Brent Dragon: ACT Late Model Tour
Lee USA Speedway Race Preview

THE STORY

Brent Dragon of Milton, Vt., rolls on with the ACT Late Model Tour as it opens the 2011 season with the NH Governor’s Cup 150 at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H., on Sunday afternoon, April 17. Dragon has competed on the Tour every year since its inception in 1992 and is fourth on the all-time series win list with nine career victories. Though he’s never won at Lee USA, he does consider it one of his favorite stops on the circuit – in part because it reminds him so much of Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y., where he won multiple Late Model track championships. Dragon will compete this weekend in a car fielded by Avery Motorsports, part of a joint effort with his own Dragon Motorsports team this season.

THE FACTS

WHO: Brent Dragon, Milton, Vt.
TEAM: No. 55 Furniture World of VT/Beverage Mart/Charlesbois Freightliner Chevrolet
CREW CHIEF: Donnie Avery, Ashland, N.H.

BEST CAREER LEE USA SPEEDWAY FINISH: 6th (3 times)
LAST RACE AT LEE USA SPEEDWAY: 7th (June 2010)

WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour NH Governor’s Cup 150
WHERE: Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H. (.333-mile oval)
WHEN: 1 p.m., Sunday, April 17

ACT LATE MODEL TOUR
NEXT RACE: May 1, Merchants Bank 150, Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre, Vt. (.25-mile oval)
FINAL POINTS POSITION (2010): 3rd

DID YOU KNOW?

Brent Dragon owns 187 career ACT Late Model Tour starts, the most in series history.
The last time Brent Dragon competed in an ACT-sanctioned race in a car fielded by an owner other than himself was in 1995, when he drove for Ellery Packard.
Brent Dragon has more starts, Top-10 finishes (123) and laps completed (21,669) than anybody in ACT history.
An avid bowhunter in the offseason, Brent Dragon has entered Maine’s annual moose permit lottery in 2011.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

BRENT DRAGON, Driver of the No. 55 Furniture World of VT/Beverage Mart/Charlesbois Freightliner Chevrolet, On racing at Lee USA Speedway: “I like Lee a lot. It reminds me a lot of the old Airborne (Speedway) track.

“It’s the way the track is pretty well worn out. The cars change a lot throughout the race. You’ve just got to be ready for that, that’s the big thing. They really change from the start to the finish of the race. After you’ve been going there a few years you start to figure that out. I think it’s why the locals always seem to have huge advantage over us when we go there.”

On driving for Avery Motorsports for the first time: “I’m pretty excited about it. I feel like we’ve had a lot of time to really get both of the cars ready.

“It’s going to be different just driving for somebody else. I’ll try and treat it as if it were mine – that’s the only way to approach it. You still have to go out and finish every race. That’s what it’s going to take to be in it for the championship at the end of the year.”

On the importance of getting off to a strong start in 2011: “You’ve got to start off good. It makes the season go a lot better, that’s for sure. People are chasing you. It’s so hard to make up ground when it’s the same guys week after week.

“Early in the year, there are so many cars you can make up points. Later in the year, though, it’s always the 10 or 12 guys that travel everywhere. That just makes it so hard to make up ground.”

UP NEXT

The ACT Late Model Tour heads to the Merchants Bank 150 at Thunder Road International Speedbowl on Sunday, May 1 for the second race of the season… Thunder Road has always been a good track for Brent Dragon, who is a four-time race winner at the historic quarter-mile. Most notably, Dragon won the 2006 Milk Bowl at Thunder Road.