2011 Série ACT Castrol Champion Patrick Laperle (91QC) looks for room under Thunder Road regular Scott Payea (89VT) during the 2011 Labor Day Classic.
Barre, VT – Two-time and defending Serie ACT Castrol Champion Patrick Laperle has filed his entry for the 14th Annual Merchants Bank 150 at Thunder Road. The former ACT US star, who won the ACT Championship in 2008, will make his return to the Barre Highbanks to kick off the 2012 season.
Brian Whitney of Burnham added another extra-distance main event first-place trophy to his collection, outgunning reigning track champion Jeff Burgess of Fairfield in the 52-lap Late Model division main event on Opening Day at Unity Raceway on Saturday.
Whitney and Burgess swapped the race lead, and a little bit of paint, a couple of times during the closing laps in a competitive feature race highlighting the first stock car racing card in Maine this season. Whitney, who has been most successful in extra-distance event in recent seasons at Unity Raceway, led the vast majority of the race, first battling Palmyra racer Ajay Picard for supremacy.
(more…)
Thunder Road Introduces New Weekly Division
Barre, VT — Thunder Road has announced a new ‘starter’ division for the 2012 season. The Rough Riders will be a division unlike any other created at the “Nation’s Site of Excitement”.
The Rough Riders will include an array of cars that must be 10 years or older, and will be encouraged to be painted in ‘character’ paint schemes like Spider Man, Terminator, Daffy Duck, Tweetie Bird, Mad Max, etc. The first of these cars will be built by Tom Curley, long-time promoter of Thunder Road. It will be known as the “Killer Bee”, painted yellow and black, and Curley is trying to get one of the most famous, under developed, names in Northeastern Motorsports to be his driver. Andrew Boritis will be the designated driver of the “Killer Bee”, and will be nicknamed “Andy B The Bumble Bee”. The car will be displayed at the Inaugural Vermont State Championship Mekkelsen Memorial Day Classic on Sunday, May 27th.
(more…)
SPEEDWAY 95 READY FOR 2012 SEASON OPENER
Following the biggest facelift the track has seen in years, Speedway 95 track owner Del Merritt is ready to open the gates for the 2012 racing season on Saturday April 28. After two practice Saturdays that saw over 50 cars test on the 1/3 mile asphalt oval, a very successful mall show with over 30 cars, drivers and crews participating, and major renovations to the track that have pleased everyone, the excitement and anticipation for the 2012 season is high.
(more…)
In preparation for the upcoming 2012 season, the Lee USA Speedway will conduct its annual pre-season Test & Tune session on Saturday, April 28th. All race cars are welcome. A contingent of vintage race cars and nostalgic
vehicles will complement the session.
The 2012 season gets underway in earnest, with the regular season opener on Friday night, May 4th, featuring all four NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions. Heading up the program are the rejuvenated Benson Lumber and Hardware Small Block Super Modifieds. A large field of cars and drivers are anticipated to challenge defending champion Wayne Helliwell, Jr. for the lucrative Lee USA track title.
(more…)
Race leader Peltier breaks with three to go, Kenseth capitalizes
Charlotte, NC 4/23/12- Ross Kenseth proved Saturday night at the Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, North Carolina that in racing sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Kenseth scored his first career PASS South Series win as he passed Preston Peltier who experienced a broken left front lower control arm with just three laps remaining, winning the Orange Blossom Special 150.
Kenseth, who entered the event fifth in championship standings, showed he had a fast car before the green flag dropped on the 150 lap race as he set fast time during series qualifying earlier in the day. After the redraw of the top fastest qualifiers that took time in the twenty-six car starting field Kenseth would be shuffled back to fifth and Gray Gaulding was the lucky driver to lead the field to green.
(more…)