2018 Thunder Road Season: By the Numbers

Who had the most podium finishes at Thunder Road this year? Who’s making their way up the all-time wins list? Who was the best family duo? And just how young is young when it comes to racing, anyway? We’ve found the answers to those questions and many more by looking at some of the numbers that mattered the most during the 2018 Thunder Road season! We know there are a lot of statheads out there, but we think everyone will get a kick out of these facts and figures. (Here’s a preview: the numbers 4 and 9 both come up a lot. So do the names “Jason Corliss” and “Joel Hodgdon”.) Let us know what numbers you think we might have missed and stay tuned for other exciting content throughout the offseason!

 (All statistics include non-point-counting events unless otherwise noted.)

1 – Jason Corliss’s two Vermont Milk Bowl victories have come by a combined total of 1 point. He beat Trampas Demers on a tiebreaker in 2017 and beat Bobby Therrien by one point in 2018.

2 – Joel Hodgdon was the only driver to score podium finishes in two different divisions at Thunder Road this season. He earned seven podium results in the Flying Tigers and also finished second in the Street Stock Showdown Series event on Milk Bowl Friday.

4 – Number of rookies that finished in the top-12 in Flying Tiger points: Brandon Lanphear (3rd), Kelsea Woodard (7th), Cooper Bouchard (10th), and Kevin Streeter (12th).

4 – Total number of victories by both Jason Corliss and Joel Hodgdon, including weekly events, ACT events, and special events. The two tied for the Thunder Road lead in wins. For Corliss, it was the second straight year that he was a four-time winner on the high banks.

4 – Number of first-time Late Model winners at Thunder Road in 2018: Stephen Donahue, Brendan Moodie, Marcel J. Gravel, and Evan Hallstrom.

5 – Number of drivers who won back-to-back features in 2018: Scott Dragon, Jason Corliss, Dwayne Lanphear, Kyle Streeter, and Will Hennequin.

5 – Five different family pairings had at least one podium finish each at Thunder Road in 2018: Mike and Stephen Martin (father-son), Dwayne and Brandon Lanphear (father-son), Kevin and Kyle Streeter (father-son), Jason and Kelsea Woodard (father-daughter), and Chris and Jason Pelkey (cousins). The Streeters also finished 1-2 (Kyle 1st, Kevin 2nd) in a June 29 Flying Tiger feature.

7 – Joe Steffen and Jamie Davis now have each one at least one Thunder Road feature in seven straight seasons. Both extended their streak in 2018, which is the longest such active streak at the track.

8 – Number of points scored by Jason Corliss en route to his Milk Bowl win. He was the first driver to win the event with a single digit score since Brian Hoar won in 1998 with 4 points.

9 – Number of points scored by Bobby Therrien while finishing runner-up in the Milk Bowl. His was the second-lowest overall Milk Bowl score in the last 20 years, trailing only Corliss’s winning total.

9 – Number of podium finishes for Jason Corliss, the most of any driver at Thunder Road.

9 – Brooks Clark made his 9th consecutive Vermont Milk Bowl start, extending the event’s longest active streak. His third place overall finish was the first time he’s finished on the podium during that stretch.

9 – Number of drivers age 21 or younger who won at least one feature at Thunder Road in 2018: Stephen Donahue, Evan Hallstrom, Cooper Bouchard, Tyler Austin, Kasey Beattie, Stephen Martin, Logan Powers, Brandon Gray, and Kyle MacAskill.

14 – Total number of first-time winners in Thunder Road’s four regular divisions. Each division had at least three first-timers.

14 – Total top-5 finishes for Jason Corliss, the most of any driver.

14 years, 53 days – Age of Kasey Beattie on July 5 when he became the youngest feature winner in Thunder Road history.

16 – Scott Dragon became the 16th driver (2016 and 2018) to be crowned “King of the Road” at least twice. His father Bobby (1973 and 1976) is one of the other 15.

16 years, 68 days – Age of Stephen Martin when he was crowned Street Stock Champion on September 2. He became the youngest champion in track history, eclipsing Brendan Moodie (17 years, 213 days when he won the 2002 Street Stock Championship).

16 years, 184 days – Age of Evan Hallstrom when he became the youngest Late Model winner in track history on August 16.

17 – Total top-10 finishes for Joel Hodgdon, the most of any driver.

18 – “Double O” Joe Steffen won his 18th Flying Tiger feature at the Mid-Season Championships on July 27. He is now tied with Brendan Moodie as the division’s all-time winner.

25 – Combined number of top-10 finishes for Mike Martin and Stephen Martin, the most of any family duo. (This includes Stephen’s 6th-place finish in the Flying Tiger Mini-Milk Bowl.)

58 – Age, in years, of Gary Mullen, the oldest driver to finish in the top-10 in points (Street Stocks) in any Thunder Road division.

59 – Number of years since Thunder Road first opened for competition. The track will celebrate its 60th birthday in 2019.

192 – Total number of cars that competed at Vermont Milk Bowl Weekend.

975 – Total number of events that have been held at Thunder Road throughout its history. The track is expected to reach its 1,000th event early in the 2020 season.

$21,240 – Total awards Jason Corliss received for winning the Northfield Savings Bank Vermont Milk Bowl, the Coca-Cola Labor Day Classic, and the Community Bank 150 — the three highest-paying events on the Thunder Road calendar.