ACT Late Model Tour: Brian Hoar
Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl Race Preview
THE STORY
GEORGIA, Vt. – Eight-time ACT Late Model Tour champion Brian Hoar of Williston, Vt., will try and add to his impressive resume when the Tour heads to the Merchants Bank 150 at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., on Sunday, April 28. Hoar won the most recent ACT Late Model Tour event at the historic quarter-mile, having won the Labor Day Classic 200 at Thunder Road last September. The driver of the RPM Motorsports No. 37 GossCars.com Dodge Charger has won every major Thunder Road event in his career – the Merchants Bank 150, the Memorial Day Classic, the Labor Day Classic and the Milk Bowl – and he is the defending champion of the Merchants Bank 150. Hoar owns a record 37 career ACT Late Model Tour victories, and two of his four wins in 2012 came at Thunder Road.
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 SPEEDBOWL FINISH: 1st (most recent, September 2012)
LAST RACE AT THUNDER ROAD SPEEDBOWL: 1st (September 2012)
WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour Merchants Bank 150
WHERE: Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre, Vt. (.25-mile banked oval)
WHEN: Saturday, April 27 – 1 p.m., practice; Sunday, April 28 – 11:15 a.m., practice; 1:30 p.m., qualifying; 4 p.m., race
ACT Late Model Tour
LAST RACE: April 14, NH Governor’s Cup 150, Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H. (9th)
NEXT RACE: May 5, Spring Green 113, Devil’s Bowl Speedway, West Haven, Vt. (.500-mile oval)
DID YOU KNOW?
Brian Hoar holds the ACT Late Model Tour record for championships (8) and wins (37).
RPM Motorsports will run a part-time schedule in 2013, including the first four ACT Late Model Tour events of the season and then select Late Model events throughout the summer and fall.
Brian Hoar owns a record six People’s United Milk Bowl pole awards.
Brian Hoar plans to make a second consecutive appearance in the 25th anniversary of the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, Vt., this coming Memorial Day weekend.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
BRIAN HOAR, Driver of the RPM Motorsports No. 37 GossCars.com Dodge Charger, On racing at Thunder Road International Speedbowl: “It’s such a tough little bullring. We have struggled there at time, but it actually helped a lot when I had Nick (Sweet) as a teammate for the Labor Day race (in 2011). Going into that year, I considered Thunder Road one of our weak spots. We were still pulling off Top-5s, but we weren’t contending for wins.
“We were always fast there, but I thought we lacked a little bit in our approach to the long-distance part of it – the 150-lap, 200-lap races. We have a new approach now that came from working with Nick, and we’ve made it work for us. I think that was key.”
On the challenges of racing at Thunder Road: “When you go to Thunder Road, you’ve got to contend with all the weekly guys. They’re just so strong there – Nick Sweet, 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. I think we all have our favorite places. Some guys 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.”
UP NEXT
The ACT Late Model Tour heads to Devil’s Bowl Speedway in West Haven, Vt., for one of the season’s signature events, the Spring Green 113, on Sunday, May 5… Brian Hoar will compete in the Spring Green 113 and the following event at Airborne Speedway before taking a scheduled two-month break from Late Model competition.