Brent Dragon: Memorial Day Classic
Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl Race Preview
THE STORY
Brent Dragon of Milton, Vt., takes a break from ACT Late Model Tour racing to compete in the Memorial Day Classic 100 at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., on Sunday, May 29. Though the track is a hub for ACT, this event is a non-points event geared toward the quarter-mile’s Tour-legal Late Model division. Dragon was the 2006 champion of this event. Once again, he will be competing with his own Dragon Motorsports-owned No. 55 car, the same car he took to Devil’s Bowl Speedway last weekend.
THE FACTS
WHO: Brent Dragon, Milton, Vt.
TEAM: No. 55 Beverage Mart/Furniture World of VT/Charlesbois Freightliner Chevrolet
CREW CHIEF: Donnie Avery, Ashland, N.H.
BEST CAREER MEMORIAL DAY CLASSIC FINISH: 1st (May 2006)
LAST RACE AT MEMORIAL DAY CLASSIC: 10th (May 2010)
WHAT: Memorial Day Classic 100
WHERE: Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre, Vt. (.25-mile oval)
WHEN: 1:30 p.m., Sunday, May 29
ACT LATE MODEL TOUR
LAST RACE: May 22, Spring Green 111, Devil’s Bowl Speedway, West Haven, Vt. (11th)
NEXT RACE: June 4, The Big Jab 150, Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine (.375-mile oval)
CURRENT POINTS POSITION: 5th
DID YOU KNOW?
Brent Dragon has won all three marquee Thunder Road Late Model events in his career – the Memorial Day Classic, the Labor Day Classic and the Milk Bowl.
Brent Dragon is a multi-time Late Model track champion at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y., a similarly flat half-mile track.
Even though he will be running his own car for the second consecutive weekend, Brent Dragon is still getting support from Avery Motorsports. Dragon runs a majority of the ACT Late Model Tour schedule in an Avery-owned car, and the team still crews Dragon’s car at races where he runs his own equipment.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
BRENT DRAGON, Driver of the No. 55 Beverage Mart/Furniture World of VT/Charlesbois Freightliner Chevrolet, On taking a break from points racing this weekend: “It’s a lot more fun for me. It really is. I don’t know why, but I seem to like this better. I love the competition we have on the Tour, but I like to go when there’s no pressure on you. You don’t have to worry. It’s sort of like the Oxford 250 or (New Hampshire Motor Speedway) – whatever happens, happens. And we always seem to have pretty good runs in those kinds of events.”
On working with Avery Motorsports this season: “They’re a good, good group of guys. I couldn’t believe that they all wanted to be at (Devil’s Bowl last weekend). But they’re really into it, and they really like being a part of it. It’s been a lot of fun so far with them. It really couldn’t be working out any better.
We’re going (to Thunder Road) basically to try stuff with the car. It’s more of a test than anything. We just want to try and learn some stuff so we can put it into Donnie’s car (for Tour races). We had a fairly decent car at Thunder Road last month, and we know what we’d have to change to make it better to go back. That’s what we’ll start with. We’ll try a couple other things, too, as the day goes on.
These are completely different cars than what I’ve driven last four years. They feel different, the setups completely different. They seem to be down in the track a lot more. You can really feel the car down in the track. You make an adjustment, you feel it fairly soon.”
On running 100 laps at Thunder Road: “It’s fast – 100 laps. This race will be off handicap (for starting spots), so we’ll be starting in the rear no matter what. In 100 laps, it’s pretty hard to win that race with the local cars that race there. They’re really good. They’re the same cars that beat us when we go with the Tour.
“It will be tough to get to the front. A guy can start out the year pretty hot out front there and be gone – 100 laps, it can go fast from green-to-checker.”
UP NEXT
The ACT Late Model Tour heads to Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine, for the rescheduled The Big Jab 150 on Saturday, June 4… Brent Dragon will aim to improve on his career best finish of second at Oxford Plains Speedway, the track where he won the pole for the TD Bank 250 in 2009.