CATAMOUNT COMPETITORS

The Limited Sportsman cars were not to last long. In order to be in the limelight of NASCAR racing, the way to go was with the high - profile Late Model Sportsman division, which had a number of very prominent competitors, like Ray Hendrick, Butch Lindley, Harry Gant, and many more. Once in the shadow of the Grand Nationals and depending on bigger name stars filling out their Permatex fields, this division now had an identity of its own, which was furthered by the two big Martinsville races each year.

With all this in mind, Catamount [and the who circuit] upgraded to full late model sportsman status by 1972. No longer would any of the old cars be allowed in with the strictly-monitored sportsman cars. But, instead of reducing the fields or discouraging competitors, the exact opposite effect was realized. Teams were coming in from Southern New England, as well as a number of big names from the dirt track world. Catamount's pits were full to overflowing with snazzy little Chevelles, as well as Fords and Mopars. The track's die was cast... and it would seemingly never go back.

Larry Caron is typical of the late model drivers who were the heart and soul of
Catamount's various Beer Tours and series.

What would happen, however, was the gradual refinement of these cars, often based on innovations coming North from the Deep South in the earlier days. Later, however, thanks to leading builders like Steve Leavitt and others, the Northeast started to keep pace with those south of the Mason - Dixon line. Northern NASCAR cars, when meeting up with the SOuthern superstars at races like the Oxford 250, were more than up to the task. All would well with the world until the mid 1980's.

MAIN COMPETITORS PAGE	John Bourgeois Bobby Dragon Milton, VT	Darrell Rogers Jamie Aube North Ferrisburg, VT	Darrell Rogers Bobby Dragon Milton, VT	Darrell Rogers Beaver Dragon Milton, VT Dragon Family
COUPES ERA	NEAR Photo Stanley"Stub"Fadden, No. Haverhill, NH Ron Shappy Photo	Darrell Rogers Joey Kourafas Stoughton, MA	Darrell Rogers Randy LaJoie Norwalk, Ct.	Darrell Rogers Claude LeClerc Montreal, QU
EARLY FLYING TIGERS	Bob Doyle Photo Barney McRae Colchester, VT	Denis LaChance Photo Ron Barcomb Winooski, VT Denis LaChance Photo Terry LaFerriere Photo Click Here for a Ron Barcomb Page	Dana Patten Enfield, NH	Denis LaChance Photo Roger LaPerle Ste. Eustache, QU Darrell Rogers MrBlackChevy Site Photographer Unknown
LIMITED SPORTSMAN	Lonnie Terry Donald Pelletier Quebec City, QU	Denis LaChance Photo Dave Dion Hudson, NH	Denis LaChance Photo Steve Poulin North Troy, VT	Denis LaChance Photo Hector LeClair Burlington, VT
HURRICANES	Denis LaChance Photo Don Brown Scarborough, ME	Denis LaChance Photo Bobby Dragon Milton, VT	Denis LaChance Photo Andy Isbister Enfield, CT	Denis LaChance Photo Bart Foster St. Johnsbury, VT
LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN Early Later	Denis LaChance Photo Courtesy of Pascal Magnum & Andre Chausse "Tiny" Lund Cross, SC Stock Car Racing Mag Photo	Denis LaChance Photo Allen Whipple Claremont, NH	Denis LaChance Photo Pete Silva Waterville, ME	Darrell Rogers Photo Beaver Dragon Milton, VT
MINI STOCKS	Darrell Rogers Jean - Paul Cabana, Beloeil, QU Denis LaChance Photo	NEAR Photo Dick McCabe Kennebunkport, ME Denis LaChance Photo	Denis LaChance Photo Brent Hatch Groton, VT Became a very active car builder.	Kevin Lepage Shelburne, VT
GRAND AMERICANS	Denis LaChance Photo Claude Gou Montreal, QU The Ed Champagne Chevrolet from Plattsburgh, NY.	Denis LaChance Photo Tommy Rosati Agawam, MA	Langis Caron Quebec City, QU
STREET STOCKS	Denis LaChance Photo Skip Cahill Bath, ME.	Bob Doyle Photo Denis LaChance Photo Beaver Dragon Milton, VT	Lonnie Terry Dave Greene Plymouth, NH	Denis LaChance Photo Randy Corey, South Burlington, VT
ACT CARS	Denis LaChance Photo Mike Perrotte Morrisonville, NY	Denis LaChance Photo Keith Cavanaugh Knowlton, QU	Photo from Mike Leach Robbie Crouch, Georgia, VT	Ron Shappy Photo Steve Poulin North Troy, VT
NEW TIGERS	Ron Shappy Photo Chuck Bown, Portland,OR The Quint Boisvert Skoal Bandit car	Dennis Therrien Photo Courtesy of Ron Shappy Bown's big spill off Turn 4 Ron Shappy Photo The Aftermath	Andy Boright via The Outside GrooveSite Ralph Nason, Newburgh. ME	Andy Boright via The Outside Groove Site Harvey Sprague, Bangor, ME
	Denis LaChance Photo Mike Barry, Bolton, VT Pizzagalli Construction Denis LaChance Photo	Dan Nolin Photo Peter Pizzagalli, Charlotte, VT Teammate of Barry	Denis LaChance Photo Mike Barry, Bolton, VT Pizzagalli Construction Prior to the Pizzagalli-owned team	Lisa Yantz Photo Jay Yantz, Monkton, VT
	Chas Casavant Photo Dan Perez, Tampa, FLA Denis LaChance Photo	Denis LaChance Photo Ralph Nason, Newburgh, ME	Denis LaChance Photo Dick Glines, Jackson, NH	Denis LaChance Photo Harvey Sprague Bangor, ME

Dale Shaw [60] leads a field of late models in the last year of the steel bodies at
Catamount. 86 could be Randy MacDonald, 11 is Claude LeClerc, and 00 is
Roger LaPerle.

Do you have pictures of other drivers from this era at Catamount ? If you would like to make them available for me to place on this site contact me at: wladabou@comcast.net