May 6, 2017 | ACT, NE Racing News, Thunder Road, Touring Series News
Longtime Thunder Road Speedbowl co-owner Tom Curley, seen here addressing a driver’s meeting, passed away on Friday, May 5 after a lengthy illness. (Alan Ward photo)
Barre, VT – Longtime Thunder Road Speedbowl co-owner and promoter Thomas M. Curley passed away on Friday, May 5 due to complications from a lengthy illness. Curley was 73 years old.
Born May 10, 1943, Curley was involved in local and regional auto racing for most of his adult life. After spending considerable time at Thunder Road as a spectator and driver in the 1960s, he became the NASCAR Northeast regional director in 1978, and a year later created the NASCAR North Tour. He and Thunder Road founder Ken Squier then acquired the track in 1982 from former owner Tommy Kalomiris.
After leaving NASCAR, Curley created the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) sanctioning body in 1986. Under Curley’s leadership, both Thunder Road and ACT became household names for racers and fans throughout the Northeast, making the Barre high banks one of the most popular auto racing destinations in the region. Among his many accomplishments, he helped relaunch the famed Flying Tiger division that has competed since 1982, and created the ACT Late Model rules package used at Thunder Road and numerous other tracks.
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May 3, 2017 | ACT, NE Racing News, Thunder Road, Touring Series News
Alan Ward photo
Barre, VT – Thunder Road officials have announced a series of schedule revisions for the 2017 season. The revisions include a make-up date for the weather-delayed Merchants Bank 150 along with a new season opener for the “Nation’s Site of Excitement”.
The Memorial Day Classic presented by Mekkelsen RV Sales & Rental will now open the 58th year of competition at Thunder Road on Sunday, May 28 at 1:00 pm. It will be the first racing event at the Barre high banks following completion of the recently announced track repaving project, as well as the first time since 1995 that the speedway has opened its season on Memorial Day weekend. The Harvest Equipment event originally scheduled for Sunday, May 21 has been moved to Sunday, June 4 with a special 3:00 pm post time.
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May 3, 2017 | ACT, Maine Racing News, NE Racing News, Thunder Road
Barre, Vt. – Unexpected rain storms arrived early in the afternoon of Sunday, April 30, forcing the postponement of the Merchants Bank 150 at Barre’s Thunder Road for the American-Canadian Tour (ACT). The event will be made up on a date to be determined.
Thirty-five ACT Late Models were in the pits for Sunday’s event, which was scheduled to be the season opener for Thunder Road. Jimmy Hebert and Bobby Therrien had topped ACT practice sessions before the rains rolled in.
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Apr 28, 2017 | ACT, NE Racing News, Thunder Road, Touring Series News
Barre, Vt. – Thunder Road Speedbowl opens the doors for its 58th season of competition this Sunday, April 30 with the 19th Merchants Bank 150. The stars of the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) will take on the weekly Thunder Road Late Model standouts, while the Flying Tigers and Allen Lumber Street Stocks begin their 2017 championship battles.
The event will be the first at the “Nation’s Site of Excitement” since former track champion Cris Michaud and local businessman Pat Malone officially purchased the speedway. Thunder Road had been run since 1982 by founder Ken Squier and partner Tom Curley, who are both members of the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame.
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Apr 24, 2017 | ACT, New England Motorsports North, Thunder Road, Touring Series News
Barre, Vt. – The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) returns to Barre, Vt.’s Thunder Road Speedbowl this Sunday, April 30 for the 19th Merchants Bank 150. The event kicks off the 58th season of competition on the quarter-mile oval and is the first of two visits this year for the ACT Late Model Tour.
A pair of multi-time Merchants Bank 150 winners will lead the charge into this year’s event. Three-time and defending event champion Nick Sweet of Barre will look to go back-to-back, while two-time event champion Scott Payea of Colchester is attempting to match Sweet in the record books.
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Apr 19, 2017 | ACT, Thunder Road, Touring Series News
Barre, VT – Thunder Road officials have announced that the sale of Thunder Road Speedbowl to former racer Cris Michaud and local businessman Pat Malone has been completed. The duo has assumed day-to-day operations of the famed quarter-mile oval, which had been owned and operated since 1982 by Ken Squier and Tom Curley.
Michaud is a three-time “King of the Road” and has spent 22 years at and around the high banks as a driver and race director. Malone is the owner of Malone Properties, a Montpelier-based commercial real estate company that has sponsored a number of Thunder Road race teams in previous seasons.
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