BARRE, VT –Vermont stock car racer Brent Dragon will attempt to become only the third driver in 44 years to successfully defend his Chittenden Milk Bowl Championship at Barre’s Thunder Road International Speedbowl on Sat./Sun., September 29/30. The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) veteran is one of three Dragon family members to have won the nationally respected event. He has joined his father Harmon “Beaver” Dragon (winner in 1978) and uncle Bob Dragon (1972).
“I was reading the names of the past champions, and I noticed that there’s only been a back-to-back Milk Bowl winner twice in history,” said the younger Dragon. “It would really be something to be the next one to pull it off.”
Should he win consecutive Chittenden Milk Bowl titles, the Milton, VT native would be the first driver
since Williston, VT’s Brian Hoar in 1998-99 to do so. Dave Whitlock of Wyoming, Ontario was the first in 1994-95. Dragon is particularly looking forward to the traditional pre-race ceremonies on Milk Bowl Sunday at Thunder Road.
“It’s going to be a real honor to stand in front of all those Thunder Road fans with my father and Bobby,” he said. “I look up to every one of the past winners, but carrying our family’s tradition is very important to me.”
The Chittenden Milk Bowl was voted by American race promoters and National Speed Sport News as the nation’s “Outstanding Annual Short Track Event” in 2006, the highest honor for a single race in the United States. The Milk Bowl’s unique race format, with three 50-lap segments and a special cumulative point system to determine the overall winner, plus its traditional victory lane complete with a genuine Vermont beauty as the trophy queen (this year an Ayrshire cow), have given it a distinct place in the national short track racing spotlight. Dragon also collected nearly $12,000 in purse money and bonuses last year.
A talented and diverse mix of drivers will challenge Dragon for his Chittenden Milk Bowl title, including Dragon’s cross-town Milton rivals Jean-Paul Cyr and Scott Payea, currently 1-2 in the ACT championship standings. Cyr was the 1996 Chittenden Milk Bowl Champion, while Payea has a pair of fourth-place finishes in the event to his credit.
Also expected to take a run at Dragon are Patrick Laperle of Montreal, the 2005 winner; four-time winner Robbie Crouch of Tampa, FL; 2007 “King of the Road” Dave Pembroke of Montpelier, VT; Maine champions Mike and Ben Rowe; and New Hampshire stars Randy Potter, “Rocket” Roger Brown, and young Joey “Pole” Polewarczyk, the 2006 Booth Bros./H.P. Hood Milk Bowl Pole Award winner.
Thunder Road’s weekly NAPA Tiger Sportsman, Allen Lumber Street Stock, and Power Shift Online Warrior divisions will crown their 2007 Champions on Chittenden Milk Bowl weekend as well. General admission for Booth Bros./H.P. Hood Qualifying Day on Saturday, including the Warrior season finale, is $10 for adults and free for children under 12. Two-day general admission is only $25 for adults and just $5 for children. Racing and pre-race ceremonies begin at 1:30pm on Sat., Sept. 29, and at 1:00pm on Sun., Sept. 30. Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl is located on Quarry Hill in Barre, VT. For more information, call (802) 244-6963, or visit www.thunderroadspeedbowl.com or www.acttour.com.