Barre, VT – The 56th season of racing at Barre’s Thunder Road Speedbowl continues with Fairpoint Communications Night on Thursday, July 16. The championship battles in the Thunder Road Late Models, Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen, and Allen Lumber Street Stocks have remained close throughout the first two months of the 2015 season. In each division, the gap between first and second in the standings is just three points, ensuring the intensity remains high as the season nears the halfway mark.
The main attraction continues to be the heavyweight battle in the Thunder Road Late Models between N. Haverhill, NH’s Derrick O’Donnell and Barre, VT’s Nick Sweet as both chase a third “King of the Road” crown. Sweet’s dramatic victory in the Vermont Governor’s Cup last Thursday, July 9 – in which he took the lead from O’Donnell in the closing laps – tightened the gap to its current three-point margin.
Barre’s Cody Blake used a runner-up finish in the Governor’s Cup to move up to third in the standings, 45 points behind O’Donnell. Blake is chasing his first Thunder Road Late Model Championship in his sixth year in the division, and his team has found the handle on the new car they purchased this offseason.
Graniteville’s John Donahue and Milton’s Scott Dragon sit fourth and fifth in the standings, an additional five and eight points back of Blake. Both are in position to move into the thick of the title hunt should O’Donnell and Sweet stumble.
The action is even tighter in the Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen. Veteran Brendan Moodie of Wolcott holds the points lead on the strength of three wins, but the top-five sit just 17 points apart.
“It’s more fun,” Moodie said of the close points battle. “It keeps everybody on their toes. I think probably three or four of us will step out from the rest of the field, but I think those cars will stay right together until the end.”
Barre’s Christopher Pelkey earned his second Tiger Sportsman win of the year last Thursday to move into second in the standings, three points behind Moodie. Defending Tiger Champion Jason Woodard of Waterbury Center remains in the mix, sitting 14 points behind Moodie in third. Doug Crowningshield and Mike Martin are tied for fourth.
Waitsfield’s Kyle Streeter remains atop the Allen Lumber Street Stock point standings for the third straight week. Wolcott’s Jamie Davis jumped to second after his win last Thursday. Young guns Jaden Perry, Tyler Austin, and Marcel J. Gravel sit third through fifth, with Gravel only 19 points behind Streeter.