JW: Hey Devon! Thanks for chatting with me today. To get right into it, you had an interesting 2024 sprint car season with everything from highs to lows. Now that you have had some time to digest everything on your end from 2024, how do you look back at last year?
 
DB: It wasn’t a good season… We only won one race. I just failed to perform more than anything else. Everyone has good years and bad years. For me, it wasn’t good. Last year was that down year for us. I feel like everyone has those years every once in a while and last year was it for us. We were in a lot of positions to win races and we didn’t get the job done. The highlight of the year was Port Royal; the single win. There were a lot of times I looked really good, but didn’t have the results to back it up. Then there were times I looked really bad and someone came out with a decent performance at the end of the night. Overall, everything has to be clicking to have a good year. 
 
JW: You built yourself quite a name when you first arrived in PA with your family car. So much so, that Shuttlesworth-Stehman Racing [#23] allowed you to race for them in PA and set up shop. Looking back at the opportunity, did you enjoy racing with SSR, even though both of you went your separate ways at the end of 2024? 
 
DB: Absolutely! Jim [Shuttlesworth] and Chris [Stehman] helped me a lot. They helped to take me to the next step in my career. They taught me a lot in all aspects of the sport when it comes from the business side off the track and on the track when it came to driving and working on the car. In 2023, we had certain points of being one of the top teams in our region. We won a bunch of races, put ourselves in a position to win a lot of races, and competed with the Outlaws when we had the opportunity. They were great for my career and I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity they gave me.
 
JW: Congratulations! Now you have a new ride for 2025! New team, new series, and new opportunities… How optimistic are you for a fresh start this year with a brand new slate with Grove Racing [#45] with the All Stars this season?
 
DB: I’m super excited about the opportunity. It will be good to get out on the All Star tour and get on some new tracks that will help make me a better driver. I love racing out here in PA. It’s great for a life balance out here when you can sleep in your own bed, compete out on the track to make money, and still have time to pursue other interests like building a business. But, it will be good for me to get out of PA and get some more experience rather than just run the same four or five tracks all the time. I’m looking forward to the opportunity and the overall schedule we will be running. I will still be able to race a good amount in PA, which was one of my initial concerns when taking this offer. Honestly, I just love racing out here in PA. I love being a part of the ‘Posse’. But, it will be good to get out, compete on new tracks, and see what I can learn from all of this.
 
JW: Do you mind going into detail on how the opportunity with Grove Racing [#45] came about? In addition, what made you and the team decide to go racing with the All Stars full-time in 2025; considering, the growing amount of other regional series from this past year that you could have joined?
 
DB: Bryan [Grove] and I have kept in touch all last year. I ran his car a year ago in Florida for a one-off. But, we always kept in touch just chatting. But, after I left the #23 car, he reached out to me to see what my plan was. The door opened up on both our ends as they were looking for someone to come into their operation for 2025 and I had nothing on the table at that point. I really like Bryan [Grove] and the entire team of guys. We get along really well on a personal level which makes this opportunity a great fit for all of us in my opinion. We mesh well together. That’s important in this sport and really undervalued - team morale. Bryan wanted to get back out and go on the All Stars when they announced they were coming back. The All Stars has always made sense for him and the entire team when it comes to how they run their operation. It made perfect sense for him to do it again and perfect sense for me join him and run it. I’m not going into running this series to finish second. I’m in it to win it. 
 
JW: It’s hard to predict the future as we have just entered into 2025 and your season with Grove Racing [#45] is yet to begin. That said, are you optimistic in yourself that you could potentially jump onto a National series in 2026 with either the World of Outlaws or High Limit Racing depending on how the All Star campaign goes? Is that something you are open to depending on the season, or would you rather build-up and keep running at a regional level for the next couple of years?
 
DB: I mean, it’s something that I would consider. For me to go out on the road, it would have to be the right deal. I’m not the guy to go out on the road for an opportunity and race for 10%, 20%, or even 30% with a team I’m not 100% backed by. I gotta make money. That was always my dream to be an Outlaw. To be a World of Outlaws Champion. I would like to do it, but it would have to be the right deal with the right team. I’m not going out there without a crew chief or without the right team that has the funding and proper operation to do it well. It takes a special combination with your team to be successful out on the road. Bryan [Grove] and I have talked about potentially doing that and making that step depending on how this year going. But, there is potential to go and do that. It’s a matter of having a really good year [2025] and seeing where we can take the operation forward in 2026. 
 
JW: Switching gears a bit, do you mind sharing with me what it was like growing up in Washington State and being a part of the West Coast sprint car scene? That’s where you ultimately got your start in racing sprint cars during your years in high school. What was it like racing and being involved with the West Coast/Pacific-Northwest sprint car scene?
 
DB: The West Coast was hard; especially, getting your name out there. Washington and Oregon doesn’t get the recognition that you get out here in PA where I’m at when it comes to racing. I feel like it’s tougher on the awareness side of it. When I first came out here in PA and I was racing in the Heffner car, after the first few races, all of a sudden I had name recognition and people already knew who I was. I love racing at Skagit and Elma, but growing up in that are made it tough to get on the map. That said, the racing helped me as a driver in the seat. I would argue that seat time on the west coast develops you as a driver compared to any other part of the country when it comes to seat time. But, the awareness that sprint car racing has out in the mid-west and east coast is far greater. What Kevin (Rudeen) is doing in the [Pacific-Northwest] region is amazing. I hope I go back to the region in a few years and I see it explode even more to where it’s gotten out in my old stomping ground even at the present time. I want to see sprint car racing go to the moon! I feel like sprint car racing is lacking the TV time to help get it to the next step. I’m not sure how it could be done, but I feel like if there is a way; that’s what’s lacking I’m my view.
 
JW: What was the transition like going from Washington (West Coast) to Pennsylvania (East Coast)? You moved cross country to chase out your dream. Was it something you thought about for a long time growing up, or was it a decision that you made right after high school? Did you find that there was a culture shock for you at all when moving from Washington to Pennsylvania; moving from the Pacific-Northwest to the East Coast? 
 
DB: At first I hated it. But it’s grown on me over the time here. I have built up relationships here. I have good friends and a network that I have developed. There are a lot of good people out here in PA. Obviously, the environment from Washington to PA is vastly different region to region, but I have gotten used to my new home out here. But, it’s all about the racing for me out here in PA. That's why I’m here. That’s the number one priority.
 
JW: The one and only, Kaleb Hart, wanted me to ask a question on his behalf for you. Kaleb wanted to know if you learned about winged speed at Gray’s Harbour Raceway, as you wouldn’t be able to learn about that going to Skagit Speedway. If so, did it help your transition to the PA with the types of tracks they have (half-miles/larger bowls)?
 
DB: Definitely. Grey’s Harbor [Raceway] has a ton of winged speed. It’s a unique track for sure since it races like a big track. Even in the entire West Coast scene, that track is particularly unique and tough to get right with the speeds that you carry into each corner as turns one and two are very different from three and four. You are forced to play around with your wing throughout the night to see how the track is racing to make sure you keep your grip at those speeds you run; especially, on how the track changes throughout the feature. 
 
JW: Do you mind sharing about your business?
 
DB: For sure! My business is called DB Power Washing. I was working at the race shop all the time when I came. I bought a pressure washer from Facebook marketplace for around 2k and just started doing side work on my days off. It gave me something to do and a way to make some extra money. Next thing you know, I get called to do this massive apartment complex. I knew I had to invest more into this venture since the opportunities kept coming. It grew from there. Now I have a couple of big contracts and growing it from there as much as I can. I have always liked doing things on my own so this just makes sense for me. I love racing and it will always be my priority. My ultimate goal is to be a car owner one day. The best way to make that happen is to go out, make my own business, and bring in the money that can afford me to do it my way. 
 
JW: To finish off our chat, we have chatted briefly about the 2025 campaign with all of the new changes on your end, but what are some of the goals you have for the upcoming season? 
 
DB: My biggest goal is to win the All Star title this season. That’s number one on the list of priorities I have for myself this year. I want to be competitive, be upfront, and win races. I wanna be the show. I wanna be the guy that everybody shows up to the track that wants to beat in the series. We have to put together a solid campaign this year and I’m looking forward to the challenge of something new. I can’t wait to get at it and have fun this year.