Photo: Chase Folsom

Short Track Weekly: The Vermont Milk Bowl, Short Track Racing’s Most Unique Crown Jewel

by

Fall foliage season is in full affect by the first weekend of October in central Vermont, meaning it’s time for the annual running of a storied tradition in New England stock car racing: The Vermont Milk Bowl.

This Sunday (Oct. 5) a full field of the best late model racers New England has to offer will gather atop Quarry Hill for the 63rd running of the Milk Bowl, an event held every year since 1962, with the exception of 1981.

The Milk Bowl is more than just your typical race. It’s an event so unique to short track racing it can only be defined as one of a kind, much like the track it’s held at.

Many know the story of Thunder Road International Speedbowl and how the little quarter-mile bullring got its start. When it was founded by the late Ken Squier back in 1960, Squier decided the track would race on Thursday nights. This was done to attract the local granite shed workers who got paid by the mines each Thursday. Rather than spend their money at the bar, they’d take themselves to the racetrack.

This tradition has stood the test of time, as Thunder Road still races on Thursdays to this day. However, weekly racing wasn’t enough. Squier wanted the track to have a marquee event unique to itself, one it would be remembered for on the racing calendar.

Enter the Milk Bowl. It may not have brought all the glitz and glam that is seen today, but the race’s unique format has always remained the same.

Differing from a typical single-race format, the Milk Bowl was to be contested in three segments, each 50 laps in distance. The field for segment one is set by time-trials the day prior, followed by 50-lap heat races. The lineups for segments two and three are inverted from the results of the segment prior.

In the end, the winner is determined by who has the lowest score from the three segments, meaning every lap truly counts in the 150 total laps. Score is counted by adding together a driver’s finishing position from each segment.

Squier, well known of course for his ability to give a nickname, dubbed it “the toughest short track stock car race in North America.”

The title stuck – and in many ways, the statement stands true to this day. Sure, plenty of races have unique formats, like the Knoxville Nationals weekend for the World of Outlaws, or even the Virginia Triple Crown series in Late Model Stock car racing. But those are a series of races, with multiple winners that culminate in a series champion or a winner of the big race at the end.

In this case, these three races matter equally. Score great in the first and third but poorly in the second, you likely won’t win the overall. The best drivers have to work their way through traffic not once, but twice, around one of the toughest bullrings in North America.

Only three times has a driver ever scored a perfect three. In fact, over the past three seasons, the average score of the winner has been 19.3 as the competition continues to grow stronger.

Everything about the event makes it special. The fall scenery in Vermont is typically picturesque by Milk Bowl Sunday. The prestige of the venue is as good as any, as there are few short track facilities kept up to the quality of Thunder Road.

The post-race traditions embody everything about the Green Mountain State that Thunder Road calls home. Carving the winner’s name into the granite monument behind the tower, kissing the Vermont Ayrshire cow in victory lane and, of course, awarding one of the richest prizes in all of north eastern short track racing. The winner scores a $12,000 paycheck at day’s end.

For racers in Vermont and the surrounding states (as well as Canada), the Milk Bowl could be the race that puts you on the map – a once-in-a-lifetime moment every racecar driver dreams of.

The list of past winners is nothing short of New England stock car royalty. Dave Dion. Dick McCabe. Bobby and Beaver Dragon. Randy LaJoie. Kevin Lepage. Even the current Vermont governor, Phil Scott. In recent years, Jason Coriliss and Nick Sweet have cemented their Milk Bowl legacies as three-and-four-time winners of the event.

An event created by a racing legend, designed to create racing legends. It’s the masterpiece of a motorsports mastermind that has stood the test of time, proving that the best things in racing aren’t in need of change.

Now, for the second time since the passing of Squier back in November 2023, late models will hit the track to compete in the Milk Bowl – the same as they did way back in 1962.

If you’ve never heard of it, now you have. If you’ve never watched it, now you should. It’s one of the great examples of short track racing in its purest form and one of the longest, most cherished traditions in New England auto racing.

When the floods in Barre, Vt. canceled a trip to Thunder Road for the Superstar Racing Experience in 2023, the entire community was bummed. When the series then closed its doors in 2024, some began to wonder if Thunder Road would ever get the event it deserved.

In reality, they’ve had it all along. For 60 of the past 63 years, to be exact – the race was held at Catamount Stadium in 1978 & 1980. So if you don’t like the racing in the NASCAR Cup Series this Sunday, just turn on FloRacing and catch the show.

“The Nation’s Site of Excitement” never disappoints.

Donate to Frontstretch

Chase began working with Frontstretch in the spring of 2023 as a news writer, while also helping fill in for other columns as needed. Chase is now the main writer and reporter for Frontstretch.com's CARS Tour coverage, a role which began late in 2023.  Aside from racing, some of Chase's other hobbies include time in the outdoors hunting and fishing, and keeping up with all things Philadelphia sports related.