{"id":27273,"date":"2020-09-02T11:25:11","date_gmt":"2020-09-02T15:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=27273"},"modified":"2020-09-02T11:25:14","modified_gmt":"2020-09-02T15:25:14","slug":"locals-ready-to-go-the-distance-against-labor-day-classic-invaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2020\/09\/locals-ready-to-go-the-distance-against-labor-day-classic-invaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Locals Ready to Go the Distance Against Labor Day Classic Invaders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Locals Ready to Go the Distance Against Labor Day Classic Invaders<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Barre, VT <\/em>\u2014 Barre\u2019s Thunder Road is ready to celebrate Labor Day the only way it knows how \u2014 by going racing. The 42nd<\/sup> Optical Expressions Labor Day Classic this Sunday, September 6 is the track\u2019s longest race of the year and will feature the region\u2019s biggest Late Model stars for 200 laps of heart-pounding action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday\u2019s event counts toward the championship for both the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) and the weekly Maplewood\/Irving Oil Late Models. That means local heroes like Jason Corliss, Scott Dragon, Bobby Therrien, and Trampas Demers will take on the likes of Jimmy Hebert, D.J. Shaw, Ryan Kuhn, Bryan Kruczek, and other traveling ACT invaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The history of the Labor Day Classic goes back to Thunder Road\u2019s inaugural 1960 season. Following a period where the Vermont Milk Bowl was held Labor Day weekend, the Classic was restored in 1997 and has been a staple of the schedule in various forms ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Along the way, racing legends such as Larry Demar, Jean-Paul Cabana, Robbie Crouch, Dave Dion, and Brian Hoar have carried the checkered flag on Labor Day weekend. Each of the 41 previous winners has their name inscribed on a granite monument behind the track\u2019s main tower. Sunday\u2019s champion will be added to this prestigious list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History says the locals have the edge when the ACT Late Model Tour comes to town. In the 13 previous years the event was part of the Tour schedule, 12 victors had previously won a race at Thunder Road, and nine were current or former weekly competitors. That leaves 2019 winner Rich Dubeau, the eventual ACT champion, as the only true \u201coutsider\u201d to capture the trophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These numbers clearly favor top weekly runners such as Jason Corliss, Scott Dragon, and Bobby Therrien. Barre\u2019s Corliss, the defending track champion and current point leader, has won four of the last five ACT Tour events at Thunder Road. This includes the 2018 Labor Day Classic. As such, it would be folly not to consider Corliss one of the favorites on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milton\u2019s Dragon is looking to finally close the deal on a \u201cMonument Race\u201d. The two-time \u201cKing of the Road\u201d somehow has yet to win any of the track\u2019s three biggest events: The Labor Day Classic, the Milk Bowl, or the Memorial Day Classic. Dragon has had several close calls, including a runner-up in last year\u2019s Labor Day Classic, and is surely itching to fill that hole on his resume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other drivers need a win on Sunday to stay in title contention. Former Memorial Day Classic winner Trampas Demers, 2017 \u201cKing of the Road\u201d Therrien, and early point leader Marcel J. Gravel all took a hit in the final Thursday night event. With just two point-counting events remaining, they know it\u2019s now or never for their championship aspirations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A surprise winner could also emerge from the weekly warriors. Montpelier\u2019s Kyle Pembroke finished second in the 2015 Classic and is looking for his first win of the year. Matt White and Christopher Pelkey each have multiple podiums this year and want to break into Victory Lane. Tyler Cahoon, Boomer Morris, and rookie Matthew Smith have also shown they are capable of being the top dog any given week. For these drivers and many others, a Labor Day Classic triumph could be a career-defining victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday\u2019s event also features weekly action for the Lenny\u2019s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, Allen Lumber Street Stocks, and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors. In the Flying Tigers, Waterbury Center\u2019s Jason Woodard may be on his way to an unprecedented fourth championship. While the veteran hasn\u2019t been as flashy as in years past, his consistency has built a 36-point lead over Craftsbury Common\u2019s Mike Martin. Barre\u2019s Cameron Ouellette is 39 points behind Woodard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, E. Thetford\u2019s Brandon Gray has quickly recovered from his one stumble to hold a 42-point lead over his nearest Street Stock competition. James Dopp, Tanner Woodard, and rookie Kaiden \u201cTropical Storm\u201d Fisher are trying to make one last push. The Road Warriors always pull a big field for holiday weekend events and should do so again with standouts like Brian Putney, Josh Vilbrin, Sean McCarthy, and Dan Garrett Jr. leading the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 42nd<\/sup> Optical Expressions Berlin Labor Day Classic at Barre\u2019s Thunder Road goes to post on Sunday, September 6 at 1:00pm. The American-Canadian Tour and Maplewood\/Irving Oil Late Models go 200 green-flag laps with a full card for the Lenny\u2019s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, Allen Lumber Street Stocks, and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admission is $25 for adults and $5 for kids ages 12 and under with limited fan attendance. Advance tickets are on sale now at https:\/\/happsnow.com\/event\/Thunder-Road-Speedbowl<\/a>. Please visit www.thunderroadvt.com<\/a> for the track\u2019s face mask policies plus other health and safety guidelines. For those who can\u2019t make it to Barre, the Northeast Sports Network is offering a $25 live pay-per-view broadcast at www.NSNsports.net\/sponsors\/racing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, contact the Thunder Road offices at (802) 244-6963, media@thunderroadvt.com<\/a>, or visit www.thunderroadvt.com<\/a>. You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ThunderRoadVT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more about the Northeast Sports Network, visit www.NSNsports.net<\/a> or follow them on Facebook and Twitter at @NSNsports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Locals Ready to Go the Distance Against Labor Day Classic Invaders Barre, VT \u2014 Barre\u2019s Thunder Road is ready to celebrate Labor Day the only way it knows how \u2014 by going racing. The 42nd Optical Expressions Labor Day Classic this Sunday, September 6 is the track\u2019s longest race of the year and will feature the region\u2019s […]<\/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":[26,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27273","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\/27273","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=27273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27274,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27273\/revisions\/27274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}