(Press release from Thunder Road International Speedbowl)
The final Thursday night of the 2022 Thunder Road season was certainly one to remember as the championship point battles begin to come down just inches of fiberglass and seconds on the clock. Jet Service Envelope/Accura Printing Night brought the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors their second first-time winner in two weeks, a rookie that led a flag-to-flag rk Miles Street Stock sprint and two stories of determination and time spent in the shop to get their respective mounts back on top at Thunder Road.
Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warrior veteran ‘No-Look’ Nick Copping took off like a rocket with the early lead over Worcester’s Rodney Campbell in their 20-lap main event. Barre’s Ryan Sayers stalked and followed before engaging the sling-shot around Copping on the backstretch with just five laps remaining. The charge was short lived with a huge lap-15 pile up in turn three taking down veteran ‘Flyin’ Fred Fleury and newbies Tyler Wheatley and Conner Noyes. On the restart, Ryan Sayers took the jump of his life and never looked back, taking his first Thunder Road win followed by Nick Copping and ‘Barbie Boy’ Frank Putney to round out the first feature event of the night.
The rk Miles Street Stocks were thirty-two cars strong at the start of their 25-lap feature as Williamstown’s Kyle MacAskill missed the shift and plugged up the inside lane. After earning the pole, rookie driver Curtis Franks sped away from number-two-man Thomas Peck as wily veteran Scott Weston stayed hot on his tail. Lap 13 would see Haiden Pearce dive into the front stretch grass as his Cavalier lost all power with Juan ‘Paco’ Marshall similarly heading his Neon into the infield with a flat right-rear on Lap 22.
Impressively, Franks held off all challengers in the green to checkers event as the remainder of the thirty-two car field jumped and jolted around each other with both lanes of highway in rush hour. After easily twenty wrecks that could’ve happened, but didn’t, the final lap turned things sour. A gaggle of top-10 cars went haywire in turn three as they stared down the checkered flag just three hundred feet ahead. Top point chasers Jeffrey Martin, Josh Lovely and Kyler Davis were all involved as rookie Curtis Franks took down his first rk Miles Street Stock win followed by Scott Weston and Mekaylah Bowen. Bowen would be disqualified in post-race technical inspection for a weight infraction, giving third to Johnson’s Jamie Davis.
The annual Run-What-U-Brung tradition was far from a calming intermission with over twenty amateurs ready to duke it out at their favorite hometrack. Four door pickups, four-cylinder sedans, Dodge Durango’s and Chevy Camaros battled hard for the final Thursday Night crowd knowing only one victor would reign supreme. After Peter Childs earned the four-cylinder top honors and Nathan Felch took down the V-8 top spot, the crowd demanded an overall championship match.
While the two were evenly matched through turns one-and-two, the Camaro showed its superior handling, powering into turn three until the ol’ girl kicked sidewise. Felch would overcorrect his 1988 Chevy and slammed hard into the Widowmaker front stretch wall with Childs taking the overall win. At press time, we still can’t decide if the wreck itself or Felch climbing triumphantly through the window had the larger, louder applause.
The 40-lap Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers took the field, attempting to follow-up the act of a lifetime with the crashing crunch of an ‘80’s vintage Camaro. Adam Maynard took the early lead through the first five laps from the pole as a side-by-side battle with Mike MacAskill began in earnest. MacAskill, using the outside lane, methodically got around the #45VT of Maynard on lap 10 with another short-lived run. The first caution of the night would fly on lap 11 for the spinning machines of Matt Ballard, Kevin Streeter, Eric Johnson and Phil Potvin in turn two.
On the restart, it was Tanner Woodard and MacAskill with last-week’s winner Mike Billado and Myers Triple Crown Champion Derrick Calkins stalking the leaders. After making a valiant effort on the outside, MacAskill’s #3VT got loose coming out of turn four on lap, allowing Woodard an open raceway ahead. As Woodard stretched his lead, the battle for 8th became the highlight of the field as rookie contender Kaiden Fisher duked it out side-by-side with Maynard, bottlenecking the rest of the field. With Woodard just inches away from lapping the back end of the field, he took down the double-checkers on Jet Service/Accura Printing Night followed by Mike Billado and Derrick Calkins.
Rounding out the night, a stout field of Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models entered the track for the final Thursday Night of the season. Waterford’s Andy Hill took the early lead as Marcel Gravel, Tyler Cahoon and Keegan Lamson started taking it three-wide on lap two. By lap-10, Brandon Lanphear gained some steam under the hood and took to Hill’s outside, making his #16VT work hard to gain inches on Hill. The first caution flag would wave on lap 22 for the flat front and broken front end of Chris Roberts.
On the restart, with Hill low and Lanphear high, the field took off again until Darrell Morin tried to get to the bottom coming off turn two and into the backstretch under Hill. The chain reaction caused Hill to sweep up the track into Lamson with Lamson taking Lanphear hard into the turn three wall, the reverberating thud felt throughout the crowd and ending his strong run. Once again it was Hill down low and now Morin up high with championship contenders Chris Pelkey, Scott Dragon and Kyle Pembroke close behind the two-by-two rows.
Following the final caution with eight-to-go for the spinning Cooper Bouchard in turn four, it was Morin versus Lamson with the side-by-side battle quickly giving way to a hard charging Marcel Gravel. Gravel quickly dispatched a loosening Lamson, jumping to the outside of Morin with three-to-go. Gravel would take the lead by a bumper shroud under the white flag, finally leading by a fender to take his second win of the season. Darrell Morin took home second with Keegan Lamson earning third.
Thunder Road roars back to life on Sunday, September 4th for the 44th New England Federal Credit Union Labor Day Classic. The Stars and Cars of the American-Canadian Tour return to their home track high atop Quarry Hill in Barre, Vermont for the $5,000-to-Win, 200 lap nightcap on the summer racing season. Alongside the Tour will be the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, rk Miles Street Stocks and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors. Full schedule and race day information will soon be available online at www.thunderroadvt.com.
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
Jet Service Envelope/Accura Printing Night
Thursday, August 25, 2022
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Run-What-U-Brung Champion –
Overall & Four-Cylinder Class –
#14 Peter Childs Orange, VT 2007 Honda Fit
Eight-Cylinder Class –
#5 Nathan Felch Barre, VT 1988 Chevrolet Camaro
Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models – 50 Laps
1. 86VT Marcel J. Gravel Wolcott, VT
2. 17VT Darrell Morin Westford, VT
3. 55VT #Keegan Lamson Berlin, VT
4. 64VT Chris Pelkey Graniteville, VT
5. 8VT Anthony Hill Waterford, VT
6. 0VT Scott Dragon Milton, VT
7. 27VT Kyle Pembroke Montpelier, VT
8. 40VT Eric Chase Milton, VT
9. 2VT Stephen Donahue Graniteville, VT
10. 04VT Matthew Smith Fairfax, VT
11. 38VT Tyler Cahoon Danville, VT
12. 9VT Chip Grenier Orange, VT
13. 01VT #Stephen Martin Craftsbury Common, VT
14. 4VT Scott Coburn Barre, VT
15. 7VT Cooper Bouchard Hinesburg, VT
16. 55TL Blair Bessett Barnet, VT
17. 16VT Brandon Lanphear Morrisville, VT
18. 3VT Chris Roberts Washington, VT
19. 94VT Brendan Moodie Wolcott, VT
20. 14VT Phil Scott
Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers – 40 Laps
1. 68NH Tanner Woodard Waterbury Ctr., VT
2. 8VT Mike Billado Grand Isle, VT
3. 15VT Derrick Calkins Hinesburg, VT
4. 64VT Jason Pelkey Barre, VT
5. 01VT Michael Martin Craftsbury, Common, VT
6. 20VT Robert Gordon Milton, VT
7. 3VT Michael MacAskill Williamstown,VT
8. 07VT Sam Caron Milton, VT
9. 35DG Colin Cornell E. Burke, VT
10. 18VT #Kaiden Fisher Shelburne, VT
11. 45VT Adam Maynard Milton, VT
12. 31VT Logan Powers Middlesex, VT
13. 67VT Kevin Streeter Waitsfield, VT
14. 56VT Chris Laforest Barre, VT
15. 44VT Justin Prescott Williston, VT
16. 2VT Eric Johnson Randolph Ctr., VT
17. 90VT Cameron Ouellette Barre, VT
18. 25VT Kevin Boutin Jr. Fairfax, VT
19. 08VT Phil Potvin Underhill, VT
20. 5VT Tyler Austin East Calais, VT
21. 23NY Cam Gadue Highgate, VT
22. 13VT Ty Delphia Duxbury, VT
23. 33VT #Matt Ballard Williamstown, VT
DNS 37VT Kyle Streeter Waterbury Ctr., VT
rk Miles Street Stocks – 25 Laps
1. 33 #Curtis Franks Topsham, VT
2. 04 Scott Weston Berlin, VT
3. 43 Jamie Davis Johnson, VT
4. 73 #Paige Whittemore Graniteville, VT
5. 48 Taylor Hoar South Hero, VT
6. 5VT Derek Farnham Bethel, VT
7. 7 Kyle MacAskill Williamstown, VT
8. 47 William Hennequin Morrisville, VT
9. 34 Patrick Tibbetts Plainfield, VT
10. 26 Luke Peters Groton, VT
11. 16 Dean Switser, Jr. Waterford, VT
12. 8 Jeffery Martin Barre, VT
13. 29 Gary Mullen Tunbridge, VT
14. 54 Josh Lovely Williamstown, VT
15. 68 Kyler Davis Berlin, VT
16. 69 Christopher Davis Berlin, VT
17. 71 Jesse Laquerre Berlin, VT
18. 17 Justin Blakely Graniteville, VT
19. 74 Tyler Whittemore Barre, VT
20. 9 #Zachary Audet Morrisville, VT
21. 0 James Dopp Northfield, VT
22. 98 Kasey Collins Berlin, VT
23. 3 Michael Gay S. Burlington, VT
24. 30 #Cameron Powers E. Montpelier, VT
25. 77 Bert Duffy Milton, VT
26. 24 Todd Raymo Swanton, VT
27. 6 Eric MacLaughlin Milton, VT
28. 96 Thomas Peck Waterbury, VT
29. 55 Parker Gagne Fairfax, VT
30. 79 Juan ‘Paco’ Marshall Pittsfield, VT
31. 2 Haidyn Pearce Chelsea, VT
DSQ 12 Mekaylah Bowen Morrisville, VT*
*Disqualified for Weight Infraction
Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors – 20 Laps
1. 94 Ryan Sayers Barre, VT
2. 50 Nick Copping Barre, VT
3. 88 Frank Putney Graniteville, VT
4. 31 Tyler Wheatley Brookfield, VT
5. 8 Ryan Foster Waterbury, VT
6. 95 Taylor Sayers Barre, VT
7. 16 Nate Brien Williamstown, VT
8. 68 Jamie York Graniteville, VT
9. 44 Chris Couture Barre, VT
10. 10 Rodney Campbell Worcester, VT
11. 14 Sean McCarthy Williamstown, VT
12. 66 James Burnett
13. 99 Fred Fleury Graniteville, VT
14. 74 Bert Duffy Milton, VT
15. 65 Connor Noyes E. Montpelier, VT
16. 71 Jason Kirby Milton, VT
17. R2R
DNS 77 Josh Vilbrin Northfield, VT
What a show, from top to bottom. And not one second of wasted time. Four divisions, 90+ cars, PLUS 20 cars in the spectator run-offs, and we were out of there in a tick under 3 hours! If ONLY other tracks would get their act together.