by Jay | Jun 5, 2012 | Devils Bowl, Media, New England, Thunder Road, Vermont
NSN Joins Vermont State Late Model Series
Live Broadcasts Come to Thunder Road, Devil’s Bowl
Barre, VT – The Northeast Sports Network, a Vermont sports broadcasting website, has teamed up with Barre’s Thunder Road and West Haven’s Devil’s Bowl Speedway to incorporate live broadcasts into the Vermont State Late Model Championship Series. The four race series saw it’s opening event at Thunder Road claimed by hometown sensation Nick Sweet, and heads to Devil’s Bowl Speedway this Friday, June 8 for the I Am Vermont Strong 100.
The Northeast Sports Network completed a live broadcast of the first event in the series, the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic at Thunder Road, which can be found on their website www.nsnsports.net in high definition. It can also be found by a link on both the Thunder Road (www.thunderroadspeedbowl.com) and American Canadian Tour (www.acttour.com) websites. DVDs will be available for purchase, which include features from Allen Lumber Street Stocks and Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen from the Memorial Day event.
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by Jay | May 28, 2012 | Media, New England, Photos, Thunder Road, Vermont
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Photos Credit – www.LeifTillotsonPhotography.com to view my photos and read my published articles
Race Story – Nick Sweet Rolls to First Memorial Day Classic Victory at Thunder Road
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by Jay | May 28, 2012 | ACT, New England, Thunder Road, Touring Series News, Vermont
In a race that had eluded his prestigious racing career, Barre, VT’s Nick Sweet methodically worked his way to the victory in the 50th Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic at Thunder Road in Barre, VT on Sunday, May 27, 2012. The Memorial Day Classic was the first of four events in the Vermont State Late Model Championship series. Sweet held off Lt. Governor Phil Scott and Brent Dragon, who flew through the field from the 12th and 16th starting positions to finish second and third.
The race began with pole sitter and former Oxford Plains Speedway Champion Ricky Rolfe showing the way early, only to engage with a heated back and forth struggle with Milton’s Scott Payea. Rolfe and Payea traded the lead back and forth, side by side for more than half of the race. Scott and Sweet trailed the pair for the majority of the exchange as the top four ran in a tight battle for the point. Scott took over on the outside lane for 12 laps only to see Nick Sweet steal it away for good on a lap 68 restart.
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by Jay | May 25, 2012 | New England, Thunder Road, Vermont
The quest to become the Vermont State Late Model Champion begins this coming Sunday, May 27 at Barre, VT’s Thunder Road for the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic 150. The four race series between Thunder Road and Devil’s Bowl Speedway in West Haven, VT will crown the Vermont State Champion of 2012. The Memorial Day Classic is also the first event in the bid to become the 2012 “King of the Road.”
Though the series has yet to begin, it has already gained prestige with its star-studded entry list alone. Multi-time Thunder Road Champion Cris Michaud will attempt to be the next Vermont State Champion, as well as Lt. Governor Phil Scott, former Thunder Road Champions David Pembroke and Nick Sweet, former Oxford Plains Speedway Champion Ricky Rolfe, and a slew of the Northeast’s biggest names in late model racing.
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by Jay | May 22, 2012 | New England, Thunder Road, Vermont
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Story and photos by Leif Tillotson
It’s hard to imagine someone driving a race car in front of thousands of fans each week and going largely unnoticed, yet that is exactly where Waterbury Center, VT’s Brett Wheeler and his Hallstrom Motorsports team find themselves most of the time.
There are better-funded race teams with much flashier drivers at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre. They grab headlines with wins and crashes, perhaps evening daring passes for position and maybe even an occasional bit of controversy. The driver of the #1 Late Model is not among this group.
With a solid ninth-place final points position in 2011, Brett Wheeler has proven that he belongs among “the big boys” at the track that bills itself as “The Nation’s Site of Excitement.” Rather than muscle his way in front of his competitors, Brett is content to earn his place at the top by being a courteous, methodical and smart racer.
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by Jay | May 18, 2012 | New England, Thunder Road, Vermont
As the month of May winds down, the race teams of Barre’s Thunder Road prepare for the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic, the first race of the Vermont State Late Model Championship Series. After a three-week break, the event is the second point-counting race for the Bond Auto Tigers and Allen Lumber Street Stocks, but for the Late Model Sportsmen it serves as their first. It represents the beginning of a grueling summer-long battle for track championships, but in 2012 the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic has a special number attached.
This year marks the 50th Annual Memorial Day Classic at Thunder Road. The legendary Roy “Pappy” Forsythe, who now is forever commemorated by Thunder Road’s “Forsythe Hill” in turn three, won the first event in 1961. The race has been won by, and created, legends of Northeast Late Model racing with names like Jean-Paul Cabana, Bobby Dragon, Robbie Crouch, and Dave Dion, who have all notched victories in the prestigious race. The Memorial Day Classic continues to be legendary today.
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