Dragon Family Headed Back To Bear Ridge

BRADFORD -- Vermont's most famous racing family returns to Bear Ridge Speedway on Saturday night as the Dragons race on the dirt. Patriarchs Harmon "Beaver" Dragon, 69, and his brother, Bobby, 64, put their home town of Milton, Vt., on the stock car racing map as they won races from the 1960s to the 2000s. Their sons, Brent and Scott, are also successful racers, and will join their fathers at the Bradford quarter-mile for a family showdown.

Both members of the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame, Beaver and Bobby Dragon racked up well over a dozen track and series championships, and have competed on superspeedways including Daytona, Charlotte and Darlington. Brent, Beaver's son, is a three-time Airborne Speedway champion and is among the all-time winners on the present-day American-Canadian Tour, and Bobby's son Scott is a three-time ACT winner currently competing with the Pro All Stars Series.

Bobby Dragon won last year's inaugural event, as Beaver and Brent played a last-lap game of bumper tag. Brent held his own ground in the regular 30-lap Sportsman Modified event that evening, though, finishing tenth in his first-ever dirt-track start.

"I plan to do a lot better this year in the main feature," Brent chuckled. "I was nervous about it last year having never raced dirt before, but I know what to do now."

Beaver and Bobby both raced on dirt tracks in Vermont and New York during the 1960s and '70s, but Bobby was still surprised to have won last year.

"It was a lot of fun, but it was a lot different from the asphalt I'd been used to running on. I think this year we've got to remind Beaver that the guys that own these cars have to race them after we're done and he shouldn't try to tear them all up like last year," Bobby laughed.

Bobby said that his son Scott, who will take part in the race for the first time this year, has designs of his own. "Scott's never been on a dirt track before, but he told us he's going to show us all how it's done out there."

Fairlee's Adam Pierson earned his first feature win of the season last week and leads the Sportsman Modified points after three events. Jack Cook of Moultonboro, N.H., sits second ten points back, with three-time defending champion Gary Siemons of Orford, N.H., third, twelve points behind Pierson. Melvin Pierson, Josh Harrington, and Jason Horniak pace the Sportsman Coupe division, and Will Hull leads Jeremy Hodge in the Limited Late Models.

Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank presents the card at Bear Ridge Speedway at 6:00pm on Saturday.

Hall of Famer Gahan Passes Away at 83

'62 Thunder Road winner was National Modified Champion

CRANBERRY ISLES, Me. -- Modified racing legend Ernie Gahan passed away at his Maine home on Thursday night at the age of 83. Gahan was the 1966 NASCAR National Modified Champion.

Among the many honors bestowed upon Gahan, who began racing in 1948 at a track in his home town of Dover, N.H., were inductions into several Halls of Fame; he was part of the inaugural class of the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1998, and is also a member of the New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame, the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame, and the Beech Ridge (Me.) Motor Speedway Hall of Fame.

Gahan's 300-plus feature victories included a Triple Crown effort at Barre's Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl on July 19, 1962; he was a frequent competitor there and at the former Catamount Stadium in Milton in the 1960s. Gahan made 11 starts in the NASCAR Grand National (Sprint Cup) Series from 1960-66, and was given the Buddy Shuman Award for outstanding contributions to NASCAR after helping DeWayne "Tiny" Lund rescue driver Marvin Panch from a fiery crash at Daytona Int'l Speedway in 1963.

Gahan's last competitive start with a NASCAR touring series came in 1987 at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway in a Whelen Modified Tour event, finishing 20th with his famous number-50. His son, Bobby, has amassed 15 championships and nearly 400 feature wins in a 40-year career in and around sourthern New Hampshire.

"Ernie was part of the Modified legacy that has helped make NASCAR what it is today. He was a great racer and true New England legend," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR vice president for corporate communications. "On behalf of NASCAR and the France family, our thoughts and prayers go out to Gahan's family and friends."

Services for Gahan will be held Wednesday at Purdy Memorial Chapel, 2 Concord Rd., Durham, N.H. The wake will be from 12-2 pm, followed by the funeral service.

(Photo credit: Howie Hodge/NASCAR)