{"id":25892,"date":"2019-09-26T07:23:35","date_gmt":"2019-09-26T11:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=25892"},"modified":"2019-09-26T06:25:45","modified_gmt":"2019-09-26T10:25:45","slug":"milk-bowl-first-timers-eager-for-shot-at-historic-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2019\/09\/milk-bowl-first-timers-eager-for-shot-at-historic-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Milk Bowl First-Timers Eager for Shot at Historic Event"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Milk Bowl First-Timers Eager for Shot at Historic Event<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Barre, VT<\/em> \u2013 The 57th<\/sup> Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank continues to draw closer and closer on the calendar. The historic event this Saturday, September 28 and Sunday, September 29 has attracted entries from the biggest stars in the region and country with former Milk Bowl winners, series champions, and track champions ready to do battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

But for some drivers, Vermont Milk Bowl Weekend will be unlike anything they\u2019ve experienced before. Several drivers are making their first attempt ever to be part of a race that goes back to 1962.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senoia, GA\u2019s Bubba Pollard is an obvious first-timer at this year\u2019s Milk Bowl. The Super Late Model veteran has never raced at Thunder Road before. But for racing veterans at a local level, such as Joel Hodgdon, Tom Carey III, Alexandre Tardif, and Michael Benevides, the chance to be part of the Milk Bowl can mean just as much if not more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Milk Bowl means a lot to me,\u201d Craftsbury Common\u2019s Hodgdon said. \u201cIt\u2019s the biggest race at Thunder Road, which has been my home track since I was 16. It\u2019s pretty cool \u2013 I never imagined having a Late Model, let alone trying to make it into the Milk Bowl.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something we\u2019ve always wanted to do.\u201d Warwick, MA\u2019s Carey added. \u201cIt\u2019s something my dad always wanted to do, too, and he never got the chance to do. I\u2019m also a big Bubba Pollard fan, and when I found out he was going to run after I talked to him at Oxford, that cemented my deal. I wanted to have a chance to race against him in my lifetime, and this might be the only chance. I figured I\u2019d better take advantage of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drivers can take many paths to their first Milk Bowl, and this year\u2019s crop of first timers is no exception. Pollard has been racing Super Late Models around the country for the past decade, winning major races such as the Oxford 250, All-American 400, Canadian Short Track Nationals, and Rattler 250.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hodgdon, on the other hand, is in his first year behind the wheel of a Late Model. He spent 15 years racing Street Stocks and Flying Tigers at Thunder Road, which culminated with him winning the Flying Tiger track championship and Tiger Mini Milk Bowl in 2018. His past experience in segment racing could give him some help \u2013 as long as he makes it into the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy biggest problem is going to be time trialing,\u201d Hodgdon admitted. \u201cI can\u2019t put a lap together in practice or qualifying that\u2019s even close to the fast guys. That\u2019s something we\u2019re going to work on (at practice) Friday \u2013 trying to figure out a good time trial groove and see if we can\u2019t get our times down a little bit. That\u2019s the key to making the show and doing well. If you start last in the Milk Bowl, you aren\u2019t really going to amount to much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notre-Dame-des-Pin, QC\u2019s Tarif is another driver relatively new to the Late Model ranks. He has competed regularly at Autodrome Chaudiere this year and made trips across the border to run with the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) at Virginia\u2019s Richmond Raceway and Maine\u2019s Oxford Plains Speedway. Not only is he attempting his first Milk Bowl, but he is also making his first visit as a racer to Thunder Road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carey, meanwhile, won a Super Stock championship at Monadnock Speedway before making the jump to the Late Model ranks. He spent the last few years competing at Connecticut\u2019s Thompson Speedway with select events at New London-Waterford Speedbowl and on the ACT Late Model Tour. Carey has just two starts at Thunder Road and encountered the wall both times. He also is looking for better segment racing luck after previous attempts ended with a blown engine and a crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven in my dad\u2019s (Tom Carey Jr.) career at Thunder Road, we\u2019ve never really had a good handle on the place,\u201d Carey acknowledge. \u201cIt always seems like it\u2019s a track that we should be good at, but he\u2019s struggled there, and I struggled the times I was there. Still I enjoy quarter-milk high-banked tracks. The first track I ever raced on and won a championship at was Monadnock, and I won a lot of races there. It\u2019s not like Thunder Road, I will say that. But of all the tracks I\u2019ve been too, Thunder Road isn\u2019t like any of them!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first-timers will undoubtedly have different goals than some of the heavier hitters this weekend. For accomplished racers such as Patrick Laperle, Joey Polewarczyk, Jason Corliss, Bobby Therrien, Scott Dragon, and Brent Dragon, anything less than being in contention for the overall win is arguably a disappointment. For some people in their inaugural Milk Bowl attempt, however, simply making the race will be an accomplishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019d be awesome just to qualify for the Milk Bowl,\u201d Hodgdon said. \u201cWe came into the season with some goals. We wanted to qualify for every show we went to, and we\u2019ve done that so far. We had a goal of getting a top-10, and we have two of those. Basically, our biggest goal this weekend is to make the show and bring it home in one piece. A top-10 would be pretty neat, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter how they do, the maiden Milk Bowl racers get to go up against the best the Northeast has to offer. They will do so at the final event of Thunder Road\u2019s 60th<\/sup> season in front of a huge expected crowd that is there to see them put on a great show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThunder Road is such an awesome track,\u201d Carey gushed. \u201cIt\u2019s where this type of car was born. Being a Southern New England guy, everywhere we go, we\u2019re always the back of the bus to the Modifieds. So it\u2019s cool going to a race track where your division is the headliner and everybody\u2019s excited to see your cars and your guys race. It\u2019s an awesome atmosphere. Me and my dad love it when we go up there, even though we\u2019ve struggled, and our car owner fell in love with it, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The action of Vermont Milk Bowl Weekend kicks off at 3:00pm on Saturday, September 28 with Booth Bros.\/H.P. Hood Qualifying Day. The Maplewood\/Irving Oil Late Models have time trials and 50-lap qualifying races to help set the Milk Bowl starting field. Thunder Road\u2019s Lenny\u2019s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, Allen Lumber Street Stocks, Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors have qualifying and Mini Milk Bowl action. The night ends with a 150-lap event for the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models, a fireworks show by Northstar Fireworks, and live music. The pits open at 9:30am and the front gates open at 12:00pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday, September 29 is the 57th<\/sup> Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank. The Last Chance \u201cB\u201d Feature at 12:15pm decides the final spots on the Milk Bowl grid. The three-segment Milk Bowl follows along with the conclusion of the Flying Tiger and Street Stock Mini Milk Bowls plus the 7-Eleven Dwarf Cars. The pits open at 8:00am and the front gates open at 10:00am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adult admission for Vermont Milk Bowl Weekend is $45 for a two-day ticket, $30 for Sunday-only, and $20 for Saturday-only. Kids ages 12 and under are admitted free both days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Milk Bowl First-Timers Eager for Shot at Historic Event Barre, VT \u2013 The 57th Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank continues to draw closer and closer on the calendar. The historic event this Saturday, September 28 and Sunday, September 29 has attracted entries from the biggest stars in the region and country with former Milk […]<\/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":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,26,16,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-act","category-thunder-road","category-touring-series-news","category-vermont"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25892","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=25892"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25893,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25892\/revisions\/25893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}