Thunder Road International Speedbowl, more commonly known as just Thunder Road, is a high-banked, paved short track speedway located in the town of

Barre Barre or Barré may refer to: * Barre (name) or Barré, a surname and given name Places United States * Barre, Massachusetts, a New England town ** Barre (CDP), Massachusetts, the central village in the town * Barre, New York, a town * Barre (ci ...

, Vermont. The track was founded by Ken Squier in 1960. and sold by Squier and co-owner Tom Curley in the spring of 2017 to former Thunder Road track champion Cris Michaud and local businessman Pat Malone. Currently, Thunder Road hosts three weekly divisions:

Late Model A late model car is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model. (An early model car or classic car is a car old enough to be of historical interest; there is no usual intermediate term.) The precise definition ...

s, Flying Tigers, and Street Stocks. The track is known for hosting its weekly races on Thursday night. As of April 2020, it was one of three active race tracks in Vermont.

History

Ken Squier envisioned the need for an asphalt track in the area which had been full of dirt tracks. He worked with pavement contractor Reginald Cooley to build the track. Squier operated the track until selling to local businessman Tommy Kalomiris. Kalomiris operated the track for two years; he faced lawsuits in 1978 and the track only ran six events that year. Squier bought the track back in 1979 along with Tom Curley. After running four events in 1981, the duo was forced to shut the track down again due to a lawsuit. They regained control by 1982 and operated it until April 2017. They sold the track to former track champion Cris Michaud and real estate developer Pat Malone. In 2009, as part of its 50th Season in operation, Thunder Road was visited by NASCAR legends Richard Petty and

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks ...

. Current NASCAR drivers

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is ...

Clint Bowyer Clinton Edward Bowyer (born May 30, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and commentator for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2005 to 2020, driving for Richard Childress Racing for eight yea ...

and

David Ragan David Lee Ragan (born December 24, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing, and is also an analyst for NASCAR on Fox on ...

raced there at different events during the season as well. The track will host the second event of the 2023

Superstar Racing Experience Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), officially known as the Camping World SRX Series, is an American stock car racing series founded by Tony Stewart, Ray Evernham, Sandy Montag and George Pyne. The formation of the series was announced on July 13, ...

season on July 20th, 2023.

Touring Series

In the past, Thunder Road had hosted 22 races of NASCAR North Tour between 1979 and 1985. Winners include

Chuck Bown Richard Charles "Chuck" Bown Jr. (born February 22, 1954) is a former NASCAR champion. His last ride came in 1999. He lives with his wife in Asheboro, North Carolina. He is the brother of former fellow NASCAR competitor Jim Bown. 1970s Bown ma ...

Robbie Crouch Robbie or Robby is a surname. It is usually encountered as a nickname or a shortened form of Robert, Rob or Robin. The name experienced a significant rise in popularity in Northern Ireland in 2003. People Given name Robbie * Robbie Amell (born 1 ...

Randy Lajoie Randall Joesph LaJoie (born August 28, 1961) is a former NASCAR Busch Series race car driver (now the Xfinity Series), where he won the championship in 1996 and 1997. He is the father of racers Casey and Corey LaJoie. Early racing career LaJo ...

, and

Kevin Lepage Kevin Paul Lepage (born June 26, 1962) is a retired American professional stock car racing driver, who last drove in NASCAR in 2014. Racing career Early career Lepage spent the 1980s driving in both the Busch North series and the Vermont-based ...

. After the formation of the American-Canadian Tour in 1986, Thunder Road became sanctioned by the organization as well as host to nearly 150 ACT races between the Pro Stock, Late Model and Flying Tiger tours as of September, 2021. ACT winners include

Jean-Paul Cyr Jean-Paul Cyr (born December 8, 1965 in Milton, Vermont, United States) is an American racing driver. He competes in the American Canadian Tour. Seven times Champion of the ACT Tour in 1994, 1996, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. He won 19 races ...

, Brian Hoar and Phil Scott. It hosted 7 races of the

NASCAR Busch North Series The ARCA Menards Series East (formerly Busch East Series, Busch North Series, Camping World East Series, and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) an ...

, a feeder series of

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

, between 1997 and 2003. Currently, the track hosts regional touring series including the

American Canadian Tour The American Canadian Tour (ACT) is a late model stock car racing series based in the northeastern United States, and Quebec, Canada. The current American-Canadian Tour Late Model Tour was founded in 1992 as a cost-cutting, regional touring divisi ...

, the

Pro All Stars Series The Pro All Stars Series is a stock car racing governing body active in the United States of America and Canada. The series started in 2001 and now sanctions various series including North, South, and National Super Late Model tours and a New Eng ...

and the New England Antique Racers. The track has hosted several high profile drivers from the highest level of

. On June 28, 2007, NASCAR driver

Kenny Wallace Kenneth Lee Wallace (born August 23, 1963) is an American race car driver and former reporter for Fox NASCAR. He retired from NASCAR in 2015 after driving in the national series since 1988. In a career spanning twenty-five years in NASCAR, Wallace ...

raced at Thunder Road.

Ken Schrader Kenneth Schrader (born May 29, 1955) is an American professional racing driver. He currently races on local dirt and asphalt tracks around the country while also competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 11 Ford for Fast Tra ...

, another NASCAR driver, had raced once at Thunder Road each of the two years prior to Wallace's visit. In 2009,

made an appearance at the track.

has raced in the track in 2013.

Kyle Busch Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...

raced in Vermont in 2017. The next year in 2018, Christopher Bell raced at the highbanks. And most recently,

Ryan Preece Ryan Jeffrey Preece (born October 25, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. Preece previously competed in what is now th ...

has visited in 2021. All these drivers making an appearance in the Vermont Governor's Cup, which is ran on a Thursday night, which coincides with NASCARs visit to the

New Hampshire Motor Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mil ...

over the weekend.

Phil Scott Philip Brian Scott (born August 4, 1958) is an American politician, businessman and stock car racer who has served as the 82nd governor of Vermont since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected governor in the 2016 general electi ...

, current governor of Vermont, is a former track champion in 1996, 1998, and 2002.

Milk Bowl

Thunder Road has hosted the "Milk Bowl" Late Model race since 1962. It is the season finale each fall, and consists of three 50-lap segments, with cumulative scoring and full-field inversions between segments. The driver with the highest combined total of finishes in the three segments is declared the winner, receives a loving cup full of milk as the trophy, and is expected to kiss a cow in Victory Circle.

Past track champions (King of the Road)

The title of King of the Road is given to the highest points winner of the top weekly division at Thunder Road. While the other divisions have their respective champions, King of the Road is the most coveted title at Thunder Road. There have been fifty-five Kings of the Road; the one female driver who won the track championship, Tracie Bellerose, was christened the 2000 Queen of the Road. Vermont's governor since 2017,

, is a longtime participant in Thunder Road's Late Model series, and is a three-time King of the Road (1996, 1998, 2002).

Sources

External links

Official siteThunder Road International SpeedBowl archive
at Racing-Reference {{American Canadian Tour late model racetracks Buildings and structures in Barre (town), Vermont NASCAR tracks Motorsport venues in Vermont