Barre, VT – The Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen will take to the high banks of Thunder Road for the 34th consecutive year in 2015. Defending Champion Jason Woodard leads a mix of veterans and rising stars alike will vie for the championship in the famed division.
Waterbury Ctr., VT’s Woodard is the first driver since 2010 to try and defend the Tiger Sportsmen title. He rode a remarkable run of consistency to the 2014 crown, finishing eighth or better in each of the 18 events. Woodard topped veteran Brendan Moodie, Jr. by 17 points in a battle that came down to the final laps of the season-ending Mini Milk Bowl.
Now entering his fourth season in the division, Woodard is also chasing his first career Tiger feature win.
”We had the focusing (last year) of being consistent and wanting that championship,” Woodard said. “We got the championship, and we want to come back and defend it, but we also want to win.”
Woodard credits much of his team’s success to diligent preparation away from the track, but he knows that anything can happen once cars take to the high banks.
“There’s a lot of different things you can do in the shop to hopefully make sure you don’t have a problem in the race,” he stated. “But a lot of it is luck as well.”
Wolcott, VT’s Moodie hopes to finally get over the championship hump. The second-generation driver finished runner-up in points in 2014 for the second time in three seasons.
“We need to start the year out better than we have been the last few years,” Moodie said. “We usually start out kind of slow the first few weeks, so hopefully we can have a good Opening Day and make the rest of the season come together, and gain the one more spot we’ve been missing the last few years.”
Many of the top Tiger drivers from 2014 are expected to vie for the championship again. Among the veterans, Jeff Bousquet and Mike Martin both won multiple races in 2014, finishing third and fourth in the final standings. Mike Billado broke out last year with a division-leading three wins and will look to take another step forward this season. 2002 Champion Joe Steffen will be back in his accustomed “Double-Oh” machine.
Meanwhile, a group of young drivers will also look to capture the top hardware. Milton, VT’s Dylan Payea had his best year to date in 2014 by finishing fifth in points. Barre, VT’s Cameron Ouellete is entering his third year in the Tigers and is ready to break into the division’s upper echelon. Rookie of the Year Caleb Nelson of Moretown, VT scored his first career win in the July 31 event and will be looking for more.
The division will also be adjusting to a series of rules changes. Most notably, the Tigers will now have a big 10” slick right front tire, similar to what the division ran in the 1980s. Some cars will also use a “street” style body.
“I think the racing overall is going to be better,” Woodard said of the new rules. “The (right front) slick allows you to keep your corner speed more because it turns better.”
“It’s going to be a learning curve for all of us,” Moodie added. “If one of us gets lucky and hits the right setup the first couple weeks, we’ll probably look like Superman out there.”
The Tiger Sportsmen begin their title chase on Sunday, May 3 as part of the 17th annual Merchant’s Bank 150 for the American-Canadian Tour Late Models. Saturday, May 2 will see the Thunder Road Car Show from 9:00am-12:00pm on the streets of downtown Barre, followed by the stock car parade up Quarry Hill and an open practice for all divisions. Sunday’s action will begin at 1:00pm.
For more information contact the Thunder Road office at 802.244.6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.thunderroadspeedbowl.com.
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