Vermont Motorsports Magazine | Racing Coverage for the Green Mountains

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2010-06-25T11:12:00.001-04:00

Pos.	Car		Driver	Hometown	Points	Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10
1	73		Kevin Chaffee	Orange, VT	102	2	1	1	2
2	01		Ryan Avery	Thornton, NH	94	2	0	1	2
3	5		Gary Siemons	Orford, NH	92	2	0	1	2
4	11		Travis Shinn	Groton, NH	90	2	0	1	1
5	96		Jason Sanville	Rumney, NH	86	2	0	1	1
6	1NH		Jack Cook	Moultonboro, NH	82	2	0	0	1
7	3	#	Dan Eastman	Thetford Ctr., VT	73	2	0	1	1
	63		Trevor Rocke	Canaan, NH	73	2	0	0	2
9	21	#	Ryan Dutton	Bradford, VT	65	2	0	0	0
10	00		Jason Gray	East Thetford, VT	60	1	1	1	1
11	82		Randy Howe	Lebanon, NH	58	1	0	1	1
12	9		Mike Dunn	N. Haverhill, NH	52	1	0	1	1
13	92		Dave Sanville	Rumney, NH	50	1	0	1	1
14	14		Mark Williams	Milton, NH	49	2	0	0	0
15	97		Alan Hammond	Canaan, NH	44	1	0	0	1
16	06	#	Jeffrey Elliott	Orford, NH	43	1	0	0	1
17	51	#	Justin Comes	Middlebury, VT	39	1	0	0	1
18	07x		Jim Lowery, Jr.	Tilton, NH	38	1	0	0	0
19	29		Mike Greene	Haverhill, NH	35	1	0	0	1
20	181		Blake Shepard	Newton, NH	32	1	0	0	0
21	10	#	Derek Graham	Woodsville, NH	29	1	0	0	0
	72	#	Mike Santaw	Lyme, NH	29	1	0	0	0
23	15		Adam Pierson	Fairlee, VT	28	1	0	0	0
24	36		Brian Whittemore	Florence, VT	26	1	0	0	0
25	81x		Louie Cadwell	Vershire, VT	25	1	0	0	0
26	75		Toby Stark	Canaan, NH	23	1	0	0	0
27	X		Bryan King	Corinth, VT	21	1	0	0	0
28	07		Russell Christian	Canaan, NH	5	1	0	0	0

ACT Tiger Tour Opens At White Mountain Saturday

2010-06-04T11:23:00.003-04:00

(From ACT press release)

NORTH WOODSTOCK, N.H. -- White Mountain Motorsports Park will open the Bond Auto/Wix Filters Tiger Tour on Saturday, June 5. The Tiger Sportsman cars from throughout the region will begin their championship run in the first of four events for the 2010 race season.

“White Mountain was a natural for us to begin the 2010 campaign,” said Tom Curley, President of the American-Canadian Tour which sanctions the division. “WMMP took a major step to bring the ACT rules for the Tiger Sportsman division to the track this season, and we want to do whatever we can to try and help get this division in a growth trend at WMMP. We have encouraged the Thunder Road Tiger teams to visit WMMP whenever they can in 2010.”

All tour events will be 100 laps. The other scheduled events that will be held during the season are Thunder Road in Barre on July 1, Canaan Fair (N.H.) Speedway on August 21, and Riverside Speedway in Groveton, N.H., on October 9.

Seven-time ACT Late Model Tour champion Jean-Paul Cyr has assembled a group that will oversee the Tiger Tour on behalf of ACT. “I asked Jean if he had any interest in helping out this summer as we also have many races with the ACT Late Model Tour, the Serie ACT-Castrol Edge, and Thunder Road,” continued Curley. “He certainly has plenty of racing experience and he has brought some of his Late Model team to help with long-time members Randy Ploof and Bruce King joining him.”

The opening ACT Tiger Tour event is expected to draw 30 teams to White Mountain. Leading the pack will be Brendan Moodie from North Wolcott, Vt., winner on Memorial Day weekend at Thunder Road. Tiger Tour champion Shawn Duquette of Morrisonville, N.Y., will make the long haul to the picturesque 1/4-mile oval in defense of his 2009 title. Former Thunder Road champions Shawn Fleury and Jimmy Hebert have both entered the White Mountain event, and Late Model drivers Chip Grenier and Dave Pembroke, both graduates of the Tiger division, will also be compete.

Pit gates open at noon, practice starts at 2:30 and post time is 5:00 on Saturday, June 5. For more information contact WMMP at http://www.whitemtnmotorsports.com/ or call (603) 745-6727.

The Juice: Kruczek's Suspension Necessary For Unnecessary Wreck

2010-06-04T04:04:00.000-04:00

-by Justin St. Louis
VMM Editor

Bryan Kruczek set the sport of short track racing back 50 years last Friday night.

The Newmarket, N.H., driver is a leading weekly Late Model competitor at Lee USA Speedway, and is a part-time competitor with the American-Canadian Tour, most recently racing at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine last month. Last August Kruczek was invited to test at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the inaugural ACT Invitational, and although he did not participate in the race, he was surprisingly fast at the Loudon mile.

On paper, Bryan Kruczek has proven himself a solid competitor for several years, both at and away from Lee USA Speedway. But what he did last week is simply inexcusable.

Four ACT teams that do not compete regularly at Lee USA Speedway took part in the track's Friday night NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model program: Joey Polewarczyk, John Donahue, Glen Luce, and rookie Dave Farrington, Jr. Thirteen other teams were racing in the division that night including A.J. Begin, Wayne Helliwell, Jr., J.R. Baril, Jimmy Linardy and Miles Chipman, each one a name familiar to ACT fans.

Coming to the final lap of their qualifying heat race, Polewarczyk sat in third place as Kruczek -- who came from the rear after being penalized by Lee USA officials for a three-wide maneuver that caused a wreck in the opening laps of the race -- drilled Polewarczyk's rear bumper at the start/finish line. As Polewarczyk attempted to correct his car as it slid out of control toward the infield, Kruczek hit him again, this time hard enough to lift Polewarczyk's rear tires off the track.

With his front tires turned to the right while still attempting to make the first save, Polewarczyk's car immediately shot across the track and nearly head-on into the frontstretch wall, destroying the chassis and many bolt-on parts. Polewarczyk was not hurt in the crash, but strained a leg muscle from "standing on the brake pedal" with both feet as his car careened into the wall.

But far worse than the damage done to Polewarczyk's car was the fact that Kruczek intended to cause the crash, justifying his actions with an "us-against-them" attitude reminiscent of racing's earliest, most rambunctious days. When Polewarczyk confronted him in the pit area for an explanation, Kruczek essentially told Polewarczyk he wasn't welcome at Lee USA.

"I love racing at Lee and I've never had a problem with any of the drivers when I've raced there," Polewarczyk said. "But when I asked [Kruczek] why he wrecked me, he pointed at himself and said, 'I'm running for points, you ACT boys stick to your own turf.' I was shocked. I don't want to sound like a whiner, but that wreck was totally unnecessary and I'm lucky I wasn't hurt. We had an in-car camera, and the replays are scary to watch."

Polewarczyk said that his car's chassis was bent from the front clip to the center section, and that it needed to visit a fabricator for repairs before it could return to a raceable condition. Polewarczyk, Donahue, and Luce were at Lee USA to test their Ford crate engines after having them rebuilt at Butler-MacMaster in Maine.

Donahue said he "didn't trust" any of the drivers after Polewarczyk's crash and stayed out of the way for the rest of the evening, and according to another report, Farrington's team was also involved in a shouting match after the feature event later in the evening.

With the ACT rulebook expanding over the last decade to include Late Model divisions at nearly a dozen weekly tracks in the region, ACT Late Model Tour competitors have been encouraged to support weekly events, just as weekly competitors have been invited to race with ACT at other venues. Kruczek's participation in ACT over the past half-dozen years is a prime example of the rulebook working succesfully in both directions.

But his antics need to stop now. It appears that both Lee USA and ACT are doing their part in making sure that the Kruczek-Polewarczyk incident is a one-time-only happening.

"It was an unnecessary wreck," said Lee USA Speedway General Manager Bob Watson. "Bryan races here on a weekly basis, and I like the kid, he's a good little shoe, but sometimes he gets in a little over his head."

Watson said that Kruczek was involved in a racing incident in May 2009 that warranted a probationary period lasting through the season. "It seems like almost on a yearly basis we have to sit down and have a chat with him, and he was beautiful for the rest of the season last year," said Watson. "But we can't overlook this."

Watson said that Lee USA Speedway has suspended Kruczek from competition for two weeks and has again placed him on probation throught he 2010 season.

"We hope this is an isolated incident at Lee," said ACT President Tom Curley. "ACT encourages race teams to compete throughout the season, when the opportunity exists, at all tracks that are part of the ACT rules package." Curley said. "We have enjoyed much success with various teams joining the tour regulars at our events over the years [and] there are also many positive examples of ACT teams racing at other tracks besides the scheduled ACT events. We will continue to encourage that participation for what we perceive as good for fans, race teams, and promoters."

Kruczek's suspension means that he will not compete at Lee USA Speedway when the ACT Late Model Tour arrives on June 11. It's probably a safe bet that he won't be invited to race at NHMS this September, either.

***

AROUND THE REGION:

Time to take a look at the top Vermonters from the past weekend...

Airborne Speedway (Plattsburgh, N.Y.): Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney was third in the Modified Racing Series 100-lap event on Saturday night. Brandon's Don Scarborough finished fourth in the Modified feature, and Swanton's Kevin Boutin was third in the Renegades.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway (Malta, N.Y.): Mike Bruno of Bomoseen was eighth in the Modified feature on Friday night with Brandon's Don Scarborough ninth.

Bear Ridge Speedway (Bradford): Rookie Dan Douville of Concord, N.H., won his first SCoNE 360 Sprint Car feature on Saturday over Robby Bodwell of Sanford, Me., and rookie Chris Donnelly of Orford, N.H. Fairlee's Adam Pierson won the Sportsman Modified race over Brian Whittemore of Florence and Travis Shinn of Groton, N.H., Topsham's Josh Harrington won the Sportsman Coupe feature over East Corinth drivers Gene Pierson and Melvin Pierson. Newbury's Jeremy Hodge took his second Limited Late Model win over Will Hull of East Montpelier and T.C. Forward of Lyme, N.H., and Josh Sunn of White River Junction stayed perfect through three features in the Fast Four division, winning over Kevin Harran of St. Johnsbury and Andy Johnson of Wilder. Bradford's Tom Placey won the Hornet race over Wilder's David West, Jr., and Steve Sheldon of St. Johnsbury Center, while Melissa King of Corinth beat St. Johnsbury's Misty Bell and Dawn Woodward of Corinth in the Hornet Queen race.

Big Daddy's Speedway (Rumney, N.H.): Josh Sunn of White River Junction was the Mini Stock winner on Sunday over St. Johnsbury's Kevin Harran.

Canaan Dirt Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Rookie Dan Eastman of Thetford Center was third in the Sportsman Modifed feature on Friday, and Josh Sunn of White River Junction was third in Mini Stock feature. Mike Stender of South Strafford beat Tunbridge's Baxter Doty to win the Bandit feature.

Canaan Fair Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Mendon's Chris Wilk won Saturday's Pro Stock feature, with South Royalton's Kevin Menard sixth. Hartland's Bruce Jaycox was third in the Super Street feature, and Jamie Hodgdon of Ascutney was fifth in the Pure Stocks. Thetford's Chris McKinstry won the Northeast Mini Stock Tour feature.

Devil's Bowl Speedway (West Haven): Don Scarborough of Brandon won the Modified Tri-Track Series opener on Sunday over Patrick Dupree of Saranac Lake, N.Y., and Ketih Flach of Ravena, N.Y. Don Miller of Wells won the Sportsman feature over Paul Dunham of Indian Lake, N.Y., and Chris Johnson of Malta, N.Y. Dave Emigh of Ballston Spa, N.Y. beat Milton's Cody Benoit to win the Renegade feature, with Jon Miller of Malta, N.Y., third. Milton's Chad Brown beat Brent Warren of Salisbury and Nathan Woodworth of Essex Junction to win the Bomber Warrior race. Andy Smith of South Glens Falls, N.Y., won the Duke Stock race.

Lee USA Speedway (Lee, N.H.): Graniteville's John Donahue was ninth in the Late Model feature on Friday night.

Modified Racing Series: On Saturday at Airborne Speedway, Ascutney driver Dwight Jarvis finished third, with his rookie nephew Joey Jarvis 23rd. On Sunday at Thunder Road, Joey Jarvis finished seventh with Dwight Jarvis ninth. Les Hinckley of Windsor Locks, Conn., won at Airborne, and Steve Masse of Bellingham, Mass., won at Thunder Road.

Monadnock Speedway (Winchester, N.H.): Putney's Dana Shepard was tenth in the Super Street feature on Saturday, and Joe Rogers of Ludlow finished seventh in the Mini Stocks.

NASCAR Nationwide Series: Shelburne's Kevin Lepage finished 37th at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday.

PASS South Super Late Models: Steven Legendre of Danville finished 14th in Saturday's event at Concord Motorsports Park. Rookie Andy Loden of Stanley, N.C., was the winner.

Riverside Speedway (Groveton, N.H.): Dan Sidney of St. Johnsbury was the Outlaw Sportsman runner-up on Saturday with Davey Ofsuryk of Newport Center fifth. Rookie Johanna Christman of Cabot was fifth in the Super Stock race. Brett Rowell of Concord was the Street Stock runner-up with Aaron Smith of Orleans third. Howard Switser of West Burke won the Dwarf Car race. Waterford's Lorin Vear won the Cyclone race.

Sprint Cars of New England: Lacey Hanson of Orwell was seventh in Saturday's event at Bear Ridge Speedway. Rookie Dan Douville of Concord, N.H., was the winner.

Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl (Barre): Steve Masse of Bellingham, Mass., won the Modified Racing Series event on Sunday over Ron Goodenough of Swanzey, N.H., and Ken Barry of Preston, Conn. Dave Pembroke of Middlesex won the 100-lap Late Model event over John Donahue of Graniteville and Hyde Park's Eric Williams. Brendan Moodie of North Wolcott won the Tiger Sportsman feature over Tom Therrien of Hinesburg and Ricky Roberts of Washington. Travis Hull of Graniteville took his first Street Stock win over Williamstown's Mike MacAskill and Dan Lathrop of Hyde Park. Ken Christman of Cabot won the Junkyard Warrior race over Josh Erwin of Waterbury and Brock Parrott of Williamstown.

Twin State Speedway (Claremont, N.H.): Rutland's Dallas Trombley was the Late Model runner-up on Friday night. Chris Wilk of Mendon was the Super Street winner. Jacksonville's Kaitlin Stone won the Strictly Stock feature with Pittsford's Kyle Davis third.

White Mountain Motorsports Park (North Woodstock, N.H.): Dwayne Lanphear was sixth in the Late Model feature on Saturday. Jason Corliss of Danville was the Super Sportsman runner-up with Tucker Williams of Hyde Park third. Stevie Parker of Lyndonville was seventh in the Strictly Stock feature, and Ernie Snider of Orange won the Strictly Stock Mini race.

***

THIS WEEK:

Friday, June 4
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 6:45pm (Spring Championships)
Canaan Dirt Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 7:00pm (SCoNE 360 Sprint Cars)
Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. -- 7:30pm (Regular Event)

Saturday, June 5
Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y. -- 5:00pm (Regular Event)
Bear Ridge Speedway, Bradford -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)
Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)
Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)
Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)
White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H. -- 5:00 (ACT Tiger Sportsman Series)

Sunday, June 6
Big Daddy's Speedbowl, Rumney, N.H. -- 4:00pm (Granite State Mini Sprints)
Devil's Bowl Speedway, West Haven -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)

TOURING SERIES:

ACT Tiger Sportsman Series: Sat., June 5 -- White Mountain Motorsports Park, No. Woodstock, N.H. (5:00pm)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Fri., June 4 -- Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas (SPEED/8:30pm)
NASCAR Nationwide Series: Sat., June 5 -- Nashville Superspeedway, Nashville, Tenn. (ESPN/7:30pm)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Sun., June 6 -- Pocono Speedway, Long Pond, Pa. (TNT/1:00pm)
Pro All Stars Series: Fri., June 4 -- Ace Speedway, Altamahaw, N.C. (7:45pm)
Série ACT-Castrol Edge: Sat., June 5 -- Autodrome Chaudiere, Vallee-Jct., Qué. (6:00pm)
Sprint Cars of New England: Fri., June 4 -- Canaan Dirt Speedway, Canaan, N.H. (7:00pm)

Dragon Family Headed Back To Bear Ridge

2010-06-03T12:41:00.000-04:00

BRADFORD -- Vermont's most famous racing family returns to Bear Ridge Speedway on Saturday night as the Dragons race on the dirt. Patriarchs Harmon "Beaver" Dragon, 69, and his brother, Bobby, 64, put their home town of Milton, Vt., on the stock car racing map as they won races from the 1960s to the 2000s. Their sons, Brent and Scott, are also successful racers, and will join their fathers at the Bradford quarter-mile for a family showdown.

Both members of the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame, Beaver and Bobby Dragon racked up well over a dozen track and series championships, and have competed on superspeedways including Daytona, Charlotte and Darlington. Brent, Beaver's son, is a three-time Airborne Speedway champion and is among the all-time winners on the present-day American-Canadian Tour, and Bobby's son Scott is a three-time ACT winner currently competing with the Pro All Stars Series.

Bobby Dragon won last year's inaugural event, as Beaver and Brent played a last-lap game of bumper tag. Brent held his own ground in the regular 30-lap Sportsman Modified event that evening, though, finishing tenth in his first-ever dirt-track start.

"I plan to do a lot better this year in the main feature," Brent chuckled. "I was nervous about it last year having never raced dirt before, but I know what to do now."

Beaver and Bobby both raced on dirt tracks in Vermont and New York during the 1960s and '70s, but Bobby was still surprised to have won last year.

"It was a lot of fun, but it was a lot different from the asphalt I'd been used to running on. I think this year we've got to remind Beaver that the guys that own these cars have to race them after we're done and he shouldn't try to tear them all up like last year," Bobby laughed.

Bobby said that his son Scott, who will take part in the race for the first time this year, has designs of his own. "Scott's never been on a dirt track before, but he told us he's going to show us all how it's done out there."

Fairlee's Adam Pierson earned his first feature win of the season last week and leads the Sportsman Modified points after three events. Jack Cook of Moultonboro, N.H., sits second ten points back, with three-time defending champion Gary Siemons of Orford, N.H., third, twelve points behind Pierson. Melvin Pierson, Josh Harrington, and Jason Horniak pace the Sportsman Coupe division, and Will Hull leads Jeremy Hodge in the Limited Late Models.

Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank presents the card at Bear Ridge Speedway at 6:00pm on Saturday.

NASCAR: Latitude 43 Signs With GlobeTrack Wireless GPS

2010-06-02T14:13:00.003-04:00

(From team press release)

Vermont-based Latitude 43 Motorsports, LLC, has announced a long-term sponsorship agreement for its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series #26 car with GlobeTrack Wireless, Inc., (GTW) of Austin, Texas.

Latitude 43 Motorsports will represent GTW's very unique line of GPS products which include the SOS 1000 automotive GPS tracking device, as well as personal and pet GPS tracking devices.

About: Globe Track Wireless

GTW’s GPS Products affords many solutions for both the consumer and for commercial vehicle tracking. Now tracking your loved ones, possessions, or employees can be done from your computer or more conveniently your smart phone.

Simply put, in today’s society we all look for levels of protection that allow us in a real-time basis to be reactive almost immediately. The solutions which are available to us are only limited by technology and affordability. GTW has developed products which make these solutions a reality and at the same time are economically feasible. Now, you have the ability to receive accurate location notification among other exciting options. The other options include the ability to know when your vehicle/person enters or leaves a specially designated geographical area known as Geo-Fencing. In order to maintain both peace-of-mind and security in real-time GTW has developed and put together programs which include a substantial savings in devices such as the SOS-1000 which is included FREE with a 36 month contract. The cost of operating the SOS-1000 GPS device can be offset by potential insurance discounts. Additionally, you will also have your own secured website login and password to access your account 24/7. All of these benefits afford you the highest level of security while maintaining real-time knowledge of all of your assets which are under your control.

For further information, GTW encourages you to visit their website www.gtwgps.com.

Scarborough Wins Tri-Track at Devil's Bowl

2010-06-01T15:05:00.000-04:00

(From track press release)

WEST HAVEN -- It's only fitting that a Green Mountain Boy won the first Modified feature run on the new asphalt surface at Devil's Bowl Speedway.

Former track champion Don Scarborough of Brandon dominated an impressive field on Sunday afternoon to win the 50-lap Tri-Track Series race, the first Modified event of the 2010 season at the Bowl.

Scarborough made a smooth transition to the new surface at the Bowl and came away with his 31st career Devil's Bowl victory, which pitted competitors from Devil's Bowl, Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., and Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y. The victory was Scarborough's first at the Bowl since opening night in 2007; he was the track champion in 1998.

Airborne invader Patrick Dupree of Saranac Lake, N.Y., finished second, with Keith Flach third, defending track champion Ken Tremont, Jr., fourth, and Mike Bruno fifth. Tremont kept the fans on their feet for most of the race, coming from 18th at the start.

Don Miller of Wells picked up his second-straight win in the Sportsman division, leading Paul Dunham, Chris Johnson, Alex Bell, and Marc Hughes to the finish line.

David Emigh, a regular competitor at Albany-Saratoga, made the holiday haul to Vermont pay off by picking up the victory in the Renegade feature. Cody Benoit, the opening day winner, had to settle for second, with Jonathan Miller third.

Chad Brown was victorious in the Bomber Warriors feature for the second week in a row, and Andy Smith took the checkered flag in the Duke stock feature.

OFFICIAL RESULTS -- Chittenden Bank 50
Modified Tri-Track Series -- Devil's Bowl Speedway, West Haven, Vt.
Sunday, May 30, 2010

(Pos.-Driver-Hometown)

Modified
1. Don Scarborough, Brandon
2. Patrick Dupree, Saranac Lake, N.Y.
3. Keith Flach, Glemont, N.Y.
4. Ken Tremont Jr., West Sand Lake, N.Y.
5. Mike Bruno, Bomoseen
6. Jason Durgan, Morrisonville, N.Y.
7. Vince Quenneville, Jr., Brandon
8. Leon Gonyo, Chazy, N.Y.
9. Greg Atkins, AuSable Forks, N.Y.
10. Tim Laduc, Orwell
11. Scott Duell, Ballston Spa, N.Y.
12. Ron Proctor, Charlton, N.Y.
13. Derrick McGrew, Ballston Spa, N.Y.
14. Andy Lindemann
15. Jeremy Markle
16. Jason Bruno, Morrisonville, N.Y.
17. Mike Perrotte, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
18. Marc Johnson, Guilderland, N.Y.
19. Jimmy Ryan, Whiting
20. Frank Hoard III, Manchester
21. Jim Introne, Granville, N.Y.

Sportsman
1. Don Miller, Wells
2. Paul Dunham
3. Chris Johnson
4. Alex Bell
5. Marc Hughes
6. Hunter Bates
7. Kevin Wright
8. Jared McMahon
9. Joey Trudeau
10. Kevin Elliott

Renegade
1. Dave Emigh
2. Cody Benoit
3. Jonathan Miller
4. Bill Duprey
5. Frank Monroe

Bomber Warrior
1. Chad Brown
2. Brent Warren
3. Nathan Woodworth
4. Michael Devino, Sr.
5. Justin Lilly

Duke Stock
1. Andy Smith

Masse, Pembroke Repeat Thunder Road Memorial Day Wins

2010-05-30T23:48:00.002-04:00

Modified Racing Series coverage presented by GossCars.com

BARRE-- It was nearly as simple as copying and pasting last year’s Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic results at Barre’s Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl on Sunday: Steve Masse dominated the Modified Racing Series event, and Dave Pembroke dominated the Late Model race.

But it wasn’t that simple.

While he stole the headlines with his career-first MRS win last year, Masse was nearly an afterthought to the MRS portion of the event in 2010, after a controversial finish involving Les Hinckley and Rowan Pennink at Airborne Speedway on Saturday night centered the focus on those two drivers.

Hinckley would prove to be a non-factor at Thunder Road, but Pennink kept everyone’s attention with two frightful trips over the top of the first turn, one of which sent his car into a barrel roll.

But once Pennink’s dust settled and he eventually retired from the event, Masse assumed the lead role. Masse was unchallenged virtually the entire 100-lap distance, leading by as much as a half-lap.

“I like this track,” said the 20 year-old Bellingham, Mass., driver, whose two career Modified Racing Series victories have both come at the track known to chew up and spit out veterans three times his age. “For some reason I know how to drive it. I feel like I’ve got a good grip on it. I don’t know how to explain it.”

Masse wrecked his primary car at Airborne on Saturday night and rolled out his back-up car to win at Thunder Road.

“The car was awesome, that’s it,” said Masse, who started fifth on the 24-car field. “[The win] is a tremendous thing. We found something [wrong with the car] over the long break we just had, and I think we’re going to be a contender all year long from now on. We should be fast at every track.”

Rob Goodenough of Swanzey, N.H., drove from seventh at the start to finish as the runner-up, and Ken Barry of Preston, Conn., came from 12th to finish a season-best third. Three-time MRS champion Kirk Alexander of West Swanzey, N.H., was fourth and rookie Max Zachem of Preston, Conn., was fifth. Hinckley finished sixth with Ascutney rookie Joey Jarvis seventh. Charlie Pasteryak, Dwight Jarvis, and Eddy Spiers completed the unofficial top ten.

Pembroke’s drive wasn’t quite as easy initially during the 100-lap Late Model feature, coming from 14th at the start.

As Pembroke drove through the field, Graniteville’s John Donahue battled Jeffersonville driver Joe Becker at the front, banging doors and fenders several times. Nick Sweet, who had arguably the fastest car on the track, made his way by Becker on lap 37 and raced outside Donahue for the lead until they came together on lap 46.

Sweet spun to bring out the yellow flag, leaving Pembroke in fourth place for the restart. Donahue and Becker resumed their previous fight up front, with the final blow coming on lap 68. As Becker slid up the track, Pembroke dived under both drivers to take the lead, then cruised to a large lead. He withstood a lap-96 restart and beat Donahue by two car-lengths to the finish. Donahue nipped Hyde Park’s Eric Williams by a foot for second place; Becker faded to sixth.

“I don’t want to say that luck was why I won, but it helped that I didn’t have to pass Nick to win the race. He had the fastest car, I think,” Pembroke said. “When [Donahue] and Joe Becker kind of touched a little bit getting into [Turn 1], Becker had to chase his car up the track and I just was able to turn under him.”

Pembroke’s Memorial Day Classic victory was his third in four years in the event. His name now ranks among some of the all-time Thunder Road elite winners and champions, including multi-time Memorial Day winners Dave Dion, Jean-Paul Cabana, and Robbie Crouch.

“I used to come here as a kid [to watch them race], and now… I don’t even know,” Pembroke said of his accomplishment. “It’s crazy. Crazy.”

Joey Laquerre of East Montpelier was fourth behind Williams, with Charlotte’s Rich Lowrey fifth. Tracie Bellerose, Jamie Fisher, Sweet, and Brent Dragon followed Becker across the line to complete the top ten.

Brendan Moodie of North Wolcott held off a race-long challenge from Hinesburg’s Tom Therrien to win the 35-lap Tiger Sportsman feature. Ricky Roberts was third, with Lance Allen and David Finck rounding out the top five.

Travis Hull of Graniteville earned his first career Street Stock victory over Mike MacAskill, Dan Lathrop, Jamie Davis, and Dave LaFleche. Ken Christman of Cabot earned his second Junkyard Warrior win in as many starts, beating Josh Erwin and Brock Parrott. Amanda Habel of Roxbury earned her first win the Street Stock/Warrior reserve feature.

RESULTS: Memorial Day Classic Twin 100s @ Thunder Road, 5/30/10

2010-05-30T23:42:00.003-04:00

Modified Racing Series coverage presented by GossCars.com

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS – Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic 100
Modified Racing Series – Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl, Barre, Vt.
Sunday, May 30, 2010

(Pos.-Driver-Hometown)
# - denotes rookie

1. Steve Masse, Bellingham, Mass.
2. Rob Goodenough, Swanzey, N.H.
3. Ken Barry, Preston, Conn.
4. Kirk Alexander, West Swanzey, N.H.
5. #Max Zachem, Preston, Conn.
6. Les Hinckley, Windsor Locks, Conn.
7. #Joey Jarvis, Ascutney
8. Charlie Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn.
9. Dwight Jarvis, Ascutney
10. Eddy Spiers, Beacon Falls, Conn.
11. Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa.
12. Todd Annarummo, Swansea, Mass.
13. #Norm Wrenn, Nashua, N.H.
14. John Cleary, Madison, Conn.
15. #Kurt Vigeant, Oxford, Mass.
16. Kenny White, Jr., Weare, N.H.
17. Jimmy Kuhn, Jr., Bridgewater, Mass.
18. Eric Goodale, Wading River, N.Y.
19. Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H.
20. Geoff Gernhard, Salem, Conn.
21. Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, Mass.
22. Jacob Dore, Sanford, Me.
23. Jimmy Dolan, Bethel, Conn.
24. Rowan Pennink, Huntington Valley, Pa.

Late Model 100
1. Dave Pembroke, Middlesex
2. John Donahue, Graniteville
3. Eric Williams, Hyde Park
4. Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier
5. Rich Lowrey, Charlotte
6. Joey Becker, Jeffersonville
7. Tracie Bellerose, Gorham, N.H.
8. Jamie Fisher, Shelburne
9. Nick Sweet, Barre
10. Brent Dragon, Milton
11. Matt White, Northfield
12. Brooks Clark, Fayston
13. Eric Chase, Milton
14. Pete Potvin, III, Graniteville
15. #Cody Blake, Barre
16. Dave Whitcomb, Essex Junction
17. Mike Bailey, South Barre
18. D.J. Shaw, Center Conway, N.H.
19. Pete Fecteau, Morrisville
20. Doug Murphy, Tunbridge
21. Jerry Lesage, Winooski
22. Dylan Smith, Randolph
23. Grant Folsom, Waitsfield
24. Reno Gervais, Island Pond
25. Cris Michaud, Northfield
26. Chris Chambers, Brookfield
27. #Nate Brown, Craftsbury
28. Tony Andrews, Northfield
29. Phil Scott, Montpelier

Bond Auto Tiger Sportsman (35 laps)
1. Brendan Moodie, North Wolcott
2. Tom Therrien, Hinesburg
3. Ricky Roberts, Washington
4. Lance Allen, Barre
5. David Finck, Barre
6. Shawn Fleury, Middlesex
7. Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg
8. Derrick O’Donnell, Bradford
9. Joel Hodgdon, Craftsbury
10. Eric Badore, Milton

Allen Lumber Street Stock/Junkyard Warrior (25 laps)
1. Travis Hull, Graniteville (SS)
2. Mike MacAskill, Williamstown (SS)
3. Dan Lathrop, Hyde Park (SS)
4. Jamie Davis, Wolcott (SS)
5. Dave LaFleche, Williamstown (SS)

18. Ken Christman, Cabot (JW)
23. Josh Erwin, Waterbury (JW)
24. Brock Parrott, Williamstown (JW)
27. Fred Schroeder, Bristol (JW)
28. Kevin Dodge, Barre (JW)

Street Stock/Junkyard Warrior Reserve Feature (25 laps)
1. Amanda Habel, Roxbury (SS)
2. #Jayme Lee, Barre (SS)
3. Ron Gabaree, Barre (SS)
4. #Donny Yates, North Montpelier (SS)
5. Rick Utley, Jr., Wheelock (SS)

Hinckley, Pennink Provide Modified Sparks at Airborne

2010-05-30T01:52:00.003-04:00

Modified Racing Series coverage presented by GossCars.com

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- Rowan Pennink had it all but won 99 and ¾ laps into the inaugural Modified Racing Series event at Airborne Speedway.

But after lap 100, Les Hinckley walked away – literally – with the winner’s trophy.

Hinckley, of Windsor Locks, Conn., led the race from the outset until a lap 74 restart brought Pennink, who started 15th, to the front row and eventually the lead. Pennink led through two more quick restarts, but had a rear view mirror full of Hinckley and Dwight Jarvis over the final eight laps.

As the white flag flew signaling the final lap, Pennink appeared to have the race in hand. Geoff Gernhard, about to be put one lap down, pulled to the inside lane in turns three and four to stay out of the leaders’ way.

Pennink, of Huntington Valley, Pa., closed on Gernhard’s car quickly and appeared to get out of the throttle exiting the final corner. Hinckley’s car made contact with Pennink’s rear bumper, causing Pennink to get sideways. At that moment, Hinckley swept to the outside, beating Pennink by less than a foot in a drag race to the finish line. As they crossed the stripe, both cars came into contact again and both slammed into the wall in a shower of sparks, grinding to a halt in Turn 1.

With both cars heavily damaged, Hinckley and Pennink walked to victory lane where they exchanged a war of words through the media.

“The 06 (Hinckley) just flat-out wrecked us there coming to the checker,” Pennink said. “He wasn’t gonna beat me to the start/finish line so he had to try something, and I guess that’s how he wanted to do it. He just destroyed two cars when we’ve got a race tomorrow [at Thunder Road] as well. It’s a shame that people gotta drive like that. The 06 just drove like a complete retard tonight.”

Hinckley admitted getting into Pennink, but felt that the post-race wreck was intentional on Pennink’s part.

“I got into the back of him a little bit in the left-rear when he turned down on me [in turn four],” Hinckley said. “His momentum was broke, I drove up the outside of him, cleared him at the start/finish line, and then he turned right on me and drove us both down the frontstretch [wall]. He doesn’t like it, and I don’t like being torn up, but I didn’t turn left on anybody, and I didn’t turn right on anybody. He can point the finger at me all he wants but he knows what he did.”

Both drivers were critical of lapped traffic not yielding to the leaders.

Jarvis, of Ascutney, came from 14th to finish third. Carl Pasteryak of Lisbon, Conn., was fourth with Ken Barry of Preston, Conn., fifth. Todd Annarummo, Jimmy Kuhn, Eric Goodale, rookie Norm Wrenn, and Eddy Spiers completed the unofficial top ten finishers in order.

The Modified Racing Series will complete its weekend doubleheader at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., on Sunday at 1:30pm. Hinckley’s car owner, Chuck Montville, said that while the frame of their car was slightly damaged, they expected to be at Thunder Road to compete. Pennink’s car suffered heavy damage to the front and rear ends and his Gary Casella-led crew was preparing to work throughout the night to try to repair the car.

Patrick Dupree of Saranac Lake, N.Y., won his third Airborne Speedway Modified feature in four starts, beating out Leon Gonyo of Chazy, N.Y., and Maxime Viens of St-Cesaire, Que., who finished a career-best third. Brandon’s Don Scarborough was fourth, and Napierville, Que., driver Martin Roy recovered from a flat tire at mid-race to finish fifth.

Bucko Branham of Plattsburgh, N.Y., won the Sportsman feature over Morrisonville, N.Y.’s Shawn Duquette, with Jamy Begor, Robin Wood, and Nick Heywood completing the top-five.

Lonnie Rivers of Cadyville, N.Y., won the Renegade feature, followed by Keith O’Neill of Mooers, N.Y., and Swanton’s Kevin Boutin. Randy Martin inherited the Mini-Modified win in the technical inspection line when Rick Doner was disqualified, and Billy Joyal was the Bomber winner.

RESULTS: Modified Racing Series at Airborne 5/29/10

2010-05-30T01:49:00.004-04:00

Modified Racing Series coverage presented by GossCars.com

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS – US Army/Greg Atkins Logging/Taylor Rental 100
Modified Racing Series – Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Saturday, May 29, 2010

(Pos.-Driver-Hometown)
# - denotes rookie

1. Les Hinckley, Windsor Locks, Conn.
2. Rowan Pennink, Huntington Valley, Pa.
3. Dwight Jarvis, Ascutney
4. Carl Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn.
5. Ken Barry, Preston, Conn.
6. Todd Annarummo, Swansea, Mass.
7. Jimmy Kuhn, Jr., Bridgewater, Mass.
8. Eric Goodale, Wading River, N.Y.
9. #Norm Wrenn, Nashua, N.H.
10. Eddy Spiers, Beacon Falls, Conn.
11. Geoff Gernhard, Salem, Conn.
12. Max Zachem, Preston, Conn.
13. Bobby Drown, Milldale, Conn.
14. David Cranmer, North Hanover, N.J.
15. Jacob Dore, Sanford, Me.
16. Joe Doucette, Framingham, Mass.
17. Kenny White, Jr., Weare, N.H.
18. John Cleary, Madison, Conn.
19. Steve Masse, Bellingham, Mass.
20. Shelly Perry, Westerly, R.I.
21. Jimmy Dolan, Bethel, Conn.
22. Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, Mass.
23. #Joey Jarvis, Ascutney
24. Sean Bodreau, Claremont, N.H.
25. Rob Goodenough, Swanzey, N.H.

Airborne Speedway Modified
1. Patrick Dupree, Saranac Lake, N.Y.
2. Leon Gonyo, Chazy, N.Y.
3. Maxime Viens, St-Cesaire, Que.
4. Don Scarborough, Brandon
5. Martin Roy, Napierville, Que.

Sportsman
1. Bucko Branham, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
2. Shawn Duquette, Morrisonville, N.Y.
3. Jamy Begor, Mooers Forks, N.Y.
4. Robin Wood, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
5. Nick Heywood, Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Renegade
1. Lonnie Rivers, Cadyville, N.Y.
2. Keith O’Neill, Mooers, N.Y.
3. Kevin Boutin, Swanton
4. Keith Pelkey, Clintonville, N.Y.
5. Chad Provost, Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Mini-Modified
1. Randy Martin, Keeseville, N.Y.
2. Steven Bressette, Keeseville, N.Y.
3. Kris Clark, Keeseville, N.Y.
4. Speedy Bressette, Castleton
5. Bobby LaVair, Gabriels, N.Y.

Bomber
1. Billy Joyal, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
2. Michael Whalen, Jr., Plattsburgh, N.Y.
3. Curtis LaGrave, Jr., Plattsburgh, N.Y.
4. Josh Durivage, West Chazy, N.Y.
5. Cody Meyers, Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Douville, Pierson Wins Highlight Bear Ridge

2010-05-30T01:38:00.002-04:00

BRADFORD -- Bear Ridge Speedway held off a spirited fight from Mother Nature on Saturday to record seven feature winners.

Danny Douville of Concord, N.H., notched his first career win in the Sprint Cars of New England series, with Robby Bodwell second. Bodwell, of Sanford, Me., was involved in a harrowing wreck at Big Daddy’s Speedbowl in New Hampshire last week and rebounded with his best career finish. Rookie Chris Donnelly of Orford, N.H., was third.

Adam Pierson of Fairlee earned his first Sportsman Modified win of the season after a final-lap pass of Brian Whittemore. Whittemore, of Florence, held on for second with Travis Shinn of Groton, N.H., third. Josh Harrington of Topsham earned his first Sportsman Coupe win of the season with Gene Pierson and Melvin Pierson rounding out the podium finishers.

Jeremy Hodge of Newbury followed up his first career Limited Late Model win last Saturday with a second-straight victory. Will Hull and T.C. Forward were next in line. Josh Sunn of White River Junction remained undefeated in the Fast Four feature and Tom Placey took his first Hornet win of the year.

The Juice: The Big Beginning

2010-05-27T11:59:00.001-04:00

-by Justin St. Louis
VMM Editor

The 2010 racing season started quite a while ago in this neck of the woods. Vivid, teeth-chattering memories of the opener at Waterford Speedbowl in Connecticut still swirl in this writer's head like so many windblown snowflakes that fell during the drive up Interstate 89 on the journey home that March night. New England has been racing for two solid months now, and even we wintry Vermonters have enjoyed one form of on-track action or another since the first Thunder Road practice in mid-April.

But for all intents and purposes, this weekend is the big beginning.

Memorial Day weekend is traditionally the most celebrated in motorsports, whether it's the Indianapolis 500, NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, or the grind of weekly short tracks around the country. For the first time this year, all three Vermont speedplants will be open this weekend, and -- along with the well-timed 90-degree weather -- we can all welcome the arrival of the summer racing season.

If you can't find something to do at a race track this weekend, well, you're not trying very hard.

***

Congratulations to Jerry Richards and the management at Devil's Bowl Speedway for such a successful opening event on the new asphalt. The crowd was one of the largest in the speedway's 44-year history, and the racing was competitive and exciting, with lots of side-by-side racing. Dave Pembroke and Mike Bruno put on a great show for the win, and Grant Folsom even did his part by getting upside down on the frontstretch in front of the packed grandstand.

We're looking forward to rest of the season at Vermont's fastest half-mile.

***

From the "Beating A Dead Horse Even Deader" file: Is it totally ironic that Patrick Laperle won the Série ACT-Castrol opener at Autodrome St-Eustache last weekend? Wasn't that the place where he decided after the season finale that he was so frustrated that he was done racing with ACT for a couple years?

What's so intriguing about Laperle is that he simply can't stay away, and that's only a good thing. He may butt heads with Donald Theetge or Tom Curley or whomever, but that's because Laperle has such an obvious fire-in-the-belly for competition and winning.

Last Saturday's win may have been as important for Laperle personally and mentally as it was for his career numbers. It also qualified him for the second annual ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September. Patrick Laperle is back, folks.

Not that he ever really went anywhere anyway.

***

Here's a tip: If you're a betting person and you like dirt racing, put your money on Ryan Avery this year. Dude is cleaning house.

***

With low car counts and little growth over the past several seasons, officials at White Mountain Motorsports Park in New Hampshire disbanded the Super Street division over the winter and adopted the rulebook from Thunder Road's Tiger Sportsman class, creating the new Super Sportsman division for 2010.

Of the 15 drivers that raced in the inaugural feature on Saturday night, only one -- Gary Griswold -- has been a regular weekly competitor at White Mountain, and he finished 14th. The rest were Thunder Road regulars or drivers that plan to compete mainly on the four-race ACT Tiger Sportsman Series.

White Mountain is not only a beautful and scenic place to visit, it's a competitive, well-run race track that deserves good support divisions. (The headline Late Model class enjoyed a 26-car field with only a few outside visitors.) Here's hoping that the Super Sportsman field last weekend wasn't just a fluke.

***

Not only did Chris Donnelly win two features at Bear Ridge on Saturday, he won one the features using two different cars. While we're not totally sure how that's legal, we do marvel at it.

Donnelly finished second in the first leg of a two-segment feature at the season opener on May 15, but r rain postponed the second segment to last Saturday. In the interim, he was presented an offer he couldn't refuse and sold his only car. Donnelly found himself in a bind for the May 22 event, though, as his Wicked Racing Products business was the presenting sponsor and he wanted to compete in the event.

With a quick phone call, he borrowed a car from Tom Forward and drove from the rear to finish second in the second segment. With a low score of four points, Donnelly was declared the winner. Not sure we've ever seen anything like that before.

***

AROUND THE REGION:

Time to take a look at the top Vermonters from the past weekend...

Airborne Speedway (Plattsburgh, N.Y.): Brandon's Don Scarborough finished fifth in the Modified feature last Saturday, with Milton's Bill Sawyer third in the Sportsman race. Lance Rabtoy of Fairfax was third in the Renegades with Milton's Larry Underwood fifth.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway (Malta, N.Y.): Mike Bruno of Bomoseen took his second-straight Modified win on Friday night with Brandon's Don Scarborough fourth. Middlebury teen Hunter Bates won the Sportsman feature.

Bear Ridge Speedway (Bradford): Chris Donnelly of Orford, N.H., swept both Sportsman Modified features on Saturday night, followed by Thornton, N.H.'s Ryan Avery and Jason Gray of East Thetford in the first race and Travis Shinn of Groton, N.H., and Fairlee's Adam Pierson in the second race. Bradford's Jason Horniak won the first Sportsman Coupe feature over East Corinth's Melvin Pierson and Topsham's Josh Harrington, while Pierson beat Chris Carbee of South Ryegate and rookie Shane Race of South Strafford in the second race. Newbury's Jeremy Hodge took his frist career Limited Late Model win over Will Hull of East Montpelier and Tyler Stygles of Bradford. Josh Sunn of White River Junction swept both Fast Four races, with Danville's Danny Doyle and Andy Johnson of Wilder finishing second and third once each. Bobby Bell of St. Johnsbury won the Hornet race over Bradford's Tom Placey and Mark Harran of St. Johnsbury, while Dawn Woodward of Corinth beat her neighbor, Melissa King, and St. Johnsbury's Misty Bell in the Hornet Queen race.

Big Daddy's Speedway (Rumney, N.H.): Tyler Stygles of Bradford won the Super Street featrue on Sunday, and Josh Sunn of White River Junction was the Mini Stock runner-up.

Canaan Dirt Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Rookie Dan Eastman of Thetford Center was third in the Sportsman Modifed feature on Friday and took over the point lead. Josh Sunn of White River Junction won the Mini Stock feature, and Dakota Stender of Tunbridge won the Bandit feature.

Canaan Fair Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Kevin Menard of South Royalton was sixth in the first of two Pro Stock features on Saturday, and Mendon's Chris Wilk was third in the second race. Jamie Hodgdon of Ascutney was the Pure Stock runner-up with North Springfield's Rory Merritt fifth. Bobby Prior of White River Junction was fourth in the Outlaw Mini feature. Ascutney's Tyler Lescord won the Bandit feature over Mike Parker of Bradford.

Devil's Bowl Speedway (West Haven): Dave Pembroke of Middlesex beat Bomoseen's Mike Bruno to win the "Thunder at the Bowl 100" Late Model event on Sunday, with Tracie Bellerose of Gorham, N.H., third. Don Miller of Wells won the Sportsman feature over Clifton Park, N.Y.'s Fred Proctor and Hunter Bates of Middlebury. Milton's Cody Benoit won the Renegade feature over Jon Miller of Malta, N.Y., and Lance Rabtoy of Fairfax, and Miton's Chad Brown beat Garry Bashaw of Lincoln and Russ Downing of Hartland to win the Bomber Warrior race. Andy Smith of South Glens Falls, N.Y., won the Duke Stock race.

Modified Racing Series: Ascutney rookie Joey Jarvis was 15th in the East-West Showdown 100 at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Friday, with uncle Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney 18th. Rowan Pennink of Huntington Valley, Pa., was the winner.

Monadnock Speedway (Winchester, N.H.): Josh King of Vernon was 17th in Saturday's Modified feature. Putney's Dana Shepard was ninth in the Super Street feature. Joe Rogers of Ludlow finished fifth in the Mini Stocks with Mike Metcalf of Westminster ninth.

PASS North Super Late Models: Steven Legendre of Danville finished eighth in Saturday's event at White Mountain Motorsports Park, and Milton's Scott Dragon was 15th. Johnny Clark of Hallowell, Me., was the winner.

Riverside Speedway (Groveton, N.H.): Dan Sidney of St. Johnsbury won the Outlaw Sportsman feature with Davey Ofsuryk of Newport Center fourth. Michael Smith of St. Johnsbury was fourth in the Super Stock race, and Doug Duprey of St. Johnsbury was third in the Street Stocks. Howard Switser of West Burke was third in the Dwarf Car race with Anthony Young of Beecher Falls fourth.

Sprint Cars of New England: Sunday's event at Big Daddy's Speedbowl was cut short due to a racing accident.

Twin State Speedway (Claremont, N.H.): Dallas Trombley of Rutland finished fourth in the Late Model feature on Friday night. Chris Wilk of Mendon was the Super Street winner with Russ Davis of Cavendish third. Pittsford's Kyle Davis won the Strictly Stock feature over David Greenslit of Waitsfield and Jacksonville's Kaitlin Stone.

White Mountain Motorsports Park (North Woodstock, N.H.): Stacy Cahoon of St. Johnsbury was the Late Model runner-up on Saturday with Bernie Lantagne of McIndoe Falls third. Graniteville's Chip Grenier won the Super Sportsman feature over Derrick O'Donnell of Bradford and North Wolcott's Brendan Moodie.

***

THIS WEEK:

Friday, May 28
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 6:45pm (Regular Event)
Canaan Dirt Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 7:00pm (Regular Event)
Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. -- 7:30pm (Regular Event)

Saturday, May 29
Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y. -- 5:00pm (Modified Racing Series)
Bear Ridge Speedway, Bradford -- 6:00pm (SCoNE 360 Sprint Cars)
Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)
Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H. -- 6:00pm (NEMA Midgets)
Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)
White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H. -- 5:00 (Regular Event)

Sunday, May 30
Big Daddy's Speedbowl, Rumney, N.H. -- 4:00pm (Granite State Mini Sprints)
Devil's Bowl Speedway, West Haven -- 2:00pm (Modified Tri-Track Series)
Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Barre -- 1:30pm (Modified Racing Series)

TOURING SERIES:

Granite State Mini Sprints: Sun., May 30 -- Big Daddy's Speedbowl, Rumney, N.H. (4:00pm)
Modified Racing Series: Sat., May 29 -- Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y. (5:00pm)
Modified Racing Series: Sun., May 30 -- Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Barre, Vt. (1:30pm)
Modified Tri-Track Series: Sun., May 30 -- Devil's Bowl Speedway, West Haven, Vt. (2:00pm)
NASCAR Nationwide Series: Sat., May 29 -- Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C. (ABC/2:00pm)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Sun., May 30 -- Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C. (FOX/5:45pm)
Pro All Stars Series: Sat., May 29 -- Concord Speedway, Concord, N.C. (7:00pm)
Série ACT-Castrol Edge: Sat., May 29 -- Autodrome Montmagny, Montmagny, Qué. (6:00pm)
Sprint Cars of New England: Sat., May 29 -- Bear Ridge Speedway, Bradford, Vt. (6:00pm)

Polewarczyk Ready To Put Rough Start Behind Him

2010-05-25T10:12:00.000-04:00

(From team press release)

HUDSON, N.H. -- As far as Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., is concerned, his season starts now.

Less than two weeks after failing to qualify for an American-Canadian Tour race at Oxford Plains Speedway, Polewarczyk's No. 97 Pole's Automotive/NH Precision Ford will be back on track -- this time with a renewed effort and a reinvigorated engine -- this Friday night at Lee USA Speedway. He'll compete in the track's 30-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model feature.

"I can't wait to go to Lee," he said. "It's sort of like my home track. It's where I watched my father race for a lot of years, and it's a place where I've always seemed to run well. To go there and get back at it will be really big for us."

Following his DNQ at Oxford, Polewarczyk had his new Ford crate engine pulled and shipped to Butler-MacMaster Automotive in Hallowell, Maine. Butler-MacMaster supplies all ACT teams with their engines, and the engine remained at their shop for more than a week.

Polewarczyk switched to Ford during the off-season, after the manufacturer debuted its crate engine program in 2009 with Thunder Road International Speedbowl driver Cris Michaud.

"They found some issues with (the engine)," said Polewarczyk, who reported that the engine spent the better part of an entire day running through tests on the dyno. "They are going to rectify those issues."

During the race at Oxford, where Polewarczyk has won twice in his career, he said that he noticed his car was not picking up speed off the corners. That led him to believe that there was something wrong that went beyond track position or handling issues with his car.

This week at Lee, Polewarczyk said he's ready to prove a point -- both to himself and to others.

"I know we have a really good team," he said. "Yeah, I started to doubt myself (after Oxford), but I know what we're capable of. You never want to miss a race, but the fact that we did -- I think -- got us to take a step back and look at things overall.

"I think we're going to be better for it. I really do."

If all goes well at Lee USA, Polewarczyk said the team plans to make the trip to either White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H., or to Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl on Saturday night.

The ACT Late Model Tour continues with the rescheduled New Hampshire Governor's Cup 150 at Lee USA on Friday night, June 11. Polewarczyk, 10th in the current ACT standings after two races, finished second in that event in 2009.

Big Holiday Weekend Ahead For Modifed Racing Series

2010-05-24T14:55:00.002-04:00

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- In keeping with the tradition of being the biggest motorsports weekend of the season, the Modified Racing Series sponsored by BobValentiAutoMall.com will spend the Memorial Day holiday weekend competing in two states in two days. It’s the first time race events have been scheduled back-to-back by the touring series.

Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y., will host the series on Saturday, May 29, for the first time at the US Army/Greg Atkins Logging/Taylor Rental 100. On Sunday, May 30, the action shifts to the famed Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., for the running of the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic, the third appearance there by the MRS.

MRS drivers expected to enter at Airborne include defending champion Jon McKennedy of East Chelmsford, Mass., 2006 champion Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney, Vt., veteran Carl Pasteryak of Lisbon, Conn., recent Albany-Saratoga Speedway winner Rowan Pennink of Huntington Valley, Pa., defending Rookie of the Year Jacob Dore of Sanford, Me., and Kenny Barry of Preston, Conn., to name a few.

Each is also expected at Thunder Road on Sunday, along with defending Thunder Road winner Stephen Masse of Bellingham, Mass., three-time MRS champion and former T-Road winner Kirk Alexander of Swanzey, N.H., and former series champion Charlie Pasteryak of Lisbon, Conn., who is returning to competition after being sidelined with health problems.

Veterans Mike Holdridge, Sean Bodreau, Jimmy Dolan, and Les Hinckley, are also expected entries. Koszela Speed Rookie of the Year candidates Joey Jarvis, Norm Wrenn, and Kurt Vigeant are also planning to enter the holiday program.

Saturday’s Airborne Speedway race program gets underway at 5:00pm, while Sunday’s race card starts at 1:30pm at Thunder Road. For additional information log on to www.modifiedracingseries.com

ACT Invitational at NHMS Qualifiers

2010-05-24T14:27:00.000-04:00

The following drivers have earned an invitation to compete in the American-Canadian Tour Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., on Sat., Sept. 18, 2010, by winning an ACT Late Model Tour event, Série ACT-Castrol event, or special qualifying event.

(#-Driver-Hometown-Qualifying Event-Date)

1. Nick Sweet, Barre, VT -- Thunder Road, 5/02
2. Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, MA -- Oxford Plains Speedway, 5/16
3. Patrick Laperle, St-Denis, QC -- Autodrome St-Eustache, 5/22

Spectators Hurt in Crash at NH Track

2010-05-24T14:18:00.001-04:00

RUMNEY, N.H. -- Two spectators were injured in a crash on Sunday night at a dirt track in Rumney, New Hampshire.

In what was described to Vermont Motorsports Magazine as a "freak accident" by one eye witness at Big Daddy's Speedbowl, the car of Robby Bodwell hit a wall and became airborne at the end of the backstretch. Bodwell's car then traveled up a rocky embankment in Turn 3 and struck two spectators, Harvey Kage, 67, and his son, 26 year-old Christopher Kage, causing broken bones and other injuries. Bodwell was uninjured, but was "upset" according to an Associated Press story.

The crash happened at around 10:00pm during a Sprint Cars of New England event. WMUR-TV of Manchester, N.H., reported that Harvey Kage was airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchock Medical Center in Hanover, N.H., to treat a broken femur, while Christopher Kage was being treated at Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth, N.H., for scrapes and bruises.

Big Daddy's Speedbowl owner Mike Rivers said that Christopher Kage pushed his father out of the way just before the car hit. Around 15-20 spectators were standing in the area where the accident occured. There was no indication that Bodwell's car was in trouble before the crash. The racing program was suspended immediately following the incident.

Rivers purchased the facility -- formerly known as Rattlesnake Motordrome, Legion Speedway, and Pines Speedway -- and spent several months improving the track's safety features. Included in the improvements was a state-of-the-art catch fence system, although there was no fence in Turn 3 at the crash site.

Rivers did not respond to attempts by Vermont Motorsports Magazine to contact him on Monday.

COMPLETE RESULTS -- Thunder at the Bowl 100 @ Devil's Bowl 5/23/10

2010-05-23T20:16:00.006-04:00

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS -- Thunder at the Bowl 100
Devil's Bowl Speedway, West Haven, Vt.
Sun., May 23, 2010

(Pos.-Car#-Driver-Hometown-Laps)

1. 44VT Dave Pembroke, Middlesex, 100
2. 72ON Mike Bruno, Castleton, 100
3. 2NH Tracie Bellerose, Gorham, N.H., 100
4. 55VT Brent Dragon, Milton, 100
5. 16VT Joey Becker, Jeffersonville, 100
6. 14VT Phil Scott, Montpelier, 100
7. 88VT Nick Sweet, Barre, 100
8. 00VT Mike Bailey, South Barre, 100
9. 1VT Tony Andrews, Northfield, 100
10. 4NH Chris Riendeau, Ascutney, 100
11. 99VT Jeff Zuidema, North Brookfield, Mass., 99
12. 18VT Jamie Fisher, Shelburne, 99
13. 26VT John Donahue, Graniteville, 99
14. 34VT Dylan Smith, Randolph, 99
15. 42VT Matt White, Northfield, 99
16. 25VT David Whitcomb, Essex Junction, 99
17. 24VT Steve Fisher, Shelburne, 55
18. 81VT Grant Folsom, Waitsfield, 55
19. 15VT Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier, 47
20. 8VT Rich Lowrey, Charlotte, 33
21. 40VT Jean-Paul Cyr, Milton, 33
22. 4VT Doug Murphy, Tunbridge, 33
23. 12VT Reno Gervais, Island Pond, 33
24. 49VT Nate Brown, Craftsbury, 33
25. 74VT Jerry Lesage, Winooski, 15
26. 68VT Brooks Clark, Fayston, 2

CVRA Sportsman
1. Don Miller, Wells
2. Fred Proctor, Clifton Park, N.Y.
3. Hunter Bates, Middlebury
4. Kevin Wright, Fair Haven
5. Jared McMahon, Hydeville

Renegade
1. Cody Benoit, Milton
2. Jon Miller, Malta, N.Y.
3. Lance Rabtoy, Fairfax
4. Randy Alger, Fair Haven
5. Dave Emigh, Ballston Spa, N.Y.

Bomber Warrior
1. Chad Brown, Milton
2. Garry Bashaw, Lincoln
3. Russ Downing, Hartland
4. Brent Warren, Salisbury
5. Justin Lilly, Castleton

Duke Stock
1. Andy Smith, South Glens Falls, N.Y.

Pembroke Wins at Devil's Bowl

2010-05-23T19:56:00.006-04:00

WEST HAVEN -- Dave Pembroke took the win in the "Thunder at the Bowl" 100 at the freshly paved Devil's Bowl Speedway on Sunday. Pembroke, of Montpelier, battled side-by-side with hometown favorite Mike Bruno of Castleton for the majority of the race.

After starting third, Pembroke took the lead on lap 14. Pembroke broke away from Bruno several times while working through lapped traffic; Bruno reeled him in each time, but didn’t have enough to complete the pass. Pembroke and Bruno were followed to the line by polesitter Tracie Bellerose of Gorham, N.H., Milton's Brent Dragon and Joey Becker of Jeffersonville. Phil Scott, Nick Sweet, Mike Bailey, Tony Andrews, and rookie Chris Riendeau rounded out the top ten.

The event was slowed by six cautions including a red flag for a Grant Folsom flip on the frontstretch. The race was completed in just over 1 hour, 12 minutes with sixteen of the twenty-six starters running at the finish.

The event was the first asphalt race at Devil's Bowl Speedway -- formerly a dirt track -- since 1972, and awarded championship points for the Late Model division at Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in Barre.

Don Miller of Wells won the Sportsman Modified feature over Fred Proctor of Clifton Park, N.Y., and Middlebury teenager Hunter Bates. Airborne Speedway regular Cody Benoit of Milton won the Renegade feature over Malta, N.Y., driver Jon Miller and Lance Rabtoy of Fairfax. Thunder Road regulars Chad Brown of Milton and Garry Bashaw of Lincoln went 1-2 in the Bomber Warrior feature, with Russ Downing third. Andy Smith of South Glens Falls, N.Y., was the Duke Stock winner.

Donnelly Doubles Up At Bear Ridge

2010-05-23T03:43:00.001-04:00

BRADFORD – There wasn’t much left for Chris Donnelly to accomplish at Bear Ridge Speedway. The Orford, N.H., driver is a winner and champion many times over at the Bradford dirt track, but could never recall winning two feature events on the same night.

Until now. And he did it in a borrowed car, to boot.

A veteran of more than 25 years running on dirt tracks in Vermont and New Hampshire, Donnelly decided to shift some of his attention toward the Sprint Cars of New England series this year. He was approached with an offer earlier in the week to sell his Sportsman Modified to another racer and jumped at the chance, but had some business to take care of: Donnelly’s fabrication business, Wicked Racing Products, was serving as the presenting sponsor for Saturday’s event at Bear Ridge, and he felt he needed to have an on-track presence for the race. He borrowed a Modified from Tom Forward, and in doing so swept the previously rained-out opening night two-segment feature and the regularly scheduled 30-lap race.

“I had a good opportunity to sell my car, so I sold it and then I went out and borrowed the best car in the area. I figured I’d be okay,” Donnelly said. “The secret was this car, I guess. It handles real good and it felt a lot like my other one. It made me happy, and when I’m happy I go fast.”

Between last week’s first segment and the segment that was postponed by rain to this week, Donnelly grabbed two runner-up finishes for a low total score of four points, earning him the overall win. Ryan Avery of Thornton, N.H., and rookie Dan Eastman of Thetford Center won the segments. Avery ended up second overall with East Thetford’s Jason Gray third, Bryan King of Corinth fourth, and defending track champion Gary Siemons of Orford, N.H., fifth.

Brian Whittemore of Florence started on the pole of the regular 30-lap feature and led the first three laps before Groton, N.H.’s Travis Shinn took over. Donnelly drove form 11th starting position to take the lead from Shinn on lap 19, then cruised to the win. Shinn, of Groton, N.H., finished second. As Whittemore and Jack Cook slowed to avoid a spinning lapped car coming to the checkered flag, Fairlee driver Adam Pierson squeaked by for third place. Cook held on for fourth with Whittemore fifth.

Jason Horniak of Bradford took the overall victory over East Corinth’s Melvin Pierson and defending champion Josh Harrington in the Sportsman Coupe make-up feature. In the nightcap, Pierson held a comfortable lead late in the going until the lapped car of Dwight Burgoyne spun. With nowhere to go as the caution flag flew, Pierson slammed head-on into Burgoyne’s car. Neither car was severely damaged and Pierson continued on in the lead once the race resumed; he held off Chris Carbee and Shane Race for the win, despite suffering a flat left-front tire in the crash with Burgoyne.

“It was a little tough with the flat tire, I had to use the brakes a little more,” said Pierson, “but the car was a rocket ship tonight.”

Newbury’s Jeremy Hodge scored his first career victory in the lone Limited Late Model feature after a tight battle with East Montpelier’s Will Hull and Tyler Stygles of Bradford during the closing laps. T.C. Forward and Sean Greene completed the top-five finishers.

Josh Sunn of White River Junction swept both Fast Four features. Danny Doyle of Danville beat Wilder’s Andy Johnson for second place in the first race, while Johnson beat Doyle for the runner-up spot in the second event.

Bobby Bell of St. Johnsbury won the Hornet feature over Bradford’s Tom Placey and Mark Harran of Danville, and Dawn Woodward of Corinth beat Melissa King for the Hornet Queen checkers.

Bear Ridge Results 5/22/10

2010-05-23T03:41:00.001-04:00

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS – Wicked Racing Products/Snap-On Tools Night
Bear Ridge Speedway, Bradford, Vt.
Saturday, May 22, 2010

(Pos.-Driver-Hometown)

Bond Auto Sportsman Modified – Feature #1
1. Chris Donnelly, Orford, N.H.
2. Ryan Avery, Thornton, N.H.
3. Jason Gray, East Thetford
4. Bryan King, Corinth
5. Gary Siemons, Orford, N.H.
6. Adam Pierson, Fairlee
7. Dan Eastman, Thetford Center
8. Jack Cook, Moultonboro, N.H.
9. Justin Comes, Middlebury
10. Blake Shepard, Newton, N.H.

Bond Auto Sportsman Modified – Feature #2
1. Chris Donnelly, Orford, N.H.
2. Travis Shinn, Groton, N.H.
3. Adam Pierson, Fairlee
4. Jack Cook, Moultonboro, N.H.
5. Brian Whittemore, Florence
6. Gary Siemons, Orford, N.H.
7. Justin Comes, Middlebury
8. Kevin Chaffee, Orange
9. Jason Gray, East Thetford
10. Ryan Avery, Thornton, N.H.

Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupe – Feature #1
1. Jason Horniak, Bradford
2. Melvin Pierson, East Corinth
3. Josh Harrington, Topsham
4. Gene Pierson, East Corinth
5. Chris Carbee, South Ryegate

Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupe – Feature #2
1. Melvin Pierson, East Corinth
2. Chris Carbee, South Ryegate
3. Shane Race, South Strafford
4. Jason Horniak, Bradford
5. Steve Ellsworth, Corinth

A Notch Above Auto Limited Late Model
1. Jeremy Hodge, Newbury
2. Will Hull, East Montpelier
3. Tyler Stygles, Bradford
4. T.C. Forward, Lyme, N.H.
5. Sean Greene, Haverhill, N.H.

Journal Opinion Fast Four – Feature #1
1. Josh Sunn, White River Junction
2. Danny Doyle, Danville
3. Andy Johnson, Wilder
4. Tim Hodge
5. Kevin Harran, St. Johnsbury Center

Journal Opinion Fast Four – Feature #2
1. Josh Sunn, White River Junction
2. Andy Johnson, Wilder
3. Danny Doyle, Danville
4. Robert Tilden, East Thetford
5. Josh Connor

KDD NAPA Hornet
1. Bobby Bell, St. Johnsbury
2. Tom Placey, Bradford
3. Mark Harran, Danville
4. Brad Martin
5. Karl Sheldon, St. Johnsbury

Hornet Queen
1. Dawn Woodward, Corinth
2. Melissa King, Corinth
3. Misty Bell, St. Johnsbury

The Juice: Changes to the Plan

2010-05-21T10:35:00.004-04:00

-by Justin St. Louis
VMM Editor

Ricky Craven grew up like so many kids across the country, wanting to be a NASCAR superstar. But actually Craven saw the plan through. He began racing at Unity Raceway in his native Maine in 1982 at age 15. By 1995, he was the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year.

He was fourth in points in his sophomore season before a series of harrowing crashes left him with head injuries and out of a ride. After months of rehabilitation, he returned full-time in 2001 to earn his first Cup win at Martinsville, and was made famous for his .002-second margin of victory over Kurt Busch at Darlington in 2003. After a season on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2005, Craven retired. He now works as a popular analyst for ESPN's "NASCAR Now" program.

Craven did an interview with writer Bones Bourcier for Stock Car Racing magazine during his rookie year in what is now the Sprint Cup Series. Craven was intense in the interview, noting himself that he was "aggressive," "hard to get close to," and "committed" while attaining his goal of graduating from the short tracks of Maine and becoming a Cup racer.

He said that he never intended to stay in one place for too long during his ascension to the Cup level, and planned to reach that plateau by the time he was 30 years old. For the record, he made absolutely good on that plan: He raced weekly at Unity for two years, moved to Pro Stocks at Wiscasset Raceway and other tracks for three years, raced with ACT for three years, ran just two full seasons of the old Busch North Series -- winning ten races and the championship during the second year in 1991 -- was in the Nationwide Series for two years, and made it to Cup by age 28, two years ahead of schedule.

"I love plans and my plans always come together," Craven told Bourcier in 1995.

Fifteen years later, he sat with us at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and looked back at that plan.

"I've always put a lot of thought in to things and I've always worked hard, because I felt like that was the only way I'd have an advantage, to put in the effort and the detail," Craven said. "I never considered myself the world's greatest race car driver. I knew I was good, I mean, you have to be good to get to a certain point, but things turned out about like I'd hoped, honestly."

"To be very clear, I expected to win. My goal was to win ten Cup races, and I felt like I should have won have won ten Cup races, but I didn't volunteer to go through trauma twice. I didn't volunteer to get helicoptered out of Talladega (in 1996) or Texas (in 1997). You just have to react to that, and I'm no different than anybody else."

After taking time off from his Hendrick Motorsports ride to deal with his injuries partway through the 1998 season, Craven's first race back was at his "home" track, New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He knocked his teammate Jeff Gordon off the top of the speed chart to win the pole position. Still, he lost his ride with Hendrick shortly thereafter and took second-rate rides until Cal Wells came calling in 2001.

"I never considered quitting, but I can't honestly sit here and say that it was easy to not quit," Craven said.

"I remember a reporter asking me in 1999, 'Why do you keep doing this?' I grew up on a farm in Newburgh, Maine, and I started racing when I was 15. When I won my first race at 15, Bobby [Allison] was a guest at Unity Raceway [and] gave me his hat. I wanted to be a big-time Cup racer [like him] and win, and I did."

On his way out the door, headed for a flight back home to Charlotte, N.C., to celebrate daughter Riley's high school graduation, Craven pulled out his cell phone. The background image was a photo of his wife and two children. He took a moment to reflect on his driving career, his current role with ESPN, and his role as a family man.

"Things you learn about life, it's never perfect. You shoot for perfect, but it's never perfect," he said. Then he looked at the photo again.

"I've got nothing to complain about," Craven smiled. "My life is great."

***

Sunday is a big day for Devil's Bowl Speedway. It marks the first time in nearly 40 years that the track will return as an asphalt facility. It'll be a great thing for Vermont and northeastern stock car racing if it works. We lose one-third of the racing in our state if it doesn't, something race folks can ill afford.

Champlain Valley Racing Association president C.J. Richards opened the West Haven half-mile in 1967 as a clay-dirt track. He laid a coat of asphalt down on top of the clay in 1970, but theexperiment was a flop. Clay was returned to the racing surface after the 1972 season and the track has operated that way since. Five years ago Richards' children took over control of the CVRA, Devil's Bowl, and its sister track, Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, New York. Things continued to run well with the two-track dirt circuit, with lots of fans and respectable car counts.

Politics and weather threatened to shutter the Albany-Saratoga track, though: A multi-million dollar microchip manufacturing plant in Malta began demanding that dust kicked up by race cars be eradicated. A three-year stretch of rainy summers had badly affected the racing schedules at both tracks. Dirt speedways require almost constant grading, packing, and massaging, especially after messy weather, and the manhours poured into the racing surfaces took time away from other important tasks that come with operating two race tracks.

The CVRA group had a choice to make: Get rid of the dust and the strain by closing their tracks, or by paving them. Thankfully, they chose the latter. They also chose to keep the same dirt-style divisions intact, implementing only minor rule changes and a switch to an asphalt-friendly tire in an attempt to keep their core group of racers.

A five-hour test session last Saturday was considered a success by all accounts, with teams from Devil's Bowl's Modified, Sportsman, Renegade, and Mini Stock divisions, as well as Tom Curley's Thunder Road Late Models, all giving favorable reviews. Modified driver Mike Bruno came within a few tenths of a second of the track speed record, reaching over 106 miles per hour -- that's an average speed for the entire lap, meaning straightaway speeds were closer to 130 mph -- even though he says he "wasn't pushing it." Perhaps most importantly, fans that attended agreed that the increased speeds on the asphalt have the potential for more exciting competition.

Yes, Sunday is a big day for Devil's Bowl Speedway. Maybe its biggest day ever. Go check it out.

***

AROUND THE REGION:

Time to take a look at the top Vermonters from the past weekend...

Airborne Speedway (Plattsburgh, N.Y.): Brandon's Don Scarborough finished third in the Modified feature last Saturday, with Milton's Bill Sawyer sixth in the Sportsman race. Lance Rabtoy of Fairfax was the Renegade runner-up.

Bear Ridge Speedway (Bradford): East Montpelier's Will Hull won the Limited Late Model feature on Saturday night before rains moved in. Jason Giguere of Enfield, N.H., was second, with Newbury's Jeremy Hodge third. Karl Sheldon of St. Johnsbury beat Bradford's Tom Placey for the Hornet checkers, with Mike Pittman of Corinth third. Make-up features for the Sportsman Modified, Sportsman Coupe, Fast Four, and Hornet Queen divisions have been added to this week's program.

Big Daddy's Speedway (Rumney, N.H.): Louie Cadwell of Vershire was sixth in Sunday's Sportsman Modified feature. Josh Sunn of White River Junction was the Mini Stock runner-up.

Canaan Dirt Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Rookie Dan Eastman of Thetford Center was fifth in the Sportsman Modifed feature on Friday. Josh Sunn of White River Junction was second in the Mini Stocks. Dakota Stender of Tunbridge was fourth in the Bandit feature with Mike Stender of South Strafford fifth.

Canaan Fair Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Chris Wilk of Mendon was second in Saturday's Super Street feature, and Jamie Hodgdon of Ascutney won the Pure Stock feature with North Springfield's Rory Merritt fifth. Bobby Prior of White River Junction was fourth in the Outlaw Mini feature. Mike Parker of Bradford won the Bandit feature over Ascutney's Tyler Lescord.

Monadnock Speedway (Winchester, N.H.): Josh King of Vernon was 13th in Saturday's Modified feature. Ascutney's Joey Jarvis won the Sportsman Modifieds with Nate Kehoe of Windham in eighth. Putney's Dana Shepard was tenth in the Super Street feature. Joe Rogers of Ludlow finished seventh in the Mini Stocks with Mike Metcalf of Westminster ninth.

NASCAR Nationwide Series: Shelburne's Kevin Lepage was 38th at Dover Int'l (Del.) Speedway on Saturday.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: David Stremme finished 27th at Dover Int'l (Del.) Speedway on Sunday for Vermont-based Latitude 43 Motorsports.

Riverside Speedway (Groveton, N.H.): Derek Ming of Island Pond won Sunday's Late Model feature, with Jesse Switser of West Burke third. Dan Sidney of St. Johnsbury won the Outlaw Sportsman feature, and Michael Smith of St. Johnsbury was third in the Super Stock race. Doug Dupuis of St. Johnsbury won the Street Stock race over Concord's Brett Rowell. Willie Merchant of Concord was fourth in the Dwarf Car race, Waterford's Lorin Vear won the Cyclones, and Alison Barney of Granby won the Angels.

Sprint Cars of New England: Anthony Cain of Fairfax was fourth at Canaan Dirt Speedway on Friday, with Orange's Kevin Chaffee sixth and Lacey Hanson of Orwell tenth.

Twin State Speedway (Claremont, N.H.): Dallas Trombley of Rutland finished fifth in the Late Model feature on Friday night. Chris Wilk of Mendon was the Super Street runner-up. with Russ Davis of Cavendish third. David Greenslit of Waitsfield won the Strictly Stock feature over Pittsford's Kyle Davis and Jacksonville's Kaitlin Stone. Robert Leitch of Cavendish was the Wildcat runner-up.

***

THIS WEEK:

Friday, May 21
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 6:45pm (Regular Event)
Canaan Dirt Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 7:00pm (Regular Event)
Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. -- 7:30pm (Regular Event)

Saturday, May 22
Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y. -- 5:00pm (Regular Event)
Bear Ridge Speedway, Bradford -- 6:00pm (Regular Event plus make-up features for Modifieds, Coupes, Fast Fours, Hornet Queens)
Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Season Opener)
Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)
Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)
White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H. -- 4:00 (PASS North)

Sunday, May 23
Big Daddy's Speedbowl, Rumney, N.H. -- 6:00pm (SCoNE 360 Sprint Cars)
Devil's Bowl Speedway, West Haven -- 2:00pm (Grand Re-Opening, Late Model 100)

TOURING SERIES:
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Fri., May 21 -- Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C. (SPEED/7:30pm)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Sat., May 22 -- Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C. (SPEED/7:00pm)
Pro All Stars Series: Sat., May 22 -- White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H. (4:00pm)
Série ACT-Castrol Edge: Sat., May 22 -- Autodrome St-Eustache, St-Eustache (Montréal), Qué. (6:00pm)
Sprint Cars of New England: Sun., May 23 -- Big Daddy's Speedbowl, Rumney, N.H. (6:00pm)

For The Love: Zampieri Keeping Thunder Road History Alive

2010-05-19T22:49:00.004-04:00

LOUDON, N.H. -- “Did you find a coil for that thing today?” bellows the thickly accented voice of an elderly man. It’s Harold Hanaford, 80, seeking shelter in a dry garage bay as the mist falls outside.

“Naw, I couldn’t find one. But I heard you can reverse the wires and still get it started,” replies Paul Zampieri. The two are standing in the infield at New Hampshire Motor Speedway hoping that the rain will stop before a barbeque party begins at 6:30 that evening.

It’s the 20th annual Vintage Racing Celebration at the track, and four 20-bay garages are packed with race cars from yesteryear -- everything from Modifieds to Midgets, from Indy Cars to an ex-Jeff Gordon NASCAR Winston Cup car that has been converted to SCCA road racing specs. NASCAR champion Bobby Allison is in attendance, too.

Zampieri, of Montpelier, purchased and painstakingly restored the car Hanaford drove to the 1964 track championship at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., nearly a decade ago, and has been on tour with the car ever since, taking part in car shows and exhibitions all over the northeast. New Hampshire is the latest stop on his circuit.

“I bought the car for $500 back in 1998,” he explains. “It was in rough shape, but I’d done body work before and that was no big deal. But I needed help with the details.”

After two years of work and research, Zampieri brought the car to Hanaford’s garage in Plymouth, N.H., to “get it right.” By September 2002, the car was complete and on display for the first time at Thunder Road’s Milk Bowl, a race Hanaford won twice in the early 1960s. Hanaford took the car around the track for pace laps that day and has driven it on occasion in exhibition races with the New England Antique Racers club.

“It was a lot of fun and a lot of work,” says Zampieri. “We have to work on it a lot, though. I just put a new engine in a couple weeks ago.” The car’s flathead Ford engine, a staple of the early Coupes at Thunder Road, recently turned over for the final time. A “new” Offenhauser flathead was installed in time for the week-long NHMS celebration, which includes three days of on-track times, but the ignition coil burned out while Zampieri was loading the car on Tuesday night. Still, he brought the car for the show anyway.

He’s not stopping with the Hanaford car, either: Original pieces of a 1932 3-window Ford driven by Ronnie Marvin at Thunder Road and Northeastern Speedway near St. Johnsbury are being incorporated -- along with the rear deck of a 1930 Chevrolet -- into a replica of the original Marvin car. Once finished, the car will complete a restored team of three cars originally campaigned in 1962 by owner Andy Cote and drivers Marvin, Paul Martel, and Tony Colicchio.

Zampieri estimates his Hanaford project car has cost him a total of $7,000, and that the Martel car restored by another enthusiast has between $10,000 and $15,000 sunk into it.

“We have fun,” says Zampieri, looking around the garage at Hanaford and restoration buddies Cho Lee and Lloyd Hutchins. “That’s what it’s about.”

(PHOTOS: 1. Paul Zampieri (left) and Harold Hanaford with their restored Thunder Road Coupe at New Hampshire Motor Speedway; 2. Zampieri's next project will restore the #13 Ford driven by Ronnie Marvin in 1962. Justin St. Louis/VMM photos)

VIDEO: New Hampshire Motor Speedway Press Conference

2010-05-19T21:45:00.003-04:00

WARNING: Some of the language in this video may be inappropriate for children!

LOUDON, N.H. -- Vermont Motorsports Magazine took in the 20th Annual Vintage Racing Celebration at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Wednesday. Although it was a bit cold and rainy, there was still plenty going on.

An afternoon press conference brought together NHMS Founder Bob Bahre, NHMS Vice President and General Manager Jerry Gappens, NASCAR Champion Bobby Allison, and New England favorites Ricky Craven and Brad Leighton to remember their favorite moments from NHMS and Bahre's first track, Oxford Plains Speedway.

Stay tuned to VMM for more updates!

Brent Dragon Heads For Devil's Bowl

2010-05-18T22:19:00.002-04:00

(From team press release)

MILTON -- Though the ACT Late Model Tour is slated for a break in the schedule this weekend, Brent Dragon will not be resting.

Dragon is entered in the Late Model 100 at the new-look Devil's Bowl Speedway in West Haven on Sunday, May 23. Qualifying gets underway at 2:00pm.

"It's a brand new asphalt track," said Dragon, who sits third in the ACT standings after two races. "It's a half-mile, and I really like the fast tracks like that."

Until this year, Devil's Bowl existed solely as a dirt track and Dragon had never raced there. To open its first season as an asphalt facility, the track is hosting an event for Thunder Road International Speedbowl's Late Model division on Sunday.

"I'm really looking forward to getting down there," Dragon said. "It's not very far from home, and I'm excited about seeing it."

MacDonald Wins Again at Oxford

2010-05-16T19:41:00.001-04:00

OXFORD, Me. -- Eddie MacDonald is considered the man to beat every time he races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and with four wins there since 2008 he’s earned that recognition. After his American-Canadian Tour victory on Sunday, the same could be said about him at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway.

MacDonald’s first ACT Late Model Tour win came at the 3/8-mile oval in 2007, and he won the TD Bank Oxford 250, one of the country’s most prestigious short track events, last year. Sunday, he led the final 96 laps of the WJAB 150 and held off regular Oxford competitor Tommy Ricker en route to another win.

“This is just awesome,” said MacDonald, of Rowley, Mass. “It’s our first run out with the car [since] we changed a bunch of things over from last year and upgraded a few things, and just everything paid off.”

MacDonald, a top driver on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, gave all the credit to his team and crew chief Rollie LaChance. “Rollie got the car just handling awesome. We were tweaking on little things all day long, but as soon as we unloaded the car it was pretty good. The crew did an awesome job.”

MacDonald took the lead from rookie Austin Theriault on lap 54 and held a comfortable lead until Ricker caught him with 30 circuits remaining. Ricker reeled MacDonald in as they sliced through lapped traffic, and made two attempts to take the lead during the closing laps. His car broke loose several times, though, the result of worn out tires.

For Ricker, who had yet to even finish an ACT event, it was a career day.

“This is terrific. I’ve never been more excited [except] getting into the 250 I think,” Ricker beamed. “I think I wore the tires out trying to get to Eddie. I should have been a little more patient. Eddie’s a close friend and I enjoy racing with him. It would have been a great thrill to beat him if I could have, I just worked too hard at it.”

“I am so happy for Tommy, he did an awesome job,” said MacDonald.

Defending ACT champion Brian Hoar of Williston finished in third place after leading the first 25 laps. Graniteville’s John Donahue drove from 31st at the start to finish fourth, with former Oxford Plains Speedway champion Tim Brackett fifth. Travis Adams, Scott Payea, Brent Dragon, Jeff White, and T.J. Brackett completed the unofficial top-ten.

Only one caution period slowed the event on lap 54, and all but four of the 33 starters were running at the finish. 53 cars attempted to qualify. The next ACT event is at Lee USA Speedway on June 11.

For the win, MacDonald earned an invitation to compete at the second annual ACT Invitational at New Hampshire in September – an event he won last year.

ACT Late Model Tour WJAB 150 Results @ Oxford 5/16

2010-05-16T19:39:00.003-04:00

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS – WJAB 150
American-Canadian Tour – Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Me.
Sunday, May 16, 2010

Pos.-(Start)-Driver-Hometown

# - indicates rookie

1. (5) Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass.
2. (12) Tommy Ricker, Poland, Me.
3. (2) Brian Hoar, Williston
4. (31) John Donahue, Graniteville
5. (4) Tim Brackett, Buckfield, Me.
6. (14) Travis Adams, Canton, Me.
7. (3) Scott Payea, Milton
8. (27) Brent Dragon, Milton
9. (21) Jeff White, Winthrop, Me.
10. (7) T.J. Brackett, Buckfield, Me.
11. (20) Eric Williams, Hyde Park
12. (26) # Bradley Babb, Windham, Me.
13. (10) Scott Luce, Strong, Me.
14. (17) Scott Dragon, Milton
15. (16) # Chris Riendeau, Ascutney
16. (6) # Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Me.
17. (22) Corey Morgan, Lewiston, Me.
18. (9) Quinny Welch, Lancaster, N.H.
19. (25) Donald Theetge, Quebec, Que.
20. (13) Mark Lamberton, Mooers Forks, N.Y.
21. (1) Travis Stearns, Auburn, Me.
22. (15) Ricky Rolfe, Albany Twp., Me.
23. (19) T.J. Watson, Cundy’s Harbor, Me.
24. (18) Ben Ashline, Pittston, Me.
25. (29) Bryan Kruczek, Newmarket, N.H.
26. (23) Dennis Spencer, Jr., Oxford, Me.
27. (33) Shawn Martin, Turner, Me.
28. (32) # Dave Paya, Milton
29. (30) Gary Chaisson, Peru, Me.
30. (8) Jay Laquerre, East Montpelier
31. (28) Randy Potter, Groveton, N.H.
32. (24) Glen Luce, Turner, Me.
33. (11) Mark Hayward, Newport, N.H.

ACT Late Model Tour WJAB 150 Starting Lineup @ Oxford Plains Speedway

2010-05-16T16:13:00.003-04:00

American-Canadian Tour -- WJAB 150
Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Me.
Sunday, May 16, 2010

Starting Lineup

(Pos.-Driver-Hometown)

1. Travis Stearns, Auburn, Me.
2. Brian Hoar, Williston
3. Scott Payea, Milton
4. Tim Brackett, Buckfield, Me.
5. Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass.
6. # Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Me.
7. T.J. Brackett, Buckfield, Me.
8. Jay Laquerre, East Montpelier
9. Quinny Welch, Lancaster, N.H.
10. Scott Luce, Strong, Me.
11. Mark Hayward, Newport, N.H.
12. Tommy Ricker, Poland, Me.
13. Mark Lamberton, Mooers Forks, N.Y.
14. Travis Adams, Canton, Me.
15. Ricky Rolfe, Albany Twp., Me.
16. # Chris Riendeau, Ascutney
17. Scott Dragon, Milton
18. Ben Ashline, Pittston, Me.
19. T.J. Watson, Cundy’s Harbor, Me.
20. Eric Williams, Hyde Park
21. Jeff White, Winthrop, Me.
22. Corey Morgan, Lewiston, Me.
23. Dennis Spencer, Jr., Oxford, Me.
24. Glen Luce, Turner, Me.
25. Donald Theetge, Quebec, Que.
26. # Bradley Babb, Windham, Me.
27. Brent Dragon, Milton
28. Randy Potter, Groveton, N.H.
29. Bryan Kruczek, Newmarket, N.H.
30. Gary Chaisson, Peru, Me.
31. John Donahue, Graniteville
32. # Dave Paya, Milton
33. Shawn Martin, Turner, Me.

Ricky Rolfe Beating Cancer and Winning Races

2010-05-16T16:07:00.001-04:00

OXFORD, Me. -- As Ricky Rolfe pulls into technical inspection at Oxford Plains Speedway, it appears to be business as usual. The 46 year-old from nearby Albany Township is a multi-time champion at the track and is among the all-time winners, surely winning a 12-lap qualifying heat is no big deal.

But on Sunday, it was a big deal. Rolfe begins his first round of chemotherapy for colon cancer at 7:00 on Monday morning.

“I’m fine, I’m feeling real good,” Rolfe says, although it took him a couple extra moments to climb out of his car.

“About the first of March I had symptoms that something was wrong. I went to the doctor’s and they decided to do a colonoscopy and discovered I had a tumor in my colon,” Rolfe explains.

Within five days of the visit, Rolfe was on the operating table as doctors removed one-third of his colon. His road to recovery is just beginning, though.

“They discovered a little bit of cancer in other places,” Rolfe says, although he quickly adds “but nothing major.”

Three weeks after his surgery, Rolfe was with his doctor again to get a port inserted in his chest to assist in administering chemotherapy treatments. Ever the racer, Rolfe brought his HANS head-and-neck restraint system with him, instructing the doctor to place the port away from where the HANS shoulder supports fit.

Rolfe’s heat victory came against the American-Canadian Tour, a series he contested full-time for the first time last year. He finished a respectable tenth in driver points and expected to improve upon that this summer. Instead, he’ll stay closer to home in 2010, with the goal of winning the Oxford Plains Speedway championship – even as he undergoes his treatments.

“This is home,” he smiled. “Even a bad day here is good. I just like it here. I’m going to miss Tour racing, but with the chemo I’m probably going to be pretty fatigued. So we’re not going to concentrate on the Tour this year, we’re gonna concentrate here. You know, local races are twenty-minute races at the most, but if I feel good and I’m healthy we might go to [ACT races at] Lee and do the Beech Ridge race, stuff like that.

“Just to make it [to the track] every week is going to be big-time, and if I win the championship this year with everything that’s going on… This same thing happened to my father a month before me. Same operation, same everything, he’s going through it, too, except he opted not to take chemo.”

The distraction of Rolfe’s cancer might be enough to sideline most drivers, in addition to the added stress of his father’s health. But Rolfe says he’ll keep pressing on.

“I’m young enough where I want to keep racing for a while. I want to be like Joey Laquerre and race when I’m sixty-something.”

Devil's Bowl Asphalt Gets Rave Reviews

2010-05-16T01:33:00.001-04:00

WEST HAVEN -- Consider the Devil’s Bowl Speedway experiment a success, at least as far as the first practice session goes.

Champlain Valley Racing Association management paved the track this month after four decades of operating it as a dirt facility, invoking the ire of some race teams and fans. But to the surprise of the nearly 30 teams that tested the new asphalt surface on Saturday afternoon, the results of the change were impressive.

"It’s gonna be fast," said Tim LaDuc, a veteran Modified standout from nearby Orwell. "I think it’ll be competitive. There appears to be a couple of lanes for traffic, so hopefully it’ll be good." LaDuc has raced a handful of times on asphalt at Airborne Speedway in New York and Canaan Fair Speedway in New Hampshire.

Former American-Canadian Tour champion Dave Whitcomb of Essex Junction and Modified driver Mike Bruno of Bomoseen, a veteran of both dirt and asphalt surfaces, likened the new surface to the 5/8-mile Riverside Speedway in Ste-Croix, Que.

"I'm looking forward to it. I like the fast tracks and the long straightaways," said Bruno, who won at the CVRA’s other track, Albany-Saratoga Speedway -- also a newly transformed asphalt track -- on Friday night. "It kind of seperates the guys that can drive it down deep into the corner and keep the car straight."

Keeping it straight, though, is Bruno's biggest concern for his fellow competitors. "It’s gonna be pretty wild. It’s going to take a while with the [Modified] guys here because a lot of them haven't raced pavement. I think it’s going to be a lot of defensive driving in the beginning for the first few races, but I think the racing will get better as the guys get more acclimated to the race track."

Sportsman driver Hunter Bates of Middlebury said the difference between the asphalt and dirt surfaces is big. "It's a lot tighter and a lot less forgiving [than dirt]," Bates said. "We’ll help each other out a little bit, but it’s pretty tough to figure it out as a whole. Everybody’s going to have to try to learn."

A few small groups of fans watched the practice. Most were impressed at the increased speeds of the open-wheel divisions, especially the top-tier Modifieds. Bruno was clocked at a little more than 106-mph in the first practice session, less than one mile per hour off the existing dirt track record, and Bruno admitted he "wasn't pushing it" at the time.

Race fan Sharon Randazzo of Granville, N.Y., was eager to see how things would turn out with the new surface after watching dirt races at Devil's Bowl for more than 20 years. "This is the first time we've seen the cars on asphalt, so it should prove interesting for this year."

"I'm excited. I want to see it."

Rain Cuts Bear Ridge Opener Short

2010-05-16T01:11:00.002-04:00

Hull wins Late Models, Sheldon is top Hornet

BRADFORD – Mother Nature won the majority of Bear Ridge Speedway's opening night event on Saturday, but not before Will Hull and Karl Sheldon put their cars in the winner's circle.

East Montpelier driver Hull put together segment finishes of first and second for an overall low score of three points to win the Limited Late Model main event, while St. Johnsbury racer Sheldon took a third and a first in the Hornet segments to win his division's overall trophy before rains forced the postponement of the evening's final three races.

Jason Giguere of Lebanon, N.H., beat Hull to win the second Limited Late Model segment and finished second overall, with Bradford's Jeremy Hodge third. Tyler Stygles of Bradford and T.C. Forward of Lyme, N.H., completed the unofficial overall top-five.

Defending Hornet champion Tom Placey of Bradford was the overall runner-up in the Hornet class, with Corinth's Mike Pittman third, Mike Chapin of Chelsea fourth, and Jesse Smith fifth, unofficially.

Ryan Avery’s quick start continued as he took the first of two Sportsman Modified segments. The Thornton, N.H., driver also copped the opening night victory at the new Big Daddy’s Speedbowl in Rumney, N.H., last week. "I’ve got a lot of laps in this car, it’s my third year with this chassis," said Avery. "We turned about 130 laps already at Big Daddy’s, and I know what this car is going to do. We left 'em [behind] tonight. It felt really good." Chris Donnelly, Blake Shepard, Bryan King, and Jason Gray completed the top-five in the segment.

Chris Carbee of Topsham took a surprise victory in the first Sportsman Coupe segment after a pass of Jason Horniak at the halfway point. King finshed third with Mike McGinley and defending champion Josh Harrington in tow.

Josh Sunn of White River Junction took the first segment in the Fast Four division over Danny Doyle, Andy Johnson, Robert Tilden, and Kevin Harran.

The second segments for the Sportsman Modified, Sportsman Coupe, and Fast Four divisions will be completed at the May 22 program at Bear Ridge in addition to a full card of racing for all five divisions and the Granite State Mini Sprint Club.

Bear Ridge Speedway Results 5/15/10

2010-05-16T00:55:00.003-04:00

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS -- KDD NAPA Auto Parts Opening Night
Bear Ridge Speedway -- Bradford, Vt.
Saturday, May 15, 2010

(Pos.-Driver-Hometown)

A Notch Above Auto Limited Late Model Overall Finish
1. Will Hull, East Montpelier
2. Jason Giguere, Lebanon, N.H.
3. Jeremy Hodge, Bradford
4. Tyler Stygles, Bradford
5. T.C. Forward, Lyme, N.H.

KDD NAPA Hornet Overall Finish
1. Karl Sheldon, St. Johnsbury
2. Tom Placey, Bradford
3. Mike Pittman, Corinth
4. Mike Chapin, Chelsea
5. Jesse Smith

Bond Auto Sportsman Modified Segment #1 Finish
1. Ryan Avery, Thornton, N.H.
2. Chris Donnelly, Orford, N.H.
3. Blake Shepard, Newton, N.H.
4. Bryan King, Corinth
5. Jason Gray, East Thetford

Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupe Segment #1 Finish
1. Chris Carbee, Topsham
2. Jason Horniak, Bradford
3. Bryan King, Corinth
4. Mike McGinley, East Barre
5. Josh Harrington, Topsham

Journal Opinion Fast Four Segment #1 Finish
1. Josh Sunn, White River Junction
2. Danny Doyle, Hancock
3. Andy Johnson, Wilder
4. Robert Tilden, East Thetford
5. Kevin Harran, St. Johnsbury

SCoNE 360 Sprint Car Results @ Canaan, May 14

2010-05-15T08:31:00.002-04:00

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS -- Sprint Cars of New England
Canaan Dirt Speedway -- Canaan, N.H.
Friday, May 14, 2010

(Pos.-Driver-Hometown)
# - denotes rookie

1. Shawn Lawler, Mason, N.H.
2. Mark Cole, Lebanon, N.H.
3. Clay Dow, Ossipee, N.H.
4. Anthony Cain, Fairfax
5. Dan Douville, Concord, N.H.
6. # Kevin Chaffee, Orange
7. # Chris Donnelly, Piermont, N.H.
8. Bruce Kimball, Lebanon, N.H.
9. Robby Bodwell, Sanbornton, N.H.
10. Lacey Hanson, Orwell
11. # Shawn Berry
12. # Chris Chalke, Jaffrey, N.H.
13. # Randy Wimert, Falmouth, Me.
14. Randy Howe, Lebanon, N.H.
15. Eli Deshaies, North Kingston, R.I.

Lawler Wins SCoNE Opener at Canaan

2010-05-15T08:29:00.001-04:00

CANAAN, N.H. -- Former Sprint Cars of New England champion Shawn Lawler of Mason, N.H., opened the 2010 season with a victory at Canaan Dirt Speedway on Friday night. Former SCoNE champion Mark Cole of Lebanon, N.H., was second, with Ossipee, N.H., driver Clay Dow third. Anthony Cain of Fairfax, Vt., was fourth with Concord, N.H.'s Dan Douville fifth.

Rookies Kevin Chaffee of Orange, Vt., and Chris Donnelly of Piermont, N.H., finished sixth and seventh, respectively in their first SCoNE starts. Bruce Kimball, Robby Bodwell, and Lacey Hanson completed the top-ten finishers.

Increased interest in the SCoNE 360 Sprint Car series saw 15 teams compete in the Canaan opener including five rookies. The series' next event is at Big Daddy's Speedbowl in Rumney, N.H., on May 23.

Airborne Hosts Modified Racing Series Memorial Day Weekend

2010-05-14T15:26:00.003-04:00

(From track press release)

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- Airborne Speedway will celebrate Memorial Day weekend by hosting a Modified Racing Series event for the first time Saturday, May 29, and the tour’s top drivers are looking forward to racing their low-slung 600-horsepower machines on the progressively-banked half mile.

“We’re hearing that there are three or more racing grooves to play around with,” defending Series champion Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford, Mass., said. “That should be a lot of fun and it should make it a very interesting, competitive race.”

Veteran Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney, recent Modified Racing Series winner at Monadnock Speedway, feels the same way. “We’re excited,” Jarvis said. “We’ve heard a lot of good things about Airborne.”

“The Airborne race is the first part of a big doubleheader for our series,” founder, promoter and competitor Jack Bateman said. “We race the next day at Thunder Road. It’s something we’ve never done before. This is our seventh season and we have 65 teams entered, which is a record for us. It’s really exciting.”

Greg Atkins Logging and Taylor Rental present the Modified Racing Series 100-lap event. All Airborne divisions will also compete. Post time is 5 p.m.

“I think this race will be a treat for our fans and it should bring in some race fans from outside the area,” Perrotte said. “The Modified Series cars are the type that race so well at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. They’re a link to a lot of Airborne history from the '50s and '60s.”

This Saturday, May 15 is Econo Lodge Kiddie Rides Night. Kiddie rides begin at 4:40 p.m. Post time is 5 p.m. All Airborne divisions will be in action. Admission is $10 for adults, kids 12 and under free.

The Juice: ACT's Bicentennial By The Numbers

2010-05-14T14:04:00.004-04:00

-by Justin St. Louis
VMM Editor

Hey, the rain can't stop us all year, right? The weekend forecast looks pretty good, and two of Vermont's three tracks will get up and running on Saturday.

We're headed down Routes 7 and 22A to West Haven to take in the first asphalt practice session at Devil's Bowl Speedway in nearly 40 years early Saturday afternoon, then over Route 4 and up I-91 to Bradford for the Bear Ridge Speedway season opener.

If that wasn't enough, we're getting up bright and early Sunday morning to head wicked east to Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine for the American-Canadian Tour show.

Ayuh. (Or "Yessah" for you Mainers.)

There's short track racing everywhere, now that spring is actually here. Where are you headed?

***

Sunday's WJAB 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway will be the 200th championship event for the present-day ACT Late Model Tour.

With its deepest roots planted at Barre's Thunder Road, the series has ushered in several changes revolutionary to the short track world including "spec" crate engines, tires and shocks, and the first-ever trip to New Hampshire Motor Speedway last fall. The series has gone through a few name changes, scheduling formats, rulebooks, and occasionally a cast or two of characters, but it is, for all intents and purposes, the same old Tour.

I'm a self-admitted stats junkie and have been looking for some sort of outlet lately, so without further ado, here's a look at the history of the ACT Late Model Tour by the numbers...

0 -- The number of wins for ACT Late Model Tour champions Phil Scott in 2002 and Jean-Paul Cyr in 2007.

0 -- Cautions in the Time Warner Cable 100 at Oxford Plains Speedway, the only caution-free race in ACT history. Eddie MacDonald scored his first ACT win in the race.

1 -- As in, the first race. Warren, Vt.'s Norm Andrews, a multi-time Thunder Road track champion in the 1970s and '80s, won the first-ever "ACT Late Model Sportsman International Series" event, a 25-lap race at the 9/10-mile Sanair Super Speedway tri-oval in St-Pie, Que., on April 26, 1992.

1 -- The number of Canadian drivers to win the ACT Late Model Tour championship -- Patrick Laperle, 2008.

1 -- In points, the margin of victory for Laperle over runner-up Scott Payea in 2008, the narrowest championship margin in history.

1 -- The number of ACT races Maine's Ryan Moore won in 2001... a year before he won the ACT Rookie of the Year title.

2 -- Norm Andrews' winning car number in the first event at Sanair.

2 hours, 42 minutes, 8 seconds -- The amount of time it took Ben Rowe to win the 2006 "Mega Classique" at Sanair Super Speedway, the longest race of record in series history.

3 -- Drivers to win in their first career ACT start: Norm Andrews (Sanair, 1992 -- ACT's first race), Ryan Moore (Oxford, 2001), D.J. Kennington (Lee USA, 2004).

3 -- Consecutive wins for Gary Caron in 1995 and Ben Rowe in 2006, the ACT Late Model Tour record for victory streaks. Interestingly, neither driver had ever won an ACT race prior to their threepeats.

3 -- The car number of the first last-place finisher, Jimmy Young, who was 26th with a transmission failure at Sanair. Young would make one more Late Model start in his first rookie attempt before going back to the Tiger Sportsman division and dominating for most of the decade. Young would return as an ACT rookie in 1999, finishing third -- where else? -- in his first start at Thunder Road.

4 -- The number of top-five finishes Scott Payea turned in during the first four races of his ACT career in 2005.

4 -- Races that have won by a last-lap pass for the lead. Jim Cilley beat Kevin Lepage at Thunder Road on August 26, 1993; Dave Whitcomb won in a famous three-wide photo finish at Airborne Speedway over Ron Weston on Sept. 22, 1996; Tracie Bellerose beat Phil Scott in a controversial finish at Thunder Road on Sept. 1, 2001 that resulted in suspensions for driver Joey Laquerre and ACT president Tom Curley; and Brent Dragon assumed the lead at Airborne on May 8, 2004 when Laquerre pit out of the lead under caution, one lap before rains cancelled the final 34 laps of the race. For Cilley, Whitcomb, and Dragon, the final lap was the only lap each driver led en route to his respective win.

4 -- Consecutive championships for Brian Hoar, 1997 to 2000.

5 -- Consecutive championships for Jean-Paul Cyr, 2003 to 2007, an all-time ACT record.

5 -- The number of events run in two-part "segments" in the 1992 season, out of eight total races.

6 -- The number of events held in 1994, the shortest schedule to date.

6 -- Career championships for Brian Hoar (first was in 1993).

7 -- Career championships for Jean-Paul Cyr (others in 1994 and 1996).

8 -- The number of car numbers to win the ACT Late Model Tour championship. They are: 14 (Phil Scott, 2002), 25 (Dave Whitcomb, 1992), 31 (Lance Ferno, 1995), 32 (Jean-Paul Cyr, 1994, 1996 and 2003-07), 37 (Brian Hoar, 2009), 45 (Brian Hoar, 1993 and 1997-2000), 75 (Pete Fecteau, 2001), and 91 (Patrick Laperle, 2008).

10 -- Combined top-five finishes by rookies Jamie Fisher, Scott Dragon, and Jimmy Young in 1999.

12 -- The number of different drivers to win in 2004, an ACT record. Six were first-time winners.

14 -- Drivers whose first career top-five ACT finish was a victory. They are: Norm Andrews in 1992, Pat Corbett in 1993, Kip Stockwell, Pete Fecteau and Billy Holbrook in 1996, Chris Fisher in 1998, rookie Jamie Fisher in 1999, Ryan Moore in 2001, Jacob McGrath in 2002, Joey Becker, Shawn Martin, Dale Shaw and D.J. Kennington in 2004, and Eddie MacDonald in 2007.

16 -- The number of events held in both 2002 and 2003, the longest schedules to date.

16 -- The number of events run at a distance of less than 100 laps.

16 -- The record for the ACT Late Model Tour's smallest starting field. It has happened twice, at Riverside Speedway (Ste-Croix, Que.) in 1992 and Sanair Super Speedway in 1993.

17 -- The number of times a driver has led every lap of an ACT Late Model Tour race. Norm Andrews led all 25 laps of the first-ever ACT event in 1992 for his only victory, and Pat Corbett did so in two of his three career wins. Jean-Paul Cyr has done it a record three times. Joey Laquerre and Cyr did it in back-to-back races at Riverside Speedway in Groveton, N.H., and Thunder Road in August 2002.

18 -- The record number of cautions in the "Massacre at Ste-Croix" at Riverside Speedway in Ste-Croix, Que., on June 29, 2002. The mark was equalled at Autodrome St-Eustache on July 28, 2007.

18 -- The number of ACT Late Model Tour events held at White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H., since 1998.

19 -- The record for lead changes in a single event. It has happened twice -- the 2004 Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic at Thunder Road and the 2009 Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Fall Foliage 300 at Airborne Speedway.

19 -- Jean-Paul Cyr's career win total, second all-time.

20 -- The number of ACT Late Model Tour events held at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Me., since 1995.

21 -- The age of champion Brian Hoar in 1993, the youngest of any ACT Late Model Tour champion.

23 -- The number of drivers with just a single ACT Late Model Tour win.

25 -- Brian Hoar's career win total, tops all-time.

25th race -- The Coca-Cola 100 on July 3, 1995 at Thunder Road in Barre, Vt., won by Gary Caron.

26 minutes, 30 seconds -- The amount of time it took Jean-Paul Cyr to win the 2002 Labor Day Classic 100 at Thunder Road, the quickest race of record in series history.

35 -- The number of drivers with multiple ACT Late Model Tour wins.

35 -- Brian Hoar's winning percentage through the first three seasons of the ACT Late Model Tour, 1992-94 (7 wins in 20 races).

36 -- The number of ACT Late Model Tour events held at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y., second-most of any track on the circuit.

43 -- The largest starting field in ACT Late Model Tour history, at Sanair Super Speedway in 2006.

50th race -- The Fleur-de-Lys Classic on August 16, 1998 at Sanair Super Speedway in St-Pie, Que., won by Joey Laquerre.

51 -- The age of champion Pete Fecteau in 2001, the oldest of any ACT Late Model Tour champion.

57 -- The number of ACT Late Model Tour events held at Thunder Road in Barre, the most of any track on the circuit.

58 -- Different drivers to have won at least one ACT Late Model Tour event.

66 -- The number of laps run in the Spring Green at Airborne on May 8, 2004. It is the only ACT Late Model Tour race to date that has been cut short of its advertised distance (the race was scheduled to go 100 laps). Joey Laquerre pitted out of the lead under caution with a vibration on lap 65, only to have the rains come one lap later. Brent Dragon inhertied the lead and took the win. Laquerre finished 15th.

75th race -- The Currier Auto Group 100 on August 24, 2000 at White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H., won by Phil Scott.

100th race -- The Subway 100 on June 23, 2002 at Canaan Fair Speedway in Canaan, N.H., won by Kenny Dufour.

125th race -- The New England Dodge Dealers Milk Bowl on October 5, 2003 at Thunder Road in Barre, Vt., won by Eric Williams.

150th race -- The Merchants Bank 150 on April 30, 2006 at Thunder Road in Barre, Vt., won by Jean-Paul Cyr.

175 -- Career starts for Brent Dragon, most all-time.

175th race -- The New England Dodge Dealers 150 on April 26, 2008 at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Me., won by Ricky Rolfe.

184 -- In points, the margin of victory for Brian Hoar over runner-up Chuck Beede in 1999, the widest championship margin in history.

199th race -- The Merchants Bank 150 on May 2, 2010 at Thunder Road in Barre, Vt., won by Nick Sweet.

200th race -- The WJAB 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Me., to be run on Sunday at 2:00pm.

300 -- Laps run in the Fall Foliage 300 at Airborne Speedway last September, the longest-distance ACT race in history.

24,182 -- Laps completed by the ACT Late Model Tour since 1992.

***

AROUND THE REGION:

Time to take a look at the top Vermonters from the past weekend...

Big Daddy's Speedway (Rumney, N.H.): Louie Cadwell of Vershire was the runner-up in the inaugural Sportsman Modified feature at Big Daddy's Speedbowl on Sunday, with Hartland's Ed Tobin fifth. Josh Sunn of White River Junction won the Mini Stock feature.

Canaan Dirt Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Rookie Dan Eastman of Thetford Center was sixth in the Sportsman Modifed opener on Friday, with Hartland's Ed Tobin ninth. Josh Sunn of White River Junction was fifth in the Mini Stocks. Dakota Stender of Tunbridge won the Bandit feature with Mike Stender of South Strafford fifth.

NASCAR Nationwide Series: Shelburne's Kevin Lepage was 38th at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Friday night.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: David Stremme finished 24th at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Saturday night for Vermont-based Latitude 43 Motorsports.

PASS South Super Late Models: Steven Legendre of Danville finished 19th in Friday's event at Wake County Speedway in Raleigh, N.C.

Twin State Speedway (Claremont, N.H.): Dallas Trombley of Rutland finished 13th in the Late Model feature on Friday night, while Robert Hagar of Windsor was tenth in the Modified event. Russ Davis of Cavendish won the Super Street feature over Chris Wilk of Mendon, with Mt. Holly's Kayla Bryant fifth. Pittsford's Kyle Davis won the Strictly Stock feature over Jacksonville's Kaitlin Stone and David Greenslit of Waitsfield.

***

THIS WEEK:

Friday, May 14
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 6:45pm (Regular Event)
Canaan Dirt Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 7:00pm (SCoNE 360 Sprint Cars)
Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. -- 7:30pm (Regular Event)

Saturday, May 15
Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y. -- 5:00pm (Regular Event)
Bear Ridge Speedway, Bradford -- 10:00am (Car Show @ Jiffy Mart), 6:00pm (Season Opener - Double Features)
Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Season Opener)
Devil's Bowl Speedway, West Haven -- 1:00pm (Open Practice)
Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)

Sunday, May 16
Big Daddy's Speedbowl, Rumney, N.H. -- 4:00pm (Regular Event)
Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H. -- 1:00pm (Season Opener)

TOURING SERIES:

ACT Late Model Tour: Sun., May 16 -- Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Me. (2:00pm)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Fri., May 14 -- Dover Int'l Speedway, Dover, Del. (SPEED/8:00pm - Tape Delay)
NASCAR Nationwide Series: Sat., May 15 -- Dover Int'l Speedway, Dover, Del. (ABC/1:00pm)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Sun., May 16 -- Dover Int'l Speedway, Dover, Del. (FOX/7:30pm)
Sprint Cars of New England: Fri., May 14 -- Canaan Dirt Speedway, Canaan, N.H. (7:00pm)

PAVED: Devil's Bowl Speedway Officially An Asphalt Track

2010-05-12T15:04:00.003-04:00

(From track press release)

WEST HAVEN -- Devil's Bowl Speedway, after months of hard work, has been transformed from a dirt race track to a modern paved speedway. The venerable track has been an institution in western Vermont since 1967 and will be opening its 44th season of racing on May 23rd on a brand new asphalt surface provided by Wilk Paving of West Rutland.

"Working with a local company like Wilk is the way I like to do business," said track promoter Jerry Richards. "Chris Wilk has been with me every step of the way and I couldn't be happier with the final product. We worked together using input from Mike Perrotte (promoter of Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y.) and Tom Curley (promoter of Thunder Road in Barre) to design the progressive banking in order to turn this clay track into a paved surface that would provide the same level of excitement and competitive racing that we're used to."

Jerry Richards, brother Bruce Richards (promoter at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta N.Y.), and sister Sharon Richards are partners of both race tracks and owners since 2005. In the past, Jerry managed the facilities while Bruce handled the promotional responsibilities. This year Bruce will take on all aspects of management at Albany-Saratoga and Jerry will do the same at Devil's Bowl.

Jerry Richards noted, "Bruce lives in New York and I live in Vermont. It just made good business sense. It would have been a big enough learning curve for both of us without the decision to go to pavement, but we've been through a lot together and he's learning from me at the same time I'm learning from him. As far as the asphalt goes, we're learning together."

Perrotte and Curley have been instrumental in helping Jerry Richards to make the transition to pavement racing. Having the advice of the other nearby pavement promoters has been invaluable.

"In working together, we hope to maintain and even strengthen local short track racing," Jerry Richards said. "It's a tough business, [it's] seasonal and dependent on weather and you have to have a certain amount of backbone to be in it year after year. Having grown up with it, it's in our blood and none of us can really imagine doing anything else, so this is a big gamble for us, but one we feel will really pay off going forward."

The Devil's Bowl Speedway season opener is scheduled for Sunday, May 23rd and will feature the Thunder Road late models in a 100-lap race to christen the new pavement. Devil's Bowl has also been fortunate to have some very important partners sign on to support local racing in 2010: Coca-Cola Products has been instrumental in helping with schedule distribution, and will provide all beverages this year at the speedway. The May 30 Tri-Track Modified Series race is presented by Chittenden Bank. LaValley's Building Supply is holding their Employee's Night at the Races on June 6th, and Ace Carting Corp. of Fort Ann, N.Y., is sponsoring the traditional 4th of July show, in addition to bringing two race teams all season. Heritage Family Credit Union sponsors the Renegade Roundup on August 15th and will continue the tradition of saying thank-you to their customers by admitting all HFCU members into the grandstand for free that night. Brown’s Quarried Slate has returned as a sponsor, and CRM Specialties of Orwell has come on board for the first time.

The first two events on May 23 and May 30 are $15 adult tickets, while adult admission for regular shows remains only $10, and this year all children 12 and under will be admitted free. Racing will begin an hour earlier with a 6:00 p.m. start time. Up-to-date information and the complete racing schedule can be found on the internet at http://www.devilsbowlspeedwayvt.com/ and the speedway telephone is 802-265-3112.

Brent Dragon: ACT @ Oxford Plains Preview

2010-05-12T14:41:00.002-04:00

(From team release)

Brent Dragon and the ACT Late Model Tour are ready for the second event of the season -- the WJAB 150 on Sunday, May 16, at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine. Three of the first four races on the ACT schedule have been rained out, including last week's event at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y., where Dragon is a 3-time track champion. With more career ACT starts (175) than anyone in the tour's history, Dragon heads to Oxford where he's had some measure of success over the last couple of seasons. He won the pole for the prestigious TD Bank Oxford 250 last July -- leading nearly 100 laps in the event before finishing sixth -- and has finished in the top-10 in each of the last three 250s.

WHO: Brent Dragon, Milton, Vt.
TEAM: Beverage Mart/Furniture World of VT/Charlebois Freightliner/Newton Pellets No. 55 Chevrolet
BEST CAREER OXFORD PLAINS SPEEDWAY FINISH: 2nd (May 2001)
LAST FINISH AT OXFORD PLAINS SPEEDWAY: 9th (October 2009)

WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour WJAB 150
WHERE: Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine (.375-mile oval)
WHEN: 2 p.m., Sunday, May 16 ACT Late Model Tour

LAST RACE: May 2, Merchants Bank 150, Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Barre, Vt. (14th-place finish)
NEXT RACE: June 11, NH Governor's Cup 150, Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H.
POINTS POSITION: 13th

**********

BRENT, YOU'VE CHANGED YOUR TUNE ABOUT OXFORD PLAINS SPEEDWAY OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. SEEMS YOU'VE GROWN TO LIKE THE PLACE.

In the last few years I have, yes. But before that, I could honestly have cared less -- it was probably the track we went to that I liked the least for a while. Since the the ACT cars have taken over the Oxford 250 (in 2007), we've done well. We've really started to run well there.

It's just so different from any other track that we go to.

WHAT WAS IT THAT FINALLY TURNED THINGS AROUND FOR YOU AT OXFORD?

How I learned it or found out about it was by following (2-time Oxford 250 champion Ben Rowe) a few years ago in practice. I just watched what he was doing and started to figure some things out. Since then, we've started to run well there.

The biggest thing about Oxford is just being smooth with the car. You don't even need a brake pedal in the car. At most places we race at, you use a lot of brake getting into the corner. There, you just kind of roll through the turn and get back on the throttle early. It gives you a really good drive off the corner.

WHAT'S BEEN THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE WITH THREE RAINOUTS IN THE FIRST FOUR WEEKS OF THE SEASON?

We went and tested before we had all this rain, and everyone knew what was going on. It went really smooth for us as a team at Thunder Road, but it sure would have been nice to get going and have some races.

Other than that, it's not that bad -- I mean, we know we're going to make all these races up eventually, anyway, and we'll just be ready for that when the time comes. We're going up to Oxford Saturday later in the day for practice, and then there will be a couple of practices on Sunday morning. We'll have plenty of time to work on things before the race.

Joey Polewarczyk Jr.: ACT @ Oxford Plains Preview

2010-05-12T14:37:00.001-04:00

(From team release)

Joey Polewarczyk Jr. joins the ACT Late Model Tour for the second event of the season -- the WJAB 150 on Sunday, May 16, at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine. Three of the first five races on the ACT schedule have been rained out, including last week's event in Plattsburgh, N.Y. After a 12th-place finish in the season opener at Thunder Road International Speedbowl on May 2, Polewarczyk returns to Oxford Plains Speedway -- where he's won two ACT races in his career, including this very event last season. In his last six starts at Oxford, including two TD Bank Oxford 250s, Polewarczyk has two wins and five top-five finishes.

WHO: Joey Polewarczyk Jr., Hudson, N.H.
TEAM: Pole's Automotive/NH Precision No. 97 Ford
BEST CAREER OXFORD PLAINS SPEEDWAY FINISH: 1st (2 times; most recently: May 2009)
LAST RACE AT OXFORD PLAINS SPEEDWAY: 2nd (October 2009)

WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour WJAB 150
WHERE: Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine (.375-mile oval)
WHEN: 2 p.m., Sunday, May 16ACT Late Model Tour

LAST RACE: Sunday, May 2, Merchants Bank 150, Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Barre, Vt. (12th-place finish)
NEXT RACE: Friday, June 11, NH Governor's Cup 150, Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H.
POINTS POSITION: 10th

**********

JOEY, WITH ALL YOUR RECENT SUCCESS AT THE TRACK, IS IT FAIR TO SAY OXFORD PLAINS SPEEDWAY IS YOUR FAVORITE TRACK ON THE TOUR?

I love it. I'd say Oxford's probably my favorite, absolutely. The thing I like most about it is if you have a car that's not handling 100 percent, you can make it work. The driver can do something about it. You can change your line, try anything to make it work. A lot of tracks that we go to, you just can't do that.

WHAT'S THE SECRET TO HAVING A GOOD RUN AT OXFORD?

Every time I've won there, it's been the outside lane that's done it for me -- the way outside lane. It's been changing, though. The last race we ran there at the end of last year, we were running way outside, but Eric (Williams) got his car working down low and won the race and we finished second.

The fast way around probably is the bottom, but you have to be able stay there. Your car really has to be working perfect all day for that to happen. If you're forcing it to stay on the bottom like that, it's easy to use the tires up and then have the car go away -- and that's when you can go and use the outside, too.

IT SHAPED UP TO BE A TOUGH 5-WEEK STRETCH FOR ACT TEAMS TO OPEN THE SEASON THIS YEAR, BUT WITH THE RAINOUTS THAT HASN'T HAPPENED. HOW HARD HAVE THE RAINOUTS BEEN ON THE TEAM?

We'll we're definitely ready, I can tell you that. We've been the same guys for four or five years now on this team, and everyone knows what's going on and what their job is at the race track.

It's just the waiting game. It's frustrating, definitely, but this week has been really good. Sure, it stinks that we didn't have a race at Airborne (Speedway) last week -- but you have to take the positives. There's no body work to do on the car this week, so we just worked on our setup for Oxford. We can't wait to go back there.

ACT Race at Lee USA Rescheduled

2010-05-11T16:42:00.005-04:00

(From ACT press release)

LEE, N.H. -- The New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 originally scheduled for April 18 at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H., has been rescheduled for Friday, June 11. The event was originally scheduled as the American-Canadian Tour season opener but was postponed due to rain. It becomes the third event of the 2010 ACT season.

ACT teams will have a challenge in racing with Lee regulars who have gained experience in the longer distance ACT races over the years. The Lee contingent will be led by defending champion and current point leader Wayne Helliwell, Jr., of Dover, N.H. Helliwell has already scored two wins in the first two events at Lee this season and is currently leading the Ford Blue Oval Cup Challenge.

ACT favorites include past Lee winners Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., who won the 2008 NH Governor's Cup, and Jean-Paul Cyr, winner of a 2005 Lee event. Defending and six-time ACT Champion Brian Hoar has never won an ACT event at Lee but currently sits atop the ACT point standings. Other contenders include Scott Payea, who has two third place finishes in five career starts at Lee, Brent Dragon, John Donahue, Randy Potter, Jamie Fisher, and Glen Luce among others.

Before ACT teams can look ahead to the NH Governor’s Cup, they will have to battle in Sunday’s 150-lap event at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Me. Over forty teams are expected to fight for the thirty starting spots, over $25,000 in purse, and the second invitation to the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September. Post time at Oxford is 2:00pm on Sunday, May 16.

Jenkins Making Quiet But Important Mark in NASCAR

2010-05-11T16:37:00.003-04:00

Vermonter Bill Jenkins is in his first year as a team owner on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, fielding the #26 Ford for driver David Stremme. Jenkins is an intensely private man, and strives to shift any focus on himself to members of his team, namely Stremme and crew chief Frankie Stoddard, a North Haverhill, N.H., native raised in the pits at Barre's Thunder Road as a crewman for late legend Stub Fadden.

Try as he might, Jenkins does a respectable job staying out of the headlines, but it's becoming time to give credit where it's due.

After winning at Talladega Superspeedway with driver Jamie McMurray last year, Roush Fenway Racing sold the #26 team to Jenkins, a businessman and entrepreneur with a lifelong love for stock car racing. He and wife Sandy renamed their new venture Latitude 43 Motorsports in tribute to their homes in southern Vermont and coastal Maine, each situated along the 43rd latitude line.

Through the first 11 races of its fledgling life, Latitude 43 Motorsports has qualified for nine events, gathered five top-30 finishes, and refuses to be a "start-and-park" team that shows up merely for a paycheck, despite little or no sponsorship. Jenkins contacted the Air National Guard in Washington, D.C., and since mid-March has carried the military branch's colors on his cars as a tribute.

As he waited for a flight at the Manchester, N.H., airport a few weeks ago, Jenkins and a woman in uniform struck up a conversation. As it turned out, the soldier was an assistant to Command Sergeant Major Michael Parker of the South Carolina National Guard. Eventually Jenkins was speaking with CSM Parker himself, and last weekend Parker attended the Showtime Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway with four unlikely guests -- a group of teenagers.

CSM Parker is the man in charge of the South Carolina Youth Challenge Academy, a program built by the National Guard for at-risk 16 to 18 year-olds, assisting them in earning their high school diplomas and preparing them for adulthood. As a reward for outstanding achievements at the SCYCA, Parker and Jenkins arranged for an all-access trip to Darlington for four cadets.

"The kids in the Academy have grown up in some challenging situations," said Jenkins. "It was an amazing experience to get to know them. They were all so intelligent, so polite, and you knew they were proud of themselves and how far they'd come. I wanted to give the kids a positive community experience like the one we have every week at the track. That's what racing is about."

Jenkins invited the cadets to participate in everything his team routinely does at the track -- they stood on top of the team's transporter to watch qualifying, they were front-and-center at driver introductions, and they sat on top of the pit box during the race with Jenkins and Stoddard as the team plotted strategies and made pit stops.

Stremme practiced and qualified well throughout the weekend and finished a season-best 24th on Saturday night.

"I didn't do anything special, I just wanted to give some kids a neat experience. They deserve it," he said. "Hearing their stories makes you look at your own life differently. It was very emotional for everyone on the team, and there wasn't a single person around last weekend that those kids didn't touch the lives of. I wish every team in NASCAR had the opportunity to give back like that. As a race team we had our best weekend yet, and I took as much out of meeting those kids as I did from the race itself."

Bill Jenkins may want to stay out of the spotlight, and that's fine. But for the work he's done so far in his short time in NASCAR, he deserves at least a little recognition.

(PHOTOS: 1. David Stremme at speed at Darlington Raceway; 2. Stremme (third from left) and Command Sergeant Major Michael Parker (far right) with SCYCA cadets at Darlington; 3. Crew chief Frank Stoddard (left) makes a call from the pit box with SCYCA cadets looking over his shoulder. Photos by Getty Images for NASCAR: 1. John Harrelson; 2. Jerry Markland; 3. Geoff Burke.)

Bear Ridge Car Show Postponed by Rain

2010-05-08T14:19:00.002-04:00

BRADFORD -- The annual Bear Ridge Speedway car show has been postponed by rain to Saturday, May 15 at 10:00am. The car show will be held at Jiffy Mart at the corner of Routes 5 & 25 in Bradford.

KDD NAPA Auto Parts of Bradford presents the opening event at 6:00pm that night.

ACT Spring Green at Airborne Postponed

2010-05-07T12:48:00.000-04:00

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- Saturday's Furniture World of Vermont Spring Green 100 for the American-Canadian Tour at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y., has been postponed due to unfavorable weekend forecasts. A make-up date will be announced soon.

Dragon Headed "Home" to Airborne for Spring Green

2010-05-06T12:07:00.001-04:00

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- Milton, Vt., may be where Brent Dragon lives, but he says Airborne Speedway across Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh, N.Y., is home. The three-time champion of the historic facility is looking forward to returning there for Saturday's American-Canadian Tour Spring Green 100, perhaps more than any other event on the schedule.

"I consider Airborne my home track," Dragon said. "I always seem to do well there, and it's always been good to us."

"Well" may be a bit of an understatement. In addition to his Airborne weekly track championships in 1995, 1996, and 2000, Dragon has 11 total wins there including his pair of ACT Late Model Tour victories in 2004, the year he won both the Spring Green and Fall Foliage races. His legendary father, Harmon "Beaver" Dragon, and uncle Bobby combined for four championships there in the 1970s and '80s, and cousin Scott was dominant there in the late 1990s. Airborne Speedway belongs to the Dragon family as much as anyone.

"I was talking to someone the other day about Airborne, all the good times we've had over there. I remember how excited we always were waiting at the ferry boat every Saturday afternoon, or coming back home that night, and there are some stories I probably shouldn't tell from those nights," Brent laughed. "We have a lot of good memories from there, and we always knew where we were going to be every Saturday night rather than traveling all over with the Tour. I certainly miss that part of it."

Dragon did a pre-season test at Airborne Speedway in late April to get geared up for the Spring Green. The event, like Airborne itself, is steeped in the family's winning tradition: Beaver won it a record three times including the first race in 1974, and Bobby won in 1975. Tying the Spring Green even closer to the Dragons is the race's presenting sponsor, Milton-based Furniture World of Vermont, which has also sponsored Brent's cars for several years.

"We tested really well a few weeks ago. I was very happy with how it went," said Dragon, who finished inside the top-five in both ACT races at Airborne last year and led 56 laps of the Fall Foliage 300 in September. "We had a tough start to the year with a crash at Thunder Road last week, and we could use a win to bounce back from it. I'd like to do it at Airborne. We have a lot of family and friends that will be there, and I'm looking forward to going back this weekend."

The Juice: The Sweetness

2010-05-05T14:10:00.005-04:00

-by Justin St. Louis
VMM Editor

How sweet it was at Thunder Road's Merchants Bank 150 last weekend. Sweet, yes, to be back in Barre at "The Nation's Site of Excitement", and Sweet, too, in victory lane. As in hometown boy Nick Sweet.

The 24 year-old grabbed his first career American-Canadian Tour victory in entertaining fashion, having driven from 12th starting spot to wage a 40-lap battle for the lead with Thunder Road heavyweight Dave Pembroke and Canadian star Patrick Laperle, then holding off defending ACT champion Brian Hoar in the final frames.

We've told parts of this story before, but what a story it is behind Sweet, who has become something of a cult hero in Central Vermont. In 2003, the high school student built a four-cylinder Street Stock and was an immediate contender for wins and championships. Four years later and ascending the local ladder, he was celebrated as the Tiger Sportsman champion and had won races at tracks like Airborne Speedway in New York, Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire, and the intimidating Sanair Super Speedway tri-oval outside Montreal.

With high-profile backing from Saint J Auto, Sweet tackled the ACT Late Model circuit in 2008, winning Rookie of the Year. He returned to Thunder Road last season to notch his first Late Model win, and ran impressively enough during the year to earn the final starting spot in the inaugural ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He responded in kind with a runner-up finish in front of a NASCAR crowd.

Sunday he etched his name on the ACT win list by beating a few future Hall of Famers. For those that have watched Sweet develop, it seemed like only a matter of time before he broke through.

"He's one of the best to come out of Thunder Road in the Tiger division," said Hoar, a six-time ACT title winner. "He’s a future champion for sure."

"We knew [at Thunder Road] last year that Nick was a great, great driver," said Middlesex racer Pembroke. "It's just no one knew it at this [ACT] level yet."

Sweet, as usual, humbly deflected all praise to his team, noting his father/crew chief, Shayne, "made me look good." He respects the drivers he races against, frequently citing men he beats on the track as his childhood heroes. He has an obvious love for Thunder Road and its fans: "It's my home place in front my home people," he said Sunday. "I'm a native of Barre, Vermont. Winning here is like a dream."

Apparently it was no surprise when Nick Sweet pulled into the ACT winner's circle for the first time last weekend. Therefore, it probably won't be a surprise the next time, either.

***

We asked ACT and Thunder Road prexy Tom Curley about his thoughts on Nick Sweet's breakthrough. Here is Curley, in his own words:

VMM: "What does it mean for you to have a kid like Nick Sweet win his first ACT race at Thunder Road after having come up through the ladder system there?"

TC: "Well the real interesting thing about Nick Sweet is that he has continually surprised me at every step of the way. I don't ever remember a driver that I have been so wrong about. I knew we had a great talent in the Street Stocks [but] I thought he made his move to Tigers too soon. Wrong!

"As soon as he rolled onto the track I knew I was wrong. He was more dominant in that division in just a couple years than some of the all-time best ever like Cooper [MacRitchie], [John] Donahue, Eric Williams, [Dave] Pembroke, etc. He was doing things that bordered on veteran skills in his first year [but] I thought his move to Late Models was too fast. Wrong!

"I knew I was wrong around the fourth race. The character of the entire team bouncing back from the horrible start, when I privately told myself 'I told you so' proved me wrong again. After the [Oxford] 250 performance, I knew he was going to [the ACT Invitational at] NHMS. I never in my wildest imagination thought he would be the star of Loudon that day, on and off the track.

"I think he is the absolute poster boy for why I have done this business for so long.

"His father [Shayne] is one of the most remarkable men I have ever known in the business. A perfectionist, methodical, very grounded, and deals as well as anyone I have ever known with controversy. As an example, he had quietly geared up pretty much for the now infamous 'bump stop' fiasco early last spring. After our decision to get rid of them for economic reasons, Shayne wrote me a very respectful email about his disappointment, and the expensive costs that had been wasted by the #88 team because of our decision last June. We had one quick telephone conversation and they moved on quietly and without all the usual negative stuff that might have adversely affected his team. I now know why Nick is one of the best young drivers to come out of our system in the past 20 years.

"He was on my short list of recommended 'draft picks' for the annual Speed 51 deal. I was pleased to see him join two others I pitched, Joey [Polewarczyk] and Eddie [MacDonald] who made the list from our neck of the woods.

"Nick has earned instant respect from the veteran champions, handles his success with great humility, and I would say he and his overall team effort from the start until now ranks right up there [as] being one of the most worthwhile rewards I have gotten for 33 years of work."

***

The first load of asphalt is being put down at Devil's Bowl Speedway in West Haven as this column is being written. The first practice is Saturday, May 15.

***

Martin Roy's 2009 championship at Airborne Speedway certainly seems a little bit tainted now, doesn't it?

Roy ran afoul of the DIRTcar rulebook -- specifically, illegally altered cylinder heads -- for the second time in the last two Airborne events on Saturday night. Roy and Modified rival Patrick Dupree were each penalized for the infraction at the 2009 season finale last September, one week after championship points had been finalized. Roy and third-place finisher Richard Tisseur were busted again after Saturday's season opener for similar findings. Ironically, Dupree inherited the Saturday victory after his heads passed inspection.

Airborne officials inspected the parts thoroughly on Saturday night, but sent the heads of all three cars to DIRTcar inspectors, from where the disqualifications come. Any further penalties, including fines, suspensions, etc., will be decided upon by DIRTcar rather than Airborne Speedway.

We've seen Martin Roy race enough times to know that illegal or not, he is one whale of a driver, and the Jean-Claude Fortin team he drives for is as nice and friendly a group of people as you can ask for. But this isn't the 1950s, when Modifieds had no rules. Play with fire, and you're gonna get burned.

***

Congratulations to Thunder Road veteran George May. May scored the Tiger Sportsman win on opening day, sixteen years after his last victory.

***

ACT driver Mark Lamberton joked on Saturday that it took him fifteen years to learn how to get around Thunder Road, but only a couple of years away to forget. After a fifth-place finish in the Merchants Bank 150, it's probably okay to guess that he figured it back out in a hurry.

***

We're trying something new for 2010 by strapping the VMM camera -- a four year-old Olympus FE-340 point-and-shoot that you can find at any electronics store for around $75 -- into some race cars. So far we've done a Tiger Sportsman practice, a Late Model practice, and a Street Stock feature race at Thunder Road, and a Modified heat at Airborne. Not to brag, but in the two races, we've pulled down a win at T-Road with Mike MacAskill and a third at Airborne with Chris Cayea.

We figure it'll be fun until a big ol' glob of clay bounces up and takes the camera out at Bear Ridge some night. Even then, that should be pretty good footage, right?

***

Make sure to pick up a copy of The Barre-Montpelier (VT) Times Argus each Wednesday to check out the new "Rear View Mirror" column, written by yours truly. You can also read it online at http://www.timesargus.com/.

***

AROUND THE REGION:

Time to take a look at the top Vermonters from the past weekend...

ACT Late Model Tour: Barre's Nick Sweet took his frist career win at Thunder Road on Sunday, followed by Williston's Brian Hoar in second. Middlesex racer Dave Pembroke was fourth.

Airborne Speedway (Plattsburgh, N.Y.): Lance Rabtoy of Fairfax scored his first career Renegade victory after a race-long battle with Swanton's Kevin Boutin. Whiting's Jimmy Ryan was the top Vermonter in the Modified feature, placing 13th.

Modified Racing Series: Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney won the Bond Auto Spring Dash 100 at Monadnock Speedway on Saturday night in Winchester, N.H. Joey Jarvis of Ascutney was 17th.

Monadnock Speedway (Winchester, N.H.): Nate Kehoe of Windham finished ninth in the Sportsman Modifieds on Saturday, while Dana Shepard of Putney finished eighth in the Super Stock feature. Ludlow's Joe Rogers was tenth in the Mini Stocks.

NASCAR Nationwide Series: Shelburne's Kevin Lepage was 38th at Richmond Int'l Raceway on Friday night.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: David Stremme finished 29th at Richmond Int'l Raceway on Saturday night for Vermont-based Latitude 43 Motorsports. Marshfield native Dave Rogers earned his first career Sprint Cup Series win as crew chief for Kyle Busch.

PASS North Super Late Models: Scott Dragon of Milton finished 11th in Saturday's event at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Me.

Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl (Barre): Barre's George May won the Tiger Sportsman feature over Williamstown's Mike Ziter and Barre's Cody Blake on Sunday. Mike MacAskill of Williamstown won the first Street Stock feature over Graniteville's Travis Hull and Bunker Hodgdon of Hardwick, while West Topsham's Tim Campbell won the second feature over Hardwick's Greg Adams, Jr., and Ron Gabaree of Barre. Ken Christman of Cabot won the first Junkyard Warrior feature over Williamstown's Kevin Hebert and Tommy Elwood of Morrisville, and Williasmtown's Kevin Wheatley won the second race over Barre's Kevin Dodge and Brock Parrott of Williamstown.

Twin State Speedway (Claremont, N.H.): Dallas Trombley of Rutland finished sixth in the Late Model feature on Friday night, while Robert Hagar of Windsor was fifth in the Modified event. Chris Wilk of Mendon won the Super Street feature over Russ Davis of Cavendish, and David Greenslit of Waitsfield won the Strictly Stock feature. Rob Leitch of Cavendish was second in the Wildcat feature, with Jeremiah Losee of North Springfield third.

***

THIS WEEK:

Friday, May 7
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 6:45pm (Grand Re-Opening)
Canaan Dirt Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 7:00pm (Season Opener)
Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. -- 7:30pm (Regular Event)

Saturday, May 8
Bear Ridge Speedway, Bradford -- 10:00am (Car Show @ Jiffy Mart), 2:00pm (Practice)
Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y. -- 5:00pm (ACT Late Model Tour)
Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Season Opener)
Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)
Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H. -- 11:00am Car Show, 1:00pm (Open Practice)

Sunday, May 9
Big Daddy's Speedbowl, Rumney, N.H. -- 4:00pm (Grand Opening)

TOURING SERIES:

ACT Late Model Tour: Sat., May 8 -- Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y. (5:00pm)
NASCAR Nationwide Series: Fri., May 7 -- Darlington Raceway, Darlington, S.C. (7:00pm)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Sat., May 8 -- Darlington Raceway, Darlington, S.C. (7:30pm)
Pro All Stars Series: Fri., May 7 -- Wake County Speedway, Raleigh, N.C. (7:00pm)

BREAKING NEWS: Dupree Inherits Airborne Win After Inspection

2010-05-05T11:12:00.002-04:00

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- Patrick Dupree may have crossed the finish line second at Airborne Speedway on Saturday night, but he will ultimately walk away with a victory.

Defending track champion Martin Roy of Napierville, Que., dominated the 50-lap opening event for the Modified division, but was found to be in violation of the DIRTcar rulebook in a lengthy post-race inspection that concluded on Tuesday afternoon. DIRTcar is the sanctioning body that governs Airborne Speedway.

Airborne officials inspected the cylinder heads of the top-three finishers, but were unable to make a definitive decision on the legality of Roy's, Dupree's, and third-place finisher Richard Tisseur's parts. Airborne promoter Mike Perrotte had the heads of all three cars sent to DIRTcar headquarters for further inspection, where Roy and Tisseur's were found illegal.

Roy beat Dupree by 16 points for the Airborne championship in 2009. Both Roy's and Dupree's cars were similarly torn down and found illegal by DIRTcar for cylinder head violations following a non-points event after the championship was final in September, although no penalties were handed down beyond disqualification and loss of purse from the event.

Airborne Speedway spokeswoman Niki Bird said that any penalties levied against Roy or Tisseur beyond disqualification and loss of purse from Saturday's event are "in DIRTcar's hands."

Dupree, of Saranac Lake, N.Y., will inherit the victory for Saturday night's event. As the winner, Dupree also will be given an automatic starting spot in Super DIRT Week's 358 Modified event at Syracuse in October.

Greg Atkins of Clintonville, N.Y., is now be the official runner-up. The rest of the revised top five is completed by George Foley, Andy Heywood and Matt Woodruff.

Sweet Takes First ACT Victory at Thunder Road

2010-05-02T19:23:00.000-04:00

BARRE – The first 80 laps of Sunday’s Merchants Bank 150 at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl appeared to be a continuation of Dave Pembroke’s dominance of American-Canadian Tour events at the Barre track. After starting from the outside pole, the Middlesex driver had a full straightaway lead by lap 12 and was pulling away. That all changed on a lap 80 restart, though, as Patrick Laperle of St-Denis, Que., and hometown driver Nick Sweet arrived on the scene.

Laperle rode the outside line to take the lead on lap 81, then the trio waged a 40-lap battle at the front. Pembroke reassumed the lead on lap 96 before Sweet took over 14 circuits later. Pembroke and Sweet swapped the point four more times between laps 112 and 121 before Sweet took control for good. Defending ACT champion Brian Hoar of Williston arrived late in the going for second place, with Laperle third and Pembroke fourth.

“These long races are all about patience,” said Sweet, who started 12th on the 30-car grid. “You have to set up for these kinds of races. You can’t burn the tires off too soon, and I saved it. I’ve learned a lot over these past couple years, and look at me now, I’m winning races.”

For Sweet, in his third season of racing the top-tier Late Model division, the Merchants Bank 150 was his first ACT victory. For his competitors, though, it felt like a long time coming.

“I closed in on Nick the last five laps and tried to nerve him up a little bit, but he did a great job,” said Hoar. “He didn’t nerve up much. He’s definitely a future champion.”

“This is the first race we’ve had to worry about Nick Sweet,” Pembroke said sarcastically; the two are weekly competitors at Thunder Road. “We knew last year that Nick was a great, great driver.”

Mark Lamberton of Mooers Forks, N.Y., had a strong return to full-time competition by finishing in fifth place. The unofficial top ten was completed by Craig Bushey, Joey Laquerre, Chip Grenier, polesitter Scott Payea, and Mark Hayward in a career-best tenth.

With the win, Sweet became the first driver to qualify for the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September.

Veteran driver George May of Barre won the 35-lap Tiger Sportsman feature in a caution-free event. May’s last win at Thunder Road came in 1994. Mike Ziter of Williamstown was second, followed by Cody Blake, Joel Hodgdon, and Josh Demers.

Street Stock driver Mike MacAskill of Williamstown dominated the first of two Street Stock/Junkyard Warrior combined features, with Travis Hull second and Bunker Hodgdon third. Tim Campbell of West Topsham beat Greg Adams, Jr., by two feet to win the second feature, with Barre’s Ron Gabaree third. Cabot’s Ken Christman and Kevin Wheatley of Williamstown were the top-finishing Junkyard Warrior drivers in their respective features.

REVISED Merchants Bank 150 Results

2010-05-02T19:21:00.002-04:00

OFFICIAL RESULTS – Merchants Bank 150 (revised 5/06)
American-Canadian Tour – Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl, Barre, Vt.
Sunday, May 2, 2010

(Pos.-Driver-Hometown)

ACT Late Model Tour (150 laps)
1. Nick Sweet, Barre
2. Brian Hoar, Williston
3. Patrick Laperle, St-Denis, Que.
4. Dave Pembroke, Middlesex
5. Mark Lamberton, Mooers Forks, N.Y.
6. Craig Bushey, Cambridge
7. Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier
8. Chip Grenier, Graniteville
9. Scott Payea, Milton
10. Mark Hayward, Newport, N.H.

Bond Auto Tiger Sportsman (35 laps)
1. George May, Barre
2. Mike Ziter, Williamstown
3. Cody Blake, Barre
4. Joel Hodgdon, Craftsbury
5. Josh Demers, Middlesex

Allen Lumber Street Stock/Junkyard Warrior #1 (30 laps)
1. Mike MacAskill, Williamstown (SS)
2. Travis Hull, Graniteville (SS)
3. Bunker Hodgdon, Hardwick (SS)
4. Jean LeBlanc, Gorham, N.H. (SS)
5. Billy Hennequin, Morrisville (SS)

14. Ken Christman, Cabot (JW)
17. Kevin Hebert, Williamstown (JW)
20. Tommy Elwood, Morrisville (JW)

Allen Lumber Street Stock/Junkyard Warrior #2 (30 laps)
1. Tim Campbell, West Topsham (SS)
2. Greg Adams, Jr., Hardwick (SS)
3. Ron Gabaree, Barre (SS)
4. Scott Weston, Berlin (SS)
5. Joe Fecteau, Hardwick (SS)

7. Shawn Swallow, Stark, N.H. (JW)
10. Kevin Wheatley, Williamstown (JW)
11. Kevin Dodge, Barre (JW)

Jarvis Wins Modified Racing Series at Monadnock

2010-05-02T10:52:00.003-04:00

(From MRS press release)

WINCHESTER, N.H. – Despite 12 caution periods Ascutney, Vt., racing veteran Dwight Jarvis scored his first win of the season Saturday night in front of a large opening night crowd when he captured the Bond Auto Parts Spring Dash 100 for modified race cars at Monadnock Speedway.

The win by Jarvis was his sixth career victory with the Modified Racing Series, sponsored by BobValentiAutoMall.com.

Starting 17th in a 24 car field, Jarvis methodically worked his way through the lineup, taking the top spot on lap 76. It was a hard fought victory for the popular driver who chased hometown driver Jim Boniface for several laps before making the pass. Boniface led the race for 68 laps.

2009 Koszela Speed Rookie of the Year Jacob Dore of Sanford, Me., made a late race charge to finish second. Boniface settled for third, while Rowan Pennink of Huntington Valley, Penn., finished fourth with Sean Bodreau of Claremont, N.H., fifth.

Pennink, who started 24th in the field, was involved in an early race skirmish on lap 36, that forced him to start last again. He made a late race charge that led to his fourth place finish.

32 race teams entered the event, the third of 19 races for the popular touring series.

The next scheduled race for MRS is the Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta N.Y., on May 21.

REVISED Airborne Results - 5/01/10

2010-05-02T09:47:00.002-04:00

OFFICIAL RESULTS – Valcour Imaging/Hamilton Funeral Home Night
Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Saturday, May 1, 2010

Pos.-Driver-Hometown
Modified (50 laps)

1. Patrick Dupree, Saranac Lake, N.Y.
2. Greg Atkins, Clintonville, N.Y.
3. George Foley, Saranac Lake, N.Y.
4. Andy Heywood, Morrisonville, N.Y.
5. Matt Woodruff, Bloomingdale, N.Y.
6. Chris Cayea, Mooers Forks, N.Y.
7. Cameron Grady, Wilmington, N.Y.
8. Mike Wells, West Chazy, N.Y.
9. Leon Gonyo, Chazy, N.Y.
10. Mike Reyell, West Chazy, N.Y.
11. Dan Brown, Sutton, Que.
12. Bryant Trim, Morrisonville, N.Y.
13. Jimmy Ryan, Whiting
14. Todd Ormsby, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
15. Terry Hayes, Warrensburg, N.Y.
16. Andy Powell, Hannibal, N.Y.
17. Floyd Billington, Glens Falls, N.Y.
18. Michel Viens, St-Cesaire, Que.
19. Jason Bruno, Morrisonville, N.Y.
20. Mike Bruno, Castleton
21. Don Scarborough, Brandon
22. Patrice McGrail, Quebec, Que.
23. Maxime Viens, St-Cesaire, Que.
24. Jason Durgan, Morrisonville, N.Y.
25. Chad Blair, Saranac, N.Y.
26. Aaron Bartemy, Sheldon
27. Craig Ormsby, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
28. Vince Quenneville, Jr., Brandon
DQ -- Martin Roy, Napierville, Que.
DQ -- Richard Tisseur, Chateauguay, Que.

Sportsman (25 laps)
1. Robin Wood, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
2. Bucko Branham, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
3. Shawn Duquette, Morrisonville, N.Y.
4. Jamy Begor, Mooers Forks, N.Y.
5. Jim Bushey, Mooers Forks, N.Y.
6. Rick Frenyea, Saranac, N.Y.
7. Bill Fountain, Amsterdam, N.Y.
8. Tylor Terry, Morrisonville, N.Y.
9. Nick Heywood, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
10. Howard Stoner, Altona, N.Y.

Renegade (25 laps)
1. Lance Rabtoy, Fairfax
2. Kevin Boutin, Swanton
3. Ken St. Germaine, AuSable Forks, N.Y.
4. Keith Pelkey, Clintonville, N.Y.
5. Keith O’Neil, Mooers Forks, N.Y.

Mini-Modified (15 laps)
1. Rick Doner, AuSable Forks, N.Y.
2. Steven Bressette, Keeseville, N.Y.
3. Jamie LaFountain, Keeseville, N.Y.
4. Randy Martin, Keeseville, N.Y.
5. Chris LaVair, Gabriels, N.Y.

Bomber (15 laps)
1. Bill Joyal, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
2. Curtis LaGrave, Jr., Plattsburgh, N.Y.
3. Cody Meyers, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
4. Scott Richner, Rouses Point, N.Y.
5. Josh Durivage, West Chazy, N.Y.

Roy Wins at Airborne Pending Inspection

2010-05-02T09:30:00.000-04:00

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Questions surround the finish of what was an interesting finish at Airborne Speedway on Saturday night. Defending track champion Martin Roy of Napierville, Que., held off the late charges of Patrick Dupree – the man he narrowly beat to win the 2009 title – in the 50-lap opening event, but their fates, along with that of third-place finisher Richard Tisseur, will wait to be decided.

The cylinder heads of each driver’s cars were thoroughly inspected by Airborne officials, but the findings of each were deemed inconclusive. “The finish will be considered unofficial pending further inspection by Brodix (an engine manufacturer),” said promoter Mike Perrotte.

Dupree, of Saranac Lake, N.Y., passed Chateauguay, Que., driver Tisseur after the two collided on the frontstretch on lap 15. After a lengthy rain delay at lap 28, Dupree reeled in Roy over the final ten laps, coming within a car length of making a pass, but fell back in lapped traffic on the final circuit.

Greg Atkins of Clintonville, N.Y., turned in an impressive fourth-place effort, with former track champion George Foley of Saranac Lake, N.Y., fifth. The top ten was completed in order by Andy Heywood, Matt Woodruff, Chris Cayea, Cameron Grady, and Mike Wells.

The eventual winner will earn a guaranteed starting berth in October’s Super DIRT Week at Syracuse.

The 25-lap Sportsman feature was not without controversy, as hometown driver Robin Wood was named the winner nearly an hour after the checkered flag fell.

Wood nipped his uncle, Bucko Branham, at the finish line by inches, but Branham’s car was scored first by electronic transponders. Inspectors ruled that Branham’s transponder was mounted too far forward on the chassis of his car and Wood was given the win. Branham was placed second with no further penalty. Shawn Duquette, Jamy Begor, and Jim Bushey finished third through fifth, respectively.

Lance Rabtoy of Fairfax grabbed his first career Renegade win after a 25-lap duel with Swanton driver Kevin Boutin. Ken St. Germaine was third over Ketih Pelkey and Keith O’Neil. Rick Doner of AuSable Forks, N.Y., won the 15-lap Mini-Modified feature over teammate Steven Bressette, and Plattsburgh’s Bill Joyal won the 15-lap Bomber event.

Vermont Motorsports Magazine Launches All-New Website

2010-04-30T15:55:00.004-04:00

VMM releases new website, announces alliance with Times Argus

BURLINGTON, VT -- Vermont Motorsports Magazine has launched an all-new website for stock car racing coverage at www.vtmotormag.com. The new VMM website is an easy-to-use, all-inclusive place for feature stories, on-site reporting, weekly columns, photography, video, and more.

Originally launched as a blog in February 2009, Vermont Motorsports Magazine has become a leading source for grassroots auto racing news, focusing on Vermont's weekly tracks and regional touring series. The new www.vtmotormag.com, built by Anthony Sweet Designs, has organized and streamlined VMM's coverage. Race fans will find the new website much more attractive and easier to navigate.

"I have been overwhelmed with the recognition Vermont Motorsports Magazine has achieved in such a short amount of time," said Editor Justin St. Louis. "The blog quickly outgrew itself and we found that functionality was decreasing radiply, so it was time to make a change for our dedicated readers. Anthony Sweet comes from a racing family, and he understood what VMM needed. I feel that the new website he designed will bring VMM to the next level."

Vermont Motorsports Magazine has also formed a partnership with The Barre-Montpelier (VT) Times Argus; St. Louis' popular weekly column will appear each Wednesday in the Central Vermont newspaper.

"It is such an honor to write for The Times Argus," St. Louis said. "To follow in the footsteps of writers like Dave Moody, Tom Herzig, and especially the late Pete Hartt really is a childhood dream come true."

Vermont Motorsports Magazine will offer on-site coverage of more than 50 short track events in 2010, providing in-depth coverage of events at Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in Barre, Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, and Devil's Bowl Speedway in West Haven, events for the American-Canadian Tour and Modified Racing Series, and regional and national racing stories with Vermont interest. VMM also extends its coverage to social media including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

The new www.vtmotormag.com will debut Friday, April 30, as racing seasons open at Thunder Road and Plattsburgh, NY's Airborne Speedway on Saturday, May 1, and Sunday, May 2. VMM is online now at www.vtmotormag.com with links to the VMM blog, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube pages.

For advertising and promotional information, email LCRaceMedia@yahoo.com or call (802) 355-3282.

Big Field Expected for Airborne Speedway Opener

2010-04-29T13:50:00.004-04:00

(From track press release)

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Airborne Speedway begins its 58th stock car racing season this Saturday, May 1, at 5:00pm, and promoter Mike Perrotte expects over 130 competitors across five divisions.

“We had 90 race teams for practice [last] Saturday,” Perrotte said. “Our opener this Saturday is a Syracuse qualifier for the DIRTcar Modifieds [and] I think that will draw some extra cars that haven’t had much of a chance to race yet this year. Plus our own local divisions are looking strong.”

The headliner on Saturday’s race card, presented by Valcour Imaging of Plattsburgh and Hamilton Funeral Home of Peru, is a 50-lap event that opens 2009 Modified champion Martin Roy’s title defense. The Napierville, Qué., driver of the Gamache Truck Center No. 90 ran well at Syracuse last fall and seeks a guaranteed starting spot in 2010.

Roy is seeking to become the first Ernie’s Tools DIRTcar Modified driver to repeat as track champion. His opening night challengers will include each of the four previous champions: Leon Gonyo of West Chazy, N.Y., Mike Bruno of Castleton, and George Foley and Patrick Dupree of Saranac Lake, N.Y.

The J&S Steel Sportsman, Versatile Trailer Sales Renegades, NAPA Mini-Modifieds and Monster Energy Bombers will also be action. Gates open Saturday at 3 p.m.

ACT Post-Season Awards Top $100,000

2010-04-29T12:27:00.004-04:00

WATERBURY -- The American-Canadian Tour sanctioning body will celebrate its 25th year in 2010, and is getting its race teams in on the festivities. For the first time, in the current Late Model phase of the ACT series, more than $100,000 in post-season awards will handed out.

“Our Late Model program has grown significantly over the past decade [and] ACT has tried to maintain the balance between keeping this division cost-effective, whether it is weekly racing or Tour racing," said ACT vice president Darla Hartt. "Most of our Tour competitors, and those weekly racers that have supported the ACT Late Model rules formula are primarily focused on winning championships, which is the way it should be. It is still great that we can reward the teams with some financial awards at the end of a long season of racing.”

Both the U.S.-based ACT Late Model Tour and the Canadian Série ACT-Castrol will pay their champions a bonus of $10,000 this season, part of a total of more than $80,000 in combined awards for the two touring series. The “King of the Road” at Barre's Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl will receive $5,000, with over $20,000 in total point fund money awarded to Thunder Road competitors.

In addition, the ACT Late Model Tour Racing Electronics Rookie of the Year will receive a $1,000 bonus, and the new Ford Blue Oval Challenge Cup program will make available an additional point fund of over $10,000 with $5,000 going to the champion among approved Ford teams.

“This should be one of the most exciting and competitive seasons in recent memory,” said seven-time champion Jean-Paul Cyr of Milton. “It looks like I picked the right year to return to the Tour. I have always liked a challenge and this year sure looks like it has all the makings of being just that."

The season gets underway at Thunder Road's Merchants Bank 150 on Sunday.

The Juice: We Need the Little Guys

2010-04-28T15:35:00.005-04:00

-by Justin St. Louis
VMM Editor

Not having Eric Williams to watch on the track at the Merchants Bank 150 this weekend is a dose of reality. As the defending winner of the race, the Hyde Park driver certainly would have been considered a contender against the invading American-Canadian Tour teams, and as a controversial driver with a controversial fan base, Williams' character will surely be missed.

Williams' biggest issue in not being able to race this weekend was a lack of time while running the family business and building a Tiger Sportsman car for his son, Tucker, largely in part because he is struggling to find funding for his team and could not afford to take time off work to build his own race car. He realizes he's not the only one, too.

"I'd say that probably 75 percent of the guys running Late Models are going to find a bit of a struggle this year in terms of money," Williams said. "You've got your [Brian] Hoar teams and your other big teams that have enough money to have whatever they need, but the little guys -- and there's a lot of little guys -- are gonna have a hard time this year."

Tunbridge racer Doug Murphy, who stole his own share of headlines last year by running up front with likely the smallest Late Model budget under the ACT umbrella, said his pre-season practice session on April 13 may have been his only appearance of the year.

"I've got old tires and no money," Murphy said, leaning on the only open trailer left in the division. "I lost almost all of my sponsorship over the winter. The only way I was able to show up last year was by picking up my paycheck before I bought my pit pass and using that money to buy gas and two tires."

Murphy's thoroughly battered ride was among the fastest cars at the test two weeks ago, but he says that speed won't matter if there's no sponsorship: "If it comes down to making the choice between putting food on the table for my family and going to Thunder Road, well, there's not much of a choice to make there."

Middlesex veteran Dave Pembroke, who trounced the ACT teams to win both the Memorial Day Classic and Labor Day Classic events at Thunder Road last year, showed up with blank quarterpanels at the April practice and said he doesn't have any sponsorship names to put on them.

Even Milton's Jean-Paul Cyr has admitted that while he hopes to contend for his eighth ACT Late Model Tour championship this year, his schedule will depend solely on cash. "We'd like to run the whole schedule, but it all comes down to money and how we're doing [on the track]," Cyr said. "If we're doing well then we'll figure out how to keep going, but [money] will be tight all year."

A recent Thunder Road press release indicated that "over fifty" Late Model teams are expected to attempt the Merchants Bank 150 on Sunday. Given the anticipation of the season's first race, a growing interest in the touring concept from teams in both the U.S. and Canada, and the enthusiasm of the locally-based regular Thunder Road teams, it's a safe bet that around 50 teams will in fact put on what should be a very competitive event. The official ACT/Thunder Road roster is larger this year than in recent years, and sponsorship appears to be solid across the board, but the stories of local racers like Williams, Murphy, and Pembroke do cause legitimate concern.

A bump from 13 ACT races last year to 14 this doesn't sound like much, but increased travel that includes an extra trip south to Waterford, Conn., a new drive southwest to Albany, N.Y., and the long hike north to Ste-Croix, Qué., could be all that some teams can handle. Thunder Road's weekly Late Model program was stronger last year than in recent seasons, averaging 24 to 26 cars each week, but if the smaller teams begin to start falling off the map then the whole program will be in trouble.

It's great for any series to have marquee drivers like Hoar, Cyr, Joey Polewarczyk, or Brad Leighton, but when racers like Pembroke at Thunder Road, Jeff White at Oxford, or Guy Caron at Twin State begin to worry about money -- the strong local racers that hold their own when ACT is in town -- that's when we all lose.

Keep an eye on the "little guys" this year. We need them now more than ever.

***

Monday I was walking the dog in shorts and a t-shirt. Wednesday morning I shoveled a foot of snow off my porch. By Friday I'll be back in shorts, and by Sunday night I'll be treating the second- and third-degree burns on my neck because I was too dumb to bring sunscreen to the track. Ah, racing season.

Despite the snow and wetness right now, Thunder Road officials have told VMM that they "don't expect to be roping anything off" in the parking lots this weekend due to mud and standing water.

Joey Polewarczyk might have said it best: "One thing I know about Thunder Road from all my years of going there is that I don't care if the forecast is for 100 percent chance of rain. We're all going to stand there under our umbrellas all day, but we're going to get that race in. Tom Curley and Ken Squier will make sure we get to race. They'll find a way to get it in, even if it takes all day and night."

Temperatures are expected to reach the high 70s and low 80s by this weekend aided by wind and sun, so everything should be good to go for race time.

But still, wouldn't it be kinda neat to see a Junkyard Warrior slide off the top of Turn 1 and into a snowbank?

***

I'm sorry, were you expecting the Capitals to sweep it in four games? #GoHabsGo

***

Looking briefly at the national levels, Québec native Derek White, who competed with the Série ACT-Castrol last year, will be racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Kansas Speedway this weekend, while Shelburne's Kevin Lepage will head to Richmond Int'l Raceway with the Nationwide Series.

David Stremme and Vermont's Latitude 43 Motorsports finished 27th in the Sprint Cup Series event at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend despite a mid-race crash, and will look to break back into the top-35 in owner points at Richmond. Stremme's average qualifying position in seven starts at Richmond is a solid 20.6. Latitude 43 ranks 37th in owner points, 162 markers behind 35th-place Front Row Motorsports' #38 car.

***

We're headed to Barre on Saturday morning for the annual Thunder Road car show and parade, then up to the track for practice. After that, we're taking a trip across the lake to Airborne Speedway for its season opener. Sunday morning, it's back to Thunder Road for the Merchants Bank 150. We're hoping to see y'all there, but make sure to keep an eye on the VMM blog, Twitter feed, and Facebook and YouTube pages for updates throughout the weekend!

***

THIS WEEK:

Friday, April 30
Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. -- 7:30pm (Season Opener)

Saturday, May 1
Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Barre -- 9:00am (Car Show -- Downtown Barre, practice at track at 1:00pm)
Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y. -- 5:00pm (Season Opener -- Modified 50-lap Syracuse qualifier)
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 1:00pm (Open Practice)
Canaan Dirt Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 10:00am (Car Show/Open Practice)
Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 10:00am (Car Show/Open Practice)
Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Season Opener/Modified Racing Series)
Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H. -- 2:00pm (Open Practice)

Sunday, May 2
Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Barre -- 1:00pm (Car Show -- Downtown Barre, practice at track at 1:00pm)
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 1:00pm (ISMA SuperModifieds)
Big Daddy's Speedbowl, Rumney, N.H. -- 12:00pm (Open Practice)

TOURING SERIES:

ACT Late Model Tour: Sun., May 2 -- Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Barre, Vt. (1:00pm)
ISMA SuperModifieds: Sun., May 2 -- Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. (1:00pm)
Modified Racing Series: Sat., May 1 -- Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H. (6:00pm)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Sun., May 2 -- Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kan. (12:30pm)
NASCAR Nationwide Series: Fri., April 30 -- Richmond Int'l Raceway, Richmond, Va. (7:00pm)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Sat., May 1 -- Richmond Int'l Raceway, Richmond, Va. (7:30pm)
Pro All Stars Series: Sat., May 1 -- Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Me. (3:00pm)

"Ain't Quite Ready": Defending Merchants Bank 150 Winner Williams to Miss Thunder Road Opener

2010-04-27T19:16:00.000-04:00

BARRE -- Eric Williams is a Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl champion. He's the defending winner of the American-Canadian Tour's season-opening Merchants Bank 150 at the track, and won the ACT season finale at Maine's Oxford Plains Speedway last October. He's a winner of the Milk Bowl and Labor Day Classic.

And on Sunday, he'll be a spectator.

Williams confirmed to Vermont Motorsports Magazine on Tuesday that he will not be competing at Thunder Road in the Merchants Bank 150, an event that he and son Tucker made history at last year by becoming just the third father-and-son duo to win at the track on the same day.

"I just ain't quite ready," Williams said. "That's just the way things panned out this year."

Williams took delivery of a new chassis from Michigan-based Howe Enterprises during the off-season, but says the demands of running a one-man auto repair shop in sleepy Hyde Park and focusing on his son's move up to the Tiger Sportsman division this year have forced his own racing to take a back seat, at least temporarily.

"I got a good deal with Howe, but I was pushed into doing most of the work on the car myself," Williams explained. "It was a bad winter at the shop until a couple of weeks ago, and now that the racing season is about to start and the car needs to be finished I've got a lot of business I need to take care of."

Williams said he's been getting up between 4:30 and 5:00 each morning to work on his and Tucker's race cars before the repair shop opens, and that lately each weekend has had a pair of 12-hour days spent entirely on race cars and trying to secure sponsorship. The sale of his old Late Model two weeks ago put some much-needed cash in the racing account, hasn't afforded Williams any time. "The body is almost done, and I just need to build the ductwork for the radiator," he says, "but the [sponsorship] money wasn't there during the winter and I couldn't close the shop down for a day or two to work on the race car and get it done then."

Sponsorship has been something Williams has struggled to find in rural Lamoille County since long-time backer Unicel was absorbed by telecommunications giant AT&T and forced out of racing in late 2008, and a lack of financial support last year allowed Williams to race in only 10 of the 13 ACT events, forcing him to give up a chance at back-to-back Thunder Road championships.

"David Storey (of Second Storey Homes) helped a little last year and he might do a little this year, but we haven't figured that out yet. Ward's Systems told me they're going to help at some point, but they can't commit to what they did last year. Other people have talked and done nothing. Some of them, I've wanted to tell 'em to get bent, but I guess that's when my saying of 'keeping it real' kind of goes wrong."

For now, Tucker Williams will campaign a full rookie season in the Tiger Sportsman class with Eric helping as crew chief, but the elder Williams' car sits idle. He said he is "hoping" to make the Spring Green event at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y., next week, but is more likely to wait until the May 16 event at Oxford to make his debut for the year.

"Everything happened late this year, I guess," he said. "Late isn't good for me, but it is what it is."

Devil's Bowl 100 to Count in Thunder Road Championship Chase

2010-04-27T15:34:00.000-04:00

(From Thunder Road press release)

West Haven –- There will be a new challenge for the American-Canadian Tour/Thunder Road Late Model teams when they begin pursuit of the 2010 “King of the Road” title. With the announcement of the Sunday, May 23rd opening event at the newly renovated and paved Devil’s Bowl Speedway in West Haven, the ACT Late Models from Thunder Road have been invited to compete at the historic speedway. It will be the first point-counting event of the season for the Thunder Road Late Models.

An announcement by the Champlain Valley Racing Association (CVRA) in the fall of 2009 said that the Richards family ownership intended to redesign both their dirt tracks for the 2010 racing season, converting them to asphalt. Sister track Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., was completed late last fall, and Devil’s Bowl expects to have pavement down by the first week of May. It was a natural for the most popular asphalt Late Model division in the northeast to join in the opening day celebration at Devil’s Bowl.

“We had already committed to run the ACT Late Model Tour at the Malta track, and with the increase of ACT U.S. events, we were in some kind of bind when we found out Devil’s Bowl was also going to go through a conversion to asphalt," said Tom Curley, President of ACT. “We very much wanted to be a part of the Devil’s Bowl program, and the Thunder Road group of Late Model racers have all had plenty of touring experience over the years, so this became very doable. There are a lot of excited teams to be able to open the big ½-mile, and that is good for Devil’s Bowl and for asphalt racing in the region."

Three-time Thunder Road champion Cris Michaud of Northfield likes the new twist on having the Devil's Bowl race points awarded toward the Thunder Road championship. “I think it is kind of neat that we get to open the new track. It will certainly be a change from the high-banked ¼-mile to the relatively flat half-mile, but it should be fun. Our team is looking forward to the challenge,” said Michaud.

The 100-lap event will be a Devil’s Bowl traditional Sunday early evening twilight race for the opening of the new facility. “We wanted to make sure we scheduled it early enough so that the traveling teams and fans that come and support our opening at Devil’s Bowl can get home at a reasonable hour Sunday evening,” said Jerry Richards, a CVRA partner and General Manager at Devil’s Bowl. On Sunday, May 23, front gates will open at 11:00am and racing will begin at 2:00pm for the grand opening of the new Devil’s Bowl Speedway. Admission for the ACT Thunder Road Late Model 100 lap event is only $15 for adults and kids are free of charge. All the regular Devil’s Bowl divisions will also begin their season on opening day.

0-For-2: Albany-Saratoga Postpones Sunday's ACT Season Opener

2010-04-23T10:08:00.001-04:00

MALTA, N.Y. -- The American-Canadian Tour is having a bit of trouble getting Mother Nature to cooperate in 2010, and the season-opening race for the series has been postponed for the second-straight week.

Unfavorable weekend forecasts for the Malta, N.Y., area have forced Albany-Saratoga Speedway management and ACT officials to postpone the inaugural Albany-Saratoga 100 scheduled for Sunday.

A make-up date announcement is pending for the Albany-Saratoga 100, as is a make-up date for last week's rained-out New Hampshire Governor's Cup event at Lee USA Speedway.

The 12th annual Merchants Bank 150 at Barre's Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl becomes the new ACT season opener, scheduled for May 1/2.

Hoar, Cyr Ready to Finally Battle for ACT Title

2010-04-22T11:56:00.007-04:00

BARRE -- Goliath meets Goliath at Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl on Sunday. Williston's Brian Hoar and Milton's Jean-Paul Cyr -- the two all-time winningest drivers in American-Canadian Tour Late Model history -- will face each other head-to-head for the 2010 championship in the most anticipated matchup in recent memory.

***

TALE OF THE TAPE

Defending champion Hoar's 25 career wins top the all-time ACT Late Model Tour victory chart, while Cyr's 19 wins rank second. In 106 career starts, Hoar has 60 top-fives, 78 top-tens, and an average finish of 7.7. In 137 starts, Cyr has 60 top-fives, 86 top-tens, and a 9.3 average finish.

Hoar owns six ACT championships -- 1993, each year from 1997 to 2000, and 2009. Cyr's seven titles are an ACT record, having won in 1994, 1996, and each season from 2003 to 2007.

In addition to his ACT titles, Hoar was the track champion at both Airborne Speedway and Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in 1999, was that year's ACT Overall champion, was the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year in 2001, and won the 2006 New Hampshire Motor Speedway track championship.

Cyr won the Devil's Bowl Speedway championship in 1990 as a dirt track racer, won ACT's Am/Can Challenge title in 1996, is the reigning Thunder Road track champion, and is a successful off-road motorcycle racer, competing in the legendary Baja 1000 and Baja 500 events.

Hoar drove for his family-owned Goss Dodge team before joining Rick Paya's RPM Motorsports for the ACT championship last year. Paya was Cyr's crew chief from 2003-08, also serving as car owner the final two years. After a successful year driving for Joey and Jeff Laquerre, Cyr will race for veteran Gary Caron this season.

***

NEVER WORKED OUT

For one reason or another, Hoar and Cyr have raced the entire ACT schedule together just three times. As Cyr won championships in 1994 and 2007, Hoar endured tough seasons to finish a distant sixth each time. In 1996, the two entered the final event at Airborne Speedway in a tight battle with Dave Whitcomb. Hoar's car failed to come to life on the starting grid, though, and he was forced to watch from the sidelines.

"It's never really worked out," said Cyr. "The times he won it, I wasn't around. The times I've won it, Brian has either not been there or not been able to be up there with me."

Each driver won four consecutive ACT titles at different points, but each streak took place while the other was racing NASCAR. Hoar's 1993 and 2009 titles came when Cyr ran only weekly events at Airborne or Thunder Road.

"I think not being there at the same time as the other was good for our careers," said Hoar. "He made it look easy [in 2003-06], and I did in the '90s, but now there are a lot of new faces and it's going to be tougher. It's probably not realistic to think that we're going to be the only ones racing for the title, but it would be pretty cool."

And that championship in 1996? Cyr won by two points over Whitcomb. Hoar finished third on the trailer, 62 points back.

***

FAST FOES, FAST FRIENDS

"There are a lot of things that have to go just right for it to happen, and I'm hoping it happens," Hoar says of a potential championship showdown between he and Cyr. "We're at points in both of our careers where we've each won lots of races and championships. The only thing we really have left to do is to beat each other."

"If Brian wins the title this year, he'll tie my record [of seven ACT championships]," says Cyr. "I don't really want him to do that. If I'm able to pull it off and beat him, it will personally be one of the more rewarding championships I'll have had."

That intense focus should not draw bitter conclusions, though. While fierce competitors on the track, the two are close off the track; Cyr and Hoar go motorcycle riding, go-kart racing, and snowboarding together in the off-season. Cyr also remains close with Paya, speaking with him "at least once or twice a week."

Still, the drive to be the best racer is too great to ignore: "Jean is a great competitor and a great friend, but it would really suck to lose to him," Hoar says. "It would suck worse to lose to him than anyone else."

***

SOMEONE ELSE

Losing to someone else is a very real possibility for both drivers. Names dropped by Cyr and Hoar as potential race winners and title contenders included Scott Payea, Joey Polewarczyk, and part-timer Eric Williams, and both are concerned about Brent Dragon and John Donahue as championship spoilers.

Payea won the Spring Green 100 at Airborne and has finished second in each of the last three seasons, including to Cyr in 2007 and Hoar last year. He hopes that the potential battle between the two will work to his advantage.

"I'm sure it's going to weigh on Brian's mind and Jean's as well," Payea said. "That's fine with me. Let them have their own battle, and I'll go and try to steal the championship from both of them."

Dragon is also a three-time championship runner-up with nine career wins, including a score at Twin State Speedway last September and a pair of wins in Canada. Donahue won at White Mountain Motorsports Park in June and finished no worse than fourth in the final five championshp events of 2009, adding a win in the Milk Bowl and a fifth-place effort at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the process. Polewarczyk and Williams each had a win at Oxford Plains Speedway, and Williams also won at Thunder Road.

The list of top conteders -- full-time or otherwise -- also includes Brad Leighton, Patrick Laperle, Randy Potter, Dave Pembroke, Cris Michaud, Glen Luce, Jamie Fisher, Nick Sweet, and ACT newcomers Aaron Fellows, Travis Adams, Bradley Babb, and Chris Riendeau.

***

ADVANTAGE?

Cyr and Paya's long association creates advantages for both teams. Having won five of his seven ACT titles with Paya as either crew chief, car owner, or both, Cyr feels he knows Paya well enough to have educated guesses for each strategic decision Paya may make, but understands that Paya knows most Cyr's tricks behind the wheel, too.

"Rick is very clever, very methodical. He brings a whole different dimension to the Tour because he eats, breathes, and sleeps racing," says Cyr. "I've never actually competed against him because I've always been with him. It's going to be fun if there are any races where [Hoar and I] really running at par with each other. Rick has an advantage knowing how I drive, but I know his strategies. If he one-ups me I'll be able to look back at it and I'll know why and how he did it, but I think I can call his bluff, too."

Hoar doesn't see the Cyr-Paya familiarity as a problem. "I know I'm with a great team," he said. "Rick has had two very different styles of driver in me and Jean, and he's had similar results with both of us. The team does a great job, so it's up to me to work my [butt] off behind the wheel."

Cyr thinks this will be his best shot at challenging Hoar head-on. "I know the equipment he's in is great, because I used to drive it," he said. "The equipment I'm in this year is pretty aged and it's been around the block a few times, but I'm really optimistic. We tested at Canaan and I'm really pleased with how it went. Keith [Williams] and Kyle [Caron] did an unbelievable job putting the car together. It's up to the standards I'm used to. I wouldn't be racing this car if I didn't believe it could win."

(PHOTOS: 1. Brian Hoar; 2. Jean-Paul Cyr; 3. Scott Payea. Photos by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

Brent Dragon: ACT Albany-Saratoga Speedway Race Preview

2010-04-22T11:51:00.000-04:00

(From team release)

Brent Dragon of Milton, Vt., opens the 2010 ACT Late Model Tour season in the Albany-Saratoga 100 at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., on Sunday, April 25. The track was renovated from a dirt track in the offseason and made into a flat, .400-mile asphalt oval in time for this year, and this will be just the second event held at the new speedway. The originally scheduled season-opening NH Governor's Cup 150 at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H., last week was postponed by weather. Dragon, who has competed in the series since its inception 18 years ago, will be making his 175th career ACT start. Though he's yet to win the championship, the 3-time Airborne Speedway track champion has finished second in the final ACT standings on three different occasions and owns nine career wins.

WHO: Brent Dragon, Milton, Vt.
TEAM: Beverage Mart/Furniture World of VT/Charlebois Freightliner/Newton Pellets No. 55 Chevrolet
BEST CAREER ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY FINISH: N/A
LAST RACE AT ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY: 2010 event is first ACT event at track

WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour Albany-Saratoga 100
WHERE: Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. (.400-mile oval)
WHEN: 1 p.m., Sunday, April 25

ACT Late Model Tour
LAST RACE: N/A
NEXT RACE: Sunday, May 2, Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre, Vt.

**********

BRENT, WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE NEW ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY?

Zero. I probably went there with my dad back years ago, but I don't remember the place at all. I really look forward to going, because it's one place I haven't raced at yet.

It's flat. Oxford (Plains Speedway) is as flat as anywhere we go; I don't really know of any flatter track than Oxford that I've raced on. I like flat tracks now -- but if you'd asked me five years ago, I would have said no. I've learned how to drive them a little bit differently.

You don't use hardly any brakes at all. I really am the kind of driver that wants to go as hard as I can into the corners and then get the car to turn and go again, but I've learned not every place works like that. I was following (Ben Rowe) in practice up to Oxford four or five years ago, and I realized what he was doing. That made a huge difference for me.

HOW DO YOU APPROACH RACING ON A TRACK YOU'VE NEVER RACED ON?

We've got an idea of what it looks like and what we'll go with for a setup. I'm glad we'll have a few hours of practice on Saturday to kind of figure things out. The gears are the biggest thing, probably, that you'll want to get right.

I like going to new tracks, so I like going to the races where it's new for everybody else, too. I think trying to figure them out is the challenge, and it's a challenge that I like.

IS IT HARD TO GET GEARED UP FOR THE 'SEASON OPENER' AFTER LAST WEEK'S RAIN OUT AT LEE USA SPEEDWAY?

No, not at all. We're pretty excited. We had everybody here at the shop again (on Tuesday) night, and we went through the car.

When the weather forecast looked as bad as it did (for Lee), I was glad they called it. When they called it on Friday, it saved us a lot of money in terms of travel and food.

We're just approaching this week like it's the first race of the year. It's like I told my guys, "Hey, we're still tied for the points lead. We came out of the box just like we wanted to, you know? We didn't get off to a slow start."

Joey Polewarczyk, Jr.: ACT Albany-Saratoga Speedway Race Preview

2010-04-22T11:50:00.000-04:00

(From team release)

Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., will try and earn Ford Racing its first ACT Late Model Tour victory when he opens the 2010 season in the Albany-Saratoga 100 at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., on Sunday, April 25. The track was renovated from a dirt track in the offseason and made into a flat, .400-mile asphalt oval in time for this year, and this will be just the second event held at the new speedway. The originally scheduled season-opening NH Governor's Cup 150 at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H., last week was postponed by weather. Polewarczyk enters his sixth season with ACT and has four career wins, including two at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine, and he has finished inside the top-5 in nine of his last 24 starts.

WHO: Joey Polewarczyk Jr., Hudson, N.H.
TEAM: Pole's Automotive/NH Precision No. 97 Ford
BEST CAREER ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY FINISH: N/A
LAST RACE AT ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY: 2010 event is first ACT event at track

WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour Albany-Saratoga 100
WHERE: Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. (.400-mile oval)
WHEN: 1 p.m., Sunday, April 25

ACT Late Model Tour
LAST RACE: N/A
NEXT RACE: Sunday, May 2, Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre, Vt.

**********

JOEY, IS THE TEAM HAVING A HARD TIME GETTING GEARED UP FOR A DELAYED SEASON OPENER?

Not at all. We're going at this weekend with the same attitude we had last weekend (before the Lee USA Speedway race was rained out). This is our sixth year on the Tour, and we want to be right there no matter what the track is. We want to go out and win the championship and get a win for Ford.

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY?

It's definitely flat. Obviously, on a flat track, the biggest thing is overdriving the corners. A big track like that, it's easy as a driver to overdrive the corner because you have so much straightaway speed going in -- and you overdrive the flat corner and go right up the bank.There will probably be a lot of cars racing single-file. It will be like a big freight train coming if you overdrive the corners.

TALK ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF RACING ON A TRACK NOBODY HAS RACED ON BEFORE.

I know that a couple of guys have tested (at Albany-Saratoga Speedway), but we're all still on an even playing field here. No one's really raced here, and I think our team really excels at taking on tracks that are new to us. Obviously, we would have loved to have opened at Lee USA, but we're just as excited about going somewhere new, too.

I think last year at Twin State Speedway (Sept. 4) was the last time I went to a track I'd never seen before. It was that mid-part of the season where we were struggling for some reason, anyway, but it was kind of where we got things turned around for us. We struggled really bad in practice, and I had to go through the consi to qualify. We started like 23rd or something, but we went out and finished seventh.

We're usually pretty close setup-wise at new tracks, and that's what I'm hoping we'll be -- especially with the long practice session they're giving us on Saturday. We'll be well-prepared, no matter what.

The Juice: It's Head-Smashing Time

2010-04-21T13:00:00.005-04:00

-by Justin St. Louis
VMM Editor

It seemed like it was only a matter of time. Patrick Laperle coming back to the American-Canadian Tour, that is. After all, it seemed like it was only a matter of time for his falling out with Tom Curley last September.

Laperle made it adamantly clear at the beginning of his career that he was going to do things his way, and to his credit, he has stayed one hundred percent true to that. Unfortunately for Laperle, Curley did the same thing twenty years earlier, and has stuck to his guns ever since.

The result? A total win-win for ACT fans.

There are spats between drivers here and there -- Brian Hoar vs. Mike Bruno in the 1990s, Hoar vs. Joey Polewarczyk last year, Cris Michaud vs. Brad Leighton the year before, and Laperle vs. Donald Theetge, well, forever -- but the rivarly between Laperle and Curley is a horse of a different color.

A battle like this gives fans something new to cheer for -- The rebellious cog upsetting the dictator's machine.

Curley, a fiercely independent Irishman from the Maine seacoast, is arguably the most successful short track promoter in the history of northeastern racing, and is in the elite crowd of the Bob Harmons, the Rex Robbins, the Hugh Deerys, and the Humpy Wheelers of the world. He has been called a maverick, a rebel, and, by his own admission in a Stock Car Racing Magazine article some twenty-odd years ago, "a pain in the ass." It's his way or the highway.

Laperle, a very focused, very talented, very popular Frenchman from suburban Montréal, has been a house afire since virtually the first race he ever drove at Airborne Speedway in 1998. He has won races and championships almost everywhere he's been from Québec to Florida, and is without question the most controversial racer in these parts.

When you put the two together, it's a recipe for a sort of magical disaster. The magic is in watching Curley set rules in place and create an entertaining racing product, and in watching Laperle at times make that product his own personal stomping ground. The two are among the very best in their chosen fields. The disaster comes when they challenge each other -- and they've been doing that since the beginning -- and feelings get hurt.

Remember, Laperle left racing full-time with ACT in 2005 and 2006 after repeated disagreements with Curley. He came back in 2007 and won the Série ACT-Castrol title, the ACT Late Model Tour title the next year, and nearly won the Castrol title again last season. When everything came to a head at St-Eustache last September, Laperle swore Curley off and said he'd be gone for two years, unless he felt like "smashing [his] head off a wall" again in 2010.

Apparently, it's already head-smashing time. We'll sit back and watch at Albany-Saratoga Speedway this weekend for anything that may or may not come out of the next chapter of Laperle vs. Curley.

***

Don't forget: If you can't make it to Albany-Saratoga Speedway this weekend (or even if you can!), follow VMM for raceday coverage of the ACT Late Model Tour opener, presented by RPM Racing Engines. We're here on the blog, but we're also on Twitter and Facebook!

***

How Hollywood-perfect would it be if Laperle was to win in ACT's first go at Albany-Saratoga this weekend?

History is a bit on his side, too. Of Laperle's 16 career ACT Late Model Tour wins, four have come in the series' first-ever appearance at a track: Lee USA Speedway in 2003, Twin State Speedway in 2004, and both Autodrome St-Eustache and Kawartha Speedway in 2007. He also won last year's Fall Foliage 300 in his first start at Airborne Speedway since the track was redesigned, and won the first-ever Coors Light 200 Showdown at Autodrome Chaudière in 2008.

***

Hey, if you haven't checked out the total facelift done on the new Big Daddy's Speedbowl in Rumney, N.H., you need to. Holy cow. Congratulations to Mike Rivers and his crew.

***

One more bit on Laperle -- We spoke with him again on Wednesday morning, and Laperle praised Curley and ACT for moving to electronic scoring this season. Laperle said that the decision to come back to ACT was helped largely because of the switch.

***

Kudos to both ACT and the Modified Racing Series on their decisions regarding the weather last weekend, for very different reasons.

Facing a total washout on Sunday, ACT and Lee USA Speedway called their event in southern New Hampshire off two days in advance. The result was a lot of travel, time, and money saved.

Up against the same thing in New York, the MRS troops tried to get their combination event with the Race of Champions Tour in at Albany-Saratoga, but were unable to do so. With nasty weather in the forecast on Friday, A-S management called Saturday's events off but played a wait-and-see game for the Sunday race, hoping the forecast would improve. It did, and they kept on schedule for Sunday and were even able to get a couple of heat races in. Unfortunately, the forecast is only a prediction, and the skies ultimately opened up anyway.

Valiant calls by both groups, we say. Pro All Stars Series officials have been blasted by fans and competitors for years over calling off events early due to unfavorable forecasts. They've also been blasted for waiting too long by the same groups of people. We're of the opinion that both ACT and MRS did the right thing -- an actually, so did PASS, having also been rained out at Speedway 95 in Bangor, Me., on Sunday -- by working with the options they had.

***

THIS WEEK:

Saturday, April 24
Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y. -- 1:00pm (Open Practice)
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 1:00pm (Open Practice)
Canaan Dirt Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 11:00am (Open Practice)
Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 11:00am (Open Practice)
Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H. -- 12:00pm (Open Practice)
Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H. -- Tire Sale & Track Clean-Up Day

Sunday, April 25
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 1:00pm (ACT Late Model Tour/Modified Tri-Track Series)
Big Daddy's Speedbowl, Rumney, N.H. -- 12:00pm (Car Show)
Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. -- 12:00pm (Open Practice)

TOURING SERIES:
ACT Late Model Tour: Sun., April 25 -- Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. (1:00pm)
Modified Tri-Track Series: Sun., April 25 -- Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. (1:00pm)
NASCAR Nationwide Series: Sat., April 24 -- Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Ala. (2:30pm)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Sun., April 25 -- Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Ala. (1:00pm)
Pro All Stars Series: Sat., April 25 -- Orange County Speedway, Rougemont, N.C. (7:00pm)

BREAKING NEWS: Laperle Returning to ACT at Albany-Saratoga

2010-04-20T20:14:00.005-04:00

Albany-Saratoga 100 coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines

MALTA, N.Y. -- Come Sunday, Patrick Laperle's self-imposed exile from the American-Canadian Tour will be over before it ever really started.

Laperle, the 2008 ACT Late Model Tour champion and 2007 Serie ACT-Castrol champion, defected from ACT last September after a falling out with series president Tom Curley, threatening to leave the series for "two years".

A controversial move by Laperle at Autodrome St-Eustache in his native Quebec at the 2009 Serie ACT-Castrol finale left him penalized by Curley and ACT, effectively costing him his second Castrol title by just a single point to Donald Theetge. Laperle skipped the Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl at Thunder Road the following week -- a race he had won three times in the previous four years -- and the ACT Late Model Tour season finale at Oxford Plains Speedway in October.

Tuesday night, though, he told Vermont Motorsports Magazine that he'll be at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., for the ACT Late Model Tour season opener on Sunday.

Laperle said he has little interest in racing with Curley, but feels competing this weekend is something he owes to his family team.

"I don't want to go," he said. "I haven't talked to Tom and I don't want to. My brothers Eric and Daniel want to test the car, and we're usually pretty good at new tracks, so we're going."

The Albany-Saratoga 100 is the first event for ACT at the newly-paved track. Laperle has previously won inaugural ACT events at Lee USA, Twin State, St-Eustache, and Kawartha.

"It's a track nobody has really been to, and we'll probably have a good chance to win," he said. "Beyond this weekend, I'm racing a dirt modified once at Granby this year, but other than that... when, where, we don't know.

"But we're going to Albany this weekend. We're not doing it for Tom Curley. We're doing it for us."

RPM Racing Engines to Present VMM Coverage of ACT Opener

2010-04-19T12:09:00.002-04:00

RPM Racing Engines of Georgia, Vt., will present Vermont Motorsports Magazine's coverage of the inaugural Albany-Saratoga 100 stock car race at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., on Sunday, April 25. The race will be the first-ever event at the track for the American-Canadian Tour, and is the opening round for the 14-race asphalt Late Model series.

RPM Racing Engines is Vermont's top performance engine builder, specializing in stock car racing, drag racing, street rods, and marine engines. RPM is a licensed dealer of PowerMist Racing Fuels, Synergyn Racing Oil, and AR Bodies, and offers a full line of engine performance parts, service, and machining.

Vermont Motorsports Magazine is quickly becoming one of the northeast's leading sources for stock car racing news, and will provide online coverage of the Albany-Saratoga 100 through its popular blog, Twitter feed, and Facebook page.

"Vermont Motorsports Magazine is thrilled to have RPM Racing Engines come aboard for the first-ever ACT race at Albany-Saratoga Speedway," said Editor Justin St. Louis. "RPM has earned the respect of racers all over the U.S. and Canada, and VMM is working hard to do the same thing. It's a privilege to work with RPM Racing Engines." St. Louis also said that Vermont Motorsports Magazine will promote RPM Racing Engines through the 2010 season.

RPM Racing Engines is among the nation's top builders for short track, crate, and "spec" engines, with winning programs in place with NASCAR, the American-Canadian Tour, the Champlain Valley Racing Association, Bear Ridge Speedway, Canaan Fair Speedway, Devil's Bowl Speedway, Monadnock Speedway, Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Twin State Speedway, and White Mountain Motorsports Park. RPM is a top builder of NASCAR K&N Pro Series and NASCAR Canadian Tire Series spec engines, and saw Andrew Ranger win six races and the 2009 Canadian Tire Series championship with RPM powerplants. Rick Paya of RPM Racing Engines is an accomplished car owner and crew chief, winning five ACT Late Model Tour championships with driver Jean-Paul Cyr and the 2009 ACT title with Brian Hoar.

For more information on RPM Racing Engines, call (802) 524-7406 or visit http://www.rpmracingengines.net/.

Vermont Motorsports Magazine will offer on-site coverage of more than 60 short track events in 2010, including the Albany-Saratoga 100. VMM is online at http://vtmotormag.blogspot.com/ and is also on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Modified Racing Series at Albany-Saratoga Postponed

2010-04-18T15:12:00.005-04:00

MALTA, N.Y. -- The inaugural "East-West Showdown" for the Modified Racing Series and the Race of Champions Modifieds at Albany-Saratoga Speedway has been postponed by rain.

A tentative make-up date has been set for Friday, May 21.

Showers in Malta, N.Y., halted qualifying during the third of four heat races; RoC regular Pete Brittain of Oakhurst, N.J., won the first heat, with MRS rookie Norm Wrenn of Nashua, N.H., winning the second heat. Modified Racing Series officials reported that a combined 50 MRS and RoC teams were to attempt qualifying.

Ascutney rookie Joey Jarvis finished second to Brittain in the first heat, with his uncle Dwight Jarvis, also of Ascutney, in sixth place. The May 21 program will begin with a complete restart of the third qualifying heat.

ACT Opener at Lee USA Postponed

2010-04-16T10:13:00.003-04:00

LEE, N.H. -- Heavy rains and an unfavorable forecast have forced the postponement of Sunday's New Hampshire Governor's Cup 150 at Lee USA Speedway, the opening event of the American-Canadian Tour's 2010 schedule.

The ACT and Lee USA websites both indicate that the race will be made up, and that negotiations for a make-up date are under way.

The Juice: Practice Was Actually A Lot Of Fun

2010-04-15T13:31:00.004-04:00

-by Justin St. Louis
VMM Editor

For most racing folks up where we're located, this weekend is a big one. For Late Model fans, the American-Canadian Tour kicks its 25th season off at Lee USA Speedway on the New Hampshire seacoast on Sunday, while the open-wheel fans can enjoy the first-ever Modified Racing Series/Race of Champions Tour showdown at the all-new Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, New York. A bit further east, the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models open their North schedule at Speedway 95 near Bangor, Maine.

As much as we'd love to be in two or three places at once, VMM is headed to Lee to find out who the first qualifier for the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will be.

Now if only Mother Nature can cooperate.

***

Getting back to Thunder Road for Tuesday's practice session -- strangely enough -- did this soul a whole lot of good. Yeah, we started the season a few weeks ago with an actual race at Waterford, but it was cold, windy, wet, and far from home. In fact, there was a pretty decent snowstorm that we trudged through on the way back north.

But the weather at Thunder Road was pretty close to perfect for mid-April in Vermont, and the ride home was about three-and-a-half hours shorter. In fact, I even got back in time for supper, in time to tell my new puppy, Witten, that no, this was my spaghetti, not his.

We got a pretty-much-complete list of the Late Models and Tiger Sportsmen that were there, but God help me if I was going to get all of the numberless and even paintless Street Stocks and Warriors.

Late Models we counted: Norm Andrews, Joey Becker, Cody Blake, Nathan Brown, Craig Bushey, Brooks Clark, John Donahue (two cars), Aaron Fellows, Jamie Fisher, Grant Folsom, Reno Gervais, Chip Grenier, Brian Hoar, Joey Laquerre, Cris Michaud, Doug Murphy, Scott Payea, Dave Pembroke, Chris Riendeau, Phil Scott, Nick Sweet, Dave Whitcomb, Matt White.

And Tigers: Eric Badore, Mike Billado, Jeff Bousquet, Jason Corliss, Josh Demers, Alex Ferno, David Finck, Shawn Fleury, Neal Foster, Kevin Godfrey, Troy Gray, Jimmy Hebert, Joel Hodgdon, John Lambert, Mike Martin, George May, Derrick O'Donnell, Matt Potter, Tim Potter, Ricky Roberts, Tucker Williams, Mike Ziter.

***

John Donahue had both of his cars at Thunder Road, including one with the new Ford crate engine. Donahue was happy with the switch and basically echoed the thoughts of others that have tried out the new powerplant.

"It's got a longer power curve," he said. "I feel like all my speed is at the end of the straightaway, rather than out of the corner with the Chevy motor." Donahue said he thinks it will be very interesting at shorter tracks like Thunder Road. He also practiced the engine at White Mountain Motorsports Park last week and was pleased with the performance of it there.

***

Our favorite Tweet of the week: "@LaxSpeedway: We are proud to announce that Festival Foods' Oktoberfest Bratwursts are the Speedway's official Bratwurst this year."

Gotta hand it to LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway for constant promotion. The Wisconsin track's annual Oktoberfest is a national short track happening, and to me, the Bratwurst thing seems like a fantastic year-long reminder of that event. (And honestly, who wouldn't want to eat a couple of those every Saturday night at the races?) Good work, LaCrosse.

It's been suggested that VMM should sign some sort of endorsement deal for an official food.

I wonder if I can get Mike Perrotte to get on board with this. Eight Airborne Speedway Michigan Dogs a week and you've got a deal.

***

Check out these cool videos produced by the Air National Guard in association with Vermont's own Latitude 43 Motorsports. And while you're at it, check out some cool videos we put together from Thunder Road.

***

An interesting deal: Jay Webb will be back behind the wheel of a Tiger Sportsman car this season. Webb struck a deal with car owner Chris Burnett that brings a new engine under the hood of the #19 car driven weekly at Thunder Road by Neal Foster in exchange for a seat in the car at the four ACT Tiger Sportsman Series races at White Mountain, Canaan, Thunder Road, and Riverside. Webb will also turn some wrenches on the car when Foster drives.

The Milton racer won the 1997 Renegade championship at Airborne and was one of the Tiger division's top racers in the early 2000s with six feature wins there and in long-distance series events. He and Burnett have each spent the last few years as crew members for RPM Motorsports on the ACT Late Model Tour, winning titles with both Jean-Paul Cyr and Brian Hoar.

I'll say it now: it wouldn't surprise me a bit to see Jay Webb snare a win or even contend for the Tiger Sportsman Series championship this year. On top of that, Foster made big gains at the end of last year, and his program should improve quite a bit more this season with Webb in the pits.

***

Notably absent from Thunder Road Late Model practice: Jean-Paul Cyr, Tracie Bellerose, Brent Dragon, Eric Chase, Mike Bailey, Tony Andrews, Rich Lowrey, Dylan Smith, and Tom Tiller.

That's right, Tom Tiller was not there. Come to think of it, he's missed the last few practices, too. Hmm.

***

The best moment from practice was a conversation with Cris Michaud, who has become a gold mine for instantly classic quotes. You see, Michaud is as much a hockey fan as he is a racer, loving specifically the Montréal Canadiens. (He's a smart man. Habs over Washington in six. Ovechkin who?)

While we can't reprint everything from the conversation, it started something like this:

VMM: "Hey Cris, how are ya?"
Michaud: "(Expletive) Canadiens... They can't (expletive) get one (expletive) win before the (expletive) playoffs?"

...and it went on from there. We feel your pain, Cris Michaud, we feel your pain. Hang on to 1993. It could happen again.

***

THIS WEEK:

Saturday, April 17
Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y. -- 1:00pm (Open Practice)
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 12:00pm (Quarter-Midgets, NETS Trucks, Enduro)
Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 9:30am (Tire Sale)
Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H. -- 12:00pm (Open Practice)

Sunday, April 18
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 1:00pm (MRS/ROC Modifieds)
Big Daddy's Speedbowl, Rumney, N.H. -- 12:00pm (Car Show)
Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H. -- 1:00pm (ACT Late Model Tour)
Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. -- 12:00pm (Open Practice)

TOURING SERIES:

ACT Late Model Tour: Sun., April 18 -- Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H. (1:00pm)
Modified Racing Series: Sun., April 18 -- Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. (1:00pm)
Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series: Sat., April 17 -- Can-Am Speedway, LaFargeville, N.Y. (4:00pm)
NASCAR Nationwide Series: Sat., April 17 -- Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Tx. (9:00pm)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Sun., April 18 -- Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Tx. (3:00pm)
Pro All Stars Series: Sun., April 18 -- Speedway 95, Hermon, Me. (1:30pm)

VIDEO GALLERY: Thunder Road Practice

2010-04-14T17:03:00.002-04:00

Here are some videos of the pre-season practice on Tuesday night at Barre's Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl. The first video is a general recap of the day; the next two are uncut footage from our in-car camera experiments with Tiger Sportsman racer Eric Badore and Late Model rookie Cody Blake. Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

We're Headed to Thunder Road Practice!

2010-04-13T14:33:00.004-04:00

We're on our way to Barre for the first practice of the season at Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl! We'll have occasional updates on our Twitter page, with notes and photos coming tonight and tomorrow.

Grandstands are open to the public, free of charge. Gates open at 3:00pm, practice is from 4:00pm-7:00pm.

Hope to see you there!

The New Devil's Bowl...

2010-04-12T14:36:00.003-04:00

...is coming together pretty well. We figured you might enjoy a peek at the photos of the recent and ongoing dirt-to-asphalt conversion process at Vermont's fastest half-mile.

Click here to see the photos posted by the CVRA/Devil's Bowl Speedway staff.

Donahue Joins ACT Ford Blue Oval Cup Program

2010-04-12T11:33:00.003-04:00

WATERBURY -- The American-Canadian Tour announced on Monday that Graniteville driver John Donahue has become the latest driver to join the new Ford Blue Oval Cup Challenge, a contingency program designed to reward teams using the newly introduced Ford Racing S347JR crate engine.

Donahue was very strong in 2009, finishing third in ACT Late Model Tour points. He scored a dominant win at White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H., in June and finished the championship season with five-straight top-four finishes. He was also fifth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September and picked up a win at the Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl at Barre's Thunder Road in October.

"I have always been a Ford man, and it was driving me crazy hearing about all the good teams that have gone to a Ford motor program for the coming season," said team owner Kendall Roberts in an ACT press release. "I just had to get on the bandwagon. We plan to give Ford and our National Guard Ford Fusion the ACT title."

Donahue becomes the tenth driver in the Ford Blue Oval Cup program, joining ACT drivers Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Joey Laquerre, Glen Luce, and rookie Austin Theriault, Oxford Plains (Me.) Speedway driver Jeff Taylor, Lee USA (N.H.) Speedway racers Wayne Helliwell, Jr., and Mike Johnson, and Wiscasset (Me.) Raceway driver Jerry Williams.

Sacred Power Finds Value with Latitude 43

2010-04-12T11:21:00.002-04:00

(From Jayski.com)

Sacred Power Corp. is riding NASCAR into the big leagues. This year, the Albuquerque solar energy company became the first American Indian-owned firm and the first solar enterprise to sponsor a NASCAR team.

Sacred Power logos adorned the #26 Ford in five of the top Sprint Cup Series races in February and March after striking a barter deal with Latitude 43 Motorsports, a NASCAR team owned by Vermont businessman Bill Jenkins.

Click here to read the article on Jayski.com.

ACT Invitational Increases Starting Field, Distance, Purse at NHMS

2010-04-09T14:53:00.006-04:00

LOUDON, N.H. -- The American-Canadian Tour went big in 2009 with its inaugural ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In 2010, it'll go even bigger.

ACT announced on Friday that the second annual ACT Invitational will see an increase in its starting field, race distance, and purse on September 18.

The field will be increased from 36 starters in 2009 to 43 this year. Ten laps will be added, bringing the distance to 60 laps around the 1.058-mile speedway, and the prize purse has been increased throughout the field, from just over $65,000 to more than $73,000. The 2010 ACT Invitational winner will receive a minimum of $4,000; inaugural winner Eddie MacDonald won $3,500.

The race distance was increased to offer race teams the choice to make a pit stop. A mandatory caution period will take place between laps 28 and 38, and teams will be allowed -- but not required -- to change tires and make adjustments.

"This format really sounds like a lot of fun," said Milton driver Brent Dragon in an ACT press release. "I think it will certainly add some strategy to the race and make for some tough decisions about whether to pit or not."

ACT also anounced that over 60 teams will be invited to test and "audition" for a starting spot in the Invitational in August; 2009 "At Large" invitees Nick Sweet and Brandon Watson both finished on the podium.

Like 2009, all 14 ACT Late Model Tour events and all 11 Serie ACT-Castrol Edge events will be Invitational qualifying races that award the winner an automatic starting berth in the race. Also like 2009, four special events will award starting berths: the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic (May 30) and CARQUEST Vermont Governor's Cup 100 (June 24) at Barre's Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, the TD Bank 250 at Maine's Oxford Plains Speedway on July 18, and the third annual Coors Light 200 Showdown at Autodrome Chaudiere in Quebec on August 28.

In addition, the 2010 track champions and/or point leaders at Thunder Road, Oxford Plains, Lee USA (N.H.) Speedway, Twin State (N.H.) Speedway, White Mountain (N.H.) Motorsports Park, Seekonk (Mass.) Speedway, Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl, Capital City (Ont.) Speedway, and Kawartha (Ont.) Speedway. Each point leader or champion will receive a $400 bonus for competing at NHMS, and a $400 bonus will be paid for each qualifying race win.

"The great success we had with the inaugural ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last year has given us the confidence to invite several more teams to make up the starting field for this year's race," said ACT president Tom Curley. "We will soon be announcing another great promotion for all the fans that attend weekly affiliate ACT tracks and all touring events during the upcoming season."

Centre For Speed Brings ACT Late Model Division to Maritimes in 2011

2010-04-09T13:00:00.003-04:00

SHEDIAC, N.B. -- Nearly a year's worth of rumors and talks were confrimed Friday: the American-Canadian Tour Late Model division is headed to the Canadian Maritimes. The Centre For Speed -- a 3/8-mile oval in Shediac, New Brunswick near the city of Moncton -- will introduce the division into weekly competition in 2011.

"The time is right for our race facility and race teams to join forces with what has become the most successful form of weekly and touring racing in the northeastern United States and the provinces of Quebec and Ontario," said Centre For Speed general manager Tim Wile. "We are happy and excited to be the first organization in the Maritimes to introduce this very successful type of Late Model racing to our region."

The Centre For Speed will become the 11th weekly track to utilize some or all of the ACT Late Model rulebook, joining Barre's Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, New Hampshire's White Mountain Motorsports Park, Twin State Speedway, Lee USA Speedway, and -- new in 2010 -- Canaan Fair Speedway, Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine, Waterford Speedbowl in Connecticut, Seekonk Speedway in Massachusetts, and Ontario's Kawartha Speedway and Capital City Speedway. The ACT Late Model Tour and Serie ACT-Castrol also use the rulebook in the U.S. and Canada.

"We designed the ACT Late Model division with a high priority on weekly racing as a base to our business model," said ACT president Tom Curley. "The philosophy was, and continues to be, to provide a cost-efficient for race teams, tracks, promoters, and fans. We now have over 400 teams who use the ACT rules and we continue to enjoy expansion. We are eager to work with the Centre For Speed on this expansion project."

ACT, Thunder Road Announce 2010 Rookie Classes

2010-04-09T12:33:00.004-04:00

WATERBURY -- The American-Canadian Tour and Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in Barre announced their 2010 freshman classes on Thursday.

Six drivers intend to compete for ACT Late Model Tour Rookie of the Year honors, led by multi-time track champion Aaron Fellows of Croydon, N.H. Fellows has been a standout in Late Model, Pro Stock, and Modified divisions at Twin State, Canaan Fair, and Monadnock Speedways for several years. He competed with ACT in events at Twin State and Thunder Road in 2009.

Like Fellows, 17 year-old Chris Riendeau of Ascutney leaves behind Twin State and Canaan Fair Speedways to chase the ACT Late Model Tour. Riendeau made his ACT debut at White Mountain Motorsports Park last June, and finished 15th at Twin State in September. Reindeau was a winner in Late Models at Twin State and Pure Stocks at Canaan last year, and also competed in open-wheel Modifieds.

Other drivers contesting the ACT rookie title are 18 year-old Wiscasset Raceway regular Dave Farrington, Jr., of Jay, Me., Beech Ridge Motor Speedway standout Bradley Babb, 17, of Windham, Me., 16 year-old Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Me., and Milton veteran Dave Paya, a regular at Thunder Road last season. Babb and Theriault each made their ACT debuts at Oxford Plains Speedway last October, finishing sixth and 18th, respectively.

Thunder Road's Late Model division will see hometown driver Cody Blake compete for rookie honors. Blake will drive a former Steven Legendre car owned by Mikeljon Mascitti.

The Bond Auto Tiger Sportsman class adds 2008 Street Stock champion Jason Corliss of Danville, 2005 Junkyard Warrior champion Mike Martin of Craftsbury Common, former Street Stocker Jason Allen of Northfield, former White Mountain Motorsports Park racer Alex Ferno of East Montpelier, and former Canaan Fair Speedway driver Brian Gosselin of Littleton, N.H. Corliss, Martin, and Allen each raced in a handful of Sportsman events last year, and Corliss finished second in the Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl season finale.

Junkyard Warrior champion Donny Yates of North Montpelier jumps to the Street Stocks full-time in 2010, along with former Warrior racers Alex Whitcomb of Montpelier, Keith Fortier of Hinesburg, Jayme Lee of Barre, and Mike Gay of South Burlington.

The Juice: A Bunch of Random Stuff. Seriously.

2010-04-07T13:54:00.004-04:00

-by Justin St. Louis
VMM Editor

April what? Feels like June. I'm in shorts and a t-shirt as I write this column, and my lawn is as green as I've ever seen it this time of year. By the way, this week's "Juice" has no real direction, but rather it's just a mindless collection of thoughts and notes I've taken during the last few days. Then again, I guess that's pretty much what this column is every week anyway. Enjoy.

***

We continue to watch Kevin Lepage in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Since missing the cut at Daytona, the Shelburne native has easily made the starting field in all four events, qualifying no worse than 28th in Jack McNelly's #56 MacHill Motorsports cars.

Alas, Lepage is forced to "start and park" his car each week due to a lack of funding. A botched sponsorship deal with distributor Revolucion World Wide and its START Natural Energy Drink brand left the team scrambling for money to go racing. McNelly is funding the now-sponsorless operation out of his own pocket at this point, and can't afford the costs accumulated by completing the entire distance of each race.

On Wednesday, this post came from Lepage himself on a message board dedicated to his fan base: "First of all, the MacHill Team is a better team then what I'm showing," he wrote. "We need to take care of these two cars so I can be at the track each week. Second, until we get a sponsor we will continue to [start and park]."

***

Go support the Autism Puzzle Foundation's "Casino Night" fundraiser at the Barre Auditorium on Saturday. This is the fifth year that the benefit will have the stars of the American-Canadian Tour and Thunder Road on hand to deal Black Jack, Craps, and Roulette, and it's a great time for a great cause.

Over 150 items will be auctioned off, including trips to Ireland and Las Vegas, and $1,000 cash. The dealers will be ACT Late Model Tour champion Brian Hoar, "King of the Road" Jean-Paul Cyr, top dogs Phil Scott, Robbie Crouch, Dave Pembroke, John Donahue, Nick Sweet, Joey Laquerre, and Eric Chase, and ACT/Thunder Road president Tom Curley.

Click here for more information.

***
We got a nice response from Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl race director Scott Tapley regarding our comments on Keith Rocco's restarts on March 28. After suggesting that Rocco was kinda-sorta getting away with jumping the gun a little bit in last week's "Juice", Tapley responded with this:

"No special treatment for Rocco, in fact, his first three restarts were perfect. Our rule is that leader must maintain pace car speed and the leader, and only the leader, well be the first car to fire at the restart line in the middle of turn 3.

"His next restart, however, was a brake check at the line (I know because I race direct at the line), and I immediately told our spotter official to tell Rocco's spotter that that was his one and only warning on the brake check. He maintained his correct restarts for the remaining restarts with absoultely no question in my mind.

"[At] our season finale last year ... Keith's team argued for "extra" caution laps when the rule is four laps no matter what ... because of our pit in/out blending problems. (Editor's note: Waterford has a very odd pit road; the only entrance from the track surface is a swinging gate on the backstretch that can only be opened by an official during a yellow flag period.) We went green at our normal four laps and it took the Rocco team 18 laps to complete the change. A broken track bar braket cost him the title, as he entered the event the leader. The team claimed that we could have provided a "courtesy" [lap] but I my opinion it would nullify any rule ever made.

"If you dont have ruling consistency than you have no crediblity, and I'm proud of the fact that I and our officials have shown that in our first year of operation, much different than the Speedbowl I attended when I first moved to Connecticut in 2005."

So there you have it. Thanks to Scott Tapley for reading VMM, and thanks even more for the response.

***

Sad news comes with the passing of pioneer racer Ronnie "Satch" Hunt on Easter Sunday. Despite his youth, Hunt was a top driver in the barnstorming days of the open-wheel Coupes in Vermont and New Hampshire, winning multiple features in the #59 and #60 cars at Barre's Thunder Road and Northeastern Speedway near St. Johnsbury. At the time of his first win at Northeastern in 1960, he was just 19 years old.

Satch owned and operated Hunt's Auto Repair and AKM Recycling in his native Franconia, N.H., and was an active member of the community; he had roles with the Franconia Board of Adjustment and the Franconia Planning Board, was a town selectman and firefighter, and was a member of the LaFayette Lions Club. He also attended the Northeastern Speedway 50th reunion last July.

Satch was 68.

***

That NCAA title was one of the best basketball games you'll ever see. And thanks to Duke, I won a basketball hoop of my very own. #bracketology

***

There's something about Dale Brackett that you can get behind. Most small teams -- especially when they're based more than a thousand miles away from most of the action -- don't make it in the big leagues of NASCAR. I don't know whether or not Brackett's new NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team will, but at least he's got the right attitude about it.

"We're trying to make our own opportunity here," he said after failing to qualify for his debut at Martinsville on March 27. "It's a huge jump from where we've been, and we know that. There's no real way to prepare for it. But you've either got it or you don't."

Amen, fella.

***

Some numbers from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East this year. Just for fun.

Races: 2
Winners: Darrell Wallace, Jr. (Greenville), Max Gresham (South Boston)
Oldest winner: Gresham, age 16 years, 11 months, 4 days
Number of starters: 30 (Greenville), 26 (South Boston)
Number of rookies: 16 (Greenville), 16 (South Boston)
Average age of Top 10 finishers: 22 (Greenville), 21 (South Boston)
Average age of Top 10 finishers at South Boston without Matt Kobyluck (age 40) and Eddie MacDonald (age 29): 18
Drivers younger than Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., (age 20) at South Boston: 13

My, how this sport has changed.

***

Our many thanks to Dave Parker and Subway of Barre, Montpelier, Waterbury, and Northfield for the live updates at Hickory Motor Speedway's Easter Bunny 150, part of the PASS National Championship series. Dave made it possible for us to get photos, interviews, and mid-race updates from North Carolina (much as he did for us at New Smyrna in January).

Unfortunately our northern drivers didn't fare too well overall, but what can you do?

Tarheel racer Preston Peltier won the race over Jay Fogleman and young Ryan Blaney. Maine's Cassius Clark led a bunch of laps before finishing fourth and Ben Rowe turned in a "miracle" performance to finish in eighth place, but that was the best we could get. New Brunswick racer Lonnie Sommerville was 25th, with Maine racers Johnny Clark 26th and Ryan Moore 28th, New Hampshire's Brad Leighton -- who entered the race as the National point leader -- 30th, and Danville, Vt.'s Steven Legendre a crashed-out 31st.

We had it all covered on our Twitter page on Saturday, including quotes from Moore and Legendre, and photos of guys like David Ragan and Max Papis, who were moonlighting from their regular gigs as NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers to have a little short track fun.
If you're not on Twitter, you'll be missing some good stuff this year that you may not find on the VMM homepage, like in-race updates, photos, quickie interviews, contests, and who knows what else!

***

WEEKEND SCHEDULE:

Saturday, April 10
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 1:00pm (Open Practice)
Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 2:00pm (Open Practice)

TOURING SERIES:

NASCAR Nationwide Series: Fri., April 9 -- Phoenix Int'l Raceway, Phoenix, Ariz. (9:00pm)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Sat., April 10 -- Phoenix Int'l Raceway, Phoenix, Ariz. (7:30pm)

Brackett Encouraged by Truck Debut at Martinsville

2010-04-05T12:47:00.003-04:00

Despite failing to qualify, Mainer plans 6 more NCWTS events

STRONG, Me. -- Dale Brackett may not have qualified for his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Martinsville Speedway two weeks ago, but it doesn't have him down. In fact, he's thinking much more positively now than he was before the event.

"I was in the back of the hauler on the way down to Martinsville, really down on myself and doubting everything," Brackett admits. "But that's gone now."

The 31 year-old Maine racer took what he described as "a huge jump" by breaking into the Truck series. His wife, Valerie, purchased two trucks from Tim Bainey, Jr.'s team with the modest goal of her husband -- a former asphalt racer at Unity (Me.) Raceway and dirt Late Model driver in the Carolinas -- simply qualifying for races and getting approved to run bigger tracks.

During practice sessions in his first attempt at the Martinsville half-mile, Brackett was only about a second off the pace of eventual winner Kevin Harvick and point leader Timothy Peters. Even better, in Brackett's mind, is the fact that his truck was not in faster "qualifying trim" while virtually every other truck was.

Brackett has made some connections that he thinks will help, including former Truck and Nationwide Series champion Johnny Benson.

"My crew chief is Shain Romanoski, and his brother Vern races [ISMA] Supermodifieds. Johnny Benson is into the Supers, and we've gotten to know him pretty well throught that. He's helped us a bit," said Brackett. "We ask a lot of questions. We've got a huge learning curve and the guys on the team are all volunteers. They all bought their own NASCAR licenses at $550 each, they paid for their own drug tests, and they took time off work and used up vacation days just to go to Martinsville."

Brackett fell victim to the NASCAR rulebook when qualifying was cancelled by rain, and as a first-timer with the series and no provisional starting spot to fall back on, he was sent home to Maine.

But, Brackett and his team came back with confidence. "We belong there," he said. "We have good equipment and we ran well. We have a ton of passion, focus, and determination, as corny as that sounds. We're hoping that [NASCAR, teams, and sponsors] will take us as seriously as we take it."

Brackett finshed 12th in the first leg of the five-race Pro All Stars Series National Championship at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida in January, but decided after Martinsville that he will forgo his plans to complete the entire PASS National schedule; he did not make the trip to Hickory, N.C., for last weekend's Easter Bunny 150. Instead, he will focus on returning to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in six more events: Dover Int'l Speedway (May 14), O'Reilly Raceway Park (July 23), Bristol Motor Speedway (Aug. 18), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Sept. 18), a return trip to Martinsville (Oct. 23), and the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19.

"We're running Homestead so that NASCAR can hopefully declare us eligible to run the superspeedways," Brackett explained. "I don't want to be a big talker, and it all depends on sponsorship of course, but we're looking at racing the full schedule in 2011."

He said he is still considering running occasional PASS events this season, including the PASS North opener at Speedway 95 in Bangor, Me., on April 18.

Brackett understands that his goals are big, but he says he and his team are willing to work hard to find out what they're made of.

"We're trying to make our own opportunity here. It's a huge jump from where we've been, and we know that. There's no real way to prepare for it," he says. "But you've either got it or you don't."

YEAR OF THE DRAGON: Brent Dragon Sets Sights on First ACT Championship

2010-04-01T15:12:00.003-04:00

(From team press release)

MILTON, Vt. -- The goal is simple for a driver who carries a surname synonymous with stock car racing in the region. Brent Dragon wants to win the ACT Late Model Tour championship in 2010.

"It's been that way for the last 25 years it seems," Dragon said recently.

This year, though, there is even more optimism coming from the Dragon race shop than in offseasons past. For starters, Dragon finished the 2009 season as one of the hottest Late Model drivers in New England, winning three times after June 1 and finishing fifth in the final ACT standings.

Dragon, who has been on the tour since its inception 18 years ago, has three times been the ACT bridesmaid. He's started more ACT races than any driver in history and owns nine career victories on tour. The son of Beaver Dragon and nephew of Bobby Dragon, Brent believes that last year's strong finish could lead to this year finally being his year.

"This will be the first year in about six years that we haven't started with a new car," Dragon said. "We were really good from about midseason on last year, and we have our notes to go back to this year."

Those notes should translate into a stout race car. With a chance to win both the Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway and the prestigious Milk Bowl at Thunder Road International Speedbowl, as well as being one of the first invitees to the inaugural ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, Dragon was among Late Model racing's elite performers a year ago.

To help his No. 55 team clear the hurdle and finish the job with more wins and that elusive championship, Dragon's employed the help of noted northeast crew member Buster Bean. Though it's not full-time help at the shop, Dragon believes delegating responsibility to crew members other than just himself will pay off.

"We already have a good tire guy in Steve More, too, so Steve's moved into the crew chief role for us now," Dragon said. "Buster's going to work with us and help us on that end if we have questions.

"I used to do everything myself, but it's just gotten to a point where it's harder to do that. It started to work better with Steve taking over some of that responsibility last year. We're looking forward to having Buster now and Steve as the crew chief and then all of the same guys back again on the crew."

Dragon plans to run the complete 14-race ACT schedule, as well as open Late Model events like the Oxford 250 and the Milk Bowl, as well as the Showdown at Chaudiere (Que.) 200 and the ACT Invitational at NHMS. Toss in select ACT Castrol Series races north of the border, and Dragon expects a busy summer to top out with 22-24 races.

But the most important of the races on such a tight schedule are the first ones. The ACT Late Model Tour features five races in less than a month's time from April 18-May 16.

"You've absolutely got to start the year off right," said Dragon, a three-time Late Model champion at the old Airborne Speedway. "We always seem to start off slow, and it always seemed to be because we were starting off the year with a new car -- and you've really got to start off those first two or three races really good.

"I haven't. I haven't done that for years. We always seem to get going later in the year -- but hopefully because we finished so strong last year and we're bringing back the same car with all those notes to work from, we should be pretty close (to a winning setup) when we get to the track."

Get off on the right foot, and Dragon could finally hoist that ACT championship trophy high overhead.

(Photo by Leif Tillotson)

The Juice: Ahhh, Racing Season!

2010-03-31T13:25:00.012-04:00

-by Justin St. Louis
VMM Editor

One down, 70-ish to go. VMM took in its first race of the year at Waterford Speedbowl last weekend, and witnessed a decent show by the Modified Racing Series troops, the NEMA Midgets, and Waterford's Late Models, Mini Stocks, and Street Stocks.

The MRS race had 11 cautions, but we're willing to forgive that and chalk it up to first-race growing pains. That and the fact that one of those cautions was for a spectacular seven-car crash at the flagstand that sent Jimmy Dolan flying through the air. If you're gonna wreck, boys, make it big and do it in front of the grandstands so the paying fans can see. Job well done. (We wouldn't be applauding the crash, of course, if anyone got hurt. Thankfully there were no injuries reported.)

Doug Coby was clearly very strong and deserved to win the race, but it would have been interesting to see if Rowan Pennink could have beaten him. Pennink changed an engine Sunday morning and was forced to come from 25th starting spot to rap on Coby's back bumper with ten laps remaining. Under caution on lap 90, though, Pennink's car shut down. Initial reports were that the car's fuel cell ran dry, but that was later discounted by Pennink's team members, who instead cited an unknown mechanical failure.

The Mini Stocks at Waterford are among the best four-cylinder divisions I've ever seen anywhere, bar none, and the Street Stocks going three- and four-wide around a track that isn't really built for that kind of racing was a lot of fun to watch. The Late Models were a bit strung out at times, but there were a few good battles and some key wrecks that changed the complexion of the race. The NEMA race wasn't much to write home about, but it took only five minutes from green to checkers, and it was cool to have a first-time winner in Chris Leonard.

All in all, it was a great way to begin the 2010 season, and we're looking forward to the American-Canadian Tour opener at Lee USA Speedway on April 18.

***

What was not great was the 60-lap, hour-long-plus SK Modified feature, one that featured no less than four different spins by Frank Mucciacciaro, and a ton of restarts that -- to this unbiased non-regular to the track -- looked a bit fishy.

Leader Keith Rocco jumped the start half the time, played jackrabbit half the time, and brake-checked the field before rocketing to the green the other half of the time. (There were so many restarts that there were actually three halves of the race. I counted.) I won't suggest that Rocco gets special treatment at Waterford, but it seemed fairly obvious that he was going to get away with whatever he wanted to when it was time to take the green flag.

Maybe that's the way Waterford does things, I don't know. It would be easier to point fingers if another driver had been the polesitter for any of the restarts, but Rocco led every lap and was therefore the point man the entire race. We just hope it was a one-race thing and that it's not a regular occurence.

For safety's sake, Mucciacciaro needs to either get a spotter, a mirror, or a big rubber ball to live inside. Maybe all three. I saw him chop down on other cars, I saw him drive directly into other cars, I saw him spin completely on his own, and I saw him end up in a pileup across the finish line when he was running in last place. And again, the officials need to say something. Let him ride around and make some laps and get seat time, but when he starts to ruin the race, put him on the trailer. Come back next week and try it again.

At the races I've always enjoyed seeing, there would have been one warning for Rocco's mind games, and no more than three strikes for Mucciacciaro's disregard for the race. Hopefully Waterford Speedbowl will catch on before I go back there in October.

***

At 6-2-2, the Habs have the best record in the East over the last ten games. We should just let those silly Bruins scoot by us for seventh place so they can get schlacked in four games by the Penguins in the playoffs, ya know, since the B's obviously won't put up a fight against them when it matters anyway.

And then there's Atlanta and the Rangers lurking back there just outside the cutoff. In reality, I said at the beginning of the season that I'd be surprised if my boys from Montréal made the post-season, so I'm pretty tickled that we're in a position to be there.

Hmm? What? This is a racing blog? Wow, my bad. Anywho...

***

The new three-track alliance between Bear Ridge, Canaan, and the new Big Daddy's Speedbowl can only be a good thing for dirt racers and fans in the area. With the headline Sportsman Modifieds running under a common rulebook, the popular Twin State Series has been recreated, and underwriting has been found in Gravco Janitorial Services.

With the momentum Bear Ridge Speedway gained last year in the Modifieds -- going from an average of 6 cars in 2008 to 25 by the end of 2009 -- and the promotional creativity of Canaan's Dick Therrien and the enthusiasm of Mike "Big Daddy" Rivers, we're expecting big things this season.

***

It was sure nice to be at a race track in March. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever witnessed a race in person during that particular month. I'm also not sure I'll ever want to again, at least not in New England. #freakingcold

Yes, that was a Twitter reference. #getonthebandwagon

***

The call by Mike Ford to bring Denny Hamlin out of the lead and into the pits was probably the gutsiest move a crew chief has made in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in a long time, and Hamlin's drive from ninth to the win in four laps was the paydirt. Don't ever again tell me short tracks don't belong in NASCAR. If you weren't excited about Martinsville you need your pulse checked.

***

We had heard some rumblings last year of Mike Bruno possibly coming back to ACT a little bit in 2010, and Saturday's open practice at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., confirmed that for us. The Bomoseen racer was behind the wheel of Jacob McGrath's #72 car, joining Jamie Fisher in his familiar S.D. Ireland #18. (Click here for a photo of the two in action on the Champlain Valley Racing Association website.)

Bruno told us that he, McGrath, and Barney McRae have put a team together to run a handful of events, beginning with ACT's first-ever trip to Malta in April, and the special 100-lap Late Model event at Devil's Bowl in West Haven on May 23. He also said he may run the car once or twice on Thursday nights at Thunder Road.

Bruno plans to race his dirt-style Modified full-time at both Albany-Saratoga and Devil's Bowl, and will bring the car to Airborne Speedway for the big events.

"I want to get back to racing ACT within the next two or three years," Bruno said. "I had been trying to get a ride for this season, but when the CVRA paved both Malta and the Bowl, I figured I'd race my Modified here in my own back yard at my two home tracks. The deal with Jacob is going to be good -- he's going to work for me this summer on the Modified, and I'm going to help him with the Late Model. He'll drive it a few times and I'll drive it a few times."

Bruno said the the thing he looks forward to most about the partnership with McGrath is having a crew chief in McRae.

"Barney's a funny guy and people joke about him sometimes, but the truth is he really knows everything about these cars," Bruno said. "Having him at Malta was great. It was really nice for me to be able to get in the seat and just be a driver, rather than have to think about what the chassis needs, or this or that. I'm happy we've got him to help us out."

***

THIS WEEKEND: Seventeen year-old Steven Legendre of Danville takes on Maine powerhouses Ben Rowe and Johnny Clark, NASCAR's David Ragan, and the stars of the PASS South Super Late Models for the Easter Bunny 150 at the legendary Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway on Saturday. The race is Round #2 of five in the PASS National Championship.

Legendre finished third in his last outing at Dillon (S.C.) Motor Speedway on March 13, and was 6th in the PASS National opener at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway in January. He sits fourth in National points. Brad Leighton of Center Harbor, N.H., won at New Smyrna and leads the National standings, followed by Clark, New Brunswick's Lonnie Sommerville, Legendre, and Preston Peltier of North Carolina. Strong, Me.'s Dale Brackett sits seventh with Rowe in eighth.

VMM's favorite sandwich man, "Subway Dave" Parker will be at Hickory, and we'll have periodic updates as they are available on our Twitter page. Yup, I said it again. Twitter. #justdoit

Closer to home, New Hampshire Motor Speedway is holding an open house on Saturday and offering fans a chance to drive their own cars around the 1.058-mile speedway in the FANtasy DRIVE. Many racing oragnizations will be taking part in displays and fan-friendly promotions including the American-Canadian Tour with drivers John Donahue and Brent Dragon (that oughta be fun... Milk Bowl memories anyone?), Thunder Road's Nick Sweet, and Lee USA Speedway's Wayne Helliwell, Jr. Legendary media men Ken Squier and Dr. Dick Berggren will also be on hand for a fan Q&A session. Visit www.nhms.com for more details.

(PHOTOS: 1. Waterford's Street Stocks were fantastic; 2. Keith Rocco (#57) got this much of a jump more than a couple times; 3. Mike Bruno's gonna be busy this year. All photos by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

Legendre Ready for Hickory, Eyes PASS South and National Series

2010-03-31T12:32:00.002-04:00

HICKORY, N.C. -- Steven Legendre is quickly making his mark on the southern Super Late Model scene. After his first two starts in 2010, the 17 year-old Danville High School student is proving himself to be a contender in the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model ranks against northern stars Ben Rowe, Johnny Clark, and Brad Leighton, and southern shoes Jeff Choquette, Preston Peltier, and Jay Fogleman.

Despite their home base in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, Legendre and his crew chief-father, Kendell, have decided to tackle the PASS South schedule, running at tracks in the Carolinas, Virginia, and Tennessee. Steven is also chasing the five-race PASS National Championship from Maine to Florida, and will run a pair of PASS North events at his home track, White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H.

Legendre heads to North Carolina this week for Saturday's Easter Bunny 150 at the legendary Hickory Motor Speedway, a race that counts for both South and National points. In his two previous starts this year, Legendre drove from 20th to finish sixth in the National opener at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway and 18th-to-third in the South lid-lifter at Dillon (S.C.) Motor Speedway.

"Hopefully we can keep it going," Legendre says. "I've never been to Hickory. I guess it's pretty bumpy, sort of like Unity [Raceway in Maine]."

While Hickory and Unity may be rough, Legendre has been nothing but smooth since he first strapped in. He won more than a dozen times in White Mountain's youth division, took a win in only six Strictly Stock starts, and was a two-time Late Model winner and the Rookie of the Year in 2008. He posted a respectable three top-tens in his first PASS North season last year, and has aligned himself with Fogleman's Shark Racing Development for 2010. He's also the lead driver for Ford Racing's Detroit-based PASS crate engine program.

The teenager finds himself fourth in the PASS National Championship standings, third in PASS South, and potentially looking at a season's worth of headlines.

"We had a good run at Dillon and New Smyrna," Legendre said. "We're doing things a little differently, but it's working. Down south, everybody runs Hamke chassis and Chevrolet engines, but we've got a Jody Lavender chassis and a Ford. I haven't been to most of the tracks we're racing on this year, but we've made it work so far. We've had a lot of help from Jody Lavender, Jay Fogleman, and Mike Delahanty from Ford Racing."

Legendre said he wants to finish in the top-five in PASS South standings, but thinks he has an even better chance at doing well in the National points. Two of the National races are at Thompson, Conn., and Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Me., with the finale at Newport, Tennessee. Luckily for Legendre, the South schedule goes to Newport two months before the National event and he'll be able to get some good notes for his return.

"It was important to get a good start at New Smyrna. Since the National thing is only five races, one bad race will hurt you a lot," he said. "My first top-ten last year was at Thompson, and I was running second in the 300 at Beech Ridge before we had a tire problem. We're already planning on doing all the southern races anyway, so it's not like it's going to be a problem for us to get there.

"We're off to a good start. If we have one bad week we'll have a hard time playing catch-up, but I think if we can get through Hickory we'll be in good shape."

(PHOTO: Danville, Vt.'s Steven Legendre at Dillon Motor Speedway in South Carolina. Photo coutresy www.stevenlegendre.com)

Gravco Janitorial to Present Twin State Modified Series

2010-03-30T12:34:00.002-04:00

Series reborn at Bear Ridge, Big Daddy's, Canaan

BRADFORD -- The Twin State Modified Series is back for 2010 at Bradford's Bear Ridge Speedway, Canaan Dirt Speedway in Canaan, N.H., and the new Big Daddy's Speedbowl in Rumney, N.H. Gravco Janitorial Services of Barre, Vt., will sponsor the series for the Sportsman Modified division, newly aligned at the three dirt tracks by an alliance between promoters C.V. Elms, Dick Therrien, and Mike Rivers.

Each track will host a pair of 40-lap events, with a $400 bonus for the Twin State Series champion. The runner-up will receive $250, third place $150, fourth place $125, and fifth place $100.

"This was a great series a few years ago, one that the race teams looked forward to," said Bear Ridge promoter Elms. "This new opportunity will allow teams to experience the excitement of racing at all three tracks for the series championship."

"This Series always provided top notch racing," said Brent Graves of Gravco Janitorial Services. "With this economy, the extra money in purses and the solid point fund will be very attractive to many race teams."

Dates for the six Gravco Janitorial Services Twin State Modified Series events will be announced soon.