Late Models Begin Two Championship Battles At Memorial Day Classic
More Than a Dozen Racers Aiming for “King of the Road” and Challenge Cup Titles
Barre, VT — The 58th Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic goes green at Barre’s Thunder Road this Sunday, May 30. For many Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model racers, the 125-lap battle on FloRacing is the opening round of two championship campaigns that will captivate regional stock car racing fans all summer long.
Sunday’s Memorial Day Classic, the first since 2019, begins the 2021 “King of the Road” battle. Fourteen point-counting events lie ahead, concluding with Efficiency Vermont Championship Night on September 17. With the weekly field expected to increase in size this year, the competition will be frenetic each time out as teams aim to reach the top.
A second title will be on the line for two-time defending track champion Jason Corliss, 2017 champion Bobby Therrien, multi-time Late Model winner Matt White, and 10 others. All 14 events also are eligible for the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) New England Late Model Challenge Cup, a new regional championship that lets top weekly racers go head-to-head.
Thunder Road is one of nine tracks participating in the inaugural Challenge Cup. Registered drivers can earn points at any of these track’s weekly Late Model events based on finishing position, field size, and cars passed. A driver’s 10 best results count towards their overall total, and the Challenge Cup champion receives a $5,000 bonus.
If a driver were to capture both the Thunder Road track championship and the Challenge Cup, they would take home $12,500 in total point fund money. At year’s end, ACT also will raffle off a new chassis from Port City Racecars/Crazy Horse Racing plus $500 product certificates from ARBodies and Five Star Race Car Bodies among eligible Challenge Cup competitors.
“It’s good for some of these local teams that don’t necessarily have the time or budget to do some Tour racing, but still want to race for additional money and an additional prize,” Barre’s Jason Corliss said. “I know we’re excited about it on our team. We don’t necessarily have much of a schedule set as far as attending other weekly tracks yet, but that’s the beauty of this program. You can get partway into a season, be heavily involved in the points chase for the Challenge Cup, and decide on an off-weekend, ‘let’s go to White Mountain or some of these other race tracks’ and try to win that Cup.”
Although the other eight tracks have started their weekly racing seasons, Thunder Road racers need not fret. Even if they never venture beyond the high banks, they’ll have plenty of chances to accumulate Challenge Cup points in the “Pick 10” format. Two drivers, Danville’s Tyler Cahoon and Wolcott’s Marcel J. Gravel, have gotten a head start with trips to New Hampshire’s White Mountain Motorsports Park. Cahoon currently sits seventh in Challenge Cup points.
For the other 11 drivers who declared Thunder Road their Challenge Cup “home track”, Sunday is round number one in their regional title hopes. The aforementioned racers are joined by Montpelier’s Kyle Pembroke, Barre’s Christopher Pelkey, Milton’s Eric Chase, Wolcott’s Brendan Moodie, Barre’s Jim “Boomer” Morris, Waterford’s Andy Hill, Morrisville’s Brandon Lanphear, and Hinesburg’s Cooper Bouchard. Fans can follow along with the New England Late Model Challenge Cup all season at www.acttour.com/nelmcc.
The Challenge Cup and the start of the “King of the Road” fight are part of a full Memorial Day Sunday at the “Nation’s Site of Excitement”. The 125-lap Memorial Day Classic is joined by a 100-lap showdown for the Myers Container Service Triple Crown Series. A huge field of Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers are expected to try and qualify for their biggest race of the season.
The entry list includes former Thunder Road Triple Crown champions Jason Woodard, Joel Hodgdon, and Mike Martin plus 2020 White Mountain Triple Crown champion Jaden Perry. They’ll be joined by Matt Potter, Colin Cornell, Sam Caron, Brandon Gray, Kelsea Woodard, and others who have had success in long-distance racing.
The RK Miles Street Stocks & Burnett Scrap Metals Warriors bookend the 8-cylinder shows with some 4-cylinder flash. More than 30 Street Stocks were on hand Opening Day, pointing to a great year for the division. Veterans Jeffrey Martin, Tommy “Thunder” Smith, Jamie Davis, and Dean Switser Jr. will have their hands full as up-and-comers Kaiden Fisher, Luke Peters, Trevor Jaques, Haidyn Pearce continue to gain experience.
In the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors, the only guarantee is that they’ll have more fun per dollar than anyone else at Thunder Road. The Warriors continue to thrive thanks in large part to the old guard of Sean “Chubby Rambo” McCarthy, “Flyin’” Fred Fleury, Josh Vilbrin, Dan Garrett Jr., and Frank Putney, who teach each new generation the ropes even as they try to beat them on the racetrack.
The 58th Mekklesen RV Memorial Day Classic comes to Barre’s Thunder Road this Sunday, May 30 at 1:30pm. The Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models go 125 laps in the “King of the Road” opener while the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers have 100 laps for the Myers Container Service Triple Crown Series. The RK Miles Street Stocks and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors round out the card.
Admission is $20 for adults, $5 for kids ages 6-12, and $40 for a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids). All Thunder Road events are also broadcast live on FloRacing for those with a monthly or yearly subscription.
For more information, contact the Thunder Road offices at (802) 244-6963, [email protected], or visit www.thunderroadvt.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @ThunderRoadVT. For more information about FloRacing, visit www.FloRacing.com.
