Youngster Planning Big Moves for 2021

Barre, VT and N. Woodstock, NH – The Rookie of the Year is one of the most sought-after awards for young racers. In some ways, it may be even harder to win than a championship. The reason is simple — once you join a division, you only get one shot at the honor.

Waterbury, VT – The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) will be sporting some new shoes in 2021. ACT announced today that its officially sanctioned series and tracks are switching to Hoosier tires starting with the Community Bank N.A. 150 at Thunder Road on Sunday, May 2.

Barre, VT – For five years now — literally from his first season in a stock car at Thunder Road — Brandon Lanphear has been a threat to win a championship. In 2020, the soon-to-be 26-year-old finally did so, taking the Myers Container Service Triple Crown Series title as part of a stellar year in the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger ranks.

Barre, VT – Winning a championship in racing, or any other sport, is the most difficult of achievements. It takes a combination of hard work, skill, and good luck that few teams will ever experience. For it to happen again…and again…and again puts you among increasingly elite company. In 2020, Waterbury Center, VT’s Jason Woodard joined a company of one by winning his fourth Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger championship at Thunder Road.

Barre, VT – Being the top rookie in any division is an honor that racers treasure. Although it’s not a guarantee of future success, it shows a driver is on the right track for it, as they adapted better than any other first-year racer to a new division.

Essex Jct., VT’s Matthew Smith has been close to Rookie honors before. In 2015, the then-19-year-old came up one point short in his first Thunder Road Street Stock season. Five years later, Smith sealed the deal on a bigger stage, taking the Rookie of the Year Award in his first full season with the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models.

Series Making Inaugural Visit to Historic North Carolina Track

Waterbury, VT – The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) is heading south to get an early start on the 2021 racing season. Officials announced today that a pair of ACT Late Model events have been scheduled at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway for Friday, April 2 and Saturday, April 3.

Barre, VT – Had Jason Corliss never turned another lap after the 2019 season, he still would have gone down as a significant part of Thunder Road’s history. He came in the 2020 Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model season fresh off the “King of the Road” title, capping a three-year run in which he’d won pretty much everything there is to win on the Barre high banks.