{"id":22288,"date":"2017-09-19T12:31:07","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T16:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=22288"},"modified":"2017-09-19T12:31:07","modified_gmt":"2017-09-19T16:31:07","slug":"lepage-returning-to-thunder-road-for-milk-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2017\/09\/lepage-returning-to-thunder-road-for-milk-bowl\/","title":{"rendered":"Lepage Returning to Thunder Road for Milk Bowl"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Barre, Vt.<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 The 55th<\/sup>\u00a0Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank on\u00a0Saturday, September 30 and Sunday, October 1<\/span>\u00a0will see a familiar face return to the Barre high banks. Shelburne, Vt. native Kevin Lepage, a three-time Milk Bowl Champion, has officially entered the \u201cToughest Short Track Stock Car Race in North America\u201d and will look for victory number four in what is expected to be his final event behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lepage competed on the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Pro Stock Tour from 1980 through 1993, posting 11 career wins which included Milk Bowl victories in 1985, 1989, and 1993. He moved to North Carolina in 1994 to join what is now the NASCAR Xfinity Series, eventually working his way up to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Lepage is a two-time winner in the Xfinity Series and has more than 550 career starts in NASCAR\u2019s three national series.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I always vowed to myself and vowed to Ken (Squier) and Tom (Curley) when I left Vermont to pursue being a NASCAR driver was to never forget where I came from,\u201d Lepage said. \u201cWhen I first started looking at retirement five or six years ago, I decided that I might as well retire where it all started. A lot of guys down here, they retire at their last race of the year at Homestead (Florida) or something like that, and that\u2019s not where you started. The fans in Vermont and the people in Vermont watched me grow up, watched me take the step to become a NASCAR driver, watched my progression all the way up to the Cup Series, and were there when I had the good days and there when I had the bad days. For me and my wife to go back home \u2013 it\u2019s bittersweet, because I still want to race, but Father Time has spoken, and it\u2019s time to say \u2018it\u2019s been a good ride, and let\u2019s close the curtain at Thunder Road.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For the 55th<\/sup>\u00a0Vermont Milk Bowl, Lepage will drive a car fielded by Dave Boyce, a long-time Late Model car owner in the region. East Montpelier\u2019s Jeff Laquerre, who has previously been the crew chief for Thunder Road track champions Tracie Bellerose, Cris Michaud, and Jean-Paul Cyr, will prepare Lepage\u2019s ride. Many of his long-time sponsors, including Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Allen Lumber Company, and State Water Heaters, have signed on for the event.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lepage is one of a trio of three-time Vermont Milk Bowl winners who plan to compete in the 55th<\/sup>\u00a0running of the famed event. Barre\u2019s Nick Sweet, who has won three of the last four Milk Bowls, has entered the event, as has St-Denis, Qu\u00e9.\u2019s Patrick Laperle, who won it in 2005, 2007, and 2008. Robbie Crouch is the all-time leader with four Milk Bowl wins.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cRobbie Crouch put up a big number, and to go back and to retire as a four-time champion at the Milk Bowl and tie the record with Robbie would be extra-special,\u201d Lepage said. \u201cBut at the end of the day, it\u2019s about saying thanks to all the fans and to all the sponsors that have jumped on board for this last race. It\u2019s really exciting to have everybody do this last ride with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The multi-time former winners join a host of the top Late Model drivers from the Northeast U.S. and Quebec looking to come out on top of the $10,000-to-win event. New \u201cKing of the Road\u201d Bobby Therrien, current ACT Late Model Tour point leader Scott Payea, current Seri\u00e9 ACT Champion Jonathan Bouvrette, 2014 Seri\u00e9 ACT Champion Alex Labb\u00e9, and multi-time White Mountain Motorsports Park Champion Quinny Welch are just a few of the drivers who have entered this year\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The action kicks off on Saturday, September 30 at 1:00pm with Booth Bros.\/H.P. Hood Milk Bowl Qualifying Day. Time Trials and \u201cTriple 50\u201d qualifying races for the Thunder Road Late Models will help set the starting grid with the 55th<\/sup>\u00a0Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank scheduled for\u00a0Sunday, October 1 at 1:00pm<\/span>. The Lenny\u2019s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, Allen Lumber Street Stocks, and New England Dwarf Cars will hold two-segment \u201cMini Milk Bowls\u201d\u00a0on Saturday<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0Sunday<\/span>, with the Flying Tigers paying $1,000 to win and the Street Stocks paying $500 to win. The Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors are on the\u00a0Saturday<\/span>\u00a0program.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adult admission is just $30 for a two-day ticket or $10 for\u00a0Saturday<\/span>\u00a0only with kids age 12 and under admitted free. The front gates will open at\u00a010:00am<\/span>\u00a0on both days. An optional practice day for the Thunder Road Late Models, Lenny\u2019s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, and Allen Lumber Street Stocks is slated for\u00a0Friday, September 29<\/span>\u00a0from 1:00pm to 5:00pm.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more information, contact the Thunder Road offices at\u00a0(802) 244-6963<\/a>,\u00a0media@thunderroadvt.com<\/a>, or visitwww.thunderroadvt.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barre, Vt.\u00a0\u2013 The 55th\u00a0Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank on\u00a0Saturday, September 30 and Sunday, October 1\u00a0will see a familiar face return to the Barre high banks. Shelburne, Vt. native Kevin Lepage, a three-time Milk Bowl Champion, has officially entered the \u201cToughest Short Track Stock Car Race in North America\u201d and will look for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thunder-road","category-vermont"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22289,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22288\/revisions\/22289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}