Fan-Favorites Return to Thunder Road Victory Lane

By Eagle Times Staff
Barre, Vt.. — Thunder Road finally got a break in the form of a perfect day for racing. Partly cloudy, minimal humidity and a comfortable breeze made many a crew-member happy in the pit area and fans in the filled grandstands on the other side of the fence. When all the dust settled, several fan-favorite drivers made the trip to Thunder Road victory lane.

All-time wins leader Tommy Smith alongside Scott Weston brought the thirty-two car rk Miles Street Stock field to green and kicked off feature racing action. While Smith took off with the lead, he did so with a rear-view mirror full of Tyler Whittemore. As the field stretched out, both Smith and Whittemore caught lap-traffic and the first real action came on lap 17 with Jesse Laquerre broadside on the start/finish line, collecting Taylor Hoar and Kasey Collins as the field went berserk around the wreck.

Restarting the restacked field, Tommy Smith took charge on the bottom lane. While looking to ride it out to the checkered flags, Weston and Kyle MacAskill tangled on the frontstretch, skidded along the grass and collected a gaggle of cars in turn one to call out the final caution with four laps remaining. Although Whittemore kept his foot in the firewall, it was Tommy Smith taking his 37th career rk Miles Street Stock victory followed by Tyler Whittemore and a first podium finish for Todd Raymo in third.

Under the leadership of top rookies Luke Peters and Tyler Pepin, the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers thundered off into their 40-lap feature event. The white-knuckle battle at the front kept the twenty-four-car field side-by-side behind them with just the bumper cover deciding who led until Pepin confidently took over on lap 10. At the halfway point, Colin Cornell cleared a spot in second and began to cut down Pepin’s lead. After smacking the frontstretch wall in the middle of the pack, Mike MacAskill slammed hard into the turn one wall at the pit road entrance before coming to a stop against the tire barrier. After bringing out the red flag on lap 23, MacAskill was able to climb out of his machine under his own power while his ride had to be towed off the track.

Side-by-side at the restart, veteran Cornell would take it high, wide and handsome up top to claim the lead as Cameron Ouellette followed him around Pepin. As the laps weaned off, Ouellette took to the outside lane over Cornell and drew up alongside under the white flag. In a drag-race to the line, Colin Cornell took down his fourth career Thunder Road win followed by Ouellette in his second-consecutive runner-up finish and Tyler Pepin in his first winner’s circle visit.

With Scott Coburn and Cody Schoolcraft at the helm, the Maplewood/Irving Late Models took the green flag following their fan-fare driver introductions and wave-off to the large Sunday crowd on hand. After Coburn catapulted to the lead, everyone else could only follow as point leaders made the most of the race ahead. Coming from 13 on the grid, Nick Sweet found his way to the battle for fifth within the opening 10 laps. At the halfway point, Sweet, Cody Blake and Cooper Bouchard began hot-potatoing the third-place position just before Chris Roberts’ spin on the backstretch called out the first caution.

Coburn held onto the lead under the restart green, but Schoolcraft battled back up on the outside to lead lap 30 with Nick Sweet in tow before Keegan Lamson, Scott Dragon and Tyler Cahoon went sliding into the infield. For the first time on the night, Coburn would restart on the outside and dropped back quickly, allowing Nick Sweet to fly around Cody Schoolcraft to lead lap 34. Now with pressure from Marcel Gravel and Stephen Donahue, Sweet kept up the momentum on the outside groove and rode it all the way to his second win of the season followed by Gravel and Donahue to round out the Preston’s Kia podium.

The Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors finished off the evening’s racing activity with Corey Martin and Keegan Tabor leading the insanity. Karsen Murphy would overtake Martin at the line to lead lap 7 as the field continued to stretch before a pile-up including newcomer John Prentice, David Wilder and Ryan Sayers in the turn one tire barrier brought out the first caution. Murphy looked to be shot from a cannon on the restart as both Martin and Brodie Frazier could only watch as the kid from Northfield grew his lead.

Although Murphy was declared the winner in victory lane, post-race technical inspection eliminated the win for Karsen Murphy and the third-place finish for Brodie Frazier with the discovery of illegal suspension components. Corey Martin would earn his first Thunder Road victory with Nate Brien and Neal Foster moving up to complete the podium.

Car racing will return to Quarry Hill on Thursday. For more information, contact the Thunder Road offices at 802-244-6963, [email protected], or visit www.thunderroadvt.com. You can also follow the track on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @ThunderRoadVT.

Results

Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models: 50 Laps

Nick Sweet, Williamstown, Vt.

Marcel J. Gravel, Wolcott, Vt.

Stephen Donahue, Graniteville, Vt.

Kaiden Fisher, Shelburne, Vt.

Cody Schoolcraft, Claremont, N.H.

Scott Coburn, Barre, Vt.

Stephen Martin, Craftsbury Common, Vt.

Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg, Vt.

Chris Pelkey, Graniteville, Vt.

Chris Roberts, Washington, Vt.

Cody Blake, Barre, Vt.

Cooper Bouchard, Hinesburg, Vt.

Brandon Lanphear, Morrisville, Vt.

Scott Dragon, Milton, Vt.

Darrell Morin, Westford, Vt.

Keegan Lamson, Berlin, Vt.

Tyler Cahoon, Danville, Vt.

Justin Prescott, Milton, Vt.

Kyle Goodbout, N. Woodstock, Vt.

Chip Grenier, Orange, Vt.

Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers: 40 Laps

Colin Cornell, E. Burke, Vt.

Cameron Ouellette, Barre, Vt.

Tyler Pepin, Barre, Vt.

Mike Billado, Grand Isle, Vt.

Logan Powers, Middlesex, Vt.

Cooper French, Northfield, Vt.

Luke Peters, Groton, Vt.

Adam Maynard, Milton, Vt.

Robert Gordon, Milton, Vt..

Kyle Streeter, Waterbury Ctr., Vt.

Matt Ballard, Williamstown, Vt.

Sam Caron, Milton, Vt.

Jason Pelkey, Barre, Vt.

Rich Lowrey, South Hero, Vt.

Brandon Gray, E. Thetford, Vt..

Chris Laforest, Barre, Vt.

Jason Woodard, Waterbury Ctr., Vt.

Cam Gadue, Highgate, Vt.

Kevin Streeter, Waitsfield, Vt.

Phil Potvin, Underhill, Vt.

Ethan Tyrell, Worcester, Vt.

Ty Delphia, Duxbury, Vt.

Travis Patnoe, Wolcott, Vt.

Michael MacAskill, Williamstown, Vt.

rk Miles Street Stocks: 25 Laps

Thomas Smith, Williamstown, Vt.

Tyler Whittemore, Barre, Vt.

Todd Raymo, Swanton, Vt.

Cameron Powers, E. Montpelier, Vt.

Jeffery Martin, Barre, Vt.

Trevor Jaques, Milton, Vt.

Dean Switser Jr., Waterford, Vt.

James Dopp, Northfield, Vt.

Ryan Foster, Waterbury, Vt.

Derek Farnham, Bethel, Vt.

Haidyn Pearce, Chelsea, Vt.

Eric MacLaughlin, Milton, Vt.

Parker Gagne, Fairfax, Vt.

Michael Gay, S. Burlington, Vt.

Jesse Laquerre, Berlin, Vt.

Curtis Franks, Topsham, Vt.

Taylor Hoar, South Hero, Vt.

Paul Rocheleau, Georgia, Vt.

Kyle MacAskill, Williamstown, Vt.

Kyler Davis, Berlin, Vt.

Paige Whittemore, Graniteville, Vt.

Jason Goodbout Jr., N. Woodstock, N.H.

Travis Gay, S. Burlington, Vt.

Patrick Tibbetts, Plainfield, Vt.

Thomas Peck, Waterbury, Vt.

Jamie Davis, Johnson, Vt.

Robert Audet, Morrisville, Vt.

Kyle Gravel, Wolcott, Vt.

Scott Weston, Berlin, Vt.

Kasey Collins, Berlin, Vt.

Juan ‘Paco’ Marshall, Pittsfield, Vt.

Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors: 20 Laps

Corey Martin, Northfield, Vt.

Nate Brien Williamstown, Vt.

Neal Foster, Moretown, Vt.

Keegan Tabor, Williamstown, Vt.

Fred Fleury, Graniteville, Vt.

Kyle Chapin, Marshfield, Vt.

Zach Garvey, Milton, Vt.

Tyler Wheatley Brookfield, Vt.

Bert Duffy, Milton, Vt.

Jason Kirby, Milton, Vt.

Bill O’Connor, S. Washington, Vt.

Anderson Boyd, Berlin, Vt.

Frank Putney, Graniteville, Vt.

Nick Copping, Barre, Vt.

Brayden Murphy, Barre, Vt.

David Wilder, Barre, Vt.

Jason Stewart, Williamstown, Vt.

Ryan Sayers, Barre, Vt.

John Prentice