(From team release)
Brent Dragon of Milton, Vt., opens the 2010 ACT Late Model Tour season in the Albany-Saratoga 100 at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., on Sunday, April 25. The track was renovated from a dirt track in the offseason and made into a flat, .400-mile asphalt oval in time for this year, and this will be just the second event held at the new speedway. The originally scheduled season-opening NH Governor's Cup 150 at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H., last week was postponed by weather. Dragon, who has competed in the series since its inception 18 years ago, will be making his 175th career ACT start. Though he's yet to win the championship, the 3-time Airborne Speedway track champion has finished second in the final ACT standings on three different occasions and owns nine career wins.
WHO: Brent Dragon, Milton, Vt.
TEAM: Beverage Mart/Furniture World of VT/Charlebois Freightliner/Newton Pellets No. 55 Chevrolet
BEST CAREER ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY FINISH: N/A
LAST RACE AT ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY: 2010 event is first ACT event at track
WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour Albany-Saratoga 100
WHERE: Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. (.400-mile oval)
WHEN: 1 p.m., Sunday, April 25
ACT Late Model Tour
LAST RACE: N/A
NEXT RACE: Sunday, May 2, Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre, Vt.
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BRENT, WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE NEW ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY?
Zero. I probably went there with my dad back years ago, but I don't remember the place at all. I really look forward to going, because it's one place I haven't raced at yet.
It's flat. Oxford (Plains Speedway) is as flat as anywhere we go; I don't really know of any flatter track than Oxford that I've raced on. I like flat tracks now -- but if you'd asked me five years ago, I would have said no. I've learned how to drive them a little bit differently.
You don't use hardly any brakes at all. I really am the kind of driver that wants to go as hard as I can into the corners and then get the car to turn and go again, but I've learned not every place works like that. I was following (Ben Rowe) in practice up to Oxford four or five years ago, and I realized what he was doing. That made a huge difference for me.
HOW DO YOU APPROACH RACING ON A TRACK YOU'VE NEVER RACED ON?
We've got an idea of what it looks like and what we'll go with for a setup. I'm glad we'll have a few hours of practice on Saturday to kind of figure things out. The gears are the biggest thing, probably, that you'll want to get right.
I like going to new tracks, so I like going to the races where it's new for everybody else, too. I think trying to figure them out is the challenge, and it's a challenge that I like.
IS IT HARD TO GET GEARED UP FOR THE 'SEASON OPENER' AFTER LAST WEEK'S RAIN OUT AT LEE USA SPEEDWAY?
No, not at all. We're pretty excited. We had everybody here at the shop again (on Tuesday) night, and we went through the car.
When the weather forecast looked as bad as it did (for Lee), I was glad they called it. When they called it on Friday, it saved us a lot of money in terms of travel and food.
We're just approaching this week like it's the first race of the year. It's like I told my guys, "Hey, we're still tied for the points lead. We came out of the box just like we wanted to, you know? We didn't get off to a slow start."
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