Martin Barely Edges Caron in Triple Crown Thriller on Cody Chevrolet Night
Cahoon and Gray Also Take Victories
Barre, VT — Craftsbury Common’s Mike Martin came out on top of the duel of the season to win round two of the Myers Container Service Triple Crown Series at Cody Chevrolet-Cadillac Night on Thursday, August 6. Martin went wheel-to-wheel alongside Colchester’s Sam Caron for nearly 20 laps down the stretch before edging him out by a mere 0.031 seconds as part of a five-car pack rushing to the finish line.
Martin started eighth in the 75-lap feature for the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers while Caron took the initial green flag in fourth. Caron needed just three laps to slash his way to the front, roaring around Morrisville’s Brandon Lanphear for the top spot. As Caron steadily built a straightaway lead, Martin used a combination of finesse and well-timed aggression to work his way to the runner-up spot.
The 2017 Triple Crown Champion than put a target on Caron’s back, and with the help of some lapped traffic, Martin had caught the leader when the first caution came out on lap 44 for Micheal MacAskill’s spin. When the field went back under the green, Martin got the jump on the outside.
The yellow was back out one lap later, though, when Martin’s son Stephen went through the infield and came to a stop in turn three. Once again, the high line was the place to be on the restart as Caron went back to the point. The veteran paced the field for the next 12 circuits as Martin, Jason Woodard, Lanphear, Rich Lowery, and others duked it out behind him.
A third and final yellow flag flew on lap 57 when Danny Doyle spun out the top-10 and subsequently went up in smoke on the front chute. The 18 heart-stopping laps that followed were some of the hardest-fought, most impressively-driven laps on the high banks in recent memory. Time after time, Caron would put the nose up in the center of the corners, only for Martin to get the drive off turns two and four to maintain the advantage. Ten other cars were staring them down the barrel, making it anybody’s race for the Triple Crown victory.
As the laps wound down, Martin, Caron, Woodard, Lanphear, and Logan Powers broke away from the rest of the pack. Even as they did, the quintet continued to go door-do-door and bumper-to-bumper around the high banks while barely laying a tire mark on each other. As the field entered turn four for the last time, Caron put a full fender out front on the inside. Martin got just enough bite off the final corner, though, and beat Caron to the checkered flag by just a few inches for his 11th career win.
Caron finished a bittersweet second with season-long point leader Woodard completing the podium. Lanphear unofficially maintained the Triple Crown point lead with a fourth-place finish while Powers took fifth. Polesitter Cooper Bouchard, Lowrey, Derrick Calkins, Stephen Martin, and Kelsea Woodard completed the top-10. Thirty-three cars attempted to qualify with 28 starting the main event.
Danville, VT’s Tyler Cahoon went wire-to-wire for his first win of the season and the fourth of his career in the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models. After rebuilding his vehicle following a hard wreck a week ago, Cahoon started on the pole of the 50-lap feature. He easily outgunned Barre’s Jim “Boomer” Morris at the drop of the green and never let up from there.
Montpelier’s Kyle Pembroke eventually got around Morris as well and tried to set his sights on Cahoon. But while action heated up late for the third spot, Cahoon was long gone, cruising to a straightway win in the caution-free race.
Pembroke took second while Hinesburg’s Bobby Therrien drove around Wolcott’s Brendan Moodie with two laps to go for third spot. Barre’s Jason Corliss then nipped Moodie by a radiator cap for fourth to gain ground in the championship chase. Cody Blake, Morris, Marcel J. Gravel, Scott Dragon, and Eric Chase finished sixth through 10th.
E. Thetford’s Brandon Gray did his best to match the Flying Tiger thrills by using a last-lap pass to snare his second win of the season in the Allen Lumber Street Stocks. The point leader started 16th for the 25-lap feature and steadily carved his way through the field. However, with four laps to go, he seemed stuck in the box in fourth behind Kyler Davis and Juan “Paco” Marshall as polesitter Justin Blakely of Barre showed the way.
But Gray stuck it out, and as Marshall drifted back a bit, the #00 machine found a hole to get to the outside. He dispatched of Davis with two to go then pulled alongside Blakely as they entered turn one on the final circuit. Blakely had the shorter route around the track, but Gray kept his car wound up on the outside groove and snatched the victory away in his signature performance of the 2020 season to date.
Blakely wound up second with Davis in third. Tanner Woodard, Marshall, Kaiden “Tropical Storm” Fisher, Jamie Davis, Tim Hunt, Kyle MacAskill, and Josh Lovely rounded out the top-10.
Thunder Road gives the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors the limelight next Thursday, August 13 at North Country Federal Credit Union Night. The second annual Road Warrior Challenge will be a 50-lap, $500-to-win clash for the track’s popular entry level class. The night also includes a full card of championship action for the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models, Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers,
Admission is $15 for adults and $3 for kids ages 12 and under with limited fan attendance. Advance tickets will be on sale until 10:00am Thursday, August 13 at https://happsnow.com/event/Thunder-Road-Speedbowl. Face masks are required for all attendees per Vermont state mandate. A $15 pay-per-view is also available on the Northeast Sports Network at www.NSNsports.net/sponsors/racing.
For more information, contact the Thunder Road offices at (802) 244-6963, [email protected], or visit www.thunderroadvt.com. You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ThunderRoadVT.
For more about the Northeast Sports Network, visit www.NSNsports.net or follow them on Facebook and Twitter at @NSNsports.
THUNDER ROAD SPEEDBOWL
CODY CHEVROLET-CADILLAC NIGHT
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
MYERS CONTAINER SERVICE TRIPLE CROWN SERIES #2
LENNY’S SHOE & APPAREL FLYING TIGERS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Michael Martin ( 01VT ) Craftsbury Common, VT
2. Sam Caron ( 07VT ) Colchester, VT
3. Jason Woodard ( 68VT ) Waterbury Ctr., VT
4. Brandon Lanphear ( 11VT ) Morrisville, VT
5. Logan Powers ( 31VT ) Middlesex, VT
6. Cooper Bouchard ( 7VT ) Hinesburg, VT
7. Rich Lowrey ( 8NH ) Charlotte, VT
8. Derrick Calkins ( 15VT ) Hinesburg, VT
9. Stephen Martin ( 9VT ) Craftsbury Common, VT
10. Kelsea Woodard ( 55VT ) Waterbury Ctr., VT
11. Jason Pelkey ( 64VT ) Barre, VT
12. Bunker Hodgdon ( 83VT ) Wolcott, VT
13. Chris Laforest ( 56VT ) Barre, VT
14. Cameron Ouellette ( 90VT ) Barre, VT
15. Jaden Perry ( 92VT ) Hardwick, VT
16. Mike Billado ( 8VT ) Grand Isle, VT
17. Robert Gordon ( 20VT ) Milton, VT
18. #Bryan Wall Jr. ( 77NH ) East Kingston, NH
19. Adam Maynard ( 45VT ) Milton, VT
20. Kyle Streeter ( 37VT ) Waterbury Ctr., VT
21. Kevin Streeter ( 67VT ) Waitsfield, VT
22. Micheal MacAskill ( 33VT ) Williamstown, VT
23. Colin Cornell ( 54VT ) E. Burke, VT
24. Eric Messier ( 88NY ) Hinesburg, VT
25. Brett Wood ( 29VT ) Georgia, VT
26. Danny Doyle ( 51VT ) Randolph Ctr., VT
27. #Kasey Beattie ( 45NH ) St.Johnsbury, VT
28. Brian Delphia ( 25VT ) Duxbury, VT
MAPLEWOOD/IRVING OIL LATE MODELS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Tyler Cahoon ( 38VT ) St. Johnsbury, VT
2. Kyle Pembroke ( 27VT ) Montpelier, VT
3. Bobby Therrien ( 5VT ) Hinesburg, VT
4. Jason Corliss ( 66VT ) Barre, VT
5. Brendan Moodie ( 94VT ) Wolcott, VT
6. Cody Blake ( 99VT ) Barre, VT
7. Boomer Morris ( 13VT ) Barre, VT
8. Marcel J. Gravel ( 86VT ) Wolcott, VT
9. Scott Dragon ( 16VT ) Milton, VT
10. Eric Chase ( 40VT ) Milton, VT
11. Matt White ( 42VT ) Northfield, VT
12. Trampas Demers ( 85VT ) Shelburne, VT
13. #Matthew Smith ( 04VT ) Essex Jct., VT
14. Stephen Donahue ( 2NH ) Graniteville, VT
15. Chris Roberts ( 3ME ) Washington, VT
16. Christopher Pelkey ( 64VT ) Graniteville, VT
DNS Darrell Morin ( 17VT ) Westford, VT
ALLEN LUMBER STREET STOCKS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Brandon Gray ( 00 ) E. Thetford, VT
2. Justin Blakey ( 17 ) Graniteville, VT
3. #Kyler Davis ( 69 ) Berlin, VT
4. Tanner Woodard ( 68 ) Waterbury Ctr., VT
5. Juan Marshall ( 79 ) Pittfield, VT
6. #Kaiden Fisher ( 18 ) Shelburne, VT
7. Jamie Davis ( 43 ) Wolcott, VT
8. Tim Hunt ( 93 ) Derby, VT
9. Kyle MacAskill ( 7 ) Williamstown, VT
10. Josh Lovely ( 54 ) Williamstown, VT
11. Cooper French ( 4 ) Northfield, VT
12. JT Blanchard ( 66 ) Graniteville, VT
13. James Dopp ( 0 ) Northfield, VT
14. #Luke Peters ( 26 ) Groton, VT
15. Scott Weston ( 04 ) Berlin, VT
16. #Brodie Frasier ( 71 ) E. Montpelier,VT
17. Thomas Peck ( 96 ) Waterbury, VT
18. Michael Gay ( 3 ) So. Burlington, VT
19. Tommy Campbell ( 85 ) Middlesex, VT
20. Tyler Pepin ( 78 ) Barre, VT
21. Eric MacLaughlin ( 6 ) Milton, VT
22. Jeffrey Martin ( 8 ) Morrisville, VT
23. Royce Lussier ( 95 ) West Berlin, VT
DNS Kyle Chapin ( 75 ) Hardwick, VT
