Chris Pelkey, Karsen Murph, Kyle MacAskill Big Winners On Casella Waste Systems Night At Thunder Road

(Press release from Thunder Road International Speedbowl)

The New England Auto Racers (NEAR) brought their cars of the past to the Nation’s Site of Excitement on Thursday. Opting to run all the old-time machines together for one fifteen-lap feature, former Flying Tiger pilot Mike Rollins took the Sportsman checkers with his #29 Dave Dion machine while Palmer, Massachusetts-native Dennis Desantels took the top Modified honors.

The rk Miles Street Stocks kicked off feature racing for the evening with Patrick Tibbetts and Donat Premont leading the show. A series of on-track mishaps for the Crunch Bunch slowed things down enough for Kyle MacAskill and Nate Brien to assume the front row by lap 11. Miraculously the remainder of the 30-lap event went green to the very end, even as top-five point chaser Hayden Bushey did two bouts of agricultural racing through the infield turns! Kyle MacAskill took down his first win of the season on Casella Waste Systems night followed across the line by Nate ‘Tater’ Brien and Patrick Tibbetts.

Next generation drivers Brandon Lanphear and Stephen Donahue brought the Maplefields/Irving Late Models to the green flag for their 65-lap Casella Waste feature. The two battled doorhandle-to-doorhandle throughout the opening laps before Justin Prescott made some moves on lap 22 to bring out a pile-up caution in turn three, ending the night for several cars. Back under green, Chris Pelkey brought his #64VT Casella Waste machine to the front and put on a spirited battle with Marcel Gravel to the very end. Pelkey took the Casella Night checkers by 0.205-seconds over Gravel with Stephen Martin taking third.

Eric Chase and Travis Patnoe started the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers with a spirited run at the front as Mike MacAskill sat hungry for more in third. A turn three dust-up on lap eight proved to be the lone wreck of the night with Chase and MacAskill fighting side-by-side throughout the entire event. Sophomore racer Karsen Murphy made his way to the floor and made it a three-way dance out front, eventually shooting under the pair of them and running away with career win number one on the Barre highbanks. Robert Gordon used Chase’s backslide to his advantage to capture second while Jason Pelkey followed the leader to third.

Attrition in the rk Miles Street Stock main whittled twelve eligible drivers down to just four starters for the Marvin Johnson Memorial Non-Winners Race. Paige Whittemore and Jefferson Garvey made it an entertaining run with the two side-by-side throughout the event. Owen Dupuis made it a spirited three-way battle but ultimately Jefferson Garvey took down win number one.

Thunder Road returns for a doubleheader week starting with Five Star Roofing Night on Thursday, June 18 headlined by the start of the Myers Container Service Triple Crown for the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers! The Maplefields/Irving Late Models, rk Miles Street Stocks and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors also return on Thursday, June 18 before the whole gang returns on Sunday, June 21 for the rain-postponed Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic!

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.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

Thursday, June 11, 2026

Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl – Barre, VT

Casella Waste Systems Night

Maplefields/Irving Late Models – (65 Laps)

1.         64VT    Christopher Pelkey      S. Barre, VT

2.         86VT    Marcel J. Gravel          Wolcott, VT

3.         01VT    Stephen Martin           Craftsbury Common, VT

4.         00VT    Brandon Gray              E. Thetford, VT

5.         17VT    Darrell Morin              Westford, VT

6.         04VT    Justin Prescott             Fairfax, VT

7.         5VT      Bobby Therrien           Hinesburg, VT

8.         21VT    Reilly Lanphear           Waterbury, VT

9.         68VT    Brooks Clark                Fayston, VT

10.       33VT    #Matt Sonnhalter        Randolph, VT

11.       48VT    Taylor Hoar                 South Hero, VT

12.       4VT      Scott Coburn               Barre, VT

13.       25VT    Mike Rubalcaba          Barre, VT

14.       23VT    Kolby Picard                Hyde Park, VT

15.       16VT    Brandon Lanphear      Morrisville, VT

16.       55VT    Keegan Lamson           Berlin, VT

17.       26VT    Stephen Donahue       Graniteville, VT

18.       66VT    Jason Corliss               Barre, VT

19.       0VT      Scott Dragon               Milton, VT

20.       71VT    Jesse Laquerre             E. Montpelier, VT

Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers – (50 Laps)

1.         42VT    Karsen Murphy           Northfield, VT

2.         20VT    Robert Gordon            Milton, VT

3.         64VT    Jason Pelkey                Barre, VT

4.         31VT    Logan Powers              Middlesex, VT

5.         94VT    Brendan Moodie         Wolcott, VT

6.         40VT    Eric Chase                   Milton, VT

7.         3VT      Michael MacAskill      Williamstown, VT

8.         33VT    Matt Ballard               Williamstown, VT

9.         56VT    Chris Laforest              Barre, VT

10.       55VT    Parker Gagne              Fairfax, VT

11.       26VT    Luke Peters                 Groton, VT

12.       67VT    Kevin Streeter             Waitsfield, VT

13.       14VT    #Jed Whitcomb           Milton, VT

14.       13VT    Ty Delphia                   Waterbury, VT

15.       8VT      Mike Billado                Grand Isle, VT

16.       16VT    #Dean Switser, Jr.       Waterford, VT

17.       22VT    Travis Patnoe              Wolcott, VT

18.       5VT      Kyle Gravel                  Wolcott, VT

19.       8NH     #Jaiden Del Toro         Graniteville, VT

20.       17VT    Brodie Frazier             E. Montpelier, VT

21.       5NH     Erin Beaudry               Claremont, NH

22.       4VT      Cooper French             Northfield, VT

23.       19VT    Eric Messier                Hinesburg, VT

24.       30VT    Cameron Powers         Montpelier, VT

25.       15VT    *Cameron Ouellette   Barre, VT

*Sub Driver for Derrick Calkins

rk Miles Street Stocks – (30 Laps)

1.         7VT      Kyle MacAskill             Williamstown, VT

2.         16VT    Nate Brien                   Williamstown, VT

3.         34VT    Patrick Tibbetts           Plainfield, VT

4.         33VT    Curtis Franks               Topsham, VT

5.         08VT    Ryan Foster                 Waterbury, VT

6.         75VT    TJ Haggett                   Waterford, VT

7.         06VT    Donat Premont           Johnson, VT

8.         99VT    Fred Fleury                  Graniteville, VT

9.         39VT    Derek Farnham           Bethel, VT

10.       31VT    Tyler Wheatley            Brookfield, VT

11.       77VT    #Zachary Garvey         Milton, VT

12.       13VT    Hayden Morris            Barre, VT

13.       48VT    #Owen Dupuis             Washington, VT

14.       13ME   Riley Morris                Barre, VT

15.       93VT    Jackson Hunt               Derby Line, VT

16.       22VT    Thomas Smith             Williamstown, VT

17.       3VT      Michael Gay                S. Burlington, VT

18.       15VT    Hayden Bushey           Fairfax, VT

19.       04VT    Scott Weston               Berlin, VT

20.       8VT      *Erik Steel                   Colchester, VT

21.       74VT    Tyler Whittemore       Barre, VT

22.       7GA     Easton Garvey             Milton, VT

23.       96VT    Thomas Peck               Waterbury, VT

24.       43VT    Jamie Davis                 Johnson, VT

25.       71VT    Jason Kirby                  Milton, VT

26.       18VT    Walker Fitch                Marshfield, VT

27.       27VT    #Derrick Mann            Graniteville, VT

28.       00VT    Howard Stockwell       Randolph, VT

29.       25VT    Jennifer Getty             E. Fairfield, VT

30.       76VT    #Braden LaRose          Essex, VT

31.       17VT    Connor Rueda             Barre, VT

DNS     47NH   Paige Whittemore       Graniteville, VT

*Sub Driver for Paul Rocheleau

NEAR Antique Racers – (15 Laps)

NEAR Sportsman Winner – Mike Rollins        Williamstown, VT

NEAR Modified Winner – Dennis Desantels   Palmer, MA     

rk Miles Street Stocks – Marvin Johnson Memorial First-Time Winner’s Race (19 Laps)

Winner – 77VT Jefferson Garvey

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