Brent Dragon: ACT Late Model Tour
Twin State Speedway Race Preview
THE STORY
Brent Dragon of Milton, Vt., and the ACT Late Model Tour will return to Twin State Speedway in Claremont, N.H., for the Twin State 100 on Saturday, July 9. Dragon, who has more ACT starts than any driver in history, won this event in 2009 as part of a midsummer surge. In his last appearance at the track, Dragon was again in contention for a win when an on-track incident relegated him to a 13th place finish. Dragon will bring with him his knowledge of the track and his past strong performances as he races for his first ACT Tour win of the 2011 season.
THE FACTS
WHO: Brent Dragon, Milton, Vt.
TEAM: Dragon Motorsports No. 55 Beverage Mart/Furniture World of VT/Charlesbois Freightliner Chevrolet
CREW CHIEF: Donnie Avery, Ashland, N.H.
BEST CAREER TWIN STATE SPEEDWAY FINISH: 1st (September 2009)
LAST RACE AT TWIN STATE SPEEDWAY: 13th (July 2010)
WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour Jim’s Captown/Trailers 100
WHERE: Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. (.333-mile oval)
WHEN: 6 p.m., Saturday, July 9, 2011
ACT LATE MODEL TOUR
LAST RACE: June 18, White Mountain 150, White Mountain Motorsports Park, N. Woodstock, N.H. (28th)
NEXT RACE: July 30, ACT 150, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (.333-mile oval)
CURRENT POINTS POSITION: 7th
DID YOU KNOW?
Brent Dragon won the 2009 ACT Tour event at Twin State Speedway.
Brent Dragon will run his own late model in the Jim’s Captown/Trailers 100.
Brent Dragon has finished in the Top-5 in the final ACT standings in nine straight seasons.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
BRENT DRAGON, Driver of the No. 55 Beverage Mart/Furniture World of VT/Charlesbois Freightliner, On racing at Twin State Speedway: “We’ve been there twice in the last two years. We won two years ago, then were running second last year when we got spun. I’m looking forward to going back there this weekend.
“It’s an egg shape. One corner is bigger than the other. One corner is flatter than the other. Malone Speedway in western New York is similar – it’s sort of shaped like that. It has some (Riverside Speedway) in it, too.”
On what he hopes to accomplish this weekend: “Hopefully we can qualify with a pretty decent plus-minus [the ACT Tour’s handicapping system]. Being 100 laps, the race is pretty quick there. The key is to start up front.”
On running White Mountain Motorsports Park during the ACT off weekend: “We just went and tried a bunch of stuff. We’ve learned enough that I have changed my own car around some more. We’ve learned a lot in the last three or four races. Jeff Taylor has been helping us a lot and that has been great.”
On how he would rate his season at this halfway point: “Probably a C. Starting with a new crew we’ve learned a lot together and now everyone seems to be working well together. We are going in the right direction. Everyone gets along well. We’ve had some mechanical issues and a couple of flat tires so we have quite the hole to dig out of.”
UP NEXT
The ACT Late Model Tour heads to Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Saturday, July 30… Brent Dragon’s Top-5 run was ruined in this race when he was collected in an accident involving two other cars in the track’s third turn. The event comes between two marquee events on the schedule – the non-points TD Bank Oxford 250 on July 24 and the first ACT Late Model All-Star Challenge at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in August.