Sweet Wins 38th Coca-Cola Labor Day Classic, Dragon Claims King of the Road Crown

IMG_8246

Scott Dragon of Milton shows off his “King of the Road” trophy in Victory Lane after clinching the Late Model Championship with a second-place finish in the 38th Coca-Cola Labor Day Classic. (Alan Ward photo)

Barre, VT – Nick Sweet of Barre continued his domination of the Coca-Cola Labor Day Classic, but it wasn’t enough to deny Scott Dragon of Milton his first Thunder Road Late Model track championship. Sweet led the final 117 laps on his way to his third straight win, and his fourth overall, in the 38th edition of the 200-lap holiday event, but Dragon’s runner-up finish was enough to give him the “King of the Road” crown by one point over Sweet.

 

Thunder Road crowned two other first-time champions in the final regular-season event of the year: Stephen Donahue of Graniteville won Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen title, while Jamon Perry of Hardwick took the Allen Lumber Street Stocks championship.

 

Dragon led Sweet by eight points in the overall Late Model standings after the qualifying heats. Once Sweet moved into the lead, Dragon had to finish second place to earn the title. He saved it until late in the event, passing Tyler Cahoon of Danville for the runner-up position on lap 195.

(more…)

Fleury Claims Checkers On U.S. Army Recruiting Night

Shawn Fleury of Middlesex in Victory Lane on U.S. Army Recruiting Night at Thunder Road. (Alan Ward photo)

Shawn Fleury of Middlesex in Victory Lane on U.S. Army Recruiting Night at Thunder Road. (Alan Ward photo)

Barre, VT – Shawn Fleury of Middlesex grabbed the lead from rookie Chris Pelkey of South Barre on a late-race restart, then went on to claim his second victory of the season in the 50-lap main event for the Thunder Road Late Models.

 

Pelkey took the lead from pole-sitter Scott Coburn of Barre and stayed in front until the second caution of the event flew on lap 46. Fleury, on the outside of the front row on the ensuing restart, took over the top spot on lap 47. Nick Sweet of Barre charged from 15th starting position to take second place, while Pelkey finished for third.

 

Scott Dragon of Milton, Matt White of Northfield, Marcel J. Gravel of Wolcott, Phil Scott of Middlesex, Jason Corliss of Barre, John Donahue of Graniteville, and Eric Badore of Milton rounded out the top 10.

(more…)