Michaud, Crouch File First Bond Auto Labor Day Classic 200 Entries
Champion Late Model stock car drivers Cris Michaud and Robbie Crouch have filed the first two entries for the 30th Bond Auto Labor Day Classic 200 at Barre, VT’s Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl on Sun., August 31. Both drivers are feature winners at the historic 1/4-mile oval in 2008. Michaud, of Northfield, VT, is in the thick of the “King of the Road” track championship battle with three victories to his credit. Crouch, originally of Tampa, FL, earned his first Thunder Road win in nearly 20 years last month.
The Bond Auto Labor Day Classic 200 is the tenth of 12 rounds for the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Championship, and comes just three days after the final Thunder Road Late Model weekly championship series event on Thursday, August 28. The 200-lap Classic pays a guaranteed $5,000 to the winner, plus bonuses.
Michaud, only 35 points behind leader Eric Williams and just six points back from Phil Scott, is picturing a Labor Day weekend to remember. “The Bond race is a big deal,” he said. “I’ve never won it, but I want to this year. It would be pretty special if I could win my fourth championship at Thunder Road on Thursday and then the Labor Day Classic on Sunday. I don’t know how anyone could top that.”
Crouch added the most recent chapter to his storied career on July 25, scoring a 50-lap main event in front of an enthusiastic packed house. The win marked the first for the “Tampa Tornado” since his Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl victory in September 1990. He previously won the Bond Auto Labor Day Classic 200 in 1977.
John Donahue of Graniteville, VT won the Bond Auto Labor Day Classic 200 last year, posting his first-ever ACT Late Model Tour victory in the process. Other past winners of the race expected to compete include former ACT Champions Jean-Paul Cyr, Pete Fecteau, and Brad Leighton and legendary racer Bobby Dragon. Entries are expected from throughout New England and eastern Canada.
The 30th Bond Auto Labor Day Classic 200 is on Sunday, August 31 at 1:30pm at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl in Barre, VT. Discount advance sale tickets are available at all 36 Bond Auto Parts locations in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Adult tickets can be purchased at Bond Auto Parts for just $20, a savings of $5 from the front gate price. For more information, call (802) 244-6963 or visit www.thunderroadspeedbowl.com or www.acttour.com.
Sources: ACT PR