{"id":23707,"date":"2018-07-18T16:35:33","date_gmt":"2018-07-18T20:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=23707"},"modified":"2018-07-17T21:36:46","modified_gmt":"2018-07-18T01:36:46","slug":"vermont-late-model-stars-ready-to-take-home-governors-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2018\/07\/vermont-late-model-stars-ready-to-take-home-governors-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Vermont Late Model Stars Ready to Take Home Governor\u2019s Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Vermont Late Model Stars Ready to Take Home Governor\u2019s Cup<\/strong><\/p>\n

Barre, VT \u2013 This Thursday, July 19, the Vermont Governor\u2019s Cup will be awarded for the 39th time in its storied history. The 150-lap event presented by VP Racing Fuels is the biggest event of the summer for Thunder Road\u2019s Maplewood\/Irving Oil Late Models and a sought-after prize for drivers throughout the state and region.
\n<\/p>\n

With thousands of laps each summer on the Barre high banks, the track\u2019s weekly stars are ready to take on any and all invaders that may come knocking in their quest for the Cup. Defending Governor\u2019s Cup Champion Trampas Demers tops the weekly standings entering the event, and a second straight victory could lead to his first title. Former winners Cody Blake of Barre and Scott Dragon of Milton are in the hunt as well, and a second trophy would be a perfect shot in the arm.<\/p>\n

Barre\u2019s Jason Corliss and Jim \u201cBoomer\u201d Morris along with Graniteville\u2019s Stephen Donahue are others expected to try and keep the Governor\u2019s Cup local. Top part-time racers such as Fayston\u2019s Brooks Clark and Charlotte\u2019s Josh Masterson are also making the event part of their schedule and could steal the victory.<\/p>\n

But every year, a number of interlopers come knocking in their own bid to take the Cup home. This season, St-Denis, QC\u2019s Patrick Laperle will lead the attack of the outsiders. The former Vermont Milk Bowl and Labor Day Classic Champion hopes to become the first Canadian to win the event since Jean-Paul Cabana in 1971. \u201cLe Grand\u201d Laperle recently snapped a long winless streak on U.S. soil and will look to turn around some recent struggles at the top of Quarry Hill.<\/p>\n

First awarded in 1961, the Governor\u2019s Cup is the oldest racing event in the state of Vermont and one of the most prestigious. Since its return to the Thunder Road schedule in 2006, it has been an event that every local racer circles on their schedule. Add in a hotly contested \u201cKing of the Road\u201d battle, and this year\u2019s event has all the makings of an instant classic.<\/p>\n

Just 49 points separate the top-6 drivers entering the Governor\u2019s Cup. The front four are names many expected to see. Demers leads Blake by just two points after last week\u2019s event. Corliss and Dragon are third and fourth, sitting 29 and 30 points behind Demers, respectively.<\/p>\n

The Late Models will be joined by a full card of championship action for the track\u2019s Lenny\u2019s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers and Allen Lumber Street Stocks. In the Tigers, Craftsbury Common\u2019s Joel Hodgdon has stolen the show in recent weeks. His come-from-behind win in last week\u2019s Myers Container Service Triple Crown Series event shot him to the top of the standings.<\/p>\n

Hodgdon now sits nine points ahead of Morrisville\u2019s Dwayne Lanphear, who had been the leader since Opening Day. While Hodgdon and Lanphear currently have a big gap on the rest of the field, top runners such as rookie Brandon Lanphear, Hinesburg\u2019s Trevor Lyman, Grand Isle\u2019s Joe Steffen, and Barre\u2019s Cameron Ouellette will try to close the gap.<\/p>\n

Essex Jct.\u2019s Matthew Smith is still the man to beat in the Street Stocks. He has topped the standings from the get-go and is currently 54 points ahead of Derby\u2019s Tim Hunt, who is coming off a popular first career win last Thursday. Lyndonville\u2019s Dean Switser Jr. sits third while sophomores Logan Powers of Middlesex and Stephen Martin of Craftsbury Common are locked in a tie for fourth.<\/p>\n

Qualifying for the 39th Annual VP Racing Fuels Vermont Governor\u2019s Cup takes the green at a special 6:30pm post time this Thursday, July 19. The pits will open at 2:30pm while the front gates open at 3:30pm. Admission is $20 for adults and free for kids ages 12 and under.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vermont Late Model Stars Ready to Take Home Governor\u2019s Cup Barre, VT \u2013 This Thursday, July 19, the Vermont Governor\u2019s Cup will be awarded for the 39th time in its storied history. The 150-lap event presented by VP Racing Fuels is the biggest event of the summer for Thunder Road\u2019s Maplewood\/Irving Oil Late Models and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thunder-road","category-vermont"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23707"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23708,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23707\/revisions\/23708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}