BARRE, VT – Three stock car racing divisional championships will be decided at Barre, VT’s Thunder Road with the 45th Annual Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl on Sat./Sun., Sept. 27/28.  Eric Williams of Hyde Park, VT was crowned the Late Model division’s 2008 “King of the Road” Track Champion in August, leaving the NAPA Tiger Sportsman, Allen Lumber Street Stock, and Power Shift Online Junkyard Warrior battles to go down the season’s final event.

     Craig Bushey, 28, of Cambridge, leads the Sportsman class by a slim 32 points (933-901) over veteran driver Joey Laquerre of East Montpelier entering the Milk Bowl finale.  Bushey’s Vermont Life Safety/Robinson Fuels Chervolet has been consistent, scoring a dozen top-10 finishes in 15 starts, including a Ferguson Waterworks Night victory in June.  In a division where only two drivers have qualified for all 16 feature races to this point, Bushey says there are three parts to surviving the weekly battles and hopefully winning the season-long war.
 

      “It starts with the luck of the draw and where you start in your qualifying heat,” Bushey said.  “Then
you’ve got to stay out of wrecks and keep your nose clean, and then you’ve got to know where your competition is and stay within reach of them.  We’ve had a good year, hopefully we can it finish it that way.”  Bushey also reported that he will be attempting double-duty, running a new Late Model car with the American-Canadian Tour in the 45th Annual Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl.
  

     Tom Therrien of Hinesburg ranks third in Sportsman standings at 876 points, with Craftsbury’s Joel Hodgdon and Shawn Sicard of Barre tied in fourth at 851 each.  Therrien’s younger brother, Bobby, leads Mike Ziter of Williamstown in the rookie standings, 155-145.  Sixteen year-old Cody Blake of Barre is third at 140 points.
  

     Veteran Allen Lumber Street Stock driver Lloyd Blakely of Graniteville has plenty of pressure on him
entering his division’s final event.  Five drivers are within 50 points of Blakely for the championship, including young drivers Jason Corliss of Plainfield and Greg Adams, Jr. of Hardwick, tied only nine points behind in second place (979-970).  Blakely posted 12 top-10 finishes in the first 14 events of the Street Stock campaign, although Corliss has chipped away at the lead each week since the end of July.  Adams has made a meteoric rise from 31st place in May to championship contention, with a string of 11-straight top-10 finishes.
  

     The Power Shift Online Junkyard Warrior season will be completed on Saturday, Sept. 27 on Booth Bros./H.P. Hood Qualifying Day for the American-Canadian Tour, and the championship chase is down to just two drivers. Graniteville’s Travis Hull, in his first full season of racing, leads Wolcott driver Jamie Davis by 26 points entering the event, 1347-1321.  Each driver has earned two feature wins and a staggering 18 top-10 finishes.

       Two-day general admission for the 45th Annual Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl, including Booth Bros./H.P. Hood Qualifying Day, is just $25 for adults and $5 for children (6-12).  Admission for Saturday only is just $10 for adults and free for kids.  Gates open at 10:00am on both days, with racing action slated for 1:30pm on Saturday and 1:00pm on Sunday.  For more information, including a full weekend schedule, visit www.thunderroadspeedbowl.com
or www.acttour.com, or call (802) 244-6963.