BARRE, VT – Stock car racing champions from the top short track series in America have entered this weekend’s 44th Annual Chittenden Milk Bowl, a $10,000-to-win ACTion Super Series event for the American-Canadian Tour (ACT), at Thunder Road in Barre, VT, Sat./Sun, Sept. 29/30. Leading the way are defending Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Champion Mike Rowe of Turner, ME and two-time NASCAR Busch East Series king Brad Leighton of Center Harbor, NH. Each driver is also a former ACT Champion.
“It would be nice to finally win the Milk Bowl,” said Rowe, who earned his fifth victory of the season at
Beech Ridge (ME) Motor Speedway last weekend. “It’s as tough a race as you’ll find anywhere. I’ve won a couple of segments, but I was never able to contend for the win like I wanted to.”
The Chittenden Milk Bowl is a unique, three-segment event with cumulative scoring and full field
inversions between segments. The driver with the lowest three-round point total is declared the winner, earning the right to kiss a real Vermont beauty. Last year’s trophy girl was a 1,600-lb Ayrshire dairy cow. The closest Rowe has come to smooching the lovely lady was a fifth-place overall effort during his ACT Championship run in 1994. His mount for the weekend is the #24 Lux Enterprises Chevrolet of Arundel, ME car owner Mike Lux.
Leighton sat on the sidelines after not qualifying for the recent Beech Ridge event. He said the
experience gave him a reality check and an added dose of motivation.
“That was the first time I’ve failed to qualify in 20 years,” he said, “so now I really want to win and
kiss that cow. The Milk Bowl is a tough race to win, and it’s just as tough to qualify for, but my team is up to the challenge.” Leighton finished a sixth in the Bond Auto Labor Day Classic 200 at Thunder Road earlier this month. His best Chittenden Milk Bowl result was fourth place in 1992. The 1995 ACT Champion will drive a #55 Irving Oil/Coca-Cola Chevrolet prepared by veteran crew chief Pete Duto of Middlesex, VT this weekend.
Booth Bros./H.P. Hood Qualifying Day begins at 1:00pm on Saturday, Sept. 29, and includes ACT Late Model Tour time trials and “Triple 50” qualifying races, as well as qualifying events for Thunder Road’s NAPA Tiger Sportsman and Allen Lumber Street Stock divisions and the season finale for the Power Shift Warriors. The last-chance ACT “B” Feature qualifier begins at 1:00pm on Sunday, Sept. 30, followed by pre-race ceremonies and Segment I of the Chittenden Milk Bowl. Final championship events for the Sportsmen and Street Stocks are also on the card.
American race promoters and National Speed Sport News voted the ACTion Super Series Chittenden Milk Bowl, with a total 2007 purse over $60,000, as the “Outstanding Annual Short Track Event” for 2006, the highest honor for a single race. General admission for adults is $10 on Saturday or $25 for both weekend days. Children under 12 will be admitted for free on Saturday and for only $5 on Sunday. For more information, call (802) 244-6963 or visit www.thunderroadspeedbowl.com or www.acttour.com.