Seven-time champion will compete on May 13
WEST HAVEN, Vt. (May 10, 2023) – The Sprint Cars of New England (SCoNE) tour has received notice that its defending champion and most successful driver, Chris Donnelly, will be at the season opener. The Piermont, N.H., racer was not expecting to have a car ready for the opening race at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Saturday, May 13, but things have come together for his team and he plans to make the trek over the mountain to Vermont.
“The Professor” is the SCoNE record holder for feature wins, with 40, and tour championships, with seven. After a very successful career in Modifieds, Late Models, and Street Stocks at Bear Ridge Speedway and the former Canaan Fair Speedway, Donnelly joined SCoNE in 2010, sweeping both the season championship and the Rookie of the Year title. He won four races on his way to last year’s championship, and he has added titles in between, in 2012-14, 2016, and 2020.
Despite that success, Donnelly has looked human on the current half-mile layout at Devil’s Bowl; he has just one win, which came in 2021, but he has been forced to settle for five runner-up finishes. Donnelly was, however, a track champion on the former infield short track layout at Devil’s Bowl, but bad luck, blown engines, and traffic have hurt his chances at victory on the big track.
If Donnelly is to contend for the win at the Mother’s Day Weekend Special at Devil’s Bowl on Saturday, he’ll have plenty of company up front. Four-time Devil’s Bowl winner Matt Tanner of Stephentown, N.Y., is expected to enter the event, as is defending Empire Super Sprints tour champion Jordan Poirier of St-Mathieu-de-Beloeil, Quebec.
SCoNE has plenty of home stars looking for the win as well, including former series champions Clay Dow, Will Hull, and Tunk Berry, veteran racers Lacey Hanson, Jake Williams, Floyd Billington, and Jim Lowrey, and young up-and-comers Caleb Lamson, Kadyn Berry, Travis Billington, and many more.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway is located on Route 22A in West Haven, Vt., and racing on Saturday, May 13, is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Grandstand general admission is $15 for adults and free for kids 12 and under. Infield drive-in parking is $20 for adults and free for kids. Pit passes are $38, and the minimum age in the pit area is 10 years old, per Vermont state law.
For more information, visit www.nesprintcars.com or find the “SCoNE – Sprint Cars of New England” page on Facebook.
(Alan Ward photo)