60th Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic 125 Starts King of the Road Championship Hunt
Barre, VT — Since 1961, following Thunder Road’s popular inaugural season, the Memorial Day Classic has been a staple event on the calendar of many Vermont and New England racing fans. Such bonafide Northeast legends as Jean-Paul Cabana, Joey Kourafas, Ralph Nason, Robbie Crouch and Dave Dion have stood in Memorial Day Classic victory lane. For the 27th-consecutive event, the folks at Mekkelsen RV Sales & Service once again present the season opening showdown for the Maplewood/Irving Late Models to kick-start the annual King of the Road track championship season and the first of three Monument Races, with the winner’s name etched forever in Barre, Vermont granite.
Round Five of NASCAR Whelen Mod Tour Saturday; Monaco Modified Opener Sunday
Race Advance by Souza Media
MILFORD, Conn. – It’s a double-duty kind of weekend for Mayhew Tools driver Doug Coby.
The six-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion will compete in the fifth race of the Tour season on Saturday at Lee USA Speedway, set for 175 laps, driving the Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 7NY. On Sunday, the Connecticut native will make a visit to Vermont for his first start at Thunder Road Speedbowl as part of the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series season-opening race with his own No. 10.
Coby and Baldwin enter the Granite State Derby at Lee as the defending winners of the race. With six change tires in the pit area again this year, strategy and tire conservation will both play a major role in deciding if they can make it back-to-back. The Mayhew Tools No. 7NY has already been in Tour Victory Lane this season at Monadnock Speedway on May 6 in round one of the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup. Saturday’s event at Lee is the second of three in the Cup, with Coby and the Baldwin Racing team currently leading the charge in the points.
Chaffee Flexes Muscle with First Devil’s Bowl Win in Five Years
Tanner takes SCoNE race; Munger picks up where he left off in Limited Sportsman
WEST HAVEN, Vt. – Kevin Chaffee ended a long dry spell at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Saturday, May 13, and he did it with authority. The Bradford, Vt., racer posted his first win at the track in five years, while six other feature races featured a mix of first-time winners and familiar faces in victory lane.
Chaffee’s victory in the headline Sunoco Sportsman Modified division was his first since July 2018. He started fifth on the 24-car field and was able to capitalize on two quick cautions in the first four laps to get through traffic and take the lead from Allan Hammond at lap 5. Two more back-to-back yellow flags bunched the field at laps 14 and 15, but Chaffee held serve the whole time and drove away for a comfortable 4.254-second margin of victory.
Barre, VT — After a stellar debut last season, the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series is returning to Thunder Road International Speedbowl for the 2nd annual Granite City 100 as part of the 60th Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic on Sunday, May 28th. The $10,000-to-win event is once again drawing the top Tour-type Modified talent to Barre, Vermont in spectacular fashion to kick off the popular series’ 10th anniversary season.
Starting out as a three-race series for open competition Tour-type Modified teams in the Northeast back in 2014, the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series has grown to be one of the most popular series for these 600+ horsepower open-wheeled beasts. The pageantry, talent and professionalism of the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series easily rivals the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in just nine years of competition here in New England.
