{"id":28197,"date":"2021-06-29T07:40:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T11:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=28197"},"modified":"2021-06-29T17:41:29","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T21:41:29","slug":"thunder-road-fireworks-coming-from-all-directions-at-holiday-spectacular","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2021\/06\/thunder-road-fireworks-coming-from-all-directions-at-holiday-spectacular\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunder Road Fireworks Coming from All Directions at Holiday Spectacular"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thunder Road Fireworks Coming from All Directions at Holiday Spectacular<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Barre, VT <\/em>\u2014 Thunder Road celebrates the nation\u2019s independence this Thursday, July 1 with the annual Preston\u2019s Kia Holiday Spectacular. The fireworks will be on display literally and figuratively at the \u201cNation\u2019s Site of Excitement\u201d for a night of the country\u2019s best stock car racing at the track or live on FloRacing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All four Thunder Road divisions are on the card with four extra laps to honor Independence Day. Following the final race of the night, the sky above will come alive with the state\u2019s best firework show put on by Northstar Fireworks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The firecrackers had to take a break in 2020 due to COVID-19 safety guidelines and attendance restrictions. This year, they are back with a bang as the country gets closer to normal life. The Independence Day special has long been one of the most popular events of the year at Thunder Road, and 2021 should be no exception as fans get to enjoy being at a racetrack once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s fantastic,\u201d Danville\u2019s Tyler Cahoon said. \u201cWithout the fans, you don\u2019t have a place to race. We are entertainment in a sense, so the more people that come out and watch, and can actually walk away and say, \u2018hey, that was a good time\u2019, that keeps them coming back\u2026I\u2019m really hoping to see a big crowd as people can get out and enjoy the little things in life that we used to before this past year came upon us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The stock car portion of the program offers plenty of intrigue. The championship picture is starting to sort itself out for the Maplewood\/Irving Oil Late Models, Lenny\u2019s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, and RK Miles Street Stocks. The four bonus laps per division may not seem like much, but positions gained or lost in those laps could loom large at year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barre\u2019s Jason Corliss remains the leader in the Late Model ranks. He now sits 32 points ahead of Graniteville\u2019s Stephen Donahue, who has climbed to second thanks to his thrilling CCV Night win. Corliss is gunning for a third straight title while Donahue, the 2016 Thunder Road Flying Tiger champion, is trying to get his first Late Model championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shelburne\u2019s Trampas Demers and Danville\u2019s Cahoon are close behind the lead duo. Including the non-point ACT Community Bank N.A. 150 on May 2, Demers and Cahoon are the only Late Model drivers to have completed every lap at Thunder Road this year. Maintaining that consistency will keep them in the hunt. Christopher Pelkey, Chip Grenier, Brendan Moodie, and rookie Brandon Lanphear showed speed throughout June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Maplewood\/Irving Oil Late Model regulars are also starting to make moves in the New England Late Model Challenge Cup standings. Cahoon is up to fourth in the Challenge Cup thanks to some early season starts at New Hampshire\u2019s White Mountain Motorsports Park. Corliss sits seventh in the standings while Donahue is ninth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A driver\u2019s 10 best finishes will count in the quest for a $5,000 top prize plus contingency raffles from Port City Racecars\/Crazy Horse Racing, ARBodies, and Five Star Race Car Bodies. The point system is based on cars in attendance and includes bonus points for cars passed, which plays into the large Late Model fields seen at Thunder Road this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking at a goal of a top-5 or a top-3 in final points at Thunder Road, and the Challenge Cup is going to take care of itself,\u201d Cahoon said. \u201cIf we can manage to do that in Thunder Road points, that means we\u2019re passing cars, and that will translate to the Challenge Cup points system. Overall, it\u2019s about really paying attention to what we\u2019re doing at Thunder Road \u2014 not getting ahead of ourselves, not counting the points, just doing the best we can do every race with as few mistakes as possible. That\u2019s been one of the biggest things our team has learned from racing at Thunder Road: the ones who finish up top have the least mistakes and are the most consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lenny\u2019s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers are razor close as is often the case. The top-12 in the standings are separated by only 30 points. In just five events, 19 different drivers have snagged at least one top-5 finish, speaking further to the depth of the division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cattle call is currently led by a pair of Martins from Craftsbury Common. Dad Michael jumped to the points lead after a convincing win last week. Son Stephen is eight points behind after back-to-back top-4 finishes. The heat is on them with Cameron Ouellette, Logan Powers, Sam Caron, the Woodard racing family, and others breathing down the Martin\u2019s necks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the RK Miles Street Stocks, Williamstown\u2019s Tommy \u201cThunder\u201d Smith is currently the man to beat. Smith was more excited than anyone about the switch to Hoosier tires this season, saying they almost exactly matched the tires in use when he won the 2014 Street Stock championship. His enthusiasm has been borne out with two victories and a 21-point lead over boy wonder Kaiden \u201cTropical Storm\u201d Fisher of Shelburne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fisher, fellow teenager Luke Peters, and two-time champion Jamie Davis have finished in the top-10 of all five features. Those steady performances have made them players entering July. Kyler Davis, Josh Lovely, and rookie Trevor Jaques have also been among the fastest Street Stocks week in and week out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the biggest on-track fireworks will be put on by the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors. Williamstown\u2019s Nate \u201cTater\u201d Brien has been French-frying the competition with two straight wins. Essex Junction\u2019s Mark Beaulieu finally got onto the podium last week after three years of trying. He along with Paige Whittemore, Josh Vilbrin, Frank Putney, and other Warriors will try to mash Tater\u2019s chances of three in a row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thunder Road honors the nation\u2019s independence the Thursday, July 1 at 7:00pm with the Preston\u2019s Kia Holiday Spectacular. The Maplewood\/Irving Oil Late Models, Lenny\u2019s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, RK Miles Street Stocks, and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors have a full card with four extra laps. The night concludes with Vermont\u2019s best firework display put on by Northstar Fireworks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for kids ages 6-12, and $30 for a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids). Advance tickets are available at www.happsnow.com\/event\/Thunder-Road-Speedbowl<\/a>. All Thunder Road events are also live streamed on FloRacing for those with a monthly or yearly subscription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, contact the Thunder Road offices at (802) 244-6963, media@thunderroadvt.com<\/a>, or visit www.thunderroadvt.com<\/a>. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @ThunderRoadVT. For more information about FloRacing, visit www.FloRacing.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thunder Road Fireworks Coming from All Directions at Holiday Spectacular Barre, VT \u2014 Thunder Road celebrates the nation\u2019s independence this Thursday, July 1 with the annual Preston\u2019s Kia Holiday Spectacular. The fireworks will be on display literally and figuratively at the \u201cNation\u2019s Site of Excitement\u201d for a night of the country\u2019s best stock car racing at […]<\/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":[26,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28197","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\/28197","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=28197"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28198,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28197\/revisions\/28198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}