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South Main St.
Barre, VT 05641
(802) 479-9505
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The Story of
Beaver
Dragon
"To Beat The Beaver" is the
highly detailed and personal biography of Harmon “Beaver” Dragon, a
New England Hall of Fame driver.
One of the best ever out of Vermont, Dragon was NASCAR North champ
in 1979 and ’80 and made numerous Grand National starts.
Teacher, motorsports journalist, and a racing history buff, author
Bill Ladabouche packs the 400-plus pages with photography from coupe
and coach days, through NASCAR North, and up to the current
American-Canadian Tour.
420 pages, black and white photos.
(Courtesy of Coastal 181)
-------------
The price per
book is:
ACT
Showdown at Chaudiere - 200 Laps Autodrome Chaudiere
Vallée-Jonction, Quebec - Sat. Aug. 28
Laperle
Dominates Showdown at Chaudiere Brent in 9th - U.S. Team Takes
Team Bonus
ACT SERIES
RACE REPORT - St-Denis, Quebec’s Patrick Laperle dominated
the third annual American-Canadian Tour (ACT) “Showdown at
Chaudiere” at Autodrome Chaudiere in Vallee-Jonction, Quebec on
Saturday, August 28. The special all-star race featured 12 of the
top drivers from the Quebec-based Série ACT Castrol Edge against 12
of the top drivers from the American-based ACT Late Model Tour.
Laperle started on the pole
position after earning a +5 handicap in ACT’s plus-minus handicap
system. The U.S. team earned the outside pole thanks to six-time ACT
Late Model Tour Champion Brian Hoar of Williston, Vermont, who would
lead the first 32 laps. Laperle would take the lead from Hoar on a
lap 32 restart and would proceed to lap all but the top three while
leading the last 167 laps.
Fellow Quebecer Donald Theetge
earned the runner-up position after battling the majority of the
event with Hoar. Hoar would earn third while Groveton, New
Hampshire’s Randy Potter finished fourth after going down a lap with
under 10 laps remaining. ACT Late Model Tour Rookie Austin Theriault
of Fort Kent, Maine completed the top five.
Current Série ACT Castrol Edge
point leader Karl Allard took sixth, Série ACT Castrol Edge rookie
Alex Labbe finished seventh, Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. eighth,
Brent Dragon ninth and 2010 Thunder
Road Late Model Champion Nick Sweet rounded out the top ten.
The U.S. team earned the $500 bonus
with a score of 143, while Canada earned 157. Points were awarded to
each team based on its twelve driver’s finishes. The winner earned
one point, second two, third three, etc. The team with the lowest
score earned the win.
The 200 lap Showdown event was
completed in 59 minutes and 47 seconds. It was completed with just
three cautions, the final one coming on lap 77. Laperle used the
remaining 123 laps to build up an 11 second margin of victory.
The ACT Late Model Tour
will be back in action next Sunday, September 5 at Thunder Road
International Speedbowl in Barre, Vermont for the Bond Auto Labor
Day Classic. It will be the 11th point counting event of
the 2010 Tour schedule.
Waterford Speedbowl Waterford, CT - Saturday,
August 21st
Brent Scores a 3rd - Pole 1st, Hoar 2nd
ACT SERIES RACE REPORT -
Hudson, New Hampshire’s Joey “Pole” Polewarczyk, Jr. earned his
sixth career ACT Late Model Tour win in the Nutmeg State 100 at
Waterford Speedbowl in Waterford, CT on Saturday, August 21. Pole
started in the third position and worked his way around Brent Dragon
and Waterford regular Jeff Smith to take the lead on lap 31. He
would lead the remainder of the 100 lap event.
ACT Tour point
leader and defending champion Brian Hoar came from the 12th starting
position to take second while Dragon had to settle for third. Smith
held on for fourth while Mark Lamberton completed the top five. Jeff
Zuidema, rookie Brad Babb, John Donahue, Randy Potter, and Bruce
Thomas, Jr. rounded out the top ten.
The Nutmeg State 100 was
the tenth event on the 2010 ACT Late Model Tour schedule. It was
completed in just over 56 minutes and was slowed by just four
cautions.
200 lap combination points event
with the Serie ACT Castrol Edge Circuit Riverside Speedway Ste-Croix, QC - Saturday,
August 14th
Brent 5th at the Riverside Can-Am
Williston, Vermont’s Brian Hoar won the Circuit
Riverside Speedway Can-Am combination Série ACT Castrol Edge and ACT
Late Model Tour event on Saturday, August 14. Hoar, the current ACT
Late Model Tour point leader, fought his way by current Série ACT
Castrol Edge point leader Karl Allard on lap 94 and led the
remainder of the event. The scheduled 200 lap event had to be cut
back to 171 due to a curfew.
Patrick Laperle took second
followed by Donald Theetge while Allard fell back to fourth and
Brent Dragon rounded out the top five. Rookie Austin Theriault
finished sixth followed by Sylvain Lacombe, Patrick Hamel, John
Donahue and Daniel Descoste completing the top ten.
A total
of 42 cars started the event representing the Quebec-based Série ACT
Castrol Edge and the American-based ACT Late Model Tour. The event
which was completed under yellow on lap 171 due to a curfew was
completed with 11 cautions in two hours, and twenty-six minutes
including an 18 minute red flag on lap 38.
Circuit Riverside Speedway Race Preview
Brent Dragon heads to one of the longest races of the season
with the ACT Late Model Tour Can-Am 200 at Circuit Riverside
Speedway in St. Croix, Quebec, on Saturday, August 14. The event is
a combination event for the ACT Late Model Tour and its Canadian
cousin, the ACT Castrol Edge Series, and it will counts toward the
championship in both series. Dragon is a two-time winner at
Riverside, having won in ACT Late Model Tour competition in 2003 on
the fast, .625-mile oval. He also won an ACT Castrol Edge Series
event there last June. Dragon heads into the final five races of the
season sitting second in the ACT standings, 117 points behind
multi-time champion Brian Hoar but heading into a slew of tracks
where he's had success over the years, including Riverside,
Waterford Speedbowl, Airborne Speedway and Thunder Road
International Speedbowl -- all tracks where he's won during his
career.
BEST CAREER RIVERSIDE SPEEDWAY FINISH: 1st (June
2003) LAST RACE AT RIVERSIDE SPEEDWAY: 2nd (June 2007)
WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour Can-Am 200
WHERE: Circuit Riverside Speedway, St. Croix, Que. (.625-mile oval)
WHEN: 5 PM, Saturday, August 14
ACT
Late Model Tour - POINTS POSITION: 2nd LAST RACE: Friday,
July 30, Twin State, Claremont, NH (13th-place) NEXT RACE:
Saturday, August 21, Waterford Speedbowl, Waterford, CT
BRENT, CIRCUIT RIVERSIDE SPEEDWAY SEEMS TO BE
YOUR KIND OF TRACK.
It definitely is. You use a lot of
brakes there. It's fast. It's rough. The track is unbelievably
rough, but it's fun to drive on. You're right out of control the
whole time. It's fun. It's just a different place.
The
biggest thing is probably the speed. You've got such long
straightaways and really tight turns at the end of them. That's the
part I like about it, though, is just how fast it is. It separates
the cars that way.
YOU'VE HAD SUCCESS
OVER THE YEARS AT TRACKS WITH LONG STRAIGHTAWAYS AND LOTS OF CORNER
SPEED. WHY IS THAT?
It's probably from having raced at
Airborne Speedway (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) so much. We won three (Late
Model) championships there, and a place like Riverside is a lot like
the old Airborne that we used to race on every Saturday night. It's
a lot like that.
Airborne was like that, too, before they
repaved it. It was rough. I don't think out of five times I've been
to St. Croix that I've finished out of the top-three.
CAN YOU CATCH BRIAN HOAR FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP
OVER THE FINAL FIVE POINTS RACES OF THE SEASON?
Boy, I don't know. After (Twin State), I would say no. We had a
really good car there, and if we'd been able to gain 15-20 points,
we still would have had a shot at it. But in our system, 100 points
in five races is a lot to make up.
Our team and Brian's team
both like St. Croix, Airborne, (Thunder Road) and Waterford. He
always runs well at those places. He runs well everywhere. He's had
an unbelievable season. He'd have to have something terrible happen
in these next few races for us to have a realistic shot at the
championship.
Twin State Speedway
Claremont, NH -
Friday, July
30th
14th for Brent at Twin State
Newport, NH’s Mark Hayward earned his first career ACT Late
Model Tour win at Twin State Speedway in Claremont, NH on Friday,
July 30. Hayward took the lead from Twin State regular Aaron
Fellows, who led the first 52 laps of the 100 lap event. Hayward
held off the likes of Ben Rowe, current ACT Tour point leader Brian
Hoar and Randy Potter over the remaining 48 laps to take the win.
Brent finished 14th and on the lead lap.
The 100
lapper saw 8 cautions including one red flag.
The ACT Late
Model Tour has next weekend off before heading north of the border
to Circuit Riverside Speedway in Ste-Croix, QC for a combination 200
lap event with its sister series, the Serie ACT Castrol Edge. The
point counting event for both series will be on Saturday, August 14.
ACT DRIVERS STANDINGS - 7/30 1. Brian Hoar 741 2. Brent Dragon 624 3. John Donahue
608 4. Joey Pole 606 5. Mark Hayward 521 6. Joey Laquerre
520 7. Mark Lamberton 513 8. Randy Potter 501 9. #Brad Babb
491 10. Craig Bushey 476
Twin State Speedway Race Preview
Brent Dragon of Milton, Vt., joins the rest of the ACT Late
Model Tour when he heads to the Twin State 100 at Twin State
Speedway in Claremont, N.H., on Friday, July 30. Dragon, whose 181
career ACT Late Model Tour starts rank first all-time, is the
defending champion of the event. At the midway point of the season,
Dragon is second in the ACT standings, just 111 points behind
multi-time champion Brian Hoar with several tracks where he owns
victories soon to appear on the schedule. Dragon was running in the
top-5 last weekend at Beech Ridge just past the halfway mark before
being caught in another competitor's accident -- but the No. 55 team
rallied through a pit stop to repair damage and ended up in eighth
place by night's end.
BEST CAREER TWIN STATE SPEEDWAY FINISH:
1st (September 2009) LAST RACE AT TWIN STATE SPEEDWAY: 1st
(September 2009)
WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour Twin State 100
WHERE: Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. (.333-mile oval)
WHEN: 7 p.m., Friday, July 30
ACT Late
Model Tour - POINTS POSITION: 2nd LAST RACE: Saturday,
July 24, Beech Ridge , Scarborough, Maine. (8th) NEXT RACE:
Saturday, Aug. 14, Circuit Riverside Speedway, St. Croix, Que.
BRENT, WHAT'S IT LIKE GOING BACK TO A
TRACK WHERE YOU'RE THE DEFENDING RACE CHAMPION?
It
helps the confidence, but the competition is so strong in this
series. Last year, we went to Beech Ridge and Brian (Hoar) was the
car to beat and then last week he was way off. Then we go last year
and we're pretty good and run the same setup we left with this year,
and we were way off in the first two practices.
It just goes
to show how hard things can be. It's the little changes that make
the biggest differences.That's how close the cars are. It's a little
more confidence going back to a track where you've won, but at the
same time I realize how close the competition is.
WHAT'S TWIN STATE SPEEDWAY LIKE?
There used to be a track in Malone, N.Y., that (Twin State)
reminds me of a lot. I think I won the last eight races they ever
had there. (Twin State's) a pretty tricky little place. You've got
to be able to make the car turn really well, because the corners are
so tight.
The corners are really, really tight -- tighter
than anyplace else we go.
IS THE TEAM
AT THAT POINT WHERE YOU'RE ON THE VERGE OF PUTTING TOGETHER A COUPLE
OF WINS?
I would say we are. It's about that time (of
the year). Most people would love to have the year we've had. We
haven't finished out of the top-10 hardly at all. I thought we had a
pretty good car at Beech Ridge. I don't know if we would have beaten
Joey, but I think we'd have been second easy enough because I'd
saved my car before getting into (a lap 89 incident).
I think
we're pretty close to winning, and we've started to figure out the
tires a little bit. They're different than what we had last year,
and we're getting better with those now.
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Scarborough, ME -
Saturday, July 24th
8th Place Finish at Beech Ridge
Brent finished eight in the ACT Late Model Tour 150 at
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Saturday, July
24. Dragon was running inside the top-5 on lap 89 when his car was
collected in an incident involving cars running ahead of him, and
after pitting for repairs and restart outside the top-15, he rallied
to finish seventh. Dragon unofficially leaves Beech Ridge still
second in the ACT standings.
STARTED:
5th - FINISHED: 8th - LED: 0 times for 0 laps
NEXT
RACE: Friday, July 30, ACT 100, Twin State Speedway, Claremont,
N.H. (.333-mile oval)
BRENT, IT LOOKED
LIKE YOU WERE ON PACE TO HAVE A MUCH BETTER FINISH THAN YOU ENDED UP
WITH.
It was a pretty decent night
overall. We were in fifth and got tore up a little bit. One car
bounced up off the wall and then came back across and hit us, and we
had to pit.
The guys did a good job getting it all back
together, and the car was still pretty decent. The right front
tire's pretty gone. We were lucky to get back as far as we did.
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE LAP 89 INCIDENT?
It looked like the (J.R. Baril) kept trying to push (Ben
Ashline) up, and (Tim Brackett) got in underneath them. He got into
them, and then they started bouncing off one another and then they
came back across right in front of me. Just an accident, for sure.
ARE YOU FRUSTRATED OR PLEASED WITH THE END
RESULT, GIVEN ALL YOU WENT THROUGH?
I'm happy to
salvage what we salvaged. We showed up here and didn't have a very
good car (in practice)... I'm just happy to end up where we did.
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Race
Preview
Brent Dragon of Milton, Vt., looks to
make his 181st career ACT Late Model Tour start when the series runs
the ACT 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on
Saturday, July 24. Dragon, who owns the most starts in series
history, sits in second place in the ACT standings -- just 110
points behind Brian Hoar through six races -- as he tries to secure
his first career Tour championship. He's finished fourth in each of
his past two races -- the Spring Green 100 at Airborne Speedway and
the non-points TD Bank Oxford 250 -- and has finished in the top-10
in five of six ACT starts in 2010. Dragon finished seventh in this
race a year ago as ACT returned to Beech Ridge following a
several-year absence. Dragon was also selected this week as one of
40 Late Model drivers from the region to participate in an ACT
Invitational test Aug. 17-18 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
LAST RACE AT BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY: 7th (July 2009)
ACT Late Model Tour - POINTS POSITION: 2nd LAST RACE: Saturday,
July 10, Airborne, Plattsburgh, N.Y. (4th-place) NEXT RACE:
Friday, July 30, Twin State, Claremont, N.H. (.333-mile oval)
BRENT, ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO A RETURN
TRIP TO BEECH RIDGE THIS WEEKEND?
In a
lot of ways, it's the same deal it was last year. It was new for
everyone, but we learned what the track had done at night and got
more comfortable there.
I think the people are going to see a
better race this year. It was a good race last year -- but usually
we have 10 or 12 that can compete for the win, and I think it was
down to two or three by the end of it last year.
IS IT AN ADJUSTMENT TO GO BACK TO POINTS
RACING THIS WEEK AFTER THE TD BANK OXFORD 250 LAST WEEKEND?
We say we're not points racing, but I guess we are. Brian (Hoar)
has got a big lead on us, so we've got to do what we can to try and
close that.
It was fun just to go to Oxford and race and not
deal with points. But we're going to look at it like it's race to
race for us now, and we're going to try and go out there and get a
win fairly soon here.
YOUR REACTION TO
BEING INVITED BACK TO NEW HAMPSHIRE TO TEST?
I'm
excited about it, I really am. I like that kind of track. Honestly,
I think I'm more excited about going back this year than I was about
going last year -- especially knowing what we faced that year. That
first morning, we were really nervous. We didn't know what to
expect, but now we've got a lot of the things that were issues last
year under control.
We have a much better starting place
(with the car) than we did a year ago. We had no idea what we needed
for springs or any of that. Just to have that -- I think you're
going to see cars get a lot better this year. I think it's going to
be great going back, and I think it will make for a great test over
there.
Brent Dragon Heading Back To New Hampshire Motor Speedway
MILTON, Vt. -- ACT Late Model Tour veteran Brent Dragon was
one of 40 Late Model drivers invited by the American-Canadian Tour
to test at New Hampshire Motor Speedway next month, the sanctioning
body announced today. Each driver will participate in one full day
of testing during the session on Aug. 17-18 in advance of the second
annual ACT Invitational at the track on Sept. 18.
The test
session also serves as an approval process for being invited to join
the 43-car starting field in the 60-lap event. Dragon finished 19th
in the inaugural ACT Invitational last September.
This season
Dragon, who has more career ACT Late Model Tour starts than any
other driver in history with 180, sits second in the ACT standings
with five top-10 finishes through six races.
BRENT DRAGON REACTS TO BEING CHOSEN TO TEST AT
NH MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
"I'm excited about it, I really am.
I like that kind of track. Honestly, I think I'm more excited about
going back this year than I was about going last year -- especially
knowing what we faced that year. That first morning, we were really
nervous. We didn't know what to expect, but now we've got a lot of
the things that were issues last year under control.
"We have
a much better starting place (with the car) than we did a year ago.
We had no idea what we needed for springs or any of that. Just to
have that -- I think you're going to see cars get a lot better this
year. I think it's going to be great going back, and I think it will
make for a great test over there."
Oxford Plains Speedway Oxford, ME -
Sunday, July 18th
TD Bank Oxford 250 Race Report OXFORD, Maine -- Brent Dragon of Milton, Vt.,
finished fourth in the TD Bank Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway
on Sunday, July 18. It marked Dragon's best career Oxford 250 finish
and continued a stretch that has now seen him post four consecutive
top-10 finishes in the event. Dragon started 12th and worked his way
up to third before making a four-tire pit stop on lap 140 with the
rest of the leaders. He was running as high as second on a restart
with 43 laps remaining but faded to fourth as his tires wore out.
STARTED: 12th - FINISHED: 4th - LED: 0 times for 0 laps
BRENT, DID YOU THINK YOU HAD A SHOT AT THE
OXFORD 250 WIN ON THAT FINAL RESTART WITH LESS THAN 50 LAPS
REMAINING?
We went up through pretty good for about
two or three laps, and then the tires got hot and that was the end
of it. I figured we were a third-place car at that point.
DID YOU JUST NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIRE LEFT TO
BATTLE EVENTUAL WINNER EDDIE MACDONALD?
I feel that
was what a lot of it was. We had to battle a lot of lapped cars and
there were so many cars down one lap, that they weren't giving
anybody any room. It was a hard race -- it was one of the harder
races (here) with all the cars laps down.
You know, they're
fighting for spots, too.
IN THE CLOSING
LAPS, YOU LOOKED LIKE YOU HAD A PODIUM FINISH IN SIGHT.
It was a good run. I thought we might have a chance for third at
the very end, but then the lapped cars seemed to get up into us and
pushed us about off the track. That sort of took that away with like
two (laps) to go.
Hanging on for fourth is pretty good.
Coming out of here with that, that's a good night.
Official Results from www.oxfordplains.com
1 - 17MA Eddie MacDonald 2 - 37VT Brian Hoar 3 - 26 Corey
Morgan 4 - 55VT Brent Dragon 5 - 55NH Brad Leighton 6 - 88VT Nick Sweet 7 - 91QC
Patrick Laperle 8 - 63 Don Wentworth 9 - 44VT Dave Pembroke
10 - 51ME Ricky Rolfe 11 - 85 Travis Steams 12 - 7ME Glen Luce
13 - 94 Shawn Martin 14 - 3 Dennis Spencer Jr. 15 - 60 Tim
Brackett 16 - 71NH Scott Dragon 17 - 50VT Jay Lequere 18 -
08 Donnie Lashua 19 - 03 Travis Adams 20 - 48QC Karl Allard
21 - 6 Tommy Ricker 22 - 12MI Brad Keselowski 23 - 10NH Ben
Rowe 24 - 0x Shane Green 25 - 7VT Eric Williams 26 - 15 Ben
Ashline 27 - 07ME Scott Luce 28 - 4 Bradley Babb 29 - 97NH
Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. 30 - 88 Jeff Taylor 31 - 50ME Jeff White
32 - 78NH Quinny Welch 33 - 61 TJ Brackett 34 - 11RI Ryan
Vanasse 35 - 6VT Cris Michaud 36 - 22VT Roger Brown 37 -
27NH Wayne Helliwell, Jr. 38 - 2ME Billy Childs, Jr. 39 - 5
Dale Verrill
TD Bank Oxford 250 Race Preview
Brent Dragon of Milton, Vt. brings a streak of three
consecutive top-10 finishes into the 37th annual TD Bank Oxford 250
on Sunday, July 18, at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine.
Dragon has made three career starts in the northeast's marquee
summer stock car event, never finishing worse than 10th. Last year,
Dragon started on the pole for the first time and led 46 laps en
route to a career-best sixth-place finish, and he finished seventh
in the 2008 version of the race won by Sprint Cup Series driver
Kevin Harvick. Dragon has earned a total of $18,000 across his three
starts in the event.
WHO: Brent Dragon, Milton, Vt. TEAM:
No. 55 Beverage Mart/Furniture World of VT/Charlesbois
Freightliner/Newton Pellets Chevrolet NO. OF OXFORD 250 STARTS: 3
BEST CAREER OXFORD 250 FINISH: 6th (2009) LAST OXFORD 250 FINISH:
6th (2009)
WHAT: 37th annual TD Bank Oxford 250 WHERE:
Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine (.375-mile oval) WHEN:
Sunday, July 18 -- 2 p.m., Qualifying; 6:30 p.m., Race
TD
Bank Oxford 250 PURSE: $25,000 to win; $100 per lap for leader
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass.
BRENT, IS IT AN OVERSTATEMENT TO SAY THAT THIS
IS THE BIGGEST RACE OF THE YEAR FOR LATE MODEL TEAMS IN THE
NORTHEAST?
Absolutely not. This is the
Super Bowl for us, with the purse and the amount of interest it
draws from the best teams in the northeast and in Canada. That
competition level is a big deal, and I enjoy that part of it, too.
This race is the Daytona 500 for the guys that are not leaving
New England and Canada some day to actually go race in the Daytona
500. This is as big as it gets for us.
HOW DO YOU APPROACH THIS DIFFERENTLY THAN AN ACT LATE MODEL TOUR
RACE?
Even with the amount of cars that are always
there and having the chance of not qualifying, it's actually a fun
weekend for us. It's not like other weekends when you're racing for
points and if you don't qualify you're going to lose all that ground
and take such a big hit because you missed a race.
You go
there and it's not like you don't want to qualify -- because
obviously you do -- but it's more of a fun weekend where you can go
and try things and really try to win. That approach is probably why
we've had some pretty good success in the 250.
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST KEYS TO WINNING THE TD
BANK OXFORD 250?
Things are finally starting to come
together pretty good for us. It's really just going to be a matter
of getting the breaks and getting a good starting spot on Sunday,
because that's definitely a huge deal there.
Then again, you
know you can start 30th and still have time to win with a 250-lap
race, and that's a big deal about this race, too. Last year, we were
fourth when we pitted (for tires and fuel) and we restarted way back
in like 25th because we had a gas issue. Still, we had a lot of time
left and we were able to race all the way back up to sixth. Because
of that type of thing, this is the kind of race I really enjoy.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE NEW RULES,
INCLUDING ENSURING THAT CARS CANNOT LOSE A LAP IN THE PITS AND TEAMS
CAN ONLY PURCHASE EIGHT TIRES FOR RACE DAY?
Well, I really like the idea of not being able to go a lap down
in the pits. We don't have quick-fill (fuel cells), and it's better
for our crews especially. We don't do this all the time, and it's a
hard thing to do safely when you're never asked to do it on a
regular basis.
And I think that eight tires are probably
enough for us for this race. We were allowed 10 tires last year, and
I think I brought six home. Eight is a nice number -- if you get
spun out in a heat race, you have four new ones to put on in the
consi to try and qualify before you race. I understand why they're
doing it. This can be a pretty expensive weekend if you don't help
teams (contain costs).
CAN YOU SUM UP
OXFORD PLAINS SPEEDWAY IN ONE SENTENCE?
Oxford is such
a different place.
Airborne International
Raceway Plattsburg, NY -
Saturday, July 10th - 6 PM Furniture World of VT Spring Green
100
Brent Fourth at Airborne
Brian Hoar of Williston, VT led all 100 laps of the 36th
Furniture World of VT Spring Green 100 at Airborne Speedway
Saturday, but his second straight ACT LateModel Tour win was no
romp. The defending champion and current point leader was closely
pursued by Brent Dragon for the first
half of the race and Brad Leighton of Center Harbor, NH over the
final 50 laps.
Leighton got the jump on Hoar on a restart
with 22 laps remaining and led nearly all the way around the
Plattsburgh half mile before Hoar got a nose underneath at the line.
The pair swapped the lead again navigating turns one and two before
Hoar took the lead back for keeps.
John Donahue of
Graniteville started eighth and finished third. Brent Dragon in 4th
and Joey Polewarczyk completed the top five. Mark Lamberton of
Mooers Forks was sixth. The race had six cautions including a tire
check for abnormal tire wear for the whole field on lap 35.
Airborne Speedway Race Preview
Brent Dragon of Milton, Vt., returns to Airborne Speedway in
Plattsburgh, N.Y., this weekend for the ACT Late Model Tour's
rain-delayed Spring Green 100 on Saturday, July 10. The race was
originally scheduled for May before weather postponed the event at a
track where Dragon has enjoyed plenty of success. A three-time track
champion there in the Late Model division (1995, 1996, 2000), it is
the track Dragon refers to as "home." In 2004, Dragon swept
Airborne's marquee events by winning both the Spring Green 100 and
the Fall Foliage 200 in the same season. His father, Beaver Dragon,
won the Spring Green 100 three times in his career, while his uncle,
Bobby Dragon, is also a past winner of the race. Brent enters the
sixth race of the ACT season second in the series standings, 89
points behind leader Brian Hoar.
BEST CAREER AIRBORNE
SPEEDWAY FINISH: 1st (2 times, most recent: Fall Foliage 200,
September 2004) LAST RACE AT AIRBORNE SPEEDWAY: 3rd (September
2009)
ACT Late Model Tour LAST RACE: June 26, White
Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H. (6th-place) NEXT
RACE: July 18, TD Bank 250 (non-points), Oxford Plains Speedway,
Oxford, Maine POINTS POSITION: 2nd
BRENT, YOU'RE NOT EVEN HALFWAY THROUGH THE SCHEDULE AND YOU'RE
SITTING SECOND IN THE STANDINGS. THAT HAS TO FEEL GOOD.
Absolutely. I think that's really good for us. It's been a good
start to the year so far, and now we're in that time of year when
all the big races start showing up on the schedule. We should be
ready for that, and this weekend will be a good weekend for us to
show where we're at.
We've done a lot of work to the car over
the last two weeks, and I think we're ready.
IS AIRBORNE SPEEDWAY ANY KIND OF A HOME TRACK
ADVANTAGE FOR YOU?
I don't think so -- not with
Brian (Hoar), Patrick (Laperle) and other guys like that. The three
of us were the top three in the (Fall Foliage 300 at Airborne) in
the fall, and it seems that it's always been that way there. Us,
Brian, Jean-Paul (Cyr), (Mark) Lamberton -- they're all very good
racers.
It's a matter of getting things just right with the
car and then getting some luck to go with it.
THEY PAVED AIRBORNE PRIOR TO THE 2009 SEASON.
HOW HAS IT IMPACTED THE RACING?
I
liked it a lot. It drives a lot like it did before -- I mean, the
fast way around is still the same way around it was before. You
really want to be on the bottom. I remember before they paved it,
everybody used to play the numbers game. You wanted to be in an
odd-numbered position on restarts so you'd have the inside, and
you'd be content to just get into an odd-numbered position and just
ride around, hoping that you'd be in an odd number on the last
restart of the race.
You use a lot of brake at Airborne. It's
a very racy track. It's got long straightaways and flat corners, and
it's got a lot of different passing zones. You can have a lot more
side-by-side racing now.
WHAT'S IT LIKE
TO HEAD BACK TO A PLACE THAT'S MEANT SO MUCH IN YOUR CAREER?
It's my home track, I would have to say. We used to have a lot
of good times over there, and it's just an awesome place. It's only
about 15 miles away across the lake (Lake Champlain), and I won
three championships there when I was racing there every Saturday
night. I really just have a lot of good memories from going there
every week.
White Mountain Motorsports Park
N. Woodstock, NH - Saturday, June 26th
PosPosCar #
DriverHometownLaps
11137VT
Brian HoarWilliston, VT150
277VT
Eric WilliamsHyde Park, VT150
3177NHMark
HaywardNewport, NH150
4416NYMark
LambertonMooers Forks, NH150
51342MAJeff
ZuidemaN.Brookfield, MA150
6255VTBrent DragonMilton, VT150
72289VT
Scott PayeaMilton, VT150
8505VT
Craig BusheyCambridge, VT150
91797NHJoey
Polewarczyk, Jr.Hudson, NH150
10615VTJoey
LaquerreE. Montpelier, VT150
White Mountain Motorsports Park
Race Preview
Brent Dragon of Milton, Vt., returns
to one of the tracks on the ACT Late Model Tour where he's had the
most success -- as the series hits White Mountain Motorsports Park
in North Woodstock, N.H., for the ACT 150 on Saturday, June 26.
Dragon won this event in 2007 and he hasn't finished outside the
top-3 in any of his last four starts at White Mountain. Dragon is
still searching for his first top-5 of the finish of 2010, but a
solid start to the season has him second in the standings -- just 62
points behind leader Brian Hoar through the first four races of the
year. The veteran racer has made 178 career ACT starts, tops on the
all-time list.
BEST CAREER WMMP FINISH: 1st (June 2007)
LAST RACE AT WMMP: 2nd (June 2009)
ACT Late Model Tour
LAST RACE: June 19, Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine (7th-place
finish) NEXT RACE: Saturday, July 10, Airborne Speedway,
Plattsburgh, N.Y. POINTS POSITION: 2nd
BRENT, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HEADING BACK
TO WHITE MOUNTAIN THIS WEEKEND?
White
Mountain is a pretty good track for us. It's probably one of our
better tracks. I like it a lot. I'm looking forward to going back
there this weekend.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT
THE TRACK THAT YOU'VE TAKEN TO?
You
use a lot of brake -- a lot of brake. That's the way it was with the
tracks I grew up on, you always used a lot of brakes. It made the
cars turn good. And White Mountain needs that. To make the car turn
good, you've got to use a lot of brake and get the thing slowed
down.
LOOKING BACK AT LAST WEEKEND, YOU
HAD A PRETTY GOOD NIGHT AT OXFORD THAT ALLOWED YOU TO CLOSE THE GAP
ON BRIAN HOAR JUST A BIT.
It was a pretty good night.
We gained a few points on (leader Brian Hoar) in the end. He
finished behind us in the heat race, so that deal sort of helps us a
little bit there.
Oxford Plains Speedway - Oxford,
ME Sunday, June 19th
Second Straight 7th Place for the #55
Brent Dragon finished 7th in the ACT Late Model Tour ACT 150
at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine, on Saturday night, June
19. It was Dragon's second straight 7th-place finish. He won the
first heat race of the night to earn points in the championship
standings and fought his way into the top-5 two-thirds of the way
through the race after starting 12th in the 33-car field. Dragon was
running fourth when he was caught behind a lapped car on a lap 106
restart, shuffling him out of the top-10, and he ended up rallying
for 7th at the end.
STARTED: 12th - FINISHED: 7th - LED: 0
times for 0 laps
NEXT: Saturday, June 26, ACT 150, White
Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H. (.25-mile oval)
BRENT, HOW WOULD YOU CATEGORIZE YOUR NIGHT
OVERALL?
It was a pretty good night. We gained a few
points on (leader Brian Hoar) in the end. He finished behind us in
the heat race, so that deal sort of helps us a little bit there.
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE PREPARED FOR THE
TD BANK 250 AT OXFORD NEXT MONTH?
We've got something
to come back to the 250 with that we learned today. We've been on
both sides of it. We've been loose, and tonight we were a little bit
tight. We can fix that and come back for the 250 and have a pretty
good car.
YOU DEFINITELY DIDN'T WANT TO
SEE THAT FINAL CAUTION ON LAP 105.
It took the car
about 15 laps to get where it would start to go pretty good and
build the pressures up in the tires. It had started to go at that
point, but we had a couple too many cautions here. Usually, you only
have one (caution) here it seems, but we had three and they kind of
hurt us in the end.
Photos by Chris Roy
Oxford Plains Speedway Race Preview
Brent Dragon of Milton, Vt., returns to Oxford Plains
Speedway in Oxford, Maine, for the ACT Late Model Tour ACT 150 on
Saturday, June 19. Dragon sits second in the ACT standings through the
first three events of the season, and he finished 8th in the series'
first visit to Oxford last month. Dragon has made 177 career ACT starts,
tops on the all-time list.
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 RACE AT OXFORD PLAINS SPEEDWAY: 8th (May 2010)
WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour ACT 150 WHERE: Oxford Plains Speedway,
Oxford, Maine (.375-mile oval) WHEN: 6:30 p.m., Saturday, June 19
ACT Late Model Tour LAST RACE: June 11, Lee USA Speedway, Lee,
N.H. (8th) NEXT RACE: Saturday, June 26, White Mountain Motorsports
Park, N. Woodstock, N.H. POINTS POSITION: 2nd
BRENT, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT OXFORD PLAINS
SPEEDWAY?
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.
We're going to go with a little bit different setup. It will be closer
to what we ran in the (TD Bank) 250 last year. The track's finally taken
some rubber, so it will be a little different than it was when we were
there last time.
HOW MUCH DO TRACK CONDITIONS CHANGE AT OXFORD?
It changes all day there. From the sun to clouds, it really changes.
I was going through my notes -- I can't get over how much it changed the
day we were there last month. From one practice to the next, the track
is completely different than it was before.
DO YOU LOOK AT THIS WEEKEND AS A TEST FOR THE TD
BANK 250 NEXT MONTH?
Not at all. It's not the same. When
we go there for the 250 in the middle of the summer, the track gets a
lot hotter, it holds its heat in and the surface will have seen a lot of
racing by then. We're headed in that direction now, but it will be
completely different (in mid-July).
YOU'RE
OFF TO A GOOD START TO THE SEASON, SITTING SECOND IN THE STANDINGS JUST
52 POINTS BEHIND LEADER BRIAN HOAR.
We're where we need to
be, that's for sure. It's a lot better than we've been in 'normal'
years. Usually this time of year we're about 10th, so I'd say we're in
pretty good shape.
ACT TOUR - Lee USA Speedway
- Lee, NH Friday, June 11th NH Governor’s Cup
150
Photos by Chris Roy
7th Place at Lee for Brent . Friday night, June 11. Dragon
overcame a flat-tire while running in the top-5 two-thirds of the
way through the event, rallying back to post his second consecutive
top-10 finish. Dragon started 8th and ran as high as third before
running into the tire troubles.
STARTED: 8th FINISHED: 7th
LED: 0 times for 0 laps
BRENT, HOW
WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR DAY?
The car was really good.
I was really happy with it. I was just sort of riding around, and I
made it up to third really early on. The right rear (tire) just
started going flat. It was going down slowly, and we went from third
to about 23rd. It was fast before that, and I thought I had
something for those guys up front.
ARE
YOU FRUSTRATED TO HAVE LEFT A POSSIBLE WIN ON THE TABLE OR HAPPY TO
HAVE RALLIED BACK FOR A GOOD POINTS NIGHT?
I'm happy. I mean, the car was going really good and I'm really
happy about that. It's just a matter of us getting some luck to go
our way. Lee USA Speedway Race Preview
Brent heads to one of his favorite tracks on the schedule this
weekend for the NH Governor's Cup 150 at Lee USA Speedway in Lee,
N.H., on Friday, June 11. Dragon, who has competed in the series
since its inception 18 years ago, owns the most career starts (176)
in ACT Late Model Tour history to go along with nine career
victories. Dragon trails points leader and 6-time ACT champion Brian
Hoar by 42 points after two races.
WHO: Brent Dragon, Milton,
Vt. TEAM: Beverage Mart/Furniture World of VT/Charlebois
Freightliner/Newton Pellets No. 55 Chevrolet BEST CAREER LEE USA
SPEEDWAY FINISH: 6th (three times) LAST RACE AT LEE USA SPEEDWAY:
9th (April, 2009)
ACT Late Model Tour LAST RACE: May 16,
Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine (8th-place finish) NEXT
RACE: Saturday, June 19, Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine
POINTS POSITION: 3rdBRENT, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT LEE USA
SPEEDWAY?
It's one of my favorite tracks -- one of the top
three or four tracks on my list that I really like. It reminds me a
lot of the old Airborne Speedway. We've always gone well there, but
never had any finishes to show that. It seems we've always started
30th or 32nd and ended up finishing seventh or eighth.
WHAT'S
THE SECRET TO RUNNING WELL AT LEE?
Tire management is
probably the biggest thing. It's really tough on tires. The tires
get so used up there that when you put new ones on, you can't
believe the car was that bad before. I bet we pick up a second,
second and a half (in lap times) when we put new tires on.
With our cars, it is a two-groove race track. It's pretty easy to
race side-by-side there -- at least it is until late in the race.
Then the tires go away and everybody gets so loose.
EVEN
THOUGH IT'S BEEN A FEW WEEKS SINCE THERE WAS AN ACT RACE, YOU'VE RUN
SOME OTHER LATE MODEL RACES. ARE YOU READY TO GET BACK TO THE TOUR?
It seems like we were just talking about that. I go to the
Thunder Road races (like the Memorial Day Classic) and we don't do
it '100 percent.' We don't try 100 percent. But this week we're
working really hard on the car and getting back into the swing of
things to get better.
We're doing more setup. We check a
little more (on the car) for Tour races. Instead of doing 90 percent
of the setup, we do 100 percent. We go the extra distance to change
(things) if they aren't right. The Tour is so competitive that
you've got to be 100 percent when you go or you're wasting your
time.
Coming off a 10th-place finish in the
Memorial Day Classic 100 at Thunder Road International Speedbowl
last weekend, Brent Dragon takes a break from Late Model racing this
weekend. The Milton, Vt., driver plans to compete for the second
year in a row in an exhibition race at Bear Ridge Speedway, a
quarter-mile dirt track in Bradford, Vt. On Saturday night, Dragon
will join his father, Beaver Dragon, his uncle Bobby Dragon and his
cousin Scott Dragon in a pair of 10-lap Sportsman Modified races.
Brent raced in the event last year, winning one of the two races and
then finishing 10th in the track's regularly-scheduled 30-lap
Sportsman Modified feature at Bear Ridge. Dragon is expected to
compete in a car owned by track owner Butch Elms.
WHO:
Brent Dragon, Milton, Vt. WHAT: Dirt Sportsman Modified
Exhibition Event WHERE: Bear Ridge Speedway,
Bradford, Vt. (.25-mile dirt oval) WHEN: 6 p.m., Saturday, June
5BRENT, YOU HAD A GOOD RUN GOING LAST WEEKEND AT THUNDER ROAD
BEFORE THINGS HEADED SOUTH. WHAT HAPPENED?
We
started back in 21st and we got all the way up to second (by the
halfway point), but the car just got really loose. We tried
something a little different with the setup, and it will be really
good for the Milk Bowl (with three 50-lap segments). It will
definitely be good for the Milk Bowl.
It just
didn't work for us this time. We probably shouldn't have done it --
it was just too big of a change. But absolutely, we wanted to learn
something for later on, which we did.
WHAT DID
YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR FIRST STAB AT RACING ON DIRT LAST YEAR IN THIS
BEAR RIDGE RACE -- AND RACING AGAINST YOUR FATHER, TOO?
It was a
good time, and we went out and I think we put on a really good show
for all of the fans. Last year, my dad booted me right out of the
way. I thought I could pass Bobby for the win, and I guess I should
have waited for the last lap to make my move. We went down into
(turns) three and four, and my dad hit me so hard I had to slow the
car down so I wouldn't drive off the track.
My dad
and I probably raced Late Models against each other 15 or 20 times
in the past. It's funny, when I talk to (multi-time PASS North
Series champion Ben Rowe) about what it's like to race against his
father, he always says that his father (Mike Rowe) probably races
him harder than anyone else on the track. I think his father and my
father are cut from the same cloth, for sure.
HOW DID YOU TAKE TO RACING ON
DIRT?
It was a
blast, especially once I got the hang of it. I was really good in
practice and they had me run the (regularly scheduled Sportsman
Modified race). I was passing guys in the heat race, and it was
going really well.
They give
us really good cars to race. The car I ran last year finished second
in points there. I can't wait to go back and do it again, now that
I've learned a few things about it.
Dragon Breaks In New Devil's Bowl; Sets Sights On
Thunder Road Return
MILTON, Vt. -- Brent Dragon gave the
new Devil's Bowl Speedway rave reviews over the weekend and then set
his sights on an old, familiar foe.
Dragon
finished 4th in the first-ever Late Model race held on Devil's
Bowl's brand new asphalt surface on Sunday afternoon during an
off-weekend for the ACT Late Model Tour. Next up for Dragon is a
return trip to Thunder Road International Speedbowl this weekend for
the non-points Memorial Day Classic 100 on the tight quarter-mile.
Teams are
in the midst of a stretch of three straight weekends off from ACT
racing, giving them a chance to participate in other Late Model
races. For Dragon, that meant going to Devil's Bowl -- which had
been a dirt track prior to this season -- for a 100-lap event last
weekend.
"It was
awesome," said Dragon, who sits third in the ACT standings this
season. "It was really fast -- just a great place."
Dragon
started 14th in the field in the Beverage Mart/Furniture World of
VT/Charlebois Freightliner/Newton Pellets No. 55 Chevrolet and moved
up as high as 3rd in the running order just past the halfway mark.
His tires soon wore out, however, relegating him to 4th in the race
won by Dave Pembroke.
"It was
showing nothing but the cords on both (right-side) tires," Dragon
said. "There wasn't much we could do after that. We had to work so
hard to get to the front."
Dragon
now heads to Thunder Road for the Memorial Day Classic on Sunday, a
race he won in 2006. He finished 14th in the ACT Merchants Bank 150
at the track on May 2 but owns four career Thunder Road victories.
Brent
Dragon Heads For Devil's Bowl on 5/23
MILTON, Vt. -- 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, Vt., on Sunday, May 23. Qualifying gets underway at 2 p.m.
"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 a
combination event for Devil's Bowl and Thunder Road International
Speedbowl Late Model divisions 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."
Oxford Plains Speedway
- Oxford, ME Saturday,
May 16th - 2 PM
- 150 Laps
Brent
Charges from 27th to 8th at Oxford
Race Notes:
From 27th starting spot in a field of 33 in the 150 lap
feature, Brent was up to 16th by lap 40, 13th on lap 75, and
battling for 7th on lap 139. 53 competitors attempted to
qualify. - In Consi
#3, Brent started 5th and finished 4th to transfer to the
feature. - Brent
started 8th in Heat 5 and did not make it into the top 3.
Standings Notes: Since only 8 of the top 20 in points
raced in the feature at Oxford, Brent will move up into
third in points.
BRENT, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR DAY?
It was a good points day
for us, and that's what we needed. A lot of guys didn't make
the race, and that's how you get ahead of them. On days they
have bad days, we've just got to have a good, average, clean
finish and take all you can get from it.
ONCE YOU WERE RIDING IN THE TOP-10, WERE YOU HOPING FOR A
LATE CAUTION FLAG OR TWO TO BUNCH UP THE LEADERS?
Yeah, we needed a caution
there at one point. It could have closed everything up and
made it pretty exciting. It took us a few laps to get the
heat back in the tires, and once the heat got back in the
tires (the car) came around and we got to traveling again.
But we needed to start up
in about 15th, and (then) we probably could have had a
pretty decent finish out of it.
Photos by Chris Roy
RAIN -
POSTPONED
The Spring Green 100 Airborne Speedway
- Plattsburgh, NY Saturday,
May 8th
Brent Dragon: ACT Late Model Tour Airborne Speedway Race
Preview
Brent Dragon
returns to Airborne Speedway this weekend for the second race of the
2010 ACT Late Model Tour -- the Spring Green 100 at Airborne Speedway in
Plattsburgh, N.Y. on Saturday, May 8. Dragon, who finished 14th in the
season opener last weekend at Thunder Road International Speedbowl, will
attempt to make his ACT-record 176th career start this weekend at
Airborne. He is a three-time track champion there in the Late Model
division (1995, 1996, 2000), and it is the track he refers to as "home."
In 2004, Dragon swept Airborne's marquee events by winning both the
Spring Green 100 and the Fall Foliage 200 in the same season. His
father, Beaver Dragon, won the Spring Green 100 three times in his
career, while his uncle, Bobby Dragon, is also a past winner of the
race.
WHO: Brent Dragon, Milton, Vt. TEAM: Beverage Mart/Furniture
World of VT/Charlebois Freightliner/Newton Pellets No. 55 Chevrolet BEST CAREER AIRBORNE SPEEDWAY
FINISH: 1st (3 times; Most recent: Fall Foliage 200, September 2004) LAST RACE AT AIRBORNE SPEEDWAY:
3rd (September 2009)
WHAT: ACT
Late Model Tour Spring Green 100 WHERE: Airborne Speedway,
Plattsburgh, N.Y. (.500-mile oval) WHEN: 5 p.m., Saturday, May 8
ACT Late
Model Tour LAST RACE: May 2, Merchants Bank 150,
Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Barre, Vt. (14th-place finish) NEXT RACE: May 16, WJAB 150,
Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine POINTS POSITION: 13thBRENT, LOOKS LIKE YOU DIDN'T GET
THE FINISH YOU HOPED FOR AT THUNDER ROAD TO OPEN THE SEASON. WAS THE
SETUP OFF?
Yeah, we
missed it. I always do at the beginning of the year for some reason -- I
don't know what it is about (Thunder Road). The first race of the year
there in Barre, every year, it seems I always struggle.
The car just
did the opposite of what it needed to, and that was my fault. I know
what I would do differently if the race were right now, but it wasn't a
completely terrible day, either. We ran with the pack at the front of
the field and they didn't really get away from us.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HEADING TO AIRBORNE SPEEDWAY THIS
WEEKEND?
It's my home track, I would have
to say. We used to have a lot of good times over there, and it's just an
awesome place. It's only about 15 miles away across the lake (Lake
Champlain), and I won three championships there when I was racing there
every Saturday night. I really just have a lot of good memories from
going there every week.
HOW DID YOU TAKE TO THE TRACK AFTER IT WAS REPAVED PRIOR TO THE
2009 SEASON?
I liked it a
lot. It drives a lot like it did before -- I mean, the fast way around
is still the same way around it was before. You really want to be on the
bottom. I remember before they paved it, everybody used to play the
numbers game. You wanted to be in an odd-numbered position on restarts
so you'd have the inside, and you'd be content to just get into an
odd-numbered position and just ride around, hoping that you'd be in an
odd number on the last restart of the race.
You use a lot
of brake at Airborne. It's a very racy track. It's got long
straightaways and flat corners, and it's got a lot of different passing
zones. You can have a lot more side-by-side racing now.
12th Annual Merchants Bank 150 Sunday, May 2nd 14th Place Finish
Brent Dragon: ACT Late Model Tour 5/2 Thunder Road Int'L
Speedbowl Race Preview
Following two
straight rainouts to start the season, Brent Dragon and the rest of the
ACT Late Model Tour once again attempt to drop the green flag on the
2010 season this weekend with the running of the Merchants Bank 150 at
Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., on Sunday, May 2.
Dragon, who owns the most career starts in ACT history (174), is
attempting to win his first series title after 18 seasons of trying. Not
only does Dragon have nine career ACT points race wins, but he also owns
four career Thunder Road victories -- including the 2006 Milk Bowl.
WHO: Brent
Dragon, Milton, Vt. TEAM: Beverage Mart/Furniture World of
VT/Charlebois Freightliner/Newton Pellets No. 55 Chevrolet BEST CAREER THUNDER ROAD FINISH:
1st (4 times, most recent: Milk Bowl, September 2006) LAST RACE AT THUNDER ROAD: 2nd
(Milk Bowl, October 2009)BRENT, WHAT MAKES THUNDER ROAD SUCH A SPECIAL PLACE?
The track
itself, and then the amount of fans that we get there. This weekend will
be a huge weekend for that. It's different than a lot of the places we
go, just because everybody is so into it there. It's different for me,
too, because we know most of the people there from local businesses that
sponsor us or know us from around town. It's sort of neat to race in
front of all those people.
It's probably
been one of our better tracks over the years. Two years ago, we'd
struggled there a little bit, but we finally got things figured out
again for last year. The handling of the car is the key. You can either
be right on the edge of being loose or tight -- and it can slow you up
two-tenths of a second (per lap). The biggest thing is being able to get
off of turn four.
HOW HAS YOUR TEAM DEALT WITH THE BACK-TO-BACK RAINOUTS TO START
THE YEAR?
We went and
tested over to (Airborne Speedway) last weekend. It was really the first
time had everybody together, with Buster (Bean) and Steve (More) being
able to work together with everyone. We went out four or five times for
practice and did everything we were going to do. Honestly, we're quite a
bit ahead of where we would have been by just showing up this weekend
without testing.
Basically all
it was was a chance for the team to figure out what everybody was going
to do on race days. It was more to figure out what everybody was going
to do and how they were going to do it -- and it really went better than
everybody expected.
HOW IMPORTANT IS A GOOD START TO THE SEASON AT THUNDER ROAD THIS
WEEKEND?
You've absolutely got to start
the year off right. 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 (started well) 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.
First Practice of 2010
at Airborne Speedway on 4/24 Photos by Leif
Tillotson
Great day of testing at
Airborne. Terrific way to get the driver and crew back in
the trackside work rhythm.
“MORNING LINE” 2010 AMERICAN CANADIAN TOUR SEASON
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION to
www.ACTTOUR.com Compiled by: G.A.Ronie, LV,
Marrm, BL LLC ASSOCIATES
The following
outlines some of the odds for the coming 2010 season, as compiled by a
noted short track handicapping firm. The opinions and results are solely
the responsibility of the compilation group. Any comments or remarks
should be addressed to those responsible or just “deal with it”. Enjoy,
and good luck to all race teams entering the new season. Does not
include all entries, and apologies go out to those that did not receive
proper recognition or were inadvertently omitted.
(Championship
odds for 2010 based on international calculations) (no particular season finishing
order implied)
ODDS 3-1 - 55VT BRENT DRAGON
– The most veteran driver on the ACT. Dragon wins races every year.
Dragon is rarely out of the top five in standings at any time in the
season. Dragon has fininished second to Cyr more than any other
competitor in Tour final standings. He has one of the most professional
attitudes and approaches to racing. In many previous seasons he has
gotten off to a slow start and had to ‘catch up’ throughout what is a
relatively short race season. The expanded 14 race 2010 Tour season, and
large number of long tracks in 2010, will play into this veteran’s
championship plans. If he is leading at the halfway mark, nobody will
catch him.
CAUTION: Avoid the early slump. Get off to successful
early start. BIGGEST ASSET: Dragon is one of the most consistent
finishers, once he gets past the early events. Always, one of the most
prepared teams on the tour. Races at Airborne, Riverside and Waterford
give him an edge.
ACT Late Model Tour Albany-Saratoga
100 Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, NY 1:00 PM - Sunday, April
25 - .400-mile oval
Brent Dragon: ACT Late Model Tour Albany-Saratoga Speedway
Race Preview
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, NY (.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 IN MALTA, NY?
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."
Postponed by
Rain -New
Date JUNE 11
Brent
Dragon: ACT Late Model Tour
Lee USA Speedway Race Preview
Brent Dragon of Milton, Vt., opens the
2010 ACT Late Model Tour season with the NH Governor's Cup 150 at Lee USA
Speedway in Lee, N.H., on Sunday, April 18. Dragon, who has competed in the
series since its inception 18 years ago, owns the most career starts (174)
in ACT Late Model Tour history to go along with nine career victories.
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.
WHO: Brent Dragon TEAM:
Beverage Mart/Furniture World of VT/Charlebois Freightliner/Newton Pellets
No. 55 Chevrolet BEST CAREER LEE USA SPEEDWAY FINISH:
6th (three times) LAST RACE AT LEE USA SPEEDWAY:
9th (April, 2009)
WHAT: ACT Late Model
Tour NH Governor's Cup 150 WHERE:
Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H. (.333-mile oval) WHEN:
1:15 p.m., Sunday, April 18 BRENT, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT LEE
USA SPEEDWAY?
It's one of my favorite tracks -- one of the top three or four tracks on my
list that I really like. It reminds me a lot of the old Airborne Speedway.
We've always gone well there, but never had any finishes to show that. For
some reason, we always seem to have terrible (qualifying) draws for the
first race of the year.
It seems we've always started 30th or 32nd and ended up finishing seventh or
eighth.
WHAT'S THE SECRET TO RUNNING WELL AT LEE?
Tire management is probably the biggest thing. It's really tough on tires.
The tires get so used up there that when you put new ones on, you can't
believe the car was that bad before. I bet we pick up a second, second and a
half (in lap times) when we put new tires on.
With our cars, it is a two-groove race track. It's pretty easy to race
side-by-side there -- at least it is until late in the race. Then the tires
go away and everybody gets so loose.
HOW IMPORTANT IS A GOOD START TO THE
SEASON AT LEE?
You've absolutely got to start the year off right. 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 (started well) 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.
YEAR OF THE
DRAGON:
Brent Dragon
Sets Sights on 1st ACT Championship
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.
ACT Invitational at New Hampshire
Expands to 43 Car Field For 2010
60 Teams Will Likely Be Invited to Test For Event
Officials of the American
Canadian Tour (ACT) and the New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) announced
today that the starting field for the second edition of the ACT Invitational
will be increased from 36 teams last year to 43 teams in 2010. The event is
part of a mega triple-header to be held on Saturday, September 18, 2010 at
the region’s most notable speedway. The Invitational will join NASCAR’s
Whelen Modified Tour and the Camping World Truck Series to provide the fans
with the most exciting triple-header of the year.
“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
Tom Curley, President of the American Canadian Tour. “We will soon be
announcing another great promotion for all the fans that attend weekly
affiliate ACT tracks, and all ACT touring events during the upcoming
season,” concluded Curley.
The race has been extended to 60 miles for the 2010 version. There will be a
mandatory caution flag between lap 28 and 38, if there is no racing caution
that occurs during that time frame. Teams will be allowed to pit for
adjustments and tires if they choose to pit, but it will not be mandatory.
“This format really sounds like a lot of fun. I think it will certainly add
some strategy to the race and make for some tough decisions about whether to
pit or not,” said Brent Dragon, one of the top contenders for the ACT title
in 2010.
There will be plenty of money on the line for the second ACT Invitational.
The purse has been increased throughout the field with the winner’s share is
a minimum of $4,000. Bonus money of $400 will be paid for every event won at
the ACT US events (14), the ACT Série Castrol Edge (11), special events (4),
which include the TD Bank 250 at the Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine, the
Mekkelsen Memorial Day Classic doubleheader with Modifieds, and the Vermont
Governor’s Cup held at Barre, Vermont’s Thunder Road on Thursday, June 24,
2010. The annual Coors Light Showdown of Champions held at Autodrome
Chaudiere in Valle Junction, QC is a $5,000 to win 200-lap special between
the top US and Castrol ACT teams, and will be the fourth ACT Invitational
special event Qualifier.
In addition, $400 in bonus money will be available to each Track Champion
that represents the affiliate tracks which are using the ACT Late Model
rules package as part of their weekly racing program. The tracks include:
Thunder Road, Lee USA, White Mountain Motorsports Park, Oxford Plains
Speedway, Seekonk Speedway, Waterford Speedbowl, and Twin State Speedway in
the US. Ontario tracks Capital City Speedway, Ottawa and Kawartha Speedway
in Peterborough are also ACT affiliate weekly short tracks. The total posted
purse for the 2010 Invitational will be over $73,000.
Over 60 teams will be invited to test and tune at NHMS in August. For many
of the “at large teams”, this day of testing will be not only a great race
experience, but for many it is an audition to be invited to the
Invitational. In 2010, two of the youngest drivers, (without automatic wins
to qualify), were so impressive on test and tune day that they got invited
to compete in the first Invitational. In the Invitational, Nick Sweet from
Barre, VT, a Thunder Road weekly competitor was challenging eventual winner
Eddie MacDonald for the win and ended up finishing second. Sixteen year-old
Brandon Watson from Ontario accepted the invitation and came home third!
The first opportunity to lock in a spot in the ACT Invitational will happen
at the Lee USA Speedway in Lee, NH on Sunday, April 18, 2010 with the annual
running of the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150. Defending Champion and the
winningest driver in the history of NHMS, Brad Leighton, will look for his
second consecutive win and the bonus of receiving the first invite to New
Hampshire Motor Speedway’s ACT Invitational in September.
Gates open at 10:00 and post time is 1:00 o’clock Sunday, April 18 at Lee
USA Speedway.
ACT Celebrating 25th
Season with
Large Number of Pre-Season Entries
Waterbury, VT - The
American Canadian Tour (ACT) will celebrate 25
years of Championship Stock Car Racing with one of its largest number of
pre-season full season entered teams. The balance of veteran champions and
new teams joining the US touring division represents five New England states
and two provinces of Canada. ACT statistician Nick Bigelow said, "I have
reviewed past seasons and this looks like the most diverse and best count
ACT has had in the past half dozen seasons."
A fourteen race schedule will carry teams from the shores of Connecticut at
the historic Waterford Speedbowl to new tracks located as far north as
Quebec City, (the newly renovated 5/8th mile Riverside Speedway in
Ste-Croix), and west to the newly paved 4/10th mile Albany Saratoga Speedway
in Malta, NY, just outside the New York capital city.
Veteran title chaser Brent Dragon from Milton, VT
said, "This is a great
schedule for those of us that like touring. New tracks are always
interesting and with two new tracks on the schedule just undergoing
renovations and paving (Albany-Saratoga and Riverside-Ste Croix), along with
my favorite recently renovated half mile Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh,
NY, I hope this is the year I can finally win an ACT Championship."
"Dragon has been a perennial top three finisher on the tour for many years,
and feels with the longer tracks on the 2010 schedule, he has just gotten
the edge he might need to finally win the title. Brent
Dragon has completed
the most races of any driver in the 18 year history of the ACT Late Model
division," continued Bigelow.
Joining the list of likely contenders is defending Champion Brian Hoar from
Williston, VT. Hoar found his magic championship form when he joined Rick
Paya's RPM Engines team in 2009. Strong performances to end the season
brought Hoar his 6th ACT Championship title. Hoar clearly is the favorite to
beat in 2010.
Other strong teams who have full season entries are Scott Payea, led by
co-owner and veteran crew chief, Chris Companion. Joey Polewarczyk ('Pole')
from Hudson, NH is primed and eager to take a run for the ACT title. Now a
seasoned competitor of ACT touring and the youngest of the new breed of
racers, Joey 'Pole' has switched to Ford power plants for the 2010 campaign.
Turner, Maine veteran Glen Luce, beginning his third year of ACT Tour
racing, will join 'Pole' on the Blue Oval Ford team. Brian Craig will crew
chief the Luce effort. "Now that we have been around the ACT circuit for a
couple years, I think we have a pretty good chance to contend for the title.
It was a challenging learning curve for our team getting used to the
different tracks, and it sure was a lot different than running sprint races
on Saturday night at our home track Oxford Plains Speedway, but I am hoping
that with our new Ford program we will have some success," said Luce.
One of the early favorites to challenge for the 2010 ACT title is
Graniteville, Vermont's John Donahue. Donahue was the most successful racer
during the last third of the 2009 season, winning races at White Mountain
Motorsport Park, and realizing a lifelong dream of winning the Chittenden
Milk Bowl at Barre, Vermont's Thunder Road. That momentum certainly makes
the Kendall Roberts-Dale Shaw led team a threat to win the 2010 title.
Joining the list of filed entries includes top veteran runners such as New
Hampshire's Randy Potter, Vermonters Jamie Fisher and Eric Chase, and
Maine's Ricky Rolfe. Tyler Cahoon and Pete Potvin round out some returning
young stars that completed the entire 2009 season.
Other veterans and former champions: legendary and ageless Joey Laquerre,
from Barre, VT will drive a Seth Holbrook prepared car. Former White
Mountain Motorsport Park Champion Quinney Welch, from Lancaster, NH has also
entered the full schedule of events for the 2010 season.
The highly anticipated season will also see the return of seven-time ACT
Champion JP Cyr of Milton, VT in the father/son team race car of Gary and
Kyle Caron. Richard Green will be fielding two cars with veterans Joey
Becker and former Airborne Champion Mark Lamberton behind the wheels.
Two teams will travel from Canada to tackle the 2010 ACT US season. 2009
Série ACT Castrol Champion Donald Theetge has submitted his full season
entry to run on the American-based Tour. Also making a return is former ACT
Pro Stock Tour competitor Derek Lynch. Lynch, the winner of the Oxford 250
in 1994 has decades of experience. He has competed previously in the NASCAR
North/Busch East Series and for the past two years has raced in the NASCAR
Canadian Tire Series throughout Canada. He also is the track manager of the
Kawartha Speedway outside Peterborough, ON, Canada.
Some new faces running their first full ACT Tour seasons are multi-time
Oxford Plains Speedway Champion Travis Adams, Jeff Zuidema with Thompson
Int'l Speedway Championships in his portfolio, and Thunder Road regular and
former Sportsman Champion at both Thunder Road and Airborne Speedway, Craig
Bushey.
Massachusetts racers Jimmy 'Scruffy' Linardy and Mark Hudson; along with
Vermonter David Paya have sent in full season entries. Over 30 teams are
expected to start the season as full time entrants, a record number of teams
to begin the new campaign.
The Rookie of the Year battle has two of the most talented young Late Model
stars in the region with 17 year-old Beech Ridge racer Bradley Babb from
Maine driving the Sallie Bolduc machine. Babb will have former ACT Pro Stock
driver and father, Bobby Babb, crew chief the car. Another young star of the
Twin State Speedway battles, from the Granite State, Chris Riendeau, is
going to compete for the ACT Rookie of the Year honors on a full time basis
as well.
The 2010 ACT Tour season kicks off on Sunday, April 18
at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, NH with the NH Governor's Cup 150. The
winner will be the first to receive an invitation for the second annual ACT
Invitational at New
Hampshire Motor Speedway to be held on Saturday, September 18th during the
first weekend of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship.
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