Quenneville Keeps Tradition Going At Devil’s Bowl
Second Generation Driver Shows Well In Whelen All-American Series Points
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season enters its stretch run, a trio of familiar names are still atop the national standings as Keith Rocco remains out in front of Ryan Preece and Lee Pulliam.
While Rocco continues his quest for a second national championship there are several drivers near the top 10 who are making their names and track known throughout the country.
One of those is second-generation competitor Vince Quenneville Jr. The Brandon, Vermont, native joined fellow Devil’s Bowl Speedway competitor Greg Atkins in cracking the top 10 in the Division I national standings. The West Haven, Vermont, track is one of the most well-known short tracks in the country.
NATIONAL TOP 500 | STATE/PROVINCE TOP 20
“I’ve been racing a long time and it’s neat to see my name near the top of the national standings,” Quenneville said. “We don’t have as long a season up here as the guys in the other parts of the country get to have so we have to really make our finishes count in every race.”
Atkins and Quenneville were both in the top-10 last week, and after the track’s annual off-week, the duo sits 11th and 14th, respectively, in this week’s standings.
Quenneville credits a new car in his recent surge in the standings and that has made a big difference.
“We got a new car a couple of weeks ago and we have won three of the four races I’ve entered since then,” he said. “It’s not really new, a 2012 model, but the car really seems to handle my driving style well and we’re looking forward to this upcoming weekend when we will race in three features.”
In addition to racing at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, Quenneville makes the trip across the state line and competes at Airborne Park Speedway in Plattsburgh, New York.
“My dad (Vince Quenneville Sr.) raced a lot a Devil’s Bowl and still holds the track record for consecutive feature wins at 16 in row,” Quenneville added. “I definitely got the racing bug from my late dad and hope we can win another track championship at our home track.”
Rocco (Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway, Thompson (Conn.) Speedway Motorsports Park, New London-Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl) remains atop the standings for the sixth consecutive week and leads fellow New Englander Ryan Preece (Stafford, Thompson and Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway) by 43 points (640-597). Two-time national champ Lee Pulliam (Langley, South Boston (Va.) Speedways and Caraway Speedway, Sophia, N.C.) remains in third, nine points behind Preece.
Kres VanDyke (Kingsport (Tenn.) Speedway & Lonesome Pine Raceway, Coeburn, Va.) sits in fourth place with Matt Bowling (Langley, Motor Mile (Radford, Va.) and South Boston) completing the top five.
Thomas Tillison (Flint Creek, Salina (Oklahoma) Speedways) is sixth with Jimmy Zacharias (Holland (New York) Motorsports Complex, Chemung (N.Y.) Speedrome, Ted Christopher (New London-Waterford, Thompson, Stafford), Zeke Shell (Kingsport, Lonesome Pine) and Ronnie McCarty (Kingsport) complete the top 10.
The Whelen All-American Series points season will run through Sunday, Sept. 20.
The top three in the national standings, as well as state and province champions, track champions, top finishers in the Div. II-V and special award winners, will be honored at the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards in December.
Established in 1982, the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series is NASCAR’s national championship program for weekly short track auto racing. In all, 58 paved and dirt tracks throughout the United States and Canada participate.
Connecticut-based Whelen Engineering is the series’ title sponsor. Whelen Engineering is a leading manufacturer of automotive, aviation, industrial and emergency vehicle lighting. NASCAR tracks and pace cars across North America are among the many showcases for Whelen products.
Current Top 25 National Standings
Pos Driver Track Starts Wins T-5 T-10 Points
1 Keith Rocco Waterford, Stafford, Thompson 26 8 19 22 640
2 Ryan Preece Stafford, Thompson, Riverhead 25 7 18 24 597
3 Lee Pulliam Langley, Caraway, Motor Mile, S Boston 27 13 22 24 586
4 Kres Vandyke Caraway, L Pine, Greenville, Kingsport, Motor Mile, Anderson 32 12 25 27 542
5 Matt Bowling Motor Mile, S Boston, Caraway, Langley 21 2 17 21 526
6 Thomas Tillison, Jr(R) Flint Creek, Salina 17 8 14 14 522
7 Jimmy Zacharias Holland, Chemung 15 7 14 15 467
8 Ted Christopher Waterford, Thompson, Stafford 24 4 11 14 464
9 Zeke Shell L Pine, Kingsport 18 2 15 17 454
10 Ronnie McCarty Kingsport 16 6 13 16 450
11 Greg Atkins(R) Airborne, Devil’s Bowl 17 0 12 17 446
12 Trey Gibson Anderson, Greenville 25 9 21 21 435
13 David Roberts Anderson, Greenville, Myrtle 27 4 21 25 432
14 Vince Quenneville Devil’s Bowl, Airborne 17 3 11 14 427
15 Josh Berry Greenville, Motor Mile, Hickory, Langley, S Boston 14 5 13 13 417
16 Kyle Barnes Anderson, Greenville, Motor Mile, L Pine, Kingsport 21 2 9 17 412
17 Craig Von Dohren Grandview 14 2 10 12 408
18 Rowan Pennink Stafford 13 5 10 11 401
19 Wayne Hale L Pine, Kingsport 24 0 12 22 390
20 Jacob Goede Elko 11 7 10 11 389
21 Greg Edwards East Carolina, Langley 17 5 10 16 383
22 Tim Brown Bowman 15 4 10 14 382
23 Steve Carlson Lacrosse 11 6 11 11 372
24 Duane Howard Grandview 14 3 7 11 359
25 Steve Holzkamper(R) Salina, Flint Creek 18 1 8 12 359
Sources: Tim Southers/NASCAR PR