Story and Photos on Thunder Road driver Brett Wheeler
Story and photos by Leif Tillotson
It’s hard to imagine someone driving a race car in front of thousands of fans each week and going largely unnoticed, yet that is exactly where Waterbury Center, VT's Brett Wheeler and his Hallstrom Motorsports team find themselves most of the time.
There are better-funded race teams with much flashier drivers at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre. They grab headlines with wins and crashes, perhaps evening daring passes for position and maybe even an occasional bit of controversy. The driver of the #1 Late Model is not among this group.
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With a solid ninth-place final points position in 2011, Brett Wheeler has proven that he belongs among “the big boys” at the track that bills itself as “The Nation’s Site of Excitement.” Rather than muscle his way in front of his competitors, Brett is content to earn his place at the top by being a courteous, methodical and smart racer.
Traits like courtesy and smart racing are genetic to the Wheeler family. Brett’s brother Chad was the 2006 Late Model Champion at Thunder Road and rose to the title with much the same driving style that Brett now races with. Like Brett, Chad was a constant threat for wins while at the same time often “flying below the radar” when it came to newspaper headlines and fan attention.
The Wheeler presence extends to the crew chief role on the team as well. Troy Wheeler is Chad and Brett’s brother and was crew chief for Brett’s 2005 Riverside Late Model and Chad’s 2006 Thunder Road Late Model title.
Brett’s racing career began in 1981 running motocross races. Turning from 2 wheels to four behind the wheel of a Busch Grand National North car in 1984, Brett permanently took up stock cars beginning in 1988 with the Flying Tiger division at Thunder Road.
In 1989 he raced a full season and earned Rookie of the Year honors in the Flying Tiger division.
Since 1989 Brett has raced primarily at Thunder Road and Riverside Speedway (in Groveton, NH). He was the 2005 Late Model Champion at Riverside Speedway and is also a winner at Thunder Road. Brett has also competed in Late Model Sportsman events at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, New York, Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine and Sanair Super Speedway, in St. Pie, Quebec.
Louie Hallstrom had been a crewmember on Brett’s race efforts from 1986 through his championship season at Riverside in 2005. Before that he worked on the crews of Clem "Desperate" Despault and “Stormin” Norm Andrews. When Brett took a break from full-time racing starting with the 2006 season, Louie also stepped away from the sport for a while.
In 2009 Louie and his wife Lisa started Hallstrom Motorsports based out of Northfield, Vermont. After a brief period with a different driver, The Hallstroms put Brett behind the wheel of their race car midway through the 2010 season and have had him as their driver ever since.
What makes the Hallstrom Motorsports team so different is how long they have been together. The majority of the team (including Brett) have been together for more than 20 years; a length of time almost unheard of in a sport with such high turnover for personnel. Troy Wheeler serves as the crew chief, Ken Goslant is the spotter and crew members include Todd Keller, Scott Guyette, Steve Grandfield, Henry Lavanway, Jeff Davis, Mike Burnor, Jonathan Davis and Mike Pendergast.
The #1 Late Model finished in second place two times in 2011 as well as a third place and a ninth place final points finish in the twelve races that made up the Thunder Road weekly points season. While not receiving the same amount of attention as other drivers in the top 15 in points, Brett and the Hallstrom team definitely earned their position among the heavy hitters and modern-day Thunder Road legends.
Maintaining a top-level race team does not come easily. It also does not come without a lot of help from sponsors. The team receives sponsorship help from Spherion Staffing Services, Army ROTC/Norwich University, New Horizons Screen Print & Embroidery, E.A. Grandfield Excavating, Depot Square Pizzeria, Texas Roadhouse and Hallstrom Excavating. Like most race teams, though, additional sponsorship is always being sought.
It certainly helps for the team’s budget that Brett’s smooth and smart driving style usually brings the car back in one piece at the end of the night. Having been around the sport for so long, Brett clearly races with the old racing adage “in order to finish first you must first finish” firmly in his thoughts. This means that rather than having to spend time working on rebuilding the car, which is both expensive and time-consuming, the fact that Brett keeps the car mostly damage-free allows the team more time to work on fine-tuning their setup and looking for additional speed from their car.
For a top race team, it can be frustrating not to get as much press as other teams get. “The team's accomplishments are often overlooked” says Lisa Hallstrom. “Brett tends not to create any waves, which is good, however he tends to blend in sometimes and not stand out. Because he's not a "young gun" any longer, his consistency is often overlooked.”
Despite the fact that universal rules allow ACT-legal Late Models like the #1 Hallstrom car to race all over New England and Canada, the Hallstrom Motorsports team is devoted to Thunder Road. “We've been asked to race many different series/tracks” says Lisa Hallstrom. “However, Louis is a firm believer that the competition is the greatest at Thunder Road and if you can win there, you've accomplished something.”
Don’t be surprised to find Brett Wheeler and the Hallstrom Motorsports team doing just that- -winning- -in 2012 and beyond. And even though the team does not have a Late Model championship at Thunder Road, expect them to continue being a consistent, quiet threat for the top spot not only on a weekly basis but also when it comes to season-ending “King of the Road” points.
****************************************************************** Visit www.LeifTillotsonPhotography.com to view my photos and read my published articles |
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