NEW ENGLAND MOTORSPORTS NORTH FOR AUGUST 28TH
By Lou Modestino
The 56th Thunder Road Thursday night season concludes this Thursday (August 27) with Derrick O’Donnell inching closer to his third “King of the Road” crown on Cody Chevrolet Cadillac Night. N. Haverhill, NH’s O’Donnell has a commanding lead with two races to go, but every spot will be critical this Thursday and in the upcoming Labor Day Classic.
O’Donnell piloted his #60VT Late Model to a second-place finish in a caution-free main event last Thursday night. The result extended his overall lead over Barre racers Nick Sweet and Cody Blake to 68 and 74 points, respectively, with an 85-point gap to Graniteville’s John Donahue. A strong run for O’Donnell and his Mascitti Bros. Racing team this Thursday on their sponsor’s night could put a stamp on a record-tying third straight track championship.
“I think the best thing we can do is try to win another race,” O’Donnell said. “We were really close last week and that made me more hungry. We’re going to be pretty smart and not do anything crazy, but at the same time we’re going to try and do everything we can to get another win before the year is over.”
Scott Dragon completes the top-five in the Late Model standings followed by Jason Corliss. The rest of the top-10 is up for grabs as just 22 points separate St. Michael’s College student Kyle Pembroke in 7th from Mike Bailey in 12th.
Thursday is also the final chance this season to claim the Maplewood “Triple Crown”. Eric Badore became the first Triple Crown winner of the season last Thursday and pocketed an $800 bonus. The progressive bonus is now reset to $500 for any Late Model driver who wins their heat, semi-feature, and the 50-lap main event.
While O’Donnell is in the driver’s seat in the Late Models, the Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen and Allen Lumber Street Stock title chases are also hotly contested. Just forty-six points separate the top six drivers in the Tiger Sportsmen, leaving the championship wide open.
Defending Tiger Champion and current point leader Jason Woodard of Waterbury Ctr. has a mere two-point lead over four-time feature winner Brendan Moodie of Wolcott. Milton’s Dylan Payea sits third followed by Christopher Pelkey, Stephen Donahue, and Mike Martin.
Wolcott’s Jamie Davis and Hardwick’s Jaden Perry are in a flat-footed tie atop the Street Stock standings. Marcel J. Gravel is 54 points back in third, while Tyler Austin and Jamon Perry complete the top-five.
Cody Chevrolet Cadillac presents the final Thursday night of the 2015 Thunder Road season this Thursday, August 27 featuring the Thunder Road Late Models, Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen, and Allen Lumber Street Stocks. Post time is 7 pm. All division champions, including the 2015 “King of the Road”, will be crowned Sunday, September 6 with the 37th Coca-Cola Labor Day Classic at 1:30 pm.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway in W. Haven, VT. has added a make-up date to its asphalt stock car racing schedule, as the previously postponed Heritage Family Credit Union “Member Night” has been rescheduled for Friday, September 4 at 7 p.m. The event kicks off a busy Labor Day weekend of racing around the region and will also serve as the final Friday night date of the 2015 season at Devil’s Bowl.
Heritage Family Credit Union members will be admitted free of charge on September 4 by presenting their HFCU bank card, checkbook, or account statement at the ticket window as proof of membership. The HFCU Member Night event is one of the most highly-anticipated fan promotions of the season and returns to Devil’s Bowl after a several years off. The original date of the HFCU Member Night was well-attended on August 14 before heavy rains moved in and postponed the event.
All four weekly divisions of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series presented by Yandow Sales & Service and John Deere will be included in the September 4 program, as well as the exciting and unpredictable “Spectator Races” for street-legal vehicles. Heritage Family Credit Union and the Thomas Dairy Kids Club will also present a “penny drop” for kids age 9 and under to be held on the front stretch of the race track during intermission.
Gates open at 5 p.m., with racing at 7:00 p.m. Bond Auto Parts Modifieds, Central Vermont Motorcycles Late Models, Brileya’s Chrysler-Jeep Renegades, and Portland Glass Mini Stocks will all be in action.
This past Friday evening, NEMA made a return to Claremont Speedway. Beautiful weather, despite a grim forecast, and a professionally run operation greeted the winged warriors at the Speedway.
“I’m still at a loss for words. I don’t even know what to say,” were the first words from Jim Chambers on Saturday, following his first ever NEMA win at Claremont Speedway.
In the NEMA feature, Chambers bolted out into the lead on lap one. A caution for an altercation involving Paul Scally, brought the field back to its original formation. On the restart, which would be the only one of the race, Chambers quickly took command again.
Through the early stages of the race, Chambers paced the field at a torrid rate. Further back, Seth Carlson had quickly worked his way into second, and John Zych & Randy Cabral had worked their way from the last row into third and fourth by the halfway point.
The Carlson, Zych, Cabral trio looked to be gaining on Chambers in the late stages of the race, in heavy lapped traffic, but Chambers would have none of it, as he was flawless over the final laps of the race. He went on to take down the victory over Carlson, Zych, Cabral and Avery Stoehr.
“Throughout the day I focused on not over thinking or over driving the track. The car felt great in the heat race so we decided not to touch it other than getting stagger to where we wanted. During the race I think the biggest thing was having settled down and when the flag dropped I was ready to go. The whole race I had one thought… go as fast as this car will let me.. I had no idea if I had a car length or a straightaway ahead I just tried to be quick through traffic, smooth and hit my points. The last five laps I was so focused that it went by faster that I could ever imagine. I can’t explain how good my first win feels and I owe it to so many that have helped,” concluded Chambers.
In the Lites race, veteran Anthony Nocella wasted no time. He blasted through the field, and honed in on Andy Barrows in the #46. He made the move under Barrows down the back straight on lap eight, and he “ran away and hid” from the field in the Frank Manafort #76 machine. Behind Nocella, there was an exceptional battle for second between Barrows, Scott Bigelow and Randy Cabral. Bigelow made a number of attempts at Barrows, but came up short to finish third. Cabral and Jim Chambers completed the top five.
NEMA continues its summer stretch with a highly anticipated return to Star Speedway in Epping, NH on August 29th. A special “Showdown of Champions” will highlight the night.
NEMA MIDGETS – CLAREMONT – 8/21/15
Pos.
#
Driver
Hometown
Owner
1
21
Jim Chambers
Atkinson, NH
Mike Chambers
2
71
Seth Carlson
Brimfield, CT
Gene Feigel
3
9
John Zych Jr.
Mendon,MA
John Zych Sr.
4
47
Randy Cabral
Plymouth, MA
Tim Bertrand
5
15a
Avery Stoehr
Lakeville, MA
Russ Stoehr
6
5b
Bethany Stoehr
Bridgewater,MA
Greg Stoehr
7
30
Paul Scally
Raynham, MA
Paul Scally
8
7
Alan Chambers
Atkinson, NH
Mike Chambers
9
99
Jim Santa Maria
Burlington, CT
Jim Santa Maria
10
87
Doug Cleveland
Sudbury, MA
Doug Cleveland
NEMA LITES – CLAREMONT – 8/21/15
Pos.
#
Driver
Hometown
Owner
1
76
Anthony Nocella
Woburn, MA
Fank Manafort
2
46
Andy Barrows
New Ipswich, NH
Andy Barrows
3
32
Scott Bigelow
E. Hampton, CT
Scott Bigelow
4
35
Randy Cabral
Plymouth, MA
Glen Cabral
5
21w
Jim Chambers
Atkinson, NH
Jim Chambers
6
13
Ryan Bigelow
E. Hampton, CT
Ryan Bigelow
7
21
Anthony Payne
Fairlawn, NJ
Jennifer Scrivani
8
51
Danny Cugini
Marshfield, MA
D. Cugini
9
30b
Paul Scally
Raynham, MA
Paul Scally
10
41
Megan CuginI
Marshfield, MA
D. Cugini
11
16
Dennis O’Brien
Deerfield, NH
Chris O’Brien
12
2
Jim Cataldo
Sterling, MA
Jim Cataldo
13
DNS
31
Jim Santa Maria
Burlington, CT
Paul Bigelow
It was a beautiful day on Saturday at Monadnock Speedway following the disappointment of being washed out last week just before the event got going. This week, the Valenti Modified Racing Series came to town for the Victor Johnson Memorial 100 race.
All six of the regular weekly divisions also competed on Saturday.
In the Young Guns 15 lap feature, Alexander Pearl took the lead and never looked back, capturing his 2nd win of the year by a big margin over 2nd place Daniel Starkweather. Jaret Curtis, Chase Curtis, and Chris Buffone rounded out the field of 12-15 year olds.