RPM Motorsports: VT Governor’s Cup
Brian Hoar Thunder Road Race Preview
THE STORY
GEORGIA, Vt. – Brian Hoar of Williston, Vt., will look for his third straight Thunder Road International Speedbowl win when he heads to the Vermont Governor’s Cup 150 at the Barre, Vt., track on Thursday, July 12. Hoar has won the last two Thunder Road events he’s entered dating back to last season in the RPM Motorsports No. 37 GossCars.com Dodge Charger, including the ACT Late Model Tour Merchants Bank 150 in late April. The race is the third in the four-race Vermont Late Model State Championship Series, which includes two races each at Thunder Road and Devil’s Bowl Speedway in West Haven, Vt. The driver of the No. 37 isn’t the only person on the team riding a hot hand at Thunder Road – team owner Rick Paya has won three major events and a weekly series race as a crew chief at the track since last September.
THE FACTS
WHO: Brian Hoar, Williston, Vt.
TEAM: RPM Motorsports No. 37 GossCars.com Dodge Charger
CREW CHIEF: Rick Paya, Georgia, Vt.
BEST CAREER THUNDER ROAD FINISH: 1st (most recently, April 2012)
MOST RECENT THUNDER ROAD FINISH: 1st (April 2012)
WHAT: Vermont Governor’s Cup 150
WHERE: Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre, Vt. (.25-mile banked oval)
WHEN: 6 p.m., Thursday, July 12
ACT Late Model Tour
LAST RACE: June 23, White Mountain 150, White Mountain Motorsports Park, N. Woodstock, N.H. (5th)
NEXT RACE: July 22, TD Bank Oxford 250 (non-points event), Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine (.375-mile flat oval)
CURRENT POINTS POSITION: 3rd
DID YOU KNOW?
- Brian Hoar won the 49 annual People’s United Milk Bowl to close the 2011 Thunder Road International Speedbowl season and then opened the track’s 2012 schedule with a win in the ACT Merchants Bank 150.
- RPM Motorsports owner Rick Paya won the Labor Day Classic 200 with driver Nick Sweet last September, the Milk Bowl in October and Merchants Bank 150 in April with Brian Hoar, and then won a 50-lap Late Model race as crew chief for Trampas Demers earlier this summer.
- Brian Hoar has won six of his 35 career ACT Late Model Tour races at Thunder Road (17%).
- Brian Hoar missed the first race of the Vermont Late Model State Championship Series at Thunder Road in May while competing in the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, Vt.
- Brian Hoar finished second in the I Am Vermont Strong 100 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in June, the most recent race held in the Vermont Late Model State Championship Series.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
BRIAN HOAR, Driver of the RPM Motorsports No. 37 GossCars.com Dodge Charger, On racing at Thunder Road International Speedbowl: “When you go to Thunder Road, you’ve got to contend with all the weekly guys. They’re just so strong there – Nick Sweet, Dave Pembroke, Phil Scott, Cris Michaud. There’s a long list. It just doubles the list of ‘to contend with’ guys. It’s going to be a battle.
“I think it’s like anything. To win the championship and finish up front, you’ve got to run good and be good basically everywhere. All the top teams do. I think we all have our favorite places. Look at Joey Pole, Wayne and Austin. They’ll probably struggle more (at Thunder Road) than the Nick Sweets or the guys on the Tour that did run there in the past on a weekly basis.
“We’ve just been in more situations on that tough little bullring than some of the other guys because we’ve run so many laps there.”
On having a Vermont State Championship Series offered in 2012 for the first time in several years: “It was a pretty neat deal that Thunder Road and Devil’s Bowl got together for this State Championship series this year. It was a great idea by (Thunder Road owner Tom Curley) and Mike Bruno, and they put it together. Our team has always supported the extra-distance races and the big-money races, and we’ve been very supportive of Devil’s Bowl being an asphalt track. Those guys are doing a fantastic job.”
On working to get the RPM Motorsports No. 37 GossCars.com Dodge Charger back to Victory Lane: “We are working hard to try and make (the car) even better, but kudos to (ACT point leader Wayne Helliwell Jr.) and his team. I’ve always enjoyed racing with him, he’s a great racer, and I’ve always had a lot of respect for Joey (Polewarczyk). Austin (Theriault’s) a great racer, too. They’ve all raised the bar. Good for them.
“All we can control is ourselves. We’re going to go out and and try to finish in the Top-5 and win races from here on out. I know we have a team capable of doing that. It’s a long season still to go. Look at how far things got shuffled up at Oxford. They can get shuffled up fast.”
UP NEXT
The non-ACT points schedule rolls on with the midsummer jewel – the 39th annual TD Bank Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine, on Sunday, July 22… Brian Hoar finished fifth in the event last summer for his second consecutive Top-5 finish in the marquee Late Model event. RPM Motorsports will also enter a Super Late Model for Brian Hoar in the PASS North Series event the night before the TD Bank 250.