{"id":25709,"date":"2019-08-13T17:03:08","date_gmt":"2019-08-13T21:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=25709"},"modified":"2019-08-13T13:03:48","modified_gmt":"2019-08-13T17:03:48","slug":"homestretch-of-thursday-season-hits-at-vt-tire-service-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2019\/08\/homestretch-of-thursday-season-hits-at-vt-tire-service-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Homestretch of Thursday Season Hits at VT Tire & Service Night"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Homestretch of Thursday Season Hits at VT Tire & Service Night<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Barre, VT<\/em> \u2013 The season-long championship battles at Thunder Road enter their final stages this Thursday, August 15 at Vermont Tire & Service Night. Just two Thursday night events remain at the \u201cNation\u2019s Site of Excitement\u201d this year. While the Thursday season may be winding down, the action is just getting started as racers fight to claim a coveted track title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The donnybrook to be the 2019 \u201cKing of the Road\u201d remains one of the closest in track history. Three point-counting events are left for the Maplewood\/Irving Oil Late Models as they jockey and jostle for every point they can get. With just 23 points separating the top-five racers, nearly everything will need to go right for the driver who ends up on top at season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barre\u2019s Jason Corliss has held the upper hand for the past two weeks. The hometown hero is in search of his first Late Model championship after winning nearly every big race there is to win at Thunder Road over the past two seasons. He currently has a 12-point lead over Milton\u2019s Scott Dragon, who has won two of the last three titles. Dragon is the only contender to have a reign as \u201cKing of the Road\u201d, giving him a leg up in knowing what it takes to get the job done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three Thunder Road veterans sit closely bunched behind Dragon in positions 3-5. Shelburne\u2019s Trampas Demers, Montpelier\u2019s Kyle Pembroke, and Barre\u2019s Cody Blake have won numerous races at Thunder Road in recent years. However, a championship has eluded them. A come-from-behind drive to the title this year would be a crowning achievement for any of the three in their racing careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The top-five will have to grapple with more than just each other. The Late Model fields at Thunder Road are some of the most talented in the region with a dozen or more drivers capable of winning any given Thursday. Wolcott\u2019s Marcel J. Gravel remains on the cusp of contention in sixth overall. Danville\u2019s Tyler Cahoon is coming off his first victory in two years. Graniteville\u2019s Christopher Pelkey and Northfield\u2019s Matt White have multiple podium finishes this year. Every move the field makes will impact the title contenders as well, meaning one decision could be the difference between a big night and a disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two other championships are also still to be decided in the coming weeks. The Lenny\u2019s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers and Allen Lumber Street Stocks each have four point-counting events remaining. Two Flying Tiger racers have started to pull away from the pack. Waterbury Center\u2019s Jason Woodard is blazing the trail as he hunts for his third Tiger championship. The newly-crowned Myers Container Service Triple Crown Series Champion has an eight-point lead in the season-long standings over rookie Stephen Martin of Craftsbury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the rest of the field isn\u2019t ready to concede just yet. East Calais\u2019s Tyler Austin is having a career year in third overall. At 45 points behind Woodard, a belated title bid by Austin isn\u2019t out of the question. Waterbury Center\u2019s Kelsea Woodard, Morrisville\u2019s Brandon Lanphear, Middlesex\u2019s Logan Powers, and Williamstown\u2019s Micheal MacAskill aren\u2019t far behind Austin, leaving much to be decided before the final checkered flag flies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Street Stocks, Barre\u2019s Jeffrey Martin continues to cruise at the top. Martin extended his streak of top-10 finishes to 12 straight last Thursday, keeping him in the driver\u2019s seat for the championship. 2014 Street Stock Champion Tommy \u201cThunder\u201d Smith of Williamstown is doing his best to peck away at the gap but is still 39 points behind Martin. St. Johnsbury\u2019s Kasey Beattie, Wolcott\u2019s Jamie Davis, and Lyndonville\u2019s Dean Switser Jr. round out the top-five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Street Stocks have some extra time in the spotlight this Thursday with the Marvin Johnson Memorial for drivers seeking their first Street Stock win on the high banks. Several top-10 point drivers are eligible for the special 19-lap event, including Berlin\u2019s Kasey Collins, Graniteville\u2019s J.T. Blanchard, and Pittsfield\u2019s Juan \u201cPaco\u201d Marshall. These and other drivers will have two chances on Thursday to become a first-time Thunder Road winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors are also on the schedule. Berlin\u2019s Kylar Davis has been the hottest driver in the division with three straight top-two finishes. He\u2019ll have to beat out top runners such as Northfield\u2019s James Dopp, East Corinth\u2019s Brian Putney, Northfield\u2019s Josh Vilbrin, and Berlin\u2019s Chris Davis to keep that streak alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vermont Tire & Service Night goes to post at 7:00pm this Thursday, August 15. The card of racing includes all four divisions, the Marvin Johnson Memorial First-Time Winner\u2019s Race, and a special Junior Champ Kart\/Race to Read parade at intermission. The pits open at 3:30pm and the front gates open at 5:15pm. Admission is $12 for adults, $3 for kids ages 6-12, and $25 for a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Homestretch of Thursday Season Hits at VT Tire & Service Night Barre, VT \u2013 The season-long championship battles at Thunder Road enter their final stages this Thursday, August 15 at Vermont Tire & Service Night. Just two Thursday night events remain at the \u201cNation\u2019s Site of Excitement\u201d this year. While the Thursday season may be winding […]<\/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":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25709","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=25709"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25710,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25709\/revisions\/25710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}