The Juice: Ben Rowe a has-been? Come on...

-by Justin St. Louis

There's a debate on one of the message boards that has me in stitches. Ben Rowe hasn't amounted to much in his first two appearances this season with the ACT Late Model Tour, and the argument by that one poster started is that Rowe has lost his touch and shouldn't waste everyone's time by attempting to qualify for the TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway next month.

Dude, really? Really?

All Rowe has done so far this year is win twice in the PASS South Super Late Models, once in PASS North competition, and lead the point standings for both the South and National championships. Yeah, he should hang it up.

Rowe's regular gig is driving for Richard Moody Racing on the PASS circuit, a team that has full-time help in the garage with money to spare. The team builds and massages and feels every facet of its operation every day of the week, and the combination is one of the most potent of any short track team in the country. Their plans call for chasing all three PASS championships with a full effort, and so far it looks like those plans might work out.

Rowe's ACT gig is strictly a fun, part-time deal with Donald and David Avery's team, which has volunteer help, and again, races strictly on a part-time schedule. To top it off, they're figuring out a new chassis this season.

The Moody team has raced nine times so far this year, often running against teams that have raced only half that number of events. The Avery team has raced just twice, against teams that have been on the track between five and seven times already. So which team is at an advantage here? Shouldn't that be pretty obvious?

Rowe won the PASS North race at White Mountain Motorsports Park on May 23, then failed to qualify for the ACT race at Thunder Road the next day. He joked, "I go from hero to zero in a one-hour drive over the mountain," making reference to his nine career PASS victories at White Mountain and 0-fer record at Thunder Road.

Sure, Thunder Road is a tough track, but it's not like Rowe hasn't figured it out: he finished second in the Milk Bowl there in 2007, and has top-five finishes in each of the last two Labor Day Classic 200s at the track. And to be fair, he hasn't even raced there more than eight or nine times in his career. By the same token, look at all the wins Phil Scott has at Thunder Road, but only once has he conquered White Mountain, and that was nine years ago. And by the way, Rowe won four ACT races driving for the Avery team in 2006, so there's that.

If anyone thinks for a second that Ben Rowe hasn't got what it takes to be a competitive ACT driver, they're off their rocker. Ben Rowe will be at the TD Banknorth 250, and if you think the Avery team won't have figured its new car out by then, then, again, you're a crazy person. Rowe will be racing to win his third 250, and if he's not in contention (barring some sort of freak thing like a wreck or a mechanical failure), I'll come on here and tell you I was totally wrong.

Don't bet on me telling you I was wrong.

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I'm not even going to comment on Bobby MacArthur anymore, unless there's a story involving his complete removal from control at All-Star Speedway.

***

Among the highlights of the Dragon family match race at Bear Ridge Speedway last Saturday:

-Referencing Brent Dragon's previous seat time in the 30-lap Sportsman Modified feature prior to the match race, announcer Dave Moody calls the lineup: "Beaver in the 26, Bobby in the 5, and Stroker Ace in the 6."

-Harmon "Beaver" Dragon, age 68, doing absolutely everything he can to find the fast way around, including hitting the tire barriers along the inside edge of the track, driving through mud puddles in the infield at full speed, cutting off his brother, Bobby, and ramming into his son, Brent, on the final lap. Priceless.

-Upon Beaver driving to the pit area between the first and second segments, Moody makes the comment: "Beaver's out of gas. The car is running, Beaver himself is out of gas. A little prune juice and Geritol and we'll be good to go."

-Brent Dragon: "I'll never complain about Ste-Croix being a rough track ever again."
Gary Siemons, #5 car owner: "What? That ain't even rough. That wasn't bad at all."
Brent Dragon: (Expletive deleted)

***

Chris Osgood. Marc-Andre Fleury. Awesome.

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Good for Monadnock Speedway! Eighteen Modifieds competed on Saturday night, which is a great sign for the future of the division. Even better (and no offense is meant by this), Jim Boniface won the feature, meaning division dominator Kirk Alexander didn't.

***

Jean-François Déry's win in the Série ACT-Castrol race at Autodrome Montmagny last Saturday was one for the underdogs, and the fact that he's now headed to Loudon, N.H. in August for the approval test at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is what dreams are made of for a team like his. Yes, Déry is lightning-quick and has top-notch equipment and has contended for titles, but he's still not yet at the caliber of an established champion racer like a Sylvain Lacombe or a Donald Theetge or a Patrick Laperle. He's a racer that more often than not seems to race totally for the moment, and he's one of the most aggressive-but-not-quite-over-the-line racers there is right now. And the fact that he was heard on radio scanners during the race at Montmagny saying he was pushing Theetge's back bumper "for the show" is fantastic.

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Hey, whaddaya think of the new logo?

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Not gonna lie, we're kinda looking forward to Sunday's "Battle of Plattsburgh" at Airborne Speedway with the Super DIRTcar Series. Big guns like like Brett Hearn, Frank Cozze, Billy Decker, Kenny Tremont, and Timmy Fuller versus Airborne homeboys like Martin Roy, Mike Bruno, the Bartemy brothers, George Foley, and Pat Dupree... good stuff.

Our advice: get there a bit before the 6:00 post time.

***

We're only a week out from the first Thursday night race at Thunder Road, which means... (deep breath)... everything. Simply cannot wait.

***

AROUND THE REGION:

Time to take a look at the top Vermonters from the past weekend...

Airborne Speedway (Plattsburgh, N.Y.): Sheldon racer Aaron Bartemy notched his best finish of the season as the runner-up in the Modified race on Saturday night. Brandon's Don Scarborough finished fifth. Milton's Larry Underwood was the top Vermonter in the Tiger Sportsman race, finishing seventh, while Swanton's Kevin Boutin was sixth in the Renegade feature. Billy Jenkins of Milton finished 11th in the Mini-Modifieds.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway (Malta, N.Y.): As Brett Hearn lost for only the second time this season in the Modifieds, Middlebury's Todd Stone finished second behind winner Jeff Trombley on Friday night. South Londonderry's Cullen Howe finished eighth in the Budget Sportsman feature, while Fair Haven's Ed Thompson was fifth in the Pro Street Stock event.

Bear Ridge Speedway (Bradford): Wayne Stearns of Thetford Center finished third in the Sportsman Modified feature on Saturday night, with Bob Shepard of Corinth sixth. Bryan King of Corinth, Jason Gray of East Thetford, and Milton's Brent Dragon finished eighth through tenth. Josh Harrington of Topsham remains undefeated through three Sportsman Coupe events, while East Corinth's Melvin Pierson finished second and Bradford rookie Jason Horniak was third. Will Hull of East Montpelier was able to knock Thetford Center's Dan Eastman off the top in the Limited Late Models. Sharon's Mitch Durkee picked up his first Fast Four win of the season over St. Johnsbury's Kevin Harran, while Bradford's Tom Placey beat Bobby Lee Bell of St. Johnsbury in the Hornet class. Brenda Atherton of Fairlee won the Hornet Queen race.

Canaan Dirt Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Friday's race card was rained out.

Devil's Bowl Speedway (Fair Haven): Middlebury's Todd Stone capped off a strong weekend by finishing second in the Modified race on Sunday. Tim LaDuc of Orwell finished third, followed by Londonderry's Rob Langevin and Vince Quenneville, Jr. of Brandon. Veteran Don Ackner of Castleton, N.Y. was the winner. Cullen Howe of South Londonderry finished 10th in the Budget Sportsman feature. Jeff Washburn of Benson won the Pro Street Stock feature with Salisbury's Fred Little third and Carl Vladyka of Fair Haven fifth. Don Williams of Ripton won the Limited feature, while Mike Clark of Brandon was third.

Monadnock Speedway (Winchester, N.H.): Dana Shepard of Putney finished 10th in the Super Stock race on Saturday night, and Whitingham's Ricky Bernard was 14th in the Mini Stock feature. It was a 1-2-3 family sweep in the four-cylinder Enduro class, as West Brattleboro's Dick Houle beat Vernon racers Adam and Josh Houle for the win.

Riverside Speedway (Groveton, N.H.): Derek Ming of Island Pond won his second-straight Outlaw Sportsman feature on Saturday with Newport Center's David Ofsuryk sixth. Denny Degreenia of Concord finished third in the Super Stock feature. Andrew Fecteau of Hardwick won the Street Stock race, with Derby Line's Brendan Hunt second. Andy Simpson of Lyndon Center won the Cyclone race.

Série ACT-Castrol: Trampas Demers of South Burlington finished second in the Red Bear 100 at Autodrome Montmagny near Québec City on Saturday night, while Graniteville's John Donahue finished 15th.

Utica-Rome Speedway (Vernon, N.Y.): John Scarborough of Bomoseen took his first win of the season in the Sportsman feature on Sunday.

Twin State Speedway (Claremont, N.H.): Rookie Dola Holland of Ludlow finished ninth in the Late Model feature on Friday with Ascutney's Chris Riendeau 11th. Ascutney rookie Joey Jarvis finished fourth in the Modified feature with Windsor's Robert Hagar sixth. Russ Davis of Cavendish finished second in the Super Street feature with West Hartford's Kris Lyman third. Tara Tarbell of Springfield took her second-straight Strictly Stock win. Kyle Small of Quechee beat Hartland's Cody Small to win the Wildcat feature, with North Springfield's Jeremiah Losee third.

White Mountain Motorsports Park (North Woodstock, N.H.): Veteran racer Norm Andrews of Northfield earned a Triple Crown in the Late Model division Saturday night, winning his heat, the semi-feature, and the 50-lap main event. Stevie Parker of Lyndonville was third in the Strictly Stock feature, while Concord's Rubin Call won the Strictly Mini race.

Twin State Speedway sees the return of the True Value Modified Racing Series on Friday night, while Albany-Saratoga Speedway and Canaan Dirt Speedway also return to action. Saturday will see regular events at Bear Ridge, Canaan Fair, Mondanock, and White Mountain, while the Série ACT-Castrol at Québec's Autodrome Chaudière and Riverside Speedway holds the first leg of its $1,000-to-win Bond Auto Triple Crown Series. Devil's Bowl and Utica-Rome return to action on Sunday, while Airborne Speedway has a special 100-lap Super DIRTcar Series event.

(Photos: 1. Ben Rowe a has-been? Give me a freaking break; 2. Beaver Dragon (#26) slides his car around Bear Ridge; 3. J.F. Déry does the best burnouts!; 4. Something new, something blue; 5. Joey Jarvis (#04) races with Arthur Heino (#27) and Aaron Fellows (#1) at Twin State Speedway. Photos 1, 4 by Justin St. Louis/VMM; Photos 2, 5 by Alan Ward; Photo 3 by Stephane Lazare)

Perrotte Bringing Airborne to the Forefront

Mike Perrotte has an on-track résumé deeper than most short track racers will be fortunate enough to build. From the tiniest and most obscure dirt tracks to the grandeur of the old NASCAR North Tour and everything in between, Perrotte has driven just about everything and raced just about everywhere in the northeast. Just last year, he was a race winner and championship contender at Albany-Saratoga Speedway against the likes of Kenny Tremont, Brett Hearn, and Dave Camara, three of the biggest names in dirt modified racing.

But the Elizabethtown, N.Y. man has another side that most drivers can't relate to. On Satruday nights, the 53 year-old trades his helmet in for a set of headphones, climbs out of his 700-horsepower race car, and climbs up the stairs to the control booth. Mike Perrotte the driver isn't here tonight. No, this is Mike Perrotte, Airborne Speedway Promoter.

After winning the 1986 Airborne track championship, Perrotte had a short-lived stint as the promoter. When track owners Ken Squier and Tom Curley decided to transition what was then-known as Airborne International Raceway out of their fold of companies in 2005, car dealership mogul and Dirt Modified team owner George Huttig leased the speedway and hired his driver, Perrotte, to run the operation. When Plattsburgh construction giant Steve Fuller purchased the facility outright from Squier and Curley, he kept Perrotte on the payroll.

The results on and off the track during the last four years under Perrotte's leadership have brought increased local television coverage, a bit of national attention, and have seen the word "Airborne" back as a household name around the region. The addition of DIRTcar-sanctioned Modifieds, improved parking and pit areas, and various weekly attractions only scratch the surface of the changes made. For the upcoming season, Perrotte and Fuller have another laundry list of improvements planned, including redesigning the track itself with progressively-banked corners, similar to those found at short track showplaces like Kawartha Speedway (Ont.) and Toyota Speedway at Irwindale (Calif.), or NASCAR Sprint Cup Series tracks including Bristol Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. The intent is to create more two- and three-wide racing, thereby adding more excitement to the racing program.

"It will change the racing completely," Perrotte said. "(Most of) our divisions seem to get around well, but primarily, divisions like the ACT Late Models and the Tigers, which are sort of similar with tires, limitations on motors, things like that, they all tend to race at the bottom of the track. With this progressive banking, I think - I know - there will be a lot more side-by-side racing."

Perrotte and Fuller have stepped up their game each year, and Airborne Speedway is on the tip of seemingly every race fan's tongue lately.

"We've just made a real commitment to bringing this place to the next level," says Perrotte. "We're putting new lights in all over the facility, we've replaced the whole catch fence all the way down the frontstretch with new poles and fence. We're making a substantial investment, probably $300,000 or $350,000, I guess, I don't know what it'll be when we get done. At a time when everyone is cutting back, it shows our commitment and our faith in what we're doing, and the support we've got from the community and from the racers. Each year the fan count gets better, our car counts are rising, and everything's just really positive. I'm concerned about the economy like everyone else is, but I was more concerned last year at this time than I am now, when gas was at $4.00-plus a gallon. I think that that (positive) change will effect us more this year than the downturn of the economy."

Perrotte is so confident, in fact, that Airborne Speedway will host more marquee events in 2009 than it has in many years, even dating back to the successful Squier/Curley era of the 1990s; the Super DIRT Series - the largest, most successful dirt Modified racing circuit in the world - will roll into Airborne for the first time in June, and Curley's American-Canadian Tour will hold a pair of events, including the return of the historic Fall Foliage 300 in September. The 300 will be the longest event ever held for the ACT Late Model Tour. Add to that list a pair of stand-alone 100-lap Modified events, a 100-lap Tiger Sportsman race, 50-lap specials for the track's support divisions, an Enduro, fireworks, chain races, and more, and Airborne Speedway has the potential to be one of the leading attractions - stock car racing or otherwise - in the northeast.

Perrotte sees recent announcements that top regional drivers including Todd Stone, Don Scarborough, and Jessica Zemken will compete on a more frequent basis at Airborne, and past special appearances by nationally-respected short track racers as a culmination of several things, not the least of which are personal relationships that he first forged as a competitor.

"A lot of that is due to the fact that I know these people and they're all friends of mine and we've all raced together for a long time, but even more importantly is guys like Timmy McCreadie and Timmy Fuller, for instance, guys that can't wait to come back," Perrotte explained. "McCreadie came and ran once last year and told everyone that it was the most fun he had all season. Timmy Fuller, he's not running the (Super DIRT) Series full-time, but he contacted me about two months ago, and he's thinking about coming here. So that says a lot, I mean, maybe our friendship got them here in the first place, but they had a good time while they were here and the racing keeps them coming back. The atmosphere, too, they way they're treated by fans and racers and officials, that's all part of the deal."

In addition to the racing and special appearances, Perrotte and Fuller have created a couple fan-friendly experiences that aren't found anywhere else - a trolley bus that tours fans and children around the speedway grounds and pit area, and a weekly post-race party held in the style of SPEED Channel's Trackside Live program. Both have proven to be very popular.

"Our trolley is huge," said Perrotte, "and that was Steve Fuller's doing. We have a team, every one of us involved in this thing, from the guys that park in the parking lot, it's all a team effort. The racers, the fans, it's not one person, it's everyone working together. The trolley is pretty neat, we've had a good time with that. And the go-karts during the week. Every year we have someone from the go-karts jump into the race cars. They get into the four-cylinders, and every year we have people jumping from one division to the next, so it's all growing."

And speaking of the four-cylinder cars, one of the items on the long list of changes is the transformation of Airborne's Warrior division into the new-look Mini-Modifieds. The cars look exotic, and are already popular among fans and race teams. The purpose is to differentiate the cars from the entry-level Bomber class.

"I've got to be honest with you, it was Tom Curley's idea," chuckled Perrotte. "I'd like to take credit for it, but he said 'Why don't you do something with those cars? You've got two divisions that are same, why don't you take the fenders off and make them different?' and I thought it was a great idea. Because we had two divisions that were the same, people in the stands didn't know one from the other, and it was a little confusing. The best part is that it gives those (Mini-Modified) guys their own identity, and it doesn't cost much to do it. We haven't allowed them to modify the suspensions or anything like that, we just said pull the front ends off the cars and make your own, or leave them off, do whatever you want to do, just make them look different. And they look pretty cool."

Perrotte says he is happy with the state of Airborne Speedway and its recent wave of success, and plans on the trend continuing for years to come.

"It'll be more of the same, bringing in bigger races, although I think in our area we can't get any bigger than the Super DIRT Series and the ACT 300, I think those will always be our two biggest events," he said. "Even if we decided to have a NASCAR race, I still think that those two races in our community and in our area would be our biggest races. We'll certainly entertain the idea of other associations. I see our weekly program going stronger, too. If the race track is a lot fun to drive then we'll have a lot of race cars and racers that want to be there and with that comes more fans, so I just see the whole thing snowballing. Our affiliation with ACT will continue to grow more and more, and with the DIRTcar Modifieds. I've talked to some people about doing a Sprint Car show.

"The sky is the limit, we just have to use our heads and move slowly."

(Photos 1 and 2 courtesy Leif Tillotson, Photo 3 by VMM)