Thunder Road Doubling Up with VT Tire & Service Night and Bolduc Enduro
Barre, VT — Barre’s Thunder Road is ready for a double dose of Vermont stock car thrills this Thursday, August 20 and Sunday, August 23. Vermont Tire & Service Night and the 36th Bolduc Metal Recycling Enduro 200 gives fans two chances to see great racing either at the track or worldwide on the Northeast Sports Network.
The doubleheader starts with Vermont Tire & Service Night on Thursday, August 20 at 7:00pm. All four of Thunder Road’s weekly divisions are on the card with the stars of the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models, Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, Allen Lumber Street Stocks, and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors ready to do battle. The evening also includes the Marvin Johnson Memorial First-Time Winners Race where a Street Stock driver becomes a first-time winner on the high banks.
Then on Sunday, August 23 at 6:00pm is the annual “People’s Race”. The Bolduc Enduro 200 has been an annual Thunder Road tradition since 1985. Pre-entries are on par with previous seasons, meaning 100 or more cars are once again expected to vie for the $3,000 top prize.
Speshock Squeezes Last Drop Out of Engine for Devil’s Bowl Speedway Win
Comes grabs second win in Limited Sportsman division
WEST HAVEN, Vt. – Jack Speshock has been on a roller coaster ride during the 2020 dirt track racing season, and on Sunday, August 16 he experienced a skyscraper high and a basement-level low all in the same moment at Devil’s Bowl Speedway. The Malta, N.Y., driver dominated for his second big victory in a 24-hour span, but then he promptly blew his engine during the cool-down lap.
His win, while bittersweet, highlighted a roster of nine winning drivers which also included Austin Comes, Josh Coonradt, Andrew FitzGerald, Chris Sumner, Kamden Duffy, Frank Hoard Jr., Kyle Hoard, and Mike Wheeler.
Speshock had been the hard-luck poster child for several weeks at Devil’s Bowl, having crashed out while in contention to win Pepsi Sportsman Modified features twice in the last month. Things went much better for him during the weekend, starting with a top-10 finish at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Friday and a win at Airborne Speedway on Saturday. He led every circuit of Sunday’s 30-lap feature at Devil’s Bowl, but he knew for more than half of the race that he was in trouble.
Jason Gray is the overall winner in the DIRTcar Sabil & Sons Sportsman Mods
Will Hull gets win number one in the WYKR Sprint Cars of New England
Bear Ridge Speedway
Feature winners for the Swenson Insurance night at the Ridge: Jason Gray for the overall in the Sabil & Sons DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds, Thomas Placey in the DIRTcar Sportsman Coupes, George Osgood in the C.A. Miller Limited Late Models, Brandon Gray in the LaValley Building Supply Dirt Stockers, Buddy Welch in the Peanuts Auto Four Cylinders, and Will Hull in the WYKR Sprint Cars of New England
The DIRTcar Sabil & Sons Sportsman Modifieds drivers had over nine thousand dollars on the line for their madness night, setting up their night for three segments of thirty three laps each. Segment one went to Jason Gray with Jordan Fornwalt and Mike Ryan crossing the line in second and third. These three lucky drivers got to start the second segment in the rear from the invert giving James Fadden the win in the segment. Jason Gray made it back up thru traffic to finish second with Matt Lashua coming home in third. Segment three went to Jordan Fornwalt with DJ Robinson taking second and Gray getting third. The overall combination points put Jason Gray on top with Jordan Fornwalt in second and Matt Lashua in third. Mike Ryan and and Todd Hayward completed the top five.
McCarthy Outlasts Them All for Road Warrior Challenge Win on NCFCU Night
Donahue, Wall, & Blanchard Join McCarthy in Victory Lane
Barre, VT — Williamstown’s Sean “Chubby Rambo” McCarthy never gave up and never surrendered on his way to victory in the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warrior Challenge on Thursday, August 13 at NorthCountry Federal Credit Union Night. McCarthy got the lead for good when Berlin’s Dan Garrett tangled with a slower car on lap 37 of the 50-lap event and checked out from there for his third career Road Warrior victory at Thunder Road.
McCarthy started seventh in the entry-level division’s annual special and quickly cut through the field. As he was running second to Jamie York on lap 18, York got into a lapped car and cut his left-front tire, forcing him to the pits and giving McCarthy the lead for the first time.
However, the battle was far from over for Chubby Rambo. After a lap-21 caution for a multi-car turn one tangle, third-place runner Steve Reno dove three-wide coming to the restart. Reno and McCarthy dueled for the next four laps with Reno having a bumper out front when the yellow flew on lap 25 for the halfway break.
Thunder Road Sets New Tiger 100 Date, Cancels Memorial Day Classic Amid Late-Season Schedule Adjustments
Barre, VT — Thunder Road officials have announced a series of schedule changes and adjustments for the final month of the season. These include a new date for the 100-lap finale of the Myers Container Service Triple Crown Series as well as the addition of the Labor Day Classic to the “King of the Road” chase.
Both changes stem from the cancellation of the 2020 Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic. The event was originally slated for May 25 before being postponed due to the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak.
Due to the compressed season calendar and the assortment of big late-season events both at Thunder Road and at other tracks around the region, officials were unable to find a suitable make-up date for the Memorial Day Classic despite their best efforts. The decision was thus made to cancel the 2020 edition and resume the Memorial Day tradition in 2021.
Perrego Victory Caps Electric “Battle at the Bowl” Event at Devil’s Bowl Speedway
Root beats Drellos in King of Dirt Crate Modified thriller
WEST HAVEN, Vt. – Anthony Perrego beat the most talented field of dirt Modified drivers ever assembled at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Sunday, August 9, winning the second annual “Battle at the Bowl” Big Block/Small Block Challenge before an electrified, pandemic-weary crowd. With 65 combined entries vying for 30 starting spots in the 50-lap main event, Perrego came away with the big win and a check for $7,500.
Seating was limited to a sold-out 750 masked-and-socially-distanced grandstand spectators and about 400 infield drive-in fans – many of whom were attending their first race of the season amid COVID-19 restrictions – and the appreciative gathering made enough noise to substitute for 5,000. Cheers rained down during the night on winners Perrego, Jessey Mueller, Mat Williamson, and King of Dirt Racing Crate Modified Series winner Kevin Root.
