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.
It was Kids’ Poster Night at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Saturday evening, and the youngsters in attendance were treated to an exciting card of dirt track action. A pair of drivers earned their second wins of the season, and two others visited victory lane for the first time in their careers.
In the 30-lap Sunoco Sportsman Modified feature, veteran wheelman Randy Ryan cruised to a seemingly easy win. It was an emotional bounce-back win for Ryan, who saw one of his cars destroyed in a turn-one rollover in his last start. The outcome of this one was never in doubt as Ryan pounced to the lead from the pole at the drop of the green flag and led every lap. Brent Warren, who was lightning fast in his heat race, quickly moved from his fourth spot on the grid to second by passing Marty Hutchins and Eric Shaw, but Ryan had already checked out. Ryan crossed the finish line half a track in front of the rest of the pack. Warren held on for second, Vince Quenneville was third, Josh Sunn fourth, and Tanner Siemons, who moved up 10 spots from his 15th starting position, was fifth.
The feature winners of the 59th consecutive season week four sponsored by Bar Harbor Bank & Trust were Mike Ryan in the Sabil & Sons DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds; Logan Martin in the Wells River Chevrolet DIRTcar Sportsman Coupes; Bryan King in the Dad’s 4 By Tool & Supply Sportsman Modifieds Limiteds; the Xtreme DIRTcar DMA Midgets were OFF, Ryan Christian in the High Country Dispensary Late Models; Tyler Fellows in the LaValley Building Supply Dirt Stocks; Doug Boucher in the Woodsville Power Equipment Bobcat Ridge Runners, and Matt Hoyt in the Sprint Cars of New England.
Mike Ryan is back in victory lane in a big way grabbing the win in the Sabil & Sons DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds. Only one caution would slow the pace when the 6 time track champion Jason Gray finds himself pit side, done for the night. Grays run for his seventh consecutive track championship isn’t starting out as well as he had hoped. Ryan was able to get the jump on the restart and hold on until the checkers waved beating Richie Simmons and Jeremy Huntoon, both with their best finishes of the season. Thomas Placey and Owen Brown rounded out the top five.
After holding out hope for Monday’s original postponement, the weather forecast has become just as gloomy in Central Vermont for Memorial Day. Officials with Thunder Road have made the decision to postpone the 63rd running of the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic to Sunday, June 21.
With the summer calendar already filling up quickly for the American-Canadian Tour family of tracks and series, June 21 was singled out as the next available option on Father’s Day weekend. With the move, officials have earmarked the schedule to include pit gates opening at 10:00am, grandstands opening at 11:30am, and a post time of 2:00pm on Sunday, June 21.
“Unfortunately, the rain is against us this weekend,” said Thunder Road managing partner Cris Michaud. “We’re looking forward to an exciting Father’s Day weekend for our family of tracks starting with Five Star Roofing Night on Thursday, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at White Mountain on Saturday and now the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic on Sunday, June 21.”
Thursday nights at Thunder Road are fast approaching with McGee Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Barre presenting the annual Super Thursday opener on Thursday, June 4! The New England Supermodified Series (NESS) returns to the Barre highbanks along with the Maplefields/Irving Late Models, Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers and rk Miles Street Stocks! Be there for the start of Thursday Night Racing at Thunder Road with a 7:00pm post time.
The DirtCar 358 Modifieds took center stage Saturday night as Devil’s Bowl Speedway hosted the first night of the annual Northeast Crate Nationals, one of the marquee dirt track racing events for Sportsman Modifieds in the Northeast. Group Time Trials for drivers who aspire to qualify for the $5,000 to win 100-lap event were also on tap.
In the DirtCar 358 Modified feature, rising young driver Tanner Siemons scored the first 358 win of his career, and he had to fight off one of the best in the business to do it. Siemons was able to fend off the challenge of Mike Mahaney after a restart with eight laps remaining to collect the momentous victory. Siemons and Walter J. Hammond led the field to the green flag for the 30-lap event. Hammond led for the first five circuits before Siemons assumed command on lap six. Once Siemons grabbed the point, he never let it go. Mahaney was working his way to the front from the sixth position on the grid, surviving battles with Hammond, Justin Stone, and Dave Camara to move to second on lap 21. Brian Calabrese was also on the move from the 15th starting spot. The red flag came out on lap 22 after a massive wreck on the front stretch involving Walter Hammond Jr., Tim LaDuc, Todd Morey, CG Morey, Lance Willix, Troy Audet, and Kevin Chaffee, with LaDuc’s machine landing upside down on top of two of the cars. After the lengthy delay for cleaning up the carnage, Mahaney did everything possible to find a way around Siemons, but the Orford, New Hampshire campaigner was not to be denied. Mahaney followed Siemons across the line for second, Walter J. Hammond held on for third, Camara was fourth, and Stone fifth.
The feature winners of the 59th consecutive season week three were Joey Scarborough in the Sabil & Sons DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds; Michael Danforth Jr. in the Wells River Chevrolet DIRTcar Sportsman Coupes; the Dad’s 4 By Tool & Supply Sportsman Modifieds Limited were OFF; Chris Murray in the Xtreme DIRTcar DMA Midgets; the High Country Dispensary Late Models were OFF; John Fields in the LaValley Building Supply Dirt Stocks; Zach Audet in the Woodsville Power Equipment Bobcat Ridge Runners, and Tim Colby in the High Country Dispensaries 4/6 Cylinder Enduro.
The Sabil & Sons DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds were host to the VP Racing Fuels DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds for their Eastern Region series event. Unfavorable weather conditions for tracks around the region afforded the opportunity for several competitors to make the trek to the Ridge for the second event of the series. An old name at the Ridge the son of Joey Scarborough was one of those visitors. Scarborough would set fast time in his time hot laps group, win his heat and have the right redraw of the night, grabbing the pole for the 40 lap main, for the field of twenty nine cars. Scarborough would survive a couple of early cautions before the field settled down to some great racing, and be able to capitalize on lapped cars to keep Martin Lessard of Canada at bay for the win. Bear Ridges first regular competitor to cross the line was Robert Tucker who takes home the final victory lane spot. The Ridges own Max Dolliver and Jeremy Huntoon rounded out the top five. We wish to thank all the competitors who helped make this show a great event, and DIRTcar for allowing us the opportunity to host.
