Thunder Road moves all opening weekend events to Saturday
May 3, 2024 | By Waterbury Roundabout 
The Kenley Dean Squier Extravaganza Celebration of Life will be held at Thunder Road at noon on Saturday. Image courtesy of Thunder Road
Saturday’s opening day schedule at Thunder Road International Speedbowl – including the Kenley Dean Squier Extravagana at noon – has expanded as raceway and American-Canadian Tour officials have moved the Sunday race program up given a rainy forecast for the second half of the weekend.
Originally scheduled for Sunday, the Community Bank, N.A. program is now slotted for 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“After searching through for a chance of sun, it became clear that Sunday’s cold temperatures would take away any chance for drying the track when the rains show up,” said Thunder Road managing partner Cris Michaud. “Moving the program to Saturday made the most sense for both our traveling teams and locals and we look forward to a fantastic opening day at The Road!”
Saturday’s schedule starts with the annual Car Show at 9 a.m. running until noon.
The Celebration of Life in honor of Thunder Road founder and longtime WDEV Radio Vermont owner Ken Squier will begin promptly at noon. That program featuring special guest speakers has been in the works for several months since Squier’s death at age 88 last November. The public is invited to this event and admission is free.
Following the Squier memorial celebration, both the grandstands and pit area will be cleared of spectators. General admission tickets will go on sale starting at 2 p.m. and the grandstand gates will reopen at 2:30 p.m. for spectators during the practice runs. General admission tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for kids 12-6; children 5 and under are free.
Racing will begin at 5:30 p.m. with American-Canadian Tour qualifying heat races. With the schedule change, the annual Class Day activities have been moved to Memorial Day weekend, officials noted.
More information: Contact Thunder Road at 802-244-6963 or visit thunderroadvt.com. Thunder Road is also on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at @ThunderRoadVT.