(Press release from Thunder Road International Speedbowl)
With a quickly turned around and rescheduled night of racing at Thunder Road following SRX’s cancellation, the Central Vermont community returned to The Nation’s Site of Excitement in droves for First Responders Appreciation Night on July 20th. The night gave way with four new winners in the 2023 season and four action-packed feature races to restart the Thunder Road championship season.
The Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers started the night off with fender-banging action at the front of the pack. After just one lap, contact between Matt Ballard and Phil Potvin started a chain reaction pile-up in Turn Three that ended the day for Cooper French with a blown radiator. On the restart Logan Powers got the quick lead over top rookie Tyler Pepin as the field stretched out behind him. A spectacular side-by-side battle from 6th through 12th saw Mike MacAskill using the outside groove to his advantage with top runners Jason Pelkey, Rich Lowrey and Sam Caron in tow.
As the field stayed green, Pelkey began to work on third-place runner Chris LaForest as Jason Woodard dug deep and pulled up to leader Powers’ bumper under the two-to-go ‘popsicle stick’ flags. Getting quite the drive off turn two, Woodard pulled up alongside Powers on the outside before powering up to lead the white flag lap and coming back to take his first Thunder Road win since July of 2021. Logan Powers would take second after leading the majority of the feature event with Jason Pelkey rounding out the podium in third.
The wild and wacky Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors put on the show of the evening in their 20-lap dash. Milton’s Easton Garvey got the jump under the green flag while the field stacked up behind him but kept it green. Chaos would ensue up and down the 20-car field as drivers did the best with what they had underneath them. Tyler Wheatley took over the lead just three laps in with David Wilder taking the Mystery Machine into second-position as he bobbed and weaved through several rolling roadblocks. Brookfield Volunteer Firefighter Tyler Wheatley would use his lead to take his first ever Thunder Road win on First Responders Appreciation Night with David Wilder and Frank Putney in the Unofficial Thunder Road pace car rounding out the podium.
The rk Miles Street Stocks stormed the field with longtime veterans Mike ‘The Biffer’ Gay and Scott Weston at the helm. Barre rookie Logan Farrell was getting a lesson behind the leaders before Weston started dropping back and Farrell took a charge to the outside. For the first fifteen laps Farrell looked like a seasoned pilot out beside the Biffer but smoke started to pour from underneath his Ford Mustang. The caution on lap 19 for a spinning Kyle Gravel on the backstretch confirmed the worst and Farrell was sent from his second-place position to the pits, after leading laps on the outside, with oil gushing from underneath his powerplant.
Biffer would edge out Chris Davis on the restart but a huge hit into the widowmaker frontstretch wall for Gravel and Jaime Davis brought out the final caution to stack the field once again. One final showdown between Biffer and Haidyn Pearce would see the #3 head for the front and lead the field under the checkered flags. An ecstatic Mike Gay returned to Thunder Road victory lane followed by Chris Davis, bouncing back from a hard heat race wreck on Midseason Championships night, and Pearce to round out the top-three.
The Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models were on hand to wrap up the night’s racing action with their 50-lap feature. Lead to green by Cooper Bouchard and Justin Prescott, Bouchard would stretch out his lead quickly as the battle for fifth became the hot ticket. After working each other for over twenty-laps, Brandon Lanphear finally took the position from Chris Roberts before defending champion Chris Pelkey used the outside to overtake Lanphear. The first, and only, caution came with the spinning Jean-Paul Cyr blocking off turn four.
On the restart Bouchard punched the gas to power away from outside starter Tyler Cahoon as desperation set in for the rest of the pack behind them. As laps wound down, Nick Sweet dove under Bobby Therrien and Marcel Gravel in turn three while Cody Blake would use the same move on Scott Dragon and Stephen Donahue just two laps later. While the top champion chasers worked it out behind him, Cooper Bouchard would take his first win of the season followed by Darrell Morin and Cahoon.
Thunder Road returns to action next Thursday, July 27th for two of Central Vermont’s most popular events; the 44th Vermont Governor’s Cup presented by the Vermont Lottery and the annual WDEV/Calkins Portable Toilets Porta-Potty Grand Prix! Along with the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model Vermont Governor’s Cup, the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, rk Miles Street Stocks and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors join the annual fan-favorite night of thrills, spills and pure family fun!
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
First Responders Appreciation Night at The Road
Thursday, July 20, 2023
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models – (50 Laps)
1. 7VT Cooper Bouchard Hinesburg, VT
2. 17VT Darrell Morin Westford, VT
3. 38VT Tyler Cahoon Danville, VT
4. 64VT Chris Pelkey Graniteville, VT
5. 18VT #Kaiden Fisher Shelburne, VT
6. 04VT #Justin Prescott Milton, VT
7. 0VT Scott Dragon Milton, VT
8. 99VT Cody Blake Barre, VT
9. 88VT Nick Sweet Williamstown, VT
10. 31VT Stephen Donahue Graniteville, VT
11. 9VT Chip Grenier Orange, VT
12. 86VT Marcel J. Gravel Wolcott, VT
13. 14VT Bobby Therrien Hinesburg, VT*
14. 66VT Jason Corliss Barre, VT
15. 01VT Stephen Martin Craftsbury Common, VT
16. 16VT Brandon Lanphear Morrisville, VT
17. 8VT Chris Roberts Washington, VT
18. 27VT Kyle Pembroke Montpelier, VT
19. 4VT Scott Coburn Barre, VT
20. 31KS #Cody Schoolcraft Claremont, NH
21. 48VT Jean-Paul Cyr Milton, VT
*Sub Driver for Phil Scott
Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers – (40 Laps)
1. 68VT Jason Woodard Waterbury Ctr., VT
2. 31VT Logan Powers Middlesex, VT
3. 64VT Jason Pelkey Barre, VT
4. 07VT Sam Caron Milton, VT
5. 56VT Chris Laforest Barre, VT
6. 8NH Rich Lowrey South Hero, VT
7. 37VT Kyle Streeter Waterbury Ctr., VT
8. 3VT Michael MacAskill Williamstown, VT
9. 78VT #Tyler Pepin Barre, VT
10. 00VT Brandon Gray E. Thetford, VT
11. 20VT Robert Gordon Milton, VT
12. 67VT Kevin Streeter Waitsfield, VT
13. 45VT Adam Maynard Milton, VT
14. 54VT Colin Cornell E. Burke, VT
15. 93FL Mike Martin Craftsbury Common, VT
16. 8VT Mike Billado Grand Isle, VT
17. 33VT Matt Ballard Williamstown, VT
18. 23NY Cam Gadue Highgate, VT
19. 22VT Travis Patnoe Wolcott, VT
20. 26VT #Luke Peters Groton, VT
21. 08VT Phil Potvin Underhill, VT
22. 9VT #Zach Audet Morrisville, VT
23. 90VT Cameron Ouellette Barre, VT
24. 4ME Cooper French Northfield, VT
rk Miles Street Stocks – (25 Laps)
1. 3 Michael Gay S. Burlington, VT
2. 69 Christopher Davis Berlin, VT
3. 2 Haidyn Pearce Chelsea, VT
4. 7 Kyle MacAskill Williamstown, VT
5. 98 Kasey Collins Berlin, VT
6. 0 James Dopp Northfield, VT
7. 57 Trevor Jaques Milton, VT
8. 34 Patrick Tibbetts Plainfield, VT
9. 8 Jeffery Martin Barre, VT
10. 48 Taylor Hoar South Hero, VT
11. 30 Cameron Powers E. Montpelier, VT
12. 71 Jesse Laquerre Berlin, VT
13. 16 Dean Switser, Jr. Waterford, VT
14. 54 Josh Lovely Williamstown, VT
15. 79 Juan ‘Paco’ Marshall Pittsfield, VT
16. 55 Parker Gagne Fairfax, VT
17. 50 Eric MacLaughlin Milton, VT
18. 24 Todd Raymo Swanton, VT
19. 88 #Paul Rocheleau Georgia, VT
20. 96 Thomas Peck Waterbury, VT
21. 08 #Ryan Foster Waterbury, VT
22. 13 #Travis Gay S. Burlington, VT
23. 74 Kyler Davis Berlin, VT*
24. 43 Jamie Davis Johnson, VT
25. 33 Curtis Franks Topsham, VT
26. 9 #Logan Farrell Barre, VT
27. 5 Kyle Gravel Wolcott, VT
28. 04 Scott Weston Berlin, VT
29. 22 Thomas Smith Williamstown, VT
30. 73 Paige Whittemore Graniteville, VT
DNS 39 Derek Farnham Bethel, VT
*Sub Driver for Tyler Whittemore
Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors – (20 Laps)
1. 31 Tyler Wheatley Brookfield, VT
2. 18 David Wilder Barre, VT
3. 88 Frank Putney Graniteville, VT
4. 19 Neal Foster Moretown, VT
5. 16 Nate Brien Williamstown, VT
6. 95 Taylor Sayers Barre, VT
7. 07 Benjamin Bushey Springfield, VT
8. 94 Ryan Sayers Barre, VT
9. 43 Anderson Boyd Berlin, VT
10. 71 Jason Kirby Milton, VT
11. 99 Fred Fleury Graniteville, VT
12. 82 Jacob Hall-Larson Northfield, VT
13. 26 Corey Martin Northfield, VT
14. 77 Zach Garvey Milton, VT
15. 76 Easton Garvey Milton, VT
16. 33 Brayden Murphy Barre, VT
17. 42 Karsen Murphy Northfield, VT
18. 17 Brodie Frazier E. Montpelier, VT
19. 74 Keegan Tabor Williamstown, VT
20. 22 Jason Stewart Williamstown, VT
DNS 7x Christopher Cass Jefferson, NH
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