VERMONT SPORTS HALL OF FAME

(Photo Credit: Sheila Somers)

Milton

Auto Racing

Inducted 2015

A member of the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame, Bobby Dragon was an icon in Vermont stock car racing since the 1960s and winning races and track and circuit titles at all levels for over 40 years.

In 1965 at the age of 19, he debuted a Flying Tiger car at Catamount Stadium in his hometown, winning seven feature events his first year. By the time the track closed in 1987, Dragon was Catamount's all-time victory leader with 52 wins. Among his Catamount big scores were the 1972 and 1974 New England 300s, the 1975 Spring Green, and track championships in 1969, 1972, 1977, and 1980.

Success was not limited to Catamount, however, as he won 22 overall races and took three track championships at Thunder Road in Barre, two titles at Devil's Bowl Speedway in Fair Haven, the 1972 crown at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y., and three titles at the Sanair Int'l Raceway over the border in St-Pie, Quebec. Dragon was also Vermont State Champion in 1969, 1973, and 1977, and won the Northern NASCAR Late Model Sportsman circuit championship in 1973, 1977, and 1978. He also was a three-time winner of the Vermont Governor's Cup (1975, 1979, 1985).

Dragon was a frequent winner with NASCAR North capturing 17 races in seven years (1979-85) prior to the development of the current American-Canadian Tour (ACT). Other highlights include the 1972 Thunder Road "King of the Road" (Late Model Sportsmen), the 1969 Vermont State Flying Tiger Champion, the 1972 Milk Bowl winner, and the winning the 1969 Memorial Day Classic winner at Thunder Road. 

Dragon also raced successfully in open-wheel Modifieds on dirt and asphalt in the 1970s. He drove to 14 victories in what is now the NASCAR Camping World East Series, at the larger tracks in the Northeast and in 25 career starts in the present-day NASCAR XFINITY Series, he posted top-ten finishes at many of the nation's larger tracks.