Summer in Vermont officially begins on Thursday evening, as Ferguson Waterworks presents the first of 12 Thursday night stock car racing events at Barre’s Thunder Road.  Four divisions of race cars will compete at the high-banked ¼-mile oval on Quarry Hill to kick off the 48th year of traditional Thursday night summer races.

Pembroke is the Late Model point leader

Justin Hart celebrates his WDEV win last season

Justin Hart of Williamstown is the defending winner of the WDEV special.  The second-generation racer earned his first career victory in a “Twin 75” format one year ago, celebrating WDEV’s 75th anniversary on Vermont’s AM and FM radio airwaves.  The 2007 edition of the event will return to the “traditional” 100-lap format used in previous seasons.

Hart said he and his McLeon Electric/Ducharme’s Machine Shop team are ready for the WDEV 100.

“We’re pretty excited about it, we like the long races,” he said.  “It was a lot of fun winning that race last year, but we haven’t been going as well this season."

The colorful Wallace, also known by race fans as “Herman”, has more than 330 starts in the Nextel Cup Series, and is a nine-time winner in the NASCAR Busch Series.  He currently drives the Furniture Row #78 Chevrolet on the Nextel Cup Series, and is a co-host on SPEED TV’s NASCAR RaceDay.  Wallace has also released a new book, Inside Herman’s World, with publisher Coastal 181 of Newburyport, MA.  His

“Ol’ Herman is coming to invade Thunder Road!” Wallace exclaimed on Monday.  “I’ve heard about that legendary little race track for many, many years.  [Track co-owner] Ken Squier is a good friend of mine, and he’s always talked about how great the fans are at Thunder Road.  We’re racing at New Hampshire that weekend, and Coastal 181 asked me to do a book signing at Thunder Road while I was in New England.  I figured I might as well race while I’m there.”