by Jay | Apr 16, 2015 | ACT, Thunder Road, Touring Series News, Vermont
Corliss Making His Mark in Thunder Road Late Models
Barre, VT – Before his 2013 rookie season in the Thunder Road Late Models, Barre’s Jason Corliss hoped that his team would be a championship contender in five years’ time. Corliss is now entering his third year in the top division, and already finds himself high on the list of title threats.
Corliss enters the upcoming season after a 2014 campaign in which he captured the first two wins of his American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Model championship career. He finished fourth in the point standings. His defining moment came at the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic. Corliss muscled underneath two-time “King of the Road” Nick Sweet on the final circuit of the 100-lap event, beating him to the checkered flag by a bumper for his first win. The victory sent a message: he and his Chris Burnett–owned team have arrived.
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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 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 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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by RacingNews | Jan 30, 2015 | Thunder Road, Vermont
Waterbury, VT – The American Canadian Tour roster for the events at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach, Florida on Sunday through Tuesday, February 15-17 features several drivers from Barre’s Thunder Road International Speedbowl. East Montpelier’s Emily Packard, Montpelier’s Josh Demers and Milton’s Eric Chase will all make the journey south in just under a month.
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Corliss Making His Mark in Thunder Road Late Models
Corliss enters the upcoming season after a 2014 campaign in which he captured the first two wins of his American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Model championship career. He finished fourth in the point standings. His defining moment came at the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic. Corliss muscled underneath two-time “King of the Road” Nick Sweet on the final circuit of the 100-lap event, beating him to the checkered flag by a bumper for his first win. The victory sent a message: he and his Chris Burnett–owned team have arrived.