Handicapping The Horses For T-Road’s Opener
SpeedReading
By DAVE
MOODY
Forget what the calendar says.
Throw that Farmer’s Almanac in the wood stove. The first day of spring arrives
Sunday, when they fire the engines in anger at the top of Quarry Hill in Barre
for the first time in 2004.
Sunday’s Merchant’s Bank
“Freedom Lynx 150” marks the 45th season opener at “The Nation’s Site of
Excitement,”
Thunder Road
, and the race will play a key role in the drive for the 2004 New England Dodge
Tour championship. More than forty ACT Late Models are expected to attempt
qualifying Sunday, and as has become traditional in recent years, we have taken
the liberty of handicapping the “Freedom Lynx” field, in an effort to assist
any informal, for-entertainment-purposes-only wagering that may take place on
T-Road’s infamous Bud Hill.
Here’s how we see things breaking down Sunday, in order of preference.
Jamie
Fisher
– One year ago, we wrote in this space that 2003 would be a “make or
break” season for the driver they call “The Hurricane.” A spellbinding
stretch drive earned him the closest track championship in
Thunder Road
’s long and storied history, and while he was only seventh-best in the final
Dodge Tour standings, the confidence gained from being “King of the Road”
will make him a better racer than ever before. ODDS:
2:1.
Phil Scott – The
off-season buzz was that the Sailing Senator from
Washington
County
might be scaling-back his schedule this season, after a tough final few races
of 2003 that saw Jamie Fisher swipe the
Thunder Road
track championship from his grasp. Don’t believe a word of it. He’ll be
back in harness, loaded for bear Sunday, and his always-potent Ford Taurus I
guaranteed to be near the front of the pack when the checkered flag flies. So
much for scaling back.
ODDS: 3:1.
Jean-Paul
Cyr – ACT’s three-time
and defending champion says he as excited for Opening Day as he’s ever been,
and that’s bad new for anyone hoping to steal his crown in 2004. The
Milton
driver is a consummate veteran, rarely beating himself, and showing a
remarkable ability to take a tenth-place racecar and finish fourth with it.
He’ll be in the top five Sunday, you can bet on it. ODDS:
3:1.
Mike
Olsen – He’s got a race under his belt already this
season – an eighth-place finish in last weekend’s Busch North opener at Lee
USA Speedway – and a full season of experience in the Thunder Road Late Model
wars. His Ron Bevins-led team knows what he likes in a racecar now, and the
North Haverhill
driver is familiar with the ACT competition. All that could add-up to Stub and
Charlotte Fadden making an appearance in
Victory Lane
Sunday. Wouldn’t that be neat? ODDS:
4:1.
Eric Williams – He
has not been a major ACT Dodge Tour championship contender in recent years,
electing instead to spend the early summer months coaching his children’s
youth sports teams. At
Thunder Road
, though, he’s always a threat for
Victory Lane
. There’s no one more tenacious, and no driver more willing to hang it on the
ragged edge with a lap or two remaining. If he’s in the top three with 10 laps
to go, get ready for one whale of a finish. ODDS:
5:1.
Dave
Pembroke
– The former Vermont Milk Bowl winner and his family based team learn more
about the racing game every year. Last season, they were a threat for
Victory Lane
every time out at The Road, with one Thursday night win. On the Tour, they
recorded 11 top-10 finishes in 16 starts. Watch the first practice Sunday. If
he’s fast, it could be a long day for the competition. ODDS:
5:1.
Cris Michaud – 2004
shapes up as the “Year of the Comeback” for this former Thunder Road Late
Model champion. An abysmal `03 campaign actually had him talking retirement at
season’s end, but he has retooled in fine fashion with the addition of Tracie
Bellerose’s former championship crewchief, Jeff Laquerre, and a new Race
Basics chassis. This team may take a race or two to get on the same page of the
playbook, but once they do, look out. ODDS: 6:1.
Joey
Laquerre
– One day,
Thunder Road
’s fastest sexagenarian is going to run out of fuel. One day, he’ll realize
that racing is a sport for the young, and that banging wheels at his age with
kids young enough to be his grandchildren is no longer an appropriate course of
action. Thankfully, that day is still a decade or two away. As always, Laquerre
will be a contender on Open Day. ODDS:
6:1.
Todd
Stone
– After coming up just 13 points short of the ACT Dodge Tour title a year ago,
the hard-charging Middlebury native is highly motivated to get the job done in
2004. Thunder Road has never been his best track, however, meaning that any
full-bore championship assault may have to wait until Round Two at Airborne
Raceway. ODDS: 6:1.
Brent
Dragon
– Something about
Thunder Road
has just never appealed to the second-generation
Milton
driver. Everywhere else on the circuit, he’s a winner. At The Road, it’s a
struggle to get into the top five. One of these days, he’s going to figure the
place out. The question is, when? ODDS:
7:1.
Pete Fecteau
– He could find his way to
Victory Lane
at
Thunder Road
blindfolded, and the only question mark is the off-season loss of longtime
sponsor Buck’s Furniture. We’re guessing that experience and treachery will
get “Pistol Pete” over that hurdle, especially if he wears that cool
“Captain
America
” firesuit Sunday. ODDS: 7:1.
Trampas
Demers
– He should have won a race or two last year, and when he finally breaks
through, he become a steady threat for the winner’s circle in very short
order. Team him up with his returning-to-ACT-competition father, former Busch
North veteran and
Thunder Road
winner Dennis Demers – and you’ve got a pretty good combo bet. COMBINED ODDS: 7:1.
Cooper
MacRitchie –
A
disappointing 2003 campaign saw him struggle to find the set-up on his
Chevrolet. We’re betting he found it during the off-season. The former Flying
Tiger/Sportsman king is always at his best at “The Nation’s Site of
Excitement,” and with a break or two in traffic, he could carry the checkered
flag Sunday. ODDS: 8:1.
Dave
Whitcomb – For one of ACT’s great veterans, the 2003 season
was a step-up from a discouraging 2002 campaign. He finished 11th in
ACT Dodge Tour points and seventh in the Thunder Road championship battle, but a
late-season performance surge – back-to-back fourth-place showings in late
August, followed by a third-place finish in the Thursday Night finale -- gives
cause for optimism in 2004. ODDS: 8:1.
Patrick
Laperle –
When
he’s hot, he’s hot. When he’s not – especially at
Thunder Road
– he may not even qualify. ACT’s resident Jekyll and Hyde driver, he could
win it all Sunday, or he could be on the road home by feature time. Flip a coin.
ODDS: 10:1.
Ken Dufour –
Don’t call an Opening Day win by Dufour an upset; the
Littleton
,
NH
, driver has done it before on the Barre highbanks. He has two career ACT Dodge
Tour victories on his resume, and he loves to race at the Road. ODDS:
10:1.
Tim Martin – One of the most-improved
drivers in all of ACT racing last season, it’s only a matter of time before
the Roxbury driver sticks his Ford into
Victory Lane
. He knows the Barre highbanks as well as anyone out there, having begun his
career in the track’s Street Stock division, and a win in Sunday’s
Merchant’s Bank “Freedom Lynx 150” would be a popular one in the T-Road
grandstands. ODDS: 11:1.
John
Donahue
– The former Tiger champion saw his budding Late Model career scuttled by a
lack of sponsorship two years ago. He’s back in 2004, but the backing may
still be lacking. He’ll hold his own behind the wheel, and if the money holds
out, he could got he distance. If not, his best chance at
Victory Lane
could come early in the year. ODDS:
12:1.
Dale Shaw –
With absolutely no experience on ACT’s eight-inch racing tire, the former
Busch North Series champion will need a little luck to get dialed-in in time to
make the show Sunday. If he does, he’ll be a quick study with top-10 potential
by the end of the afternoon. ODDS: 12:1.
rrr
The venerable Claremont (NH)
Speedway
has been sold. Dennis Fleury, son of
Claremont
founder
Eugene
“Sonny” Fleury, has purchased the
Thrasher Road
oval after being heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the track a
year ago.
Fleury’s first move as owner
was to re-name the speedplant, which will now be known as “Twin State
Speedway.” With no shortage of competition for Saturday night race fans,
Fleury also announced that the
Claremont
oval will switch to Friday nights in 2004. "Friday night racing is the way
to go," he said. "Weekends are for family time."
Fleury announced a series of
improvements that will be made this year, including a revamping of the VIP tower
and announcer’s stand, relocation of the scoreboard to the first and second
turns, and the addition of a cement wall down the backstretch into turn three.
Previously, the track was abutted by a large sand bank – the infamous "
Claremont
cushion" – that softened the blow of head-on impacts, but added hours to
post-race cleanup efforts. Longtime lighting issues are being addressed, as are
water problems in the restrooms.
All 2004 sponsors have agreed
to remain on board, and NASCAR has given its approval to the move. The
open-wheeled Modifieds will once again serve as NASCAR featured division for
2004, with the track’s Limited Late Models as the second-tier division. At
least one name familiar to local fans will be a part of the operation, as former
Thunder Road
and ACT flagger John Hulburd will man the flagstand as Chief Starter. Due to
the change in ownership, Opening Day has been pushed back one week, with weekly
racing set to begin tomorrow night at 7 p.m.
rrr
Short (Track) Subjects…
…Defending Thunder
Road NAPA Tiger Sportsman Champion Reno Gervais begins his 2003 title defense
against more than 35 challengers Sunday. The “King of the
Northeast
Kingdom
” claimed the
Thunder Road
title by just four points last year, on the strength of four top-five finishes
in sixteen starts.
"Winning the title was a
dream come true for me," said Gervais this week. "I’m definitely
going for two in a row, but the main thing is to have fun.
Thunder Road
’s a great place for my family and I to do that."
The NAPA Tiger Sportsmen,
Allen Lumber Street Stocks and Power Shift Online Junkyard Warriors will also be
a part of the Opening Day festivities, with more than 120 cars are expected.
Post time is set for 1:30 p.m.