The New England Auto Racers (NEAR) brought their cars of the past to the Nation’s Site of Excitement on Thursday at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, VT. Opting to run all the old-time machines together for one fifteen-lap feature, former Flying Tiger pilot Mike Rollins took the Sportsman checkers with his #29 Dave Dion machine while Palmer, Massachusetts-native Dennis Desantels took the top Modified honors.
The rk Miles Street Stocks kicked off feature racing for the evening with Patrick Tibbetts and Donat Premont leading the show. A series of on-track mishaps for the Crunch Bunch slowed things down enough for Kyle MacAskill and Nate Brien to assume the front row by lap 11. Miraculously the remainder of the 30-lap event went green to the very end, even as top-five point chaser Hayden Bushey did two bouts of agricultural racing through the infield turns! Kyle MacAskill took down his first win of the season on Casella Waste Systems night followed across the line by Nate ‘Tater’ Brien and Patrick Tibbetts.
After an outstanding start to the Thursday Night racing season, Thunder Road International Speedbowl is back in action this Thursday, June 11 with the help of Casella Waste Systems! An action-packed Thursday will feature the Maplefields/Irving Oil Late Models, Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers and rk Miles Street Stocks plus the annual appearance of the New England Auto Racers to pull back the curtain on yesteryear at one of New England’s oldest racing facilities!
The New England Auto Racers (NEAR) bring nostalgia wherever they race from the open-wheeled coupes and modifieds of fifty years ago to the traveling Hall of Fame mobile-museum. The Thursday at Thunder Road and Saturday at White Mountain Motorsports Park doubleheader has annually kicked off their racing season, with stops also planned at Seekonk Speedway, Bear Ridge Speedway and Waterford Speedbowl among others.
Mother Nature attempted to impose her will on the racing card on Saturday night, but the management, staff, drivers and fans at Devil’s Bowl Speedway refused to lose. After a brief storm rolled through West Haven right before intermission, the track crew’s determined effort, followed by the modified driver’s help working the racing surface in, allowed the kids’ race car rides and the remainder of the Inspired Minds Childcare night’s events to be completed. With the track’s characteristics vastly different after the rain shower concluded, drivers were challenged to adjust, making for an entertaining show.
In the 30-lap Sunoco Sportsman Modified feature, Scott Towslee, usually known as a “High Plains Drifter,” suddenly became a “Bottom Feeder,” as he hugged the inside line for a convincing victory, ending a two-year drought. Adam Piper set the early pace, but a mechanical issue ended his night on lap eight. Towslee took control on the ensuing restart and never gave it back. Last week’s winner, Randy Ryan, appeared to be primed to contend for another win, but he also suffered a mechanical issue. Frank Hoard III charged from ninth on the grid to take over the second spot and challenge Towslee. After failing to be able to overtake the leader on a trio of restarts, Hoard III fashioned a last-ditch effort to steal the top spot from Towslee out of turn four, coming to the white flag, and clipped the outside retaining wall, sending him back to ninth. Towslee held on to collect the victory, followed by Brent Warren, A.J. Munger, Joey Scarborough, and Josh Sunn. Scarborough earned the Elmo’s Pit Stop Hard Charger Award after advancing from the 14th starting position to fourth.
Track Promoter C.V. “Butch” Elms saw a window of opportunity to go for it as the sun came out late in the day, before the next wave of weather moved back into the area. It was features only for the visiting R.E. Hinkley Granite State Mini Sprints, Sportsman Mods Limited, Late Models, and Dirt Stocks which were completed along with two segments of the Ridge Runner Madness and the heat races for the Mods and Coupes before mother nature threw the checkers, making the night complete in the record books. The Sportsman Modifieds, Sportsman Coupes and segment three for the Ridge Runner Madness will be completed June 13th before the regular card begins.
The feature winners of the 59th consecutive season week five sponsored by Valley Floors were: race postponed due to rain in the Sabil & Sons DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds; race postponed due to rain in the Wells River Chevrolet DIRTcar Sportsman Coupes; Shawn King in the Dad’s 4 By Tool & Supply Sportsman Modifieds Limiteds; the Xtreme DIRTcar DMA Midgets were OFF, Kelly Miller in the High Country Dispensary Late Models; Keith Mansur in the LaValley Building Supply Dirt Stocks; in the Woodsville Power Equipment Bobcat Ridge Runners Madness Segment one Riley Chaffee, Madness Segment two Zach Audet. In the visiting R.E. Hinkley Granite State Mini Sprints 500cc Jake Wolf, and Cody Willette in the 600 cc.
With 65 laps on the board for the McGee Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Barre Trophy Dash, Darrell Morin and Brandon Lanphear brought the Maplefields/Irving Late Models to green. The two beautiful blue cars showed the way side-by-side before Lanphear gained the upper hand in the outside groove. A caution at lap 24 for the blown engine under Stephen Donahue’s hood set up a new battle at the front between Justin Prescott and Brandon Gray. Lanphear held back in fourth to watch defending champion Jason Corliss line up to take on the two front runners with all four under a blanket.
Brandon Lanphear’s turn three spin and pile-up would call out the final caution with five laps remaining. East Thetford’s Brandon Gray would get the jump on the restart and lead all the way home for the opening Thursday Night win at Thunder Road over Justin Prescott and Jason Corliss at the line.
