Chris Pelkey Doubles Up with Consecutive Times Argus Midseason Championships At Thunder Road


(Press release from Thunder Road International Speedbowl)

Graniteville’s Christopher Pelkey used the outside groove at Thunder Road on Thursday to take down his second consecutive Times Argus Midseason Championship. In all, Pelkey doubled down on the iconic race win along with double the points and double the cash, courtesy of our Streaming Partners at FloRacing. Rookie Kaiden Fisher and veteran four-cylinder aces Josh Lovely and Frank Putney also doubled down on Times Argus Midseason Championships night.

The rk Miles Street Stocks led the way in feature action as Todd Raymo and Haidyn Pearce took the green, Pearce immediately took the top spot and was off like a rocket in his purple Cavalier. With Taylor Hoar and Thomas Peck on his tail, Pearce was in the hot seat, especially with the first caution on lap 15 for the spinning Peck on the backstretch. On the restart a pileup catastrophe occurred on the front stretch, ending the day of Kyle MacAskill and Justin ‘El Chopo’ Blakely. The big story of the night, after injury sat Jeffrey Martin out for the night, former track champion Nick Pilotte sat in the driver seat. After coming from 20th to 6th, the Martin car powered down and didn’t come back to life. 

Following the restart, Dean Switser Jr. got around Taylor Hoar to take the lead while both would soon succumb to Josh Lovely’s #54 machine as he rim-rode the outside line to take the lead. Lovely would win his third race of the season followed by a solid point night for the leader Dean Switser Jr. and Taylor Hoar earned another podium finish in her solid sophomore season.

The Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers took off for their 50 Lap main event next. Led to point by Chris Laforest and Logan Powers, a Tropical Storm moved in and quickly overtook them. Rookie leader Kaiden Fisher took the lead and never looked back. Following the lap 23 caution for the spinning Tyler Austin, Fisher’s outside had a whole lot of Cameron Ouellette. While Fisher powered away, Ouellette didn’t give in, staying within a car length from the S.D. Ireland machine of Fisher.

By lap 40, a new character arrived on the scene as Sam Caron charged hard on the outside to overtake Ouellette for second. As the final laps clicked away, Caron gained inches in each corner, but Fisher held his own. Getting to within one foot of Fisher’s rear bumper in the trip around the high banks, it still wasn’t enough for Caron. Shelburne’s Kaiden Fisher took down his second win of his rookie season in the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers followed by Milton’s Sam Caron and Barre’s Cameron Ouellette.

It was rookie versus the all time winner starting the front row of the Midseason Championship event for the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models. While multi-time track champion Phil Scott held his own against rookie Keegan Lamson at the beginning, he would eventually fade to the youth movement. Lamson would lead the early portions of the 75-lap main event followed by Chris Roberts and fellow rookie Stephen Martin. As this three-way battle for the podium commenced, Chip Grenier, Christopher Pelkey and Brandon Lanphear all gained real estate behind them, inching ever closer. 

Following a lap 40 caution for the spinning Eric Chase, the two rookies were side by side, each splitting the lead on the next five laps until Lamson was back leading the race. Taking advantage of the slowing Martin, Pelkey made a daring move to the outside lane. As the field slowed for Lanphear’s spin in turn three, the restart allowed Pelkey to take advantage of the outside and power by the rookie with Grenier and Stephen Donahue in tow. With 15-to-go it was Pelkey leading Grenier, Donahue, Cooper Bouchard, Lamson and Scott Dragon moving into position.

Up front, Donahue began edging Grenier for second on the outside but the veteran didn’t give in, the constant two wide battle for second only allowing Pelkey to run farther away. Under the checkered flags Christopher Pelkey became the Times Argus Midseason Champion for the second consecutive season followed by Chip Grenier and Stephen Donahue. Dragon and Bouchard would round out the top five. 

Rounding out the Times Argus Midseason Championships came the always entertaining Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors. From the get-go it was a hard nosed battle between veterans Frank Putney and Josh Vilbrin. The side-by-side battle allowed Ryan Foster to swoop in for third before taking second away from Vilbrin while half a track away Taylor Sayers nearly went for the spin cycle with an ill-handling car. With Putney having a straightaway lead, the first caution came out on Lap 15 with the Race-2-Read car getting mixed up with Rodney Campbell and Jason Kirby coming out of turn four. On the restart it was nothing but pink. Frank Putney took down the double purse win followed by Ryan Foster and the returning Jamie York. 

The Nation’s Site of Excitement returns Thursday, July 28th with WDEV/Calkins Toilets Night at Thunder Road. The Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models, Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers and rk Miles Street Stocks and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors will all be in attendance along with the annual Port-a-Potty Grand Prix. Post Time is set for 7:00pm with full race day schedule and pricing information available in the near future. 

Since 1897, the Times Argus has served Central Vermont as the independent and trusted voice of the people of Vermont. Let the Times Argus be your source for local news on your smartphone, computer and in-print. Keeping up with changing times doesn’t mean giving up on tradition.  Call the Times Argus to hear about our e-paper and print home delivery or keep up on the latest news on Facebook and Twitter.

For more information, contact the Thunder Road offices at (802) 244-6963, [email protected], or visit www.thunderroadvt.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @ThunderRoadVT.

Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl – Barre, VT

Times Argus Midseason Championships

Thursday, July 21, 2022

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models – 75 Laps

1          64VT    Chris Pelkey                 Graniteville, VT

2          9VT      Chip Grenier               Orange, VT

3          2VT      Stephen Donahue       Graniteville, VT

4          0VT      Scott Dragon               Milton, VT

5          7VT      Cooper Bouchard        Hinesburg, VT

6          27VT    Kyle Pembroke            Montpelier, VT

7          55VT    #Keegan Lamson         Berlin, VT        

8          17VT    Darrell Morin              Westford, VT

9          3VT      Chris Roberts               Washington, VT

10        86VT    Marcel J. Gravel          Wolcott, VT

11        01VT    #Stephen Martin         Craftsbury Common, VT

12        40VT    Eric Chase                   Milton, VT       

13        14VT    Phil Scott         

14        16VT    Brandon Lanphear      Morrisville, VT

15        8VT      Anthony Hill                Waterford, VT

16        38VT    Tyler Cahoon               Danville, VT

17        04VT    Scott Coburn               Barre, VT*

18        55NH   Laci Potter                   Danville, VT

19        55TL    Blair Bessett                Barnet, VT

* Sub Driver for Matt Smith

Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers – 50 Laps

1.         18VT    #Kaiden Fisher             Shelburne, VT

2.         07VT    Sam Caron                   Milton, VT

3.         90VT    Cameron Ouellette     Barre, VT

4.         56VT    Chris Laforest              Barre, VT

5.         44VT    Justin Prescott             Williston, VT

6.         67VT    Kevin Streeter             Waitsfield, VT

7.         8NH     Rich Lowrey                 South Hero, VT

8.         08VT    Phil Potvin                   Underhill, VT

9.         01VT    Michael Martin           Craftsbury, Common, VT

10.       31VT    Logan Powers              Middlesex, VT

11.       15VT    Derrick Calkins             Hinesburg, VT

12.       35DG   Colin Cornell               E. Burke, VT

13.       68NH   Tanner Woodard         Waterbury Ctr., VT

14.       2VT      Eric Johnson                Randolph Ctr., VT

15.       64VT    Jason Pelkey                Barre, VT

16.       20VT    Robert Gordon            Milton, VT

17.       3VT      Michael MacAskill      Williamstown, VT

18.       8VT      Mike Billado                Grand Isle, VT

19.       33VT    #Matt Ballard             Williamstown, VT

20.       22VT    Travis Patnoe              Wolcott, VT

21.       5VT      Tyler Austin                 East Calais, VT

DNS     11VT    #Jacob Roy                  Danville, VT

rk Miles Street Stocks – 35 Laps

1.         54        Josh Lovely                  Williamstown, VT

2.         16        Dean Switser, Jr.         Waterford, VT

3.         48        Taylor Hoar                 South Hero, VT

4.         47        William Hennequin     Morrisville, VT

5.         68        Kyler Davis                  Berlin, VT

6.         2          Haidyn Pearce             Chelsea, VT

7.         79        Juan ‘Paco’ Marshall   Pittsfield, VT

8.         26        Luke Peters                 Groton, VT

9.         71        Jesse Laquerre             Berlin, VT

10.       0          James Dopp                 Northfield, VT

11.       98        Kasey Collins               Berlin, VT

12.       04        Scott Weston               Berlin, VT

13.       43        Jamie Davis                 Johnson, VT

14.       5VT      Derek Farnham           Bethel, VT

15.       29        Gary Mullen                Tunbridge, VT

16.       3          Michael Gay                S. Burlington, VT

17.       33        #Curtis Franks             Topsham, VT

18.       24        Todd Raymo                Swanton, VT

19.       30        #Cameron Powers       E. Montpelier, VT

20.       74        Tyler Whittemore       Barre, VT

21.       6          Eric MacLaughlin        Milton, VT

22.       8          Jeffery Martin             Barre, VT

23.       17        Justin Blakely              Graniteville, VT

24.       34        Patrick Tibbetts           Plainfield, VT

25.       7          Kyle MacAskill             Williamstown, VT

26.       96        Thomas Peck               Waterbury, VT

27.       73        #Paige Whittemore     Graniteville, VT

28.       9          #Zachary Audet           Morrisville, VT

Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors – 25 Laps

1.         88        Frank Putney               Graniteville, VT

2.         8          Ryan Foster                 Waterbury, VT

3.         68        Jamie York                   Graniteville, VT

4.         19        Neal Foster                  Moretown, VT

5.         95        Taylor Sayers               Barre, VT

6.         07        Benjamin Bushey        Springfield, VT

7.         16        Nate Brien                   Williamstown, VT

8.         99        Fred Fleury                  Graniteville, VT

9.         44        Chris Couture              Barre, VT

10.       50        Nick Copping               Barre, VT

11.       94        Ryan Sayers                 Barre, VT

12.       77        Josh Vilbrin                 Northfield, VT

13.       10        Rodney Campbell       Worcester, VT

14.       71        Jason Kirby                  Milton, VT

DNS     03        Robert Catchapaw      Waterbury, VT

DNS     14        Brian Preston              Montpelier, VT

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