Thunder Road's Curley earns LMS Promoter award

CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 15, 2003) - Tom Curley, the flamboyant promoter of Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., will be honored as the Lowe's Motor Speedway Promoter of the Year during pre-race festivities for the UAW-GM Quality 500 Saturday night, Oct. 11.

Thunder Road International Speedbowl is a quaint, quarter-mile asphalt oval tucked away in the scenic hills of upper Vermont. But Curley's focus on entertaining his customers and offering a fun environment for his competitors has grown the facility into a short-track racing showcase.

"In the early years of motorsports, the industry was full of flamboyant promoters who knew they had to sell their races as entertainment," said H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway. "Tom Curley is a throwback to that era.

"Whether he is conducting a drivers' meeting with the intensity of a southern evangelist or orchestrating one of his outrageous special events, Tom Curley is all about putting on a show-and that keeps people pouring through the gates each week at Thunder Road."

Under Curley's direction, Thunder Road features a weekly Thursday night program from early June through mid-August with special events sprinkled throughout the season. The specials include visits by the American-Canadian Tour, which Curley also organizes, and the NASCAR Busch Grand National North Series along with the season-ending Milk Bowl in late September where the winner kisses one of racing's most unique trophy queens-a cow!

Curley adds entertainment to his weekly racing programs with such events as a Kids' Tricycle Triathlon, a Port-A-Potty Grand Prix, Kids' Race Car Rides and fireworks.

Former recipients of the Lowe's Motor Speedway Promoter of the Year Award include Ned Jarrett, Bill Donoho, Dick and Bob Bahre, Charles PoweII, Mickey Swims, Earl Baltes and last year's honoree Ralph Capitani, who manages Iowa's Knoxville Raceway.

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