Star-Studded Field Ready for Thunder Road Bond Auto Labor Day Classic
Star-Studded Field Ready for Thunder Road Bond Auto Labor Day Classic
BARRE, VT ? A huge cast of Late Model stock car racing stars
will flock to Barre, VT’s Thunder Road on
Sunday, August 31 for the 30th running of the Bond Auto Labor Day
Classic 200. The $5,000-to-win event is the
tenth of 12 races for the American-Canadian Tour (ACT), and will
feature the region’s top short track talent, as
many as 50 or more championship-caliber drivers.
ACT Late Model Tour point leader Scott Payea of Milton, VT and
second-place Patrick Laperle of Montr?al
will continue a heated battle for the ACT championship. Each is a
multi-time winner at Thunder Road, and the pair
fought for a recent victory at New Hampshire’s White Mountain
Motorsports Park before late contact sent both
drivers to the rear of the field. Payea, who won the Merchants Bank
150 at Thunder Road in May, and Laperle, the
2007 Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl winner, enter the Bond Auto Labor Day
Classic 200 separated by 51 points (671-620).
Seven-time and defending ACT champion Jean-Paul Cyr, also from
Milton, VT, sits just seven points behind
Laperle in third place. Brent Dragon, Payea and Cyr’s Milton, VT
neighbor, is in a tight fourth-place battle with
defending Bond Auto Labor Day Classic 200 winner John Donahue of
Graniteville, VT, and New Hampshire drivers Randy
Potter of Groveton and young Joey “Pole” Polewarczyk of Hudson. The
four drivers are only 11 points apart.
Turner, ME’s Glen Luce, Barre, VT rookie Nick Sweet, and Scott Dragon
of Milton, VT complete the top ten in order.
Joining the ACT Late Model Tour top ten at Thunder Road will be
star drivers Donald Theetge of Qu?bec
City, recent Thunder Road feature winner Jamie “Hurricane” Fisher of
Shelburne, VT, London, ON rookie Jonathan
Urlin, and Wilton, ME’s “Neon” Leon Heckbert. Former Labor Day
Classic winner and ACT champion Brad Leighton of
Center Harbor, NH will also compete. In only two starts this season,
Leighton has finishes of third at Waterford
(CT) Speedbowl and fifth at White Mountain.
Thunder Road’s local divisions will qualify on Saturday, Aug.
30 at 2:30pm, in conjunction with an
optional practice session for ACT Late Models. Bond Auto Labor Day
Classic 200 qualifying begins at 1:30pm on
Sunday, Aug. 31. Discount advance sale tickets are available at all
36 Bond Auto Parts stores in Vermont, New
Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Save $5 on the front gate Adult price
by purchasing tickets at any Bond Auto Parts;
visit www.bondauto.com for locations. Tickets at the Thunder Road
gate will be $25 for adults and $5 for children
(6-12), and are good for both days’ events. Gates open at 12:00 noon
on Saturday and 10:00am on Sunday. For more
information, call (802) 244-6963 or visit www.thunderroadspeedbowl.com
or www.acttour.com.