By Phil Whipple
Staff Writer
BARRE, Vt. — All summer long, he charged through the field and ran among the leaders on several occasions. Yet each week, he came up just short. This time around, he finally had what it took to seal the deal.
Chip Grenier managed to fend off the challenges of Grant Folsom and powered his way to victory in the 50-lap Safelite Auto Trophy Dash Thursday night at the famed Thunder Road International Speedbowl.
Grenier, of Graniteville, led every lap and survived four restarts to post his first victory of 2011. Folsom settled for second, while defending Thunder Road track champion Nick Sweet (St. Jay Auto/No. 88) made an exciting late-race charge uo to third. Trampas Demers and Joey Becker completed the top five.
“I really wanted to take it easy on the car during the first half, but wasn’t able to do that at all,” an elated Grenier said. “I saw how fast Phil (Scott) was coming there early on, it was sad to see him have trouble when his car was that strong. This deal takes a lot of money and hard work, it’s nice to grab a feature win before the season is over. It feels awesome.”
Folsom had already visited Victory Lane once in 2011, and was more than ready to capitalize if Grenier had bobbled at all. Yet that slip-up never came, and a second win this season will have to wait.
“I had a lot of fun racing out there tonight,” Folsom said. “That was about as side-by-side for the lead for as many laps as you’re going to see here. I really would have loved to have nabbed another win, but I’m happy for Chip and his team. He ran me clean the whole way, he was fast and earned that trophy. We’ll have to go for win No. 2 next time out.”
Sweet is one of the most exciting young drivers in recent memory at Thunder Road. The talented athlete from Barre made some great moves once he got out of the box, he only wished that a hole would have opened up a little earlier.
“At the start of this one, I didn’t think we could ever get anywhere close to the front,” Sweet said. “But fortunately, it worked out for us tonight. We stayed patient, didn’t lose our cool and drove through the gaps once they opened up for real. I wasn’t sure if we’d run out of time, but to get up to third after starting way out back makes it a great night.”
The other big story of the evening here at “the nation’s site of excitement” was the hard luck experienced by John Donahue. Coming into tonight’s race, the Graniteville veteran was tied with 2007 track champion David Pembroke atop the Late Model point standings. Sadly, after tonight – the lead will be in sole possession of Mr. Pembroke.
Donahue’s night ended on the business side of a wrecker at lap 30 when he came to rest at the top of Turn 2. The No. 26 National Guard Ford Fusion was dead in the water, and even though Pembroke didn’t contend for the win, he gained a bit of ground in the fight for 2011 “King of the Road” honors.
In the Tiger Sportsman feature, rookie hotshoe Dylan Payea picked up his first career victory. The young pilot from Henniker, New Hampshire, won his qualifying heat and proceeded to dominate the feature. Montpelier veteran Shaun Fleury came home second, while point leader Derrick O’Donnell claimed third at the line by inches.
“The car sure felt great tonight,” Payea said. “we’ve been coming up here every week, and tonight was our turn to prevail. The competition is tough here, it takes a strong car and a little luck, too. We had what it took to hold them off, and it sure feels great.”
Also on hand for their annual appearance at The Road were the New England Antique Racers (NEAR). This group of vintage enthusiasts thrilled the big crowd on hand to enjoy a beautiful late-summer evening with their beautiful vintage machines. From the legendary Harold ‘Hardluck’ Hannaford, to multi-coupe owner Lloyd Hutchins – they all had a blast. It is always a pleasure
to look back at the men and machines who built this great sport. A big thanks to Ken Squier, Tom Curley and the NEAR boys for giving us a fabulous glimpse into racing’s rich history.
Thunder Road is back in action next Thursday night with another full card of racing, albeit without the Late Models. The headline division will be off to prepare for the inaugural All-Star Late Model Challenge at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The best short track pilots from the entire northeast and eastern Canada will converge on the famed “Magic Mile” in Loudon.