ACT Ready to Invade Thunder Road for 25th Annual Community Bank 150 This Sunday
Barre, VT — For twenty-four years the American-Canadian Tour has come home to Thunder Road International Speedbowl to open the season for the only asphalt track in the State of Vermont, this Sunday, May 7th will be the silver anniversary of that opening. The Community Bank N.A. 150 not only marks the beginning of the Thunder Road season but also kick-starts a busy three-week stretch for the ACT Tour faithful as the 2023 championship season gets hot and heavy. Perhaps building off that impending pressure, the Community Bank 150 has annually been one of the best events of the year and its twenty-fifth edition will be no different.
Pro All Stars Series Ready to Open Thunder Road with Saturday Special May 6th
Barre, VT — As part of a reimagined opening weekend for the 64th season of stock car racing at Thunder Road International Speedbowl, the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) invades the Green Mountain State for an opening weekend spectacular. The PASS Super Late Model 150 headlines the Saturday night program on May 6th along with the Kennebec Equipment PASS Modifieds and the R&R Race Parts Open Street Stock Series to bring a host of New England invaders into Thunder Road prior to Sunday’s 25th Annual Community Bank N.A. 150 for the American-Canadian Tour.
With four events already in the books, the PASS Super Late Model championship season is well underway coming into Thunder Road. Defending Oxford Plains Speedway champion and current Kulwicki Driver Development finalist Max Cookson comes to the Granite Capital of the World with the early lead in the PASS National standings while current PASS North point leader Eddie MacDonald is notably absent from the entry list as of press time on Tuesday.
2022 Championship Spotlight – Dean Switser, Jr. and the rk Miles Street Stocks
Barre, VT — The 63rd season of stock car racing at Barre, Vermont’s Thunder Road International Speedbowl was one for the record books with three deserving drivers each winning their first track championship at ‘The Nation’s Site of Excitement.’ Each of these three drivers had a very unique way of earning their first championship at The Road, valuable stories worth sharing to better understand their respective triumphs. In our first installment we begin with a former Bolduc Metal Recycling Enduro 200 winner who later returned to Thunder Road in the rk Miles Street Stocks. Over the last decade, Dean Switser, Jr. has worked his way to the top of one of the most competitive four-cylinder weekly racing divisions in the country.
Week two of the 55 th year of consecutive racing at Bear Ridge Speedway sponsored by Forward’s Garage & Forwards Plumbing LLCs succumbs to Mother Nature, leaving a packed pit of competitors and loyal fans disappointed, despite the efforts of Promoter C.V. “Butch” Elms to make every effort, as is our way, to get the show in.
Thunder Road Fireworks Coming from All Directions at Holiday Spectacular
Barre, VT — Thunder Road celebrates the nation’s independence this Thursday, July 1 with the annual Preston’s Kia Holiday Spectacular. The fireworks will be on display literally and figuratively at the “Nation’s Site of Excitement” for a night of the country’s best stock car racing at the track or live on FloRacing.
All four Thunder Road divisions are on the card with four extra laps to honor Independence Day. Following the final race of the night, the sky above will come alive with the state’s best firework show put on by Northstar Fireworks.
The firecrackers had to take a break in 2020 due to COVID-19 safety guidelines and attendance restrictions. This year, they are back with a bang as the country gets closer to normal life. The Independence Day special has long been one of the most popular events of the year at Thunder Road, and 2021 should be no exception as fans get to enjoy being at a racetrack once again.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Danville’s Tyler Cahoon said. “Without the fans, you don’t have a place to race. We are entertainment in a sense, so the more people that come out and watch, and can actually walk away and say, ‘hey, that was a good time’, that keeps them coming back…I’m really hoping to see a big crowd as people can get out and enjoy the little things in life that we used to before this past year came upon us.”
Barre, VT — Graniteville’s Stephen Donahue scored the closest win of the Maplewood/Irving Oil season Barre’s at Thunder Road on Thursday, June 24. “Little Irish” went back and forth with Jim “Boomer” Morris for the final 13 laps before earning the victory by a mere 0.025 seconds as part of Community College of Vermont Night. It was the third career Late Model win at Thunder Road for Donahue, who also has multiple victories at New Hampshire’s White Mountain Motorsports Park.
Donahue started eighth in the 50-lap feature and spent the first half of the event staying out of trouble. He eventually got racy and was locked in a three-car battle for second with Roberts and Brandon Lanphear when Phil Scott spun in turn one to bring out the third caution with 36 laps complete.
Morris led the field to the restart with Donahue perched on his rear decklid. The youngster nabbed the second spot from polesitter Roberts just before Andy Hill spun exiting turn four to bring out another yellow.
