102 cars lined Main Street of downtown Barre for the annual Thunder Road car show on Saturday, April 30.Seven-time and defending champion Brian Hoar and his Rick Paya Motorsports team claimed the title in the 2011 pit stop contest. 47 ACT Late Model Tour cars attended practice at Thunder Road following the annual car show parade up Quarry Hill.
· The fast times of the day were in the 13.2’s and 13.3’s. Much like the Lee USA Speedway practice a couple of weeks ago, a wide range of cars managed to hit that range at some point during the day. In no particular order Randy Potter, Jimmy Hebert, Scott Luce, Matt White, Brian Hoar, Cody Blake, Phil Scott, Nick Sweet, John Donahue, Quinny Welch, Dave Pembroke, Cris Michaud, Joey Laquerre, Jean-Paul Cyr, Brent Dragon, Jamie Fisher, Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. all managed to hit that range. (more…)
Lonnie Sommerville: PASS North Series
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Race Preview
THE STORY
Lonnie Sommerville of Saint John, New Brunswick, kicks off his first full-time season of PASS North Series competition with the PASS 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Saturday, April 30. Sommerville has competed several times as a part-time fixture in PASS North with his own team, but this season marks his move to Mulkern Racing to run the entire slate. Sommerville has some experience at Beech Ridge, most notably having led the PASS 300 at the track for several laps last September.
Joey Doiron: PASS North Series
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Race Preview
THE STORY
Joey Doiron aims to collect his first career PASS North Series win when the series opens the 2011 season with the PASS 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Saturday, April 30. Doiron won the 2010 Rookie of the Year award in the series, a march he started with a career-best finish of fourth in this very race. Doiron started his racing career at Beech Ridge and considers it his home track. Doiron is coming off a DNF at “The Race” at North Wilkesboro Motor Speedway earlier this month after a blown tire ended his day prematurely.
Austin Theriault: ACT Late Model Tour
Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl Race Preview
THE STORY
Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Maine, looks for a second straight Top-10 to open the season when the ACT Late Model Tour competes in the Merchants Bank 150 at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., on Sunday, May 1. Theriault finished seventh in the season-opening event at Lee USA Speedway two weeks ago in his debut with RPM Motorsports, and he’s returning to the site of one of the most impressive performances of his 2010 rookie season. Last June, Theriault finished seventh in his first-ever trip to Thunder Road, prompting ACT president Tom Curley to call it “the most impressive Thunder Road since Dave Dion.”
Brian Hoar: ACT Late Model Tour
Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl Race Preview
THE STORY
Brian Hoar of Williston, Vt., looks to keep his momentum rolling when the ACT Late Model Tour visits Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., for the Merchants Bank 150 on Sunday, May 1. Hoar has won the last two ACT-sanctioned events, including a Goodyear Speedweeks Cup 100 in New Smyrna, Fla., in February and the ACT Tour season opener at Lee USA Speedway two weeks ago. Hoar is the owner of a record 29 career ACT victories and, as the early points leader, has a leg up in his quest for a third straight and eighth overall Tour title. Five of his ACT victories have come at Thunder Road, where he was also the 1999 track champion. (more…)