by Jay | Apr 10, 2015 | Thunder Road, Vermont
Blake Set To Go From Contender To Champion In 2015
Barre, VT – Barre’s Cody Blake, at the age of 23, already has a growing list of accomplishments at Barre’s Thunder Road Speedbowl. This year, he hopes to become the “King of the Road.”
Blake was sixth in the final Thunder Road Late Model point standings in 2014, his fourth straight season finishing eighth or better. He stood atop the standings after six races before a hard crash bent his car’s A-frame and his team spent the rest of the year struggling to get the car dialed back in. Now entering his sixth year in the lead division, Blake hopes that a new car and 16 years’ worth of maturity behind the wheel will be a championship combination.
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by Jay | Apr 7, 2015 | Devils Bowl, Vermont
Flyin’ Jimmy Ryan Returning to Devil’s Bowl Speedway
Whiting veteran back home on both asphalt and dirt
WEST HAVEN, VT – Jimmy Ryan is coming home to Devil’s Bowl Speedway. One of Vermont’s most popular open-wheel Modified stock car drivers for many years, “Flyin’ Ryan” plans to end his hiatus from driving in 2015. He has recently taken delivery of a Teo Pro Car chassis, a brand new Chevrolet “602” crate engine, and has reclaimed his familiar car number 60 with the registration office.
Ryan plans to compete on both asphalt and clay, running in the Bond Auto Parts Modified division of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series (NWAAS) on the pavement, and in the Liberty Street Discount Beverage & Deli Sportsman Modified class in the five-race Optical Expressions of Berlin Dirt Track Series.
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by RacingNews | Mar 31, 2015 | ACT, Thunder Road, Touring Series News, Vermont
Barre, VT – Second-generation racer Scott Dragon is about enter his second full season of Late Model competition at Thunder Road International Speedbowl, and after a year of working with the Richard Green Racing (RGR) team, is ready to contend for a title in 2015.
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by Jay | Mar 25, 2015 | ACT, Lee USA, New Hampshire, Thunder Road, Touring Series News, Vermont
photo by Alan Ward
Waterbury, VT – The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) will compete in three 150-lap events on three completely different tracks in all three northern New England states to open the 2015 season. The New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150, set for Sunday, April 12, is the traditional opening event for ACT teams held yearly at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, NH. Teams will then travel to Oxford Plains Speedway (OPS) in Oxford, ME a week later, followed by their annual visit to Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, VT.
The fast Lee 3/8th-mile oval might statistically favor multi-time Lee champion and two-time ACT champion Wayne Helliwell, Jr., but he has tried eight times to date with a best finish of second in last year’s event, and is long overdue for a win. There is also favorite Eddie MacDonald, who is on a roll with five consecutive wins in recent outings, going back to the Thunder Road Milk Bowl last October. McDonald captured the NH Governor’s Cup last year in his ninth try at his home track. Defending 2014 ACT Champion Joey Polewarczk, Jr. (Pole) is also considered a favorite, but his only win at Lee USA came in a 100-lap opening race back in 2008. (more…)
by RacingNews | Mar 24, 2015 | Devils Bowl, Vermont
RUTLAND, VT – The stock car racing season opens – at least unofficially – on March 28-29 at the Diamond Run Mall in Rutland, VT. Devil’s Bowl Speedway and some of its competitors will take part in the 14th annual Rutland Regional Racecar Show to bring the curtain up on the new year.
The Rutland Regional Racecar Show gives race fans an opportunity to see a variety of freshly prepared racecars and equipment up close, and to meet and speak with drivers from around the region. In addition to being one of the area’s leading shopping centers offering an array of national stores and brands, the Diamond Run Mall’s racing show is an annual fundraiser for the March of Dimes and March for Babies charities.
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by Jay | Mar 22, 2015 | Thunder Road, Vermont
O’Donnell, Sweet, Woodard, Smith Honored at Banquet of Champions
Barre, VT – Thunder Road International Speedbowl honored its 2014 Champions with the annual Banquet of Champions at the Barre Elks Club on Saturday, March 21. Derrick O’Donnell received the top honors for the second consecutive season in the Late Model division, while Nick Sweet also went back-to-back in claiming Vermont State Late Model Championship. Jason Woodard and Tommy Smith earned the Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen and Allen Lumber Street Stock championships, respectively.
O’Donnell, of North Haverhill, NH, became the sixth driver in Thunder Road history to repeat as “King of the Road”, doing so in his first two years in the division. O’Donnell caught fire in the second half of the season, ending the year with seven straight podium finishes, including the third Late Model victory of his young career in mid-August. O’Donnell also finished runner-up in three of the biggest races on the 2014 calendar: the Vermont Governor’s Cup, the Labor Day Classic, and the Milk Bowl.
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