough had opportunities on restarts at laps 16, 38, and 45, but Calabrese’s car was too strong on the long runs and continually fought back against Scarborough’s challenges. Scarborough held on for second. Payton Talbot, Dave Camara, and Adam Pierson rounded out the top five.

The McGee Automotive Family Sprint Cars of New England 25-lap showdown started with a bang…. literally. A spin between turns one and two on the opening trip around the speedway resulted in a multi-car melee with Kadyn Berry rolling his machine, causing severe damage. Two of the favorites to contend for the win, Matt Tanner and Kyle Smith, were also eliminated after the fracas. With Tanner and Smith off the board, Bobby Hackel, driving on the series for the first time since 2018, charged from the ninth position on the grid to take the lead and roll to victory. The celebration was short-lived, however, as Hackel was penalized for a rules violation and placed at the rear of the finishing order. Hackel’s misfortune handed the win to the runner-up, rookie Tyler Chartrand. The issues suffered by Tanner also gave Chartand the championship for the weekend Lake Champlain Series. Will Hull was moved up to the second spot. Matt Hoyt was awarded third place, followed by Jake Williams and Floyd Billington.

A half dozen drivers searching for their elusive first win of the season led the O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Sportsman to the green flag for their 25-lap fray, but in the end, youngster Logan Denis stole the cookie from the cookie jar, navigating through the pack from the 15th starting spot to collect the winner’s trophy. Denis, who is a former champion in both the 500cc Mini Sprint and Novice Sportsman Divisions, took advantage of a chance to place himself at the top of the points pedestal this week by parking his No. 24 in victory lane. Boomer Patterson appeared poised to collect his first win of the season, cruising at the point for the first 22 laps, but Denis slipped past him on lap 23 to drive off for the win. Patterson finished second, followed by Katrina Leclaire, Gary English, and Matt Wade.

In the Hoosier Tire Novice Sportsman division, Winston Forbes has been on the edge of a victory all season long, but Lady Luck has not been his friend. That changed Saturday as Forbes outdueled Erin Beaudry during the early laps and rolled to his first win of the season. Forbes, who has been close many times, with his car landing on its roof in incidents two weeks straight, was able to persevere. Former Mini Stock champion Chris Sumner was hungry for his first open-wheel win and put Forbes under some pressure late, but just couldn’t get it done. Sumner joined Forbes on the podium along with Rob Steves. Raelin Dunham and Rob Steele completed the top five.

Gage Provencher continued his winning ways in the Friend Construction 500cc Mini Sprint division, scoring his sixth win of the season. Alex Reed took the green flag and led the first lap before being overtaken by Alyssa Vanderpool. Vanderpool seemed to have a contending car as she led the next seven circuits before Provencher reeled her in and took the lead on lap nine. The driver nicknamed “Pigboy” seized control from there and rolled to his fifth win in the last six starts. Jordan Zak finished second, and Destin St. Clair was third.

Dawson Thompson made it look easy in the Fisher Auto Parts Mini Stock finale. The Hoosick Falls, NY native drove around the front row on the opening lap from his fourth spot on the grid and overcame multiple restarts to earn his first win of the season. One of Thompson’s biggest threats, Tyler Bell, was knocked out after an incident on lap four, allowing Thompson to pull away for the “W.” Kaleb Shepard was second, Jeremy Brownell third, Damien Olden fourth, and Brian Blake fifth.

The action at Devil’s Bowl continues on Saturday, August 16th, with “Friend Construction Night” with double features for every division. There will also be “Kid’s Race Car Rides at intermission. The 358 modifieds, sportsman modifieds, Limited Sportsman, Novice Sportsman, 500cc Mini Sprints, Mini Stocks, and Crown Vics are all scheduled to be on the card. Admission is $20. Kids 12 and under are free. Infield parking is $30. Pit admission is $35 for members, $45 for non-members. Racing begins at 7 p.m.

OFFICIAL RESULTS –Prelude to the 200 CJ Richards Memorial 67 Sponsored by Reed Door Solutions

Sportsman Modified
C J Richards Memorial (67 Laps): 1. 21C-Brian Calabrese[12]; 2. 11VT-Joey Scarborough[6]; 3. 14T-Payton Talbot[4]; 4. 26-Dave Camara[5]; 5. 15-Adam Pierson[20]; 6. 78-Vince Quenneville[8]; 7. 13A-Troy Audet[3]; 8. 11-Josh Sunn[14]; 9. 357-Marty Kelly III[23]; 10. 27M-Derrick Mcgrew Jr[19]; 11. 24P-Ashton Pierson[15]; 12. 75-AJ Munger[18]; 13. 23T-Scott Towslee[27]; 14. 33R-Travis Bruno[2]; 15. 25-Billy Lussier[13]; 16. 33M-Richard Murtaugh[1]; 17. 61L-Donovan Lussier[9]; 18. 29-Max Dolliver[24]; 19. 51-Justin Comes[10]; 20. 54-Tim LaDuc[11]; 21. 5-Tanner Siemons[7]; 22. 2-Brent Warren[17]; 23. 66-Adam Piper[21]; 24. 7-Josh Leclaire[25]; 25. 61-Alex Palmer Sawyer[28]; 26. 77-Eric Shaw[22]; 27. 23-Alex Bell[31]; 28. 13-Frankie Hoard III[30]; 29. 88M-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald[16]; 30. 5J-Nathan Johnson[29]; 31. 33-Melvin Pierson[26]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 78-Vince Quenneville[1]; 2. 10-Jim Nagle[2]; 3. 26-Dave Camara[4]; 4. 11X-Josh Masterson[3]; 5. 21C-Brian Calabrese[5]; 6. 24P-Ashton Pierson[6]; 7. 77-Eric Shaw[7]; 8. 29-Max Dolliver[9]; 9. 33-Melvin Pierson[10]; 10. 2X-Michael Clark Jr[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14T-Payton Talbot[1]; 2. 11VT-Joey Scarborough[4]; 3. 51-Justin Comes[2]; 4. 25-Billy Lussier[5]; 5. 88M-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald[7]; 6. 27M-Derrick Mcgrew Jr[8]; 7. 8-Kevin Chaffee[3]; 8. 60-Jim Ryan[6]; 9. 23T-Scott Towslee[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 33M-Richard Murtaugh[2]; 2. 54-Tim LaDuc[3]; 3. 33R-Travis Bruno[1]; 4. 11-Josh Sunn[8]; 5. 2-Brent Warren[4]; 6. 15-Adam Pierson[9]; 7. 13-Frankie Hoard III[5]; 8. 7-Josh Leclaire[6]; 9. 61-Alex Palmer Sawyer[7]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 61L-Donovan Lussier[1]; 2. 5-Tanner Siemons[2]; 3. 13A-Troy Audet[6]; 4. 23-Alex Bell[4]; 5. 75-AJ Munger[7]; 6. 66-Adam Piper[3]; 7. 357-Marty Kelly III[5]; 8. 60R-Randy Ryan[8]; 9. 5J-Nathan Johnson[10]; 10. 88-Fire Swamp[9]

Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 78-Vince Quenneville, 00:18.854[9]; 2. 10-Jim Nagle, 00:18.861[6]; 3. 11X-Josh Masterson, 00:18.943[5]; 4. 26-Dave Camara, 00:18.946[10]; 5. 21C-Brian Calabrese, 00:18.969[8]; 6. 24P-Ashton Pierson, 00:19.004[4]; 7. 77-Eric Shaw, 00:19.141[2]; 8. 2X-Michael Clark Jr, 00:19.159[3]; 9. 29-Max Dolliver, 00:19.453[7]; 10. 33-Melvin Pierson, 00:19.615[1]

Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 14T-Payton Talbot, 00:18.758[8]; 2. 51-Justin Comes, 00:18.827[7]; 3. 8-Kevin Chaffee, 00:18.848[1]; 4. 11VT-Joey Scarborough, 00:18.910[6]; 5. 25-Billy Lussier, 00:19.005[5]; 6. 60-Jim Ryan, 00:19.037[2]; 7. 88M-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald, 00:19.133[9]; 8. 27M-Derrick Mcgrew Jr, 00:19.193[3]; 9. 23T-Scott Towslee, 00:19.398[4]

Qualifying 3 (2 Laps): 1. 33R-Travis Bruno, 00:18.740[3]; 2. 33M-Richard Murtaugh, 00:18.816[5]; 3. 54-Tim LaDuc, 00:18.929[2]; 4. 2-Brent Warren, 00:18.941[1]; 5. 13-Frankie Hoard III, 00:19.075[9]; 6. 7-Josh Leclaire, 00:19.350[8]; 7. 61-Alex Palmer Sawyer, 00:19.403[7]; 8. (DNS) 11-Josh Sunn; 9. (DNS) 15-Adam Pierson

Qualifying 4 (2 Laps): 1. 61L-Donovan Lussier, 00:18.783[5]; 2. 5-Tanner Siemons, 00:18.996[3]; 3. 66-Adam Piper, 00:19.002[8]; 4. 23-Alex Bell, 00:19.025[9]; 5. 357-Marty Kelly III, 00:19.063[1]; 6. 13A-Troy Audet, 00:19.119[7]; 7. 75-AJ Munger, 00:19.177[6]; 8. 60R-Randy Ryan, 00:19.289[4]; 9. 88-Fire Swamp, 00:19.292[10]; 10. 5J-Nathan Johnson, 00:19.595[2]

Limited Sportsman
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 24-Logan Denis[15]; 2. 4X-Joshua Patterson[2]; 3. 12-Katrina Leclaire[6]; 4. 53-Gary English[11]; 5. 510-Matthew Wade[1]; 6. 813-Jason Quenneville[4]; 7. 19X-Freddie Little[10]; 8. 77J-Bob Kilburn[3]; 9. 9-Tyler Travis[13]; 10. 42-Kamden Duffy[9]; 11. 44X-Michael Danforth JR[14]; 12. 06-Steve Miller[8]; 13. 751-Alex Layn[18]; 14. 13-Aiden Hervey[16]; 15. 25-William Lussier Jr[7]; 16. 27X-Cody O’Brien[5]; 17. 44D-William Duprey[17]; 18. 28X-Bobbi Hults[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 06-Steve Miller[2]; 2. 510-Matthew Wade[1]; 3. 28X-Bobbi Hults[5]; 4. 27X-Cody O’Brien[3]; 5. 44X-Michael Danforth JR[7]; 6. 751-Alex Layn[4]; 7. 44D-William Duprey[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77J-Bob Kilburn[2]; 2. 25-William Lussier Jr[1]; 3. 42-Kamden Duffy[3]; 4. 53-Gary English[4]; 5. 9-Tyler Travis[6]; 6. 24-Logan Denis[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 813-Jason Quenneville[2]; 2. 4X-Joshua Patterson[1]; 3. 19X-Freddie Little[3]; 4. 12-Katrina Leclaire[4]; 5. 1VT-Marty Hutchins[5]; 6. 13-Aiden Hervey[6]

Hot Laps 1: 1. 9-Tyler Travis, 00:18.795[17]; 2. 24-Logan Denis, 00:18.861[2]; 3. 510-Matthew Wade, 00:18.912[18]; 4. 42-Kamden Duffy, 00:19.050[3]; 5. 77J-Bob Kilburn, 00:19.144[8]; 6. 53-Gary English, 00:19.179; 7. 44X-Michael Danforth JR, 00:19.324[1]; 8. 4X-Joshua Patterson, 00:19.356[15]; 9. 25-William Lussier Jr, 00:19.363[12]; 10. 28X-Bobbi Hults, 00:19.396[6]; 11. 06-Steve Miller, 00:19.464[13]; 12. 12-Katrina Leclaire, 00:19.566[10]; 13. 27X-Cody O’Brien, 00:19.573[14]; 14. 13-Aiden Hervey, 00:19.594[5]; 15. 813-Jason Quenneville, 00:19.747[16]; 16. 751-Alex Layn, 00:19.911[9]; 17. (DNS) 44D-William Duprey; 18. (DNS) 1VT-Marty Hutchins; 19. (DNS) 19X-Freddie Little

Novice Sportsman
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 47-Winston Forbes[2]; 2. 19-Chris Sumner[3]; 3. 625-Rob Steves[10]; 4. 76-Raelin Dunham[8]; 5. 227-Rob Steele[6]; 6. 74J-Jaden Pierce[7]; 7. 19X-Matt Little[11]; 8. 77X-Matthew Cram[9]; 9. 12VT-Aiden Benoure[14]; 10. 1NH-Jason Potter[16]; 11. XXX-Mark McGinnis[12]; 12. 20-James McLellan[13]; 13. 44-Jim Mattison[4]; 14. 555-Erin Beaudry[1]; 15. 17H-Trevor Hurlburt[5]; 16. 99-Russell Farr III[15]

Hot Laps 1: 1. 227-Rob Steele, 00:19.350[13]; 2. 76-Raelin Dunham, 00:19.654[3]; 3. 77X-Matthew Cram, 00:19.681[2]; 4. 47-Winston Forbes, 00:19.875[5]; 5. 12VT-Aiden Benoure, 00:19.917[1]; 6. 44-Jim Mattison, 00:19.956[8]; 7. 74J-Jaden Pierce, 00:20.086[11]; 8. XXX-Mark McGinnis, 00:20.258[9]; 9. 20-James McLellan, 00:20.287[10]; 10. 19-Chris Sumner, 00:20.296[15]; 11. 625-Rob Steves, 00:20.337[14]; 12. 555-Erin Beaudry, 00:20.345[16]; 13. 17H-Trevor Hurlburt, 00:20.349[6]; 14. 99-Russell Farr III, 00:20.365[4]; 15. 1NH-Jason Potter, 00:20.445[12]; 16. (DNS) 19X-Matt Little

500cc Mini Sprints
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 11A-Gage Provencher[10]; 2. 719-Jordan Zakrzewski[4]; 3. 25D-Destin St Clair[8]; 4. 81-Alex Reed[1]; 5. 15P-Christopher Pierce[6]; 6. 9Q-Quinn Quenneville[9]; 7. 8-Scott Bachand[12]; 8. 17-Chris Lennox[13]; 9. 21J-Tyler Whittemore[11]; 10. 727Z-Jenna Zak[7]; 11. 4-Levi Cram[5]; 12. 723-Eric Dingman[2]; 13. 2-Riley Hebert[16]; 14. 80-Alyssa Vanderpool[3]; 15. 40-Josh Rickson[14]; 16. (DNS) 21-Carm Isabella

Hot Laps 1: 1. 11A-Gage Provencher, 00:20.008[7]; 2. 8-Scott Bachand, 00:20.474[1]; 3. 80-Alyssa Vanderpool, 00:20.711[11]; 4. 17-Chris Lennox, 00:20.951[5]; 5. 727Z-Jenna Zak, 00:20.977[13]; 6. 9Q-Quinn Quenneville, 00:21.004[8]; 7. 4-Levi Cram, 00:21.012[2]; 8. 719-Jordan Zakrzewski, 00:21.051[14]; 9. 21J-Tyler Whittemore, 00:21.085[12]; 10. 15P-Christopher Pierce, 00:21.121[6]; 11. 25D-Destin St Clair, 00:21.276[10]; 12. 723-Eric Dingman, 00:21.373[3]; 13. 2-Riley Hebert, 00:22.834[4]; 14. 40-Josh Rickson, 00:23.659[15]; 15. (DNS) 81-Alex Reed; 16. (DNS) 21-Carm Isabella

Mini Stocks
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 80-Dawson Thompson[4]; 2. J32-Jon Jordan[3]; 3. 0-Kaleb Shepard[13]; 4. 79-Jeremy Brownell[16]; 5. 25-Damian Olden[1]; 6. 27X-Brian Blake[12]; 7. 179-Jeremy Brownell Jr[15]; 8. JR31-Gerard Jordan Jr[20]; 9. 6A-Adam Stewart[11]; 10. 39-Ryan Patch[10]; 11. 07-Benjamin Bushey[18]; 12. 4C-Chris Charboneau[14]; 13. 47-Jacob Mallory[8]; 14. 368-Bob Wood[9]; 15. 14-Ernie Sirois[25]; 16. 5-Christopher Hewitt[23]; 17. 802-Shane Wood[19]; 18. 70J-Anthony Johnson[6]; 19. 8B-Tyler Bell[7]; 20. 143-Cody Dion[2]; 21. 22B-Quinton Bishop[22]; 22. 82S-Dakota Sweet[26]; 23. (DNS) 44M-Richard Fleury; 24. (DNS) 76VT-Shawn Moquin; 25. (DNS) J33-Jerry Jordan Sr; 26. (DNS) J30-Kyle Jordan

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 80-Dawson Thompson[2]; 2. 0-Kaleb Shepard[6]; 3. 39-Ryan Patch[4]; 4. 70J-Anthony Johnson[3]; 5. 25-Damian Olden[1]; 6. 179-Jeremy Brownell Jr[7]; 7. 802-Shane Wood[8]; 8. 22B-Quinton Bishop[5]; 9. 14-Ernie Sirois[9]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 79-Jeremy Brownell[7]; 2. 07-Benjamin Bushey[8]; 3. 143-Cody Dion[1]; 4. 44M-Richard Fleury[2]; 5. 6A-Adam Stewart[4]; 6. 47-Jacob Mallory[3]; 7. JR31-Gerard Jordan Jr[6]; 8. 5-Christopher Hewitt[5]; 9. 82S-Dakota Sweet[9]

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. J32-Jon Jordan[1]; 2. 27X-Brian Blake[4]; 3. 8B-Tyler Bell[2]; 4. 76VT-Shawn Moquin[7]; 5. 368-Bob Wood[3]; 6. 4C-Chris Charboneau[6]; 7. (DNS) J33-Jerry Jordan Sr; 8. (DNS) J30-Kyle Jordan

Hot Laps 1: 1. 07-Benjamin Bushey, 00:23.557[5]; 2. 79-Jeremy Brownell, 00:23.921[3]; 3. 8B-Tyler Bell, 00:24.448[26]; 4. 6A-Adam Stewart, 00:24.471[21]; 5. 179-Jeremy Brownell Jr, 00:24.487[4]; 6. 22B-Quinton Bishop, 00:25.048[1]; 7. 368-Bob Wood, 00:25.527[24]; 8. 82S-Dakota Sweet, 00:25.722[22]; 9. 44M-Richard Fleury, 00:25.734[8]; 10. 80-Dawson Thompson, 00:25.775[23]; 11. 5-Christopher Hewitt, 00:25.870[9]; 12. 25-Damian Olden, 00:26.391[17]; 13. J33-Jerry Jordan Sr, 00:26.603[12]; 14. 39-Ryan Patch, 00:29.183[18]; 15. J30-Kyle Jordan, 00:29.305[14]; 16. JR31-Gerard Jordan Jr, 00:29.366[11]; 17. 802-Shane Wood, 00:29.738[25]; 18. (DNS) 27X-Brian Blake; 19. (DNS) 4C-Chris Charboneau; 20. (DNS) 143-Cody Dion; 21. (DNS) 70J-Anthony Johnson; 22. (DNS) J32-Jon Jordan; 23. (DNS) 47-Jacob Mallory; 24. (DNS) 76VT-Shawn Moquin; 25. (DNS) 0-Kaleb Shepard; 26. (DNS) 14-Ernie Sirois

SCONE Sprints
Lacaillade Masonry/LA Transportation Services A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 12T-Tyler Chartrand[2]; 2. 61-Will Hull[3]; 3. 07-Matt Hoyt[8]; 4. 73-Jake Williams[14]; 5. 19-Floyd Billington[13]; 6. 21VT-Mia Koponen[11]; 7. 1NY-Mark Reynolds[16]; 8. 89-Troy Comeau[15]; 9. 37-Donald Ottati[17]; 10. 23NH-Caiden Herbert[1]; 11. 17S-Kyle Smith[4]; 12. 12-Kadyn Berry[6]; 13. 90-Matt Tanner[10]; 14. 23B-Travis Billington[7]; 15. 24-ROBERT HACKEL[9]; 16. (DNS) 739-Nick Kruger; 17. (DNS) 91-Scott Holcomb

Lacaillade Masonry/LA Transportation Services Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 739-Nick Kruger[2]; 2. 12-Kadyn Berry[5]; 3. 24-ROBERT HACKEL[8]; 4. 12T-Tyler Chartrand[3]; 5. 07-Matt Hoyt[7]; 6. 21VT-Mia Koponen[1]; 7. 19-Floyd Billington[6]; 8. 89-Troy Comeau[4]; 9. 37-Donald Ottati[9]

Lacaillade Masonry/LA Transportation Services Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17S-Kyle Smith[1]; 2. 61-Will Hull[2]; 3. 90-Matt Tanner[7]; 4. 23B-Travis Billington[6]; 5. 23NH-Caiden Herbert[3]; 6. 91-Scott Holcomb[4]; 7. 73-Jake Williams[5]; 8. 1NY-Mark Reynolds[8]

Hot Laps 1: 1. 90-Matt Tanner, 00:15.988[16]; 2. 12T-Tyler Chartrand, 00:16.542[4]; 3. 61-Will Hull, 00:16.943[10]; 4. 17S-Kyle Smith, 00:17.254[15]; 5. 07-Matt Hoyt, 00:17.342[9]; 6. 12-Kadyn Berry, 00:17.479[1]; 7. 73-Jake Williams, 00:17.535[17]; 8. 23B-Travis Billington, 00:17.581[3]; 9. 23NH-Caiden Herbert, 00:17.616[7]; 10. 19-Floyd Billington, 00:17.649[2]; 11. 91-Scott Holcomb, 00:17.706[8]; 12. 89-Troy Comeau, 00:17.802[5]; 13. 739-Nick Kruger, 00:18.262[12]; 14. 1NY-Mark Reynolds, 00:18.609[14]; 15. 21VT-Mia Koponen, 00:18.662[11]; 16. (DNS) 24-ROBERT HACKEL; 17. (DNS) 37-Donald Ottati