by Jay | Jul 11, 2012 | ACT, New England, Thunder Road, Touring Series News, Vermont
RPM Motorsports: VT Governor’s Cup
Brian Hoar Thunder Road Race Preview
THE STORY
GEORGIA, Vt. – Brian Hoar of Williston, Vt., will look for his third straight Thunder Road International Speedbowl win when he heads to the Vermont Governor’s Cup 150 at the Barre, Vt., track on Thursday, July 12. Hoar has won the last two Thunder Road events he’s entered dating back to last season in the RPM Motorsports No. 37 GossCars.com Dodge Charger, including the ACT Late Model Tour Merchants Bank 150 in late April. The race is the third in the four-race Vermont Late Model State Championship Series, which includes two races each at Thunder Road and Devil’s Bowl Speedway in West Haven, Vt. The driver of the No. 37 isn’t the only person on the team riding a hot hand at Thunder Road – team owner Rick Paya has won three major events and a weekly series race as a crew chief at the track since last September.
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by Jay | Jul 10, 2012 | ACT, New England, Thunder Road, Touring Series News, Vermont
Competitors To Return to Barre’s Thunder Road for Governor’s Cup
The 2012 Vermont State Stock Car Championship Series heats up just in time for the crown jewel of the four race series: The VT State Lottery Commission Governor ’s Cup 150 at Thunder Road. Milton’s Brent Dragon leads the swarming field to the “Nation’s Site of Excitement” on Thursday, July 12 with a slim 6-point lead over multi-time Thunder Road Champion Phil Scott.
Both drivers have their sites set on the newly formatted state crown title. “To think that the organizers have put together a series to decide Vermont honors has made it unique and special for us all,” said Scott. “Now we just have to win it,” he laughed.
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by Jay | Jul 7, 2012 | Bear Ridge, Dirt Track, New England, Vermont
Horniak ends Coupe skid; Holcomb hangs on for USAC Midget win
Stock car racing champion Chris Donnelly became the first repeat winner of the season in the Bond Auto Parts DIRTcar Sportsman Modified division in the 99ROCK Weekly Racing Series on Bond Auto Parts Night at Bear Ridge Speedway on Saturday. Donnelly slipped into the annual Modified “Madness” event win with a strong car and a little luck in the race’s three 40-lap segments.
The Piermont, NH driver posted finishes of sixth and second in the first two rounds of the cumulatively-scored race, entering the final 40-lap leg with eight points and trailing Kevin Chaffee and Jason Gray. Fairlee, VT racer Chaffee won the first segment in a wildly competitive and caution-free run that saw five lead changes in heavy lapped traffic, then finished fourth in the second leg for five total points. Gray, of East Thetford, VT, was fifth in the first round, then dominated the second segment from the 14th starting position to win by nearly half a lap, totaling six points.
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by | Jul 6, 2012 | Thunder Road, Vermont
Barre, VT – In a night full of last lap surprises, Barre sensation Nick Sweet sent up championship fireworks of his own on his way to a hard fought win in Tuesday night’s (July 3) Northfield Savings Bank Holiday event at Thunder Road. Defending Thunder Road Champion Dave Pembroke chased Sweet to the line, and Milton’s Scott Payea was forced to settle for third in the closing laps.
Sweet started from the fifteenth position, and manipulated traffic masterfully on his way to the front of the pack. Sweet had reached second place just past the halfway mark, but Payea had extended a sizable lead searching for his first win of 2012. Sweet mercilessly closed the gap before catching him with 10 laps to go and charging to victory in the outside lane. Pembroke inched by Payea on the last lap to steal second, and Chip Grenier scored his first top five of the season with a fourth place finish. Trampas Demers, a feature winner already this season, came home fifth, three-time champion Phil Scott fought from 14th to sixth, and Brett Wheeler, Cody Blake, Jamie Fisher, and Brent Dragon rounded out the top ten.
With his win, Sweet breaks a streak of 19 different winners in 19 feature races in 2012 at Thunder Road. “Wow, that was a lot of fun to drive,” remarked Sweet. “We touched a bit there at the end, I think he just wanted our lane, but he drove a great race,” he finished with a smile.
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by Jay | Jul 6, 2012 | Devils Bowl, New England, Vermont
Keith, LaVair, Allen grab holiday checkers
Young stock car driver Hunter Bates used a combination of good equipment and good timing to win the Bond Auto Parts Modified portion of the Coca-Cola Firecracker Twin 44s at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Wednesday, July 4. The Middlebury, VT racer started fourth on the 17-car grid and had a dominant car, leading by nearly half a lap at one point, but heavy rains began to fall at lap 25.
With the race official at the halfway mark three laps earlier, Bates pulled his No. 69 Windy Hollow Homes/Donnelly Construction-sponsored Bicknell car into victory lane under a soggy checkered flag, securing his first NASCAR Whelen All-American Series victory of the year one day after his 17th birthday.
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by Jay | Jul 6, 2012 | New England, Thunder Road, Vermont
Pelkey, Packard Claim Feature Victories
East Montpelier’s Jay Laquerre took the 50-lap late model feature by storm on his way to his second win of 2012 on Thursday night (July 5) at Thunder Road sponsored by Charter Communications. He was followed by a late-charging “Hurricane” Jamie Fisher, and early leader Ricky Roberts.
Roberts looked to be on his way to victory while leading the first twenty laps of the race, but daring to drive on the high line was Laquerre, who swung high and wide near the top of the track to pass Roberts for the lead and never looked back. He developed a sizable lead over Roberts, who in the closing laps lost second to a fast closing Fisher on the outside groove, but the former champion ran out of laps trying to catch Laquerre. Brett Wheeler and Cody Blake chased the trio to the line in fourth and fifth. Point leader Nick Sweet flexed muscle starting fifteenth and extending his points lead once again with a sixth place finish. Mike Bailey, Cris Michaud, defending champion Dave Pembroke, and Brooks Clark rounded out the top ten.
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