Thunder Road Veterans Take On PASS Stars at Memorial Day Classic
Barre, VT—The 53rd Annual Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic will be held at Barre, VT’s Thunder Road on Sunday, May 24 and is shaping up as one of the biggest ever. The Pro All Stars Series (PASS) North Series are making their inaugural visit to Thunder Road, marking the first time Super Late Models take to the high banks in 20 years.
A host of Thunder Road locals and American-Canadian Tour (ACT) regulars have entered the PASS 150-lap event. 1999 “King of the Road” and eight-time ACT Tour Champion Brian Hoar is an early name to watch. The Williston, VT veteran has 16 wins at Thunder Road, including three in the Vermont Milk Bowl and a win with the NASCAR Busch North Series in 2003.
“I’ve always wanted to race a Super Late Model at Thunder Road,” Hoar said. “I grew up watching the old ACT Pro Stock Tour there with the Junior Hanley’s and Robbie Crouch’s of the world. When I saw the race on the schedule, Rick (Paya, his car owner) and I needed about 30 seconds to say ‘let’s put that on our schedule.’
“We’re still learning a lot with these cars,” he added. “We’ve got a little bit of a home track advantage compared to some of the folks that have never run laps at Thunder Road, but we’ve obviously got our work cut out for us.”
ACT Late Model Tour standouts Joey Polewarczyk Jr., Wayne Helliwell Jr., and Travis Stearns will be on hand looking for their first PASS wins. All three drivers have Late Model victories at Thunder Road and currently sit in the top-four of the ACT Tour point standings. 2006 Milk Bowl Champion Brent Dragon and former Thunder Road Tiger Sportsman Champion Bobby Therrien have also entered the event.
Father-and-son duo Mike and Ben Rowe from Turner, ME lead the PASS stars into Thunder Road. The two have already combined to win four events between the PASS North and PASS National series in 2015. Mike Rowe, the 1994 ACT Pro Stock Tour Champion, currently leads the PASS North point standings and has a Super Late Model win at Thunder Road.
Defending PASS North Champion D.J. Shaw and six-time PASS titleholder Johnny Clark will be in the running, while two-time Oxford 250 Champion Travis Benjamin has a knack for stepping up in big events. 2013 PASS North Champion Cassius Clark, defending PASS 400 winner Derek Ramstrom, and multi-time winner Joey Doiron will also attempt to bring home the granite trophy.
Thunder Road’s ACT Late Models will open their 2015 Championship season with the annual Memorial Day Classic 100. Jason Corliss earned his first career Late Model victory in last year’s event by edging fellow Barre local and two-time “King of the Road” Nick Sweet in a photo finish.
Corliss and Sweet will be back to try for their second Memorial Day victories, along with fellow former winners Derrick O’Donnell, Dave Pembroke, Trampas Demers, and Phil Scott. Invaders such as Chip Grenier and Tyler Cahoon will go for the Memorial Day win after posting top-10 finishes in the season-opening Merchants Bank 150.
The Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen and Allen Lumber Street Stocks will also be on the card. Opening Day winners Christopher Pelkey and Tyler Austin are going for two in a row. Meanwhile, veterans such as Brendan Moodie Jr. and Garry Bashaw will try to rebound from tough outings in the season opener.
The 53rd Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic will be held on Sunday, May 24. Post time is 1:30pm. Admission is $30 for adults and free for kids 12 and under. The Thunder Road campgrounds will be open for self-contained campers from 12:00pm on Friday, May 22 to 12:00pm on Monday, May 25.
Practice for all Thunder Road weekly divisions will be held on Friday, May 22. The pit gates will open at 3:00pm with practice from 4:00-7:00pm. PASS-only practice will be held on Saturday, May 23. The pits will open at 10:00am with practice from 12:00-4:00pm.