Offseason Spotlight: Dean Gallison Becomes First Two-Time Winner of MacTavish Award

Barre, VT – Nearly everyone who has spent time at Thunder Road as a racer, crew member, official, or fan knows the name of Dean Gallison. For more than four decades, he has been a presence at the track, and has spent the better part of the last 20 years as Thunder Road’s Director of Competition. Gallison was honored this past off-season in a history-making way, as he became the first two-time recipient of the most prestigious award in Vermont motorsports: the Don MacTavish Award.

The award was created in 1969 in honor of the late Norwood, MA racer. Don MacTavish was one of the most legendary “barnstormers” of the 1960s, traveling up and down the East Coast as part of the NASCAR Modified and Late Model Sportsman series. He won the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman championship in 1966, a year in which he started 122 features. Many of those features were at Vermont’s Catamount Stadium and New York’s Airborne Speedway.

MacTavish became one of the most recognized racers of his era, appearing on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” and the hit game show “To Tell the Truth” as well as doing promotional and product videos for various car companies. One of his best friends was a young Tom Curley, who went on to become the co-owner of Thunder Road and founder of the American-Canadian Tour.

Tragically, MacTavish’s life was cut short on February 22, 1969 due to a savage crash in a Late Model Sportsman race at Daytona International Speedway – the day before he was set to make his debut in the NASCAR Grand National Series (neé Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series). The Don MacTavish Award was created that year in his memory. It is given to someone who shows the same spirit, dedication, and lifetime commitment to auto racing that MacTavish did.

The list of winners in the award’s 50-year history reads like a who’s-who of Northeast motorsports. Bill France Sr., the founder of NASCAR and a staunch supporter of Thunder Road in its early days, was the inaugural winner. Since then, recipients have included racers such as the Dragon brothers, Jean-Paul Cabana, Brian Hoar, Joey Polewarczyk, and Thunder Road co-owner Cris Michaud; legendary officials like Archie Blackadar, Gordon “Doc” Nielsen, Dave Moody, and Mike Wilder; crew members and car owners such as Pete Duto, Richard Green, Joey Becker, and Shayne Sweet; and notable organizations like Speedway Safety Service.

Now, Dean Gallison stands as the only person to be honored with the MacTavish Award twice. Gallison first received the award in 2006. At the time, he was just becoming a major player in the direction of Thunder Road at the American-Canadian Tour. Still, the award was well-deserved at the time, as Gallison had already spent decades campaigning his own race cars, working on other people’s cars, and transitioning into being a technical inspector.

In the 13 years since then, Gallison’s name has become synonymous with auto racing around New England and into Canada. According to auto racing historian Justin St. Louis, who introduced Gallison as the MacTavish Award winner at the Thunder Road Banquet of Champions, Gallison has worked at 494 events in those 13 years – an average of 38 per year. He’s become a leader at Thunder Road and is on the short list of people that promoters and rule-makers in the region call for advice. He ability to be both serious and goofy, while also acting as a mentor to those just entering auto racing, are what truly make him one of Thunder Road’s most recognizable names.

“Dean is the guy who will take you under his wing, whether you seek him out or not,” St. Louis said. “He can sense fear and uneasiness, and the fear of the unknown when you first drive into the gate at Thunder Road. And he’s an expert at helping calm your nerves. He’ll spot a rookie from the other side of the pit area – or even better yet, a rookie’s father, or mother, or brother, who has no clue what’s going on. He’ll ask questions, and he’ll start a dialogue, and he’ll put you at ease. He’s the psychologist of Quarry Hill.

“The nicknames will follow, because you will do something dumb and he will never let you forget it,” St. Louis continued. “But that’s the genius of his character. He can make a joke out of something, but you’ll learn from it, and you’ll never do it again. Once that happens, you’re instantly part of the inner circle. And as far as Dean is concerned, we’re all part of the inner circle anyway. There’s a domino effect in that, and that one little moment can start to change your thought process with everything – whether it’s how you work on your race car, or how you drive your race car, or how you do the dishes. Or more importantly, how you treat people.”

Gallison was humble during his acceptance speech, giving much of the credit to his wife Tina (the General Manager of Thunder Road) for her support.

“I’m blown away – probably more so than the first time that this award was presented to me,” Gallison said. “Me and Tina, we talk a lot about what this award means. For the years that we’ve been involved in racing, and the reason why Tom Curley gave it out, and the meaning of what Don MacTavish brought to the sport. And every day, every year that each one of us starts the season, we try to bring back to the sport and make sure that everybody does it for the right reasons.

“It is an honor,” Gallison added. “Other than looking for that championship trophy, everyone in this room, to get you name put on this trophy, and to be on there for the reason you are, is what you should strive for.”

“I can tell you right now that Dean Gallison is one of my best true friends,” Thunder Road co-owner and 1999 MacTavish Award winner Cris Michaud added. “There’s so much that he’s helped Pat and I with as we’ve been transforming the race track. Dean at the track and Tina at the office – without them, things would have been a lot different up here.”