The month of June picks up speed this Thursday, June 14 at 7:00pm with Casella Waste Systems Night at Barre’s Thunder Road. Some 100 cars are expected for the first Thursday night event of the year, with both the old guard and a number of new personalities looking for their time in the spotlight. The track’s local stars will be joined by the New England Antique Racers (NEAR) as the vintage flathead coupes, modifieds, and sportsmen roar to life once again.

Racing families stole the show last Friday to kick off the weekly racing season. Fayston’s Brooks Clark held off the top drivers in the Maplewood/Irving Late Model division to take his first win in nearly five years, while Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger rookie Brandon Lanphear of Morrisville scored his first victory ever in their 75-lap Myers Container Service Triple Crown event.

Morrisville’s Brandon Lanphear pulled the upset at Capitol City Automart Night on Friday, June 8 by taking a thrilling win in the Myers Container Service Triple Crown Series opener. The rookie grabbed the lead for good with six laps remaining to earn his first career Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger victory and snap his father Dwayne’s winning streak. 

Lanphear started on the pole for the 75-lap main event after earning a “+5” in qualifying under the plus-minus system. After he led the first 29 laps, Essex Jct.’s “Double O Joe” Steffen snuck under Lanphear in lapped traffic entering turn three. Brandon eventually found himself back to fourth behind Craftsbury Common’s Joel Hodgdon and Dwayne Lanphear.

The weekly racing season for Barre’s Thunder Road Speedbowl arrives this Friday, June 8 with Capitol City Automart Night. The special Friday night event marks the unofficial start of summer in central Vermont as racing engines roar to life under the lights.

The event will be one of the biggest of the year for the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers. The famed division opens the Myers Container Service Triple Crown Series on Friday with a 75-lap main event. It is the second year for the 3-race series after a successful debut in 2017.

American-Canadian Tour (ACT) and Thunder Road Speedbowl officials announced today that they have reached an agreement to broadcast the 2018 Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank on MAVTV Motorsports Network. It is the first time in the event’s 56-year history that it will air on national TV.  The event is scheduled to take place at the famed racetrack from Friday, September 28 through Sunday, September 30.

The 1-hour tape-delayed broadcast will feature the 3-segment Milk Bowl plus highlights from Booth Bros./H.P. Hood Qualifying Day. It will be produced by Speed51 TV using a multi-camera format that includes replays, network TV–style graphics, and on-board cameras. A full broadcast team will be on hand for the Milk Bowl.  The broadcast premiere date is to be announced soon.

Hometown driver Cody Blake reserved a spot alongside his legendary father on one of Thunder Road’s granite monuments on Sunday, May 27 with a thrilling win in the 56th Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic 100. Blake took the lead from 2016 “King of the Road” Scott Dragon of Milton on a lap-86 restart before holding off Dragon and Shelburne’s Trampas Demers in the closing laps for his fourth career Maplewood/Irving Late Model triumph.

Dragon had taken the lead from Demers on lap 46 and looked like a shoe-in for the win after sailing away in the race’s middle stages. But after starting 12th on the grid, Blake patiently worked his way through the field. He got around Demers for second on lap 59 and had caught Dragon in lapped traffic when Matt White and Lance Allen tangled to bring out the caution with 14 laps remaining.

The 56th Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic at Barre’s Thunder Road is just days away from coming to the starting line. The first green flag for the annual holiday event will fly at 1:30pm on Sunday, May 27, kicking off a busy afternoon at the “Nation’s Site of Excitement”.

 Up to 120 cars are expected on one of the most popular days for racing in North America. The Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Models join Thunder Road’s local Maplewood/Irving Late Models, Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, Allen Lumber Street Stocks, and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors. With more than 500 laps of action planned, fans will be getting their money’s worth on Sunday.

While the Thunder Road season has already officially opened, things will get serious for the Maplewood/Irving Late Model division this Sunday, May 27. The 56th Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic opens the 2018 “King of the Road” chase with a special 100-lap event for the track’s local stars.

Entering the Late Model season, the only certainty is that there will not be a back-to-back champion. Reigning “King of the Road” Bobby Therrien stated recently that he is running a limited Thunder Road schedule in 2018 and will not defend the title.