CVRA Releases Albany-Saratoga, Sportsman Schedules

Devil's Bowl schedule expected soon

MALTA, N.Y. -- The Champlain Valley Racing Association has released its 2010 schedules for Albany-Saratoga Speedway and the CVRA Sportsman division. The newly-paved, 4/10-mile, Malta, N.Y., track will hold 25 race meets from April through October, including first-ever events for the Race of Champions Modified Tour, Modified Racing Series, American-Canadian Tour, International SuperModifed Association, and the new Modified Tri-Track Series, in association with CVRA sister track Devil's Bowl Speedway in West Haven, Vt., and Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

The Albany-Saratoga Speedway season opens on Sat., April 17 with 100-lap Enduro, followed the next day by the RoC/MRS Modified combination event. The ACT Late Models and Tri-Track Series debut on Sat., April 25, and the lightning-fast ISMA series runs on Sun., May 2. Regular Friday-night racing begins on May 7 with the "Grand Re-Opening" event, featuring a 50-lap Pro Stock feature. Other big events include the CVRA.com 100, a Tri-Track event, on July 16, Championship Night on Sept. 10, and the "Halloween Havoc" Enduro 200 on Oct. 16.

The CVRA Sportsman division -- formerly the "Budget Sportsman" class -- will again run weekly at Albany-Saratoga and Devil's Bowl, but will decide its champion in a 21-race series between the two tracks. Albany-Saratoga will host 12 events, beginning May 7, while Devil's Bowl will hold nine races, starting Sun., May 30. The Devil's Bowl Speedway schedule, according to the CVRA website on Tuesday, will be released "within a day or so."

Click here to view the Albany-Saratoga Speedway schedule, and click here for the CVRA Sportsman schedule.

Airborne, CVRA Lead Asphalt Modified Racing Expansion

(From Airborne Speedway press release)

Plattsburgh, N.Y. – The Champlain Valley Racing Association (CVRA), which owns and operates Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, NY and Devil's Bowl Speedway in West Haven, VT announced at its 2010 rules meeting that it will implement Airborne Speedway's Modified rules and participate in a six-race Modified series with two events at each track.

"The first event of the Series will be at Albany-Saratoga on Sunday, April 25 as a part of a card that will include an American Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Model event," CVRA promoter Bruce Richards said.

The conversion of the CVRA tracks from dirt to asphalt in 2010 has sparked interest throughout the northeast. "This is a validation of the efforts we've made at Airborne to turn it into a successful family entertainment facility," Airborne promoter Mike Perrotte said. "To have two quality race tracks in our region make the effort to promote asphalt racing with DIRT-style Modifieds as their headline division should be a plus for everybody. We are working on finalizing our 2010 schedule and selecting dates for the two series races."

Airborne and Albany-Saratoga have both scheduled 2010 special events for two well-established open-wheel asphalt tours, the International SuperModified Association (ISMA) and the Modified Racing Series.

Airborne hosts the ISMA Supers Saturday, July 17. The Modified Racing Series, formerly known as the True Value Modified Racing Series, will appear at Airborne Saturday, May 29.

"We've widened the backstretch at Albany-Saratoga by 10 feet and we're going to use the best pavement money can buy," Richards said. "We're entering a new decade and a new era. We will be offering fans in the Capital District more choices than before. We owe a special thanks to Mike Perrotte for his co-operation, interest and effort."

Airborne's 57th season opener is set for Saturday, May 1. Martin Roy of Napierville, QC, will begin defense of his 2009 Ernie's Tools Modified championship.

Devil's Bowl to Asphalt?

Multiple unofficial reports from Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Sunday are saying that Devil's Bowl Speedway in West Haven will be paved as soon as this week.

As we first reported in July, Albany-Saratoga was rumored to be switching from dirt racing to asphalt for 2010, due to pressure from a new microchip company in the town of Malta, N.Y., where the track is located.

Bruce Richards, president of the Champlain Valley Racing Association (CVRA) and promoter of the Albany-Saratoga and Devil's Bowl tracks, has removed the clay racing surface at Albany-Saratoga for a pair of race events this month and announced special asphalt events for early in the 2010 season -- including appearances by the ACT Late Model Tour, the True Value Modified Racing Series, and the ISMA Super Modifieds -- but that the clay would be returned to the track in mid-May.

Richards reportedly announced during an event at the track on Sunday, however, that Albany-Saratoga would continue to operate strictly as a dirt track next year, and that its sister speedway, the 4/10-mile Devil's Bowl Speedway, would follow suit with paving expected to begin at Devil's Bowl within the week.

Both tracks have operated with dirt and asphalt surfaces, but have been dirt tracks since the late 1970s, with the exception of one-time-only asphalt events in the early 1990s. Should Devil's Bowl Speedway return to full-time asphalt racing in 2010, it would be the second paved track in Vermont, joining the 1/4-mile Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in Barre; Bear Ridge Speedway, a 1/4-mile clay track in Bradford, is Vermont's only other operational race track.

Stay tuned to Vermont Motorsports Magazine for information and updates as they become available -- and official.