Weather Forces Postponement of Merchants Bank 150
Rescheduled for Sunday May 8
WATERBURY, Vt., April 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The dismal forecast for Sunday May 1 has forced Thunder Road Speedbowl to postpone the Merchants Bank 150. The race has been rescheduled for Sunday May 8, post time set for 2:00pm.
More than 40 ACT Late Model teams were expected to try and qualify including defending 2015 ACT Champion Wayne Helliwell Jr. of Dover, NH, along with 2015 Merchants Bank champion Brad Babb and multi-feature winner Nick Sweet.
Almost 70 Late Models, Tiger Sportsman and Street Stocks lined Main Street in Barre, VT for the annual car show on Saturday April 30. Race Fans were able to check-out the new race cars and meet the drivers, before the parade up Quarry Hill to the "Nations Site of Excitement." Drivers were able to get in practice on Saturday and will be ready to go on Sunday May 8, for the running of the 18th Merchants Bank 150.
Hinesburg, VT's Bobby Therrien heads to the "Nations Site of Excitement" as the American Canadian Tour (ACT) points leader this weekend for the 57th season opener of Barre, VT's Thunder Road. Therrien, with a dominating win in the season opener at Oxford Plains Speedway and a 7th place finish last Sunday at Lee USA Speedway, leads three-time ACT Tour Champion Wayne Helliwell Jr. by just two points heading into the 18th Merchants Bank 150 on Sunday at 1:00pm. Helliwell, with a fourth place finish in the opener at Oxford and a strong second last week at Lee, is looking to carry the checkered flag around the high banked ¼ mile track again like he did in 2014. Brad Babb, driving the Joey Laquerre owned 15NH, stole the show in last year's Merchants Bank 150 with Helliwell settling for second place. Babb became the 12th different winner in 17 editions of the event.
The ACT Tour drivers will not only be competing against each other but will also have to battle many of the weekly Thunder Road Late Model competitors. Second generation driver Cody Blake, Jason Corliss and Trampas Demers have filed entries to compete and Lt. Governor Phil Scott attended an open practice session at Thunder Road on April 20th.
Thunder Road's 57th season-opening weekend begins on Saturday, April 30th with the annual Thunder Road Car Show on Main Street in Barre from 9:00am to 12:00pm, followed by the race car parade up Quarry Hill to the track featuring the Catamount Pipe Band, the "Warpipes of Thunder Road." An open practice session for all divisions will follow and is open to the public. Post time for the Merchants Bank 150 on Sunday, May 1st is 1:00pm. Admission is $25 for adults with kids 12 and under admitted free.
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