Brown tames Thunder Road for second straight Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour triumph

Gabe Brown’s performances at Thunder Road International Speedbowl last year were easily his biggest opportunity for improvement this season.

Consider Gabe improved.

The 2024 Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour champion reversed his fortunes in grand fashion Sunday, taking his second straight win of 2026 in the 28th annual Community Bank, N.A. 150.

And for the first time since Brown was born, a trio of touring specialists swept the podium at ACT’s home venue.

The legendary Barre, Vt. quarter-mile has long been the bane of ACT’s touring contingent, finding favor instead with its home-grown weekly racers. Former champ D.J. Shaw’s win in the 2022 Labor Day Classic had been the last for a touring regular who had not competed weekly at Thunder Road. More incredibly, ACT touring racers had not swept the top three of an ACT premier race since 1994, when Mike Rowe topped Brad Leighton and Tracy Gordon in the Tour’s long-defunct Pro Stock sanction.

Despite winning the previous week’s return to Lee USA Speedway, the ever-confident Brown had no indication he would lead any such sweep. Brown finished 16th, 18th and 11th in his last three Tour events at Thunder Road, with a hard crash ending his 2025 Vermont Milk Bowl effort.

And on a track where track position can be at a premium, Brown’s past-winner’s handicap left him tenth on the grid.

Modified standout Jake Johnson and reigning Série ACT champ Jeff Côté brought the 29-car field to the green flag, with Côté pouncing to take the early lead. Johnson, under fire from weekly challenger Justin Prescott, put his own pressure on Côté to lead lap 29, then shook free of the Quebecer a few laps later to take the top spot.

By then, Brown had cracked the top five, using lapped traffic to close the gap to Johnson. On lap 58, with proceedings still clean and green, Brown worked past “The Jet” to take the lead for himself.

Brooks Clark and Jimmy Renfrew, Jr. got together thirty laps later, bringing out the race’s first caution flag well past halfway. Brown kept Johnson and Jesse Switser at bay on the ensuing restart, with multi-time track champion Jason Corliss and defending race winner Kaiden Fisher challenging Prescott in the top five.

A spin for Cooper Bouchard brought the yellow flag out again with three laps to go, but Brown made quick work of his competition on the drop of the green, pulling away by almost a second as he crossed under the checkers.

Two years since his last top-ten finish in Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour competition at the “Nation’s Site of Excitement,” Brown took his eighth career ACT Tour win, his second in a row, and his fifth in the last nine races.

Not to be outdone, Johnson and Switser drag-raced to the line with Johnson edging out the 2023 Midsummer Classic 250 winner to take second. With their podium performances, the three touring-centric racers managed a feat that had not been achieved in either Brown’s or Johnson’s lifetime.

Thunder Road track champions rounded out the top five, with 2024 titlist and Tour full-timer Fisher ahead of reigning “King of the Road” Corliss.

Two-time Vermont Milk Bowl winner Marcel Gravel was sixth. D.J. Shaw’s first ACT start of 2026 ended in a seventh-place drive, with Prescott wheeling Shaw’s former Tour ride to eighth. Early contender Côté wrapped up his first Thunder Road visit in ninth, while rookie Jacob “Rowdy” Burns was tenth.

Nine cars were left on the lead lap in a feature that was complete, green to checkers, in just over 45 minutes.

And in 45 minutes, Brown showed the early fruits of what could be a pivotal year for the young racer. Racing full-time for himself in ACT and for car owner Bobby Webber, Jr. in the Pro All Stars Series, Brown has also started his own setup shop, Factory 47, tuning cars for himself and Fisher so far.

Not even 24 years old, the Center Conway, N.H. native still carries the burden of his hard-charging, frayed-fenders reputation. However, that reputation has mellowed as confrontations have given way to celebrations.

Brown holds an early lead in the standings over Johnson and Switser with a fourth straight race weekend looming at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H. Fourteen drivers have attempted all three races so far; ACT legend Brian Hoar subbed for Alexendre Tardif in the Team 31 Racing entry at Thunder Road, but was caught up in a consi crash that left the team sidelined for the main event.

In two prior ACT appearances at Star, Brown has finished fourth and third.

The Tour’s hottest hand will try to do two better Saturday evening.

Unofficial Results
Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour | Community Bank, N.A. 150
Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre, Vt.
1. (47NH) Gabe Brown
2. (91CT) Jake Johnson
3. (25NH) Jesse Switser
4. (18VT) Kaiden Fisher
5. (66VT) Jason Corliss
6. (86VT) Marcel J. Gravel
7. (60BH) D.J. Shaw
8. (04VT) Justin Prescott
9. (51QC) Jeff Côté
10. (30RI) Jacob “Rowdy” Burns
11. (64VT) Christopher Pelkey
12. (48VT) Taylor Hoar
13. (36NH) Erick Sands
14. (00VT) Brandon Gray
15. (00NH) Jimmy Renfrew, Jr.
16. (41QC) Jonathan Bouvrette
17. (01VT) Stephen Martin
18. (26VT) Stephen Donahue
19. (68VT) Brooks Clark
20. (7VT) Cooper Bouchard
21. (73MA) Cole Littlewood
22. (29NH) Aaron Fellows
23. (33QC) Rémi Perreault
24. (02WP) Geoff Rollins
25. (0VT) Scott Dragon
26. (16VT) Brandon Lanphear
27. (92VT) Jaden Perry
28. (71VT) Jesse Laquerre
29. (48K) Kyle Streeter
DNS (17VT) Darrell Morin
DNQ (04NH) Shawn Swallow
DNQ (33VT) Matt Sonnhalter
DNQ (23NH) Craig Smith
DNQ (31CT) Brian Hoar
DNQ (5VT) Bobby Therrien

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