ACT Late Model Tour: Brian Hoar
Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl Race Report
BARRE, Vt. – Brian Hoar of Williston, Vt., finished second in the ACT Late Model Tour Labor Day Classic 200 at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., on Sunday, September 1. The finish was the sixth straight Top-5 finish for the RPM Motorsports No. 37 GossCars.com Dodge Charger and Hoar’s fifth Top-2 finish over that same span. After qualifying on the pole, Hoar ran with the leaders throughout the 200-lap event on the banked quarter-mile, emerging as the first car from the pits on a Lap 116 pit stop. Though he surrendered the lead in heavy traffic on the ensuing restart, Hoar closed to the bumper of eventual winner Travis Stearns on the final lap but could not make a pass in the slippery bottom groove to pull out the victory.
WHO: Brian Hoar, Williston, Vt.
TEAM: RPM Motorsports No. 37 GossCars.com Dodge Charger
CREW CHIEF: Rick Paya, Georgia, Vt.
WHAT: ACT Labor Day Classic 200
WHERE: Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre, Vt. (.25-mile banked oval)
STARTED: 1st
FINISHED: 2nd
NEXT RACE: September 21, 5th annual Bond Auto ACT Invitational, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H. (1.058-mile oval)
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BRIAN, HOW WAS YOUR DAY?
Overall, the day went really well. The car was really good. It was really stout all day. It was hot and muggy out, and so the track was greasier than the last couple of times I’d been there. It lacked some grip, and we worked on that all day.
In the first part of the feature the track was really slippery. It was a long race, so I just tried to bide my time for the first half of the race until the pit stop. It came on Lap 116, and I went into the pits in second and came out first. There were four cars that had stayed out, and I got hung up in that lapped traffic on the restart. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I got hung up for a little while. Unfortunately, that was enough for Travis (Stearns) to get out front and get away from us a little bit. He had a really, really good race car, and we had a pretty good car almost all day.
DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING FOR HIM AT THE END?
The car was pretty decent at the end there, and we ran him down but when I caught him with 10 to go or something like that, I had used up the car getting to him. I was starting to get really loose. I’d used up the right rear.
I tried to make a move on the last lap to pass him, but I just didn’t have any grip down low. They’d put some (traction) compound down in the upper groove of the race track, and that’s where Travis and I were running at that point. I tried to go inside, but I just couldn’t get any grip down low.
YOU MUST FEEL GOOD ABOUT ANOTHER STRONG RUN.
Anytime you can come out of 200 laps at Thunder Road with very little damage, have a lot of fun, race with a lot of the top guys and be part of the race for the victory at the end, it’s a great day. It was fun to watch Travis get his first win, too. That’s always pretty cool. We certainly made him earn it, and worked really hard to keep him from getting it, but I really didn’t have anything for him at the end.
It was a good day for the RPM race team.