McCarthy Outlasts Them All for Road Warrior Challenge Win on NCFCU Night

Donahue, Wall, & Blanchard Join McCarthy in Victory Lane

Barre, VT — Williamstown’s Sean “Chubby Rambo” McCarthy never gave up and never surrendered on his way to victory in the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warrior Challenge on Thursday, August 13 at NorthCountry Federal Credit Union Night. McCarthy got the lead for good when Berlin’s Dan Garrett tangled with a slower car on lap 37 of the 50-lap event and checked out from there for his third career Road Warrior victory at Thunder Road.

McCarthy started seventh in the entry-level division’s annual special and quickly cut through the field. As he was running second to Jamie York on lap 18, York got into a lapped car and cut his left-front tire, forcing him to the pits and giving McCarthy the lead for the first time.

However, the battle was far from over for Chubby Rambo. After a lap-21 caution for a multi-car turn one tangle, third-place runner Steve Reno dove three-wide coming to the restart. Reno and McCarthy dueled for the next four laps with Reno having a bumper out front when the yellow flew on lap 25 for the halfway break.

When the field returned to the track, McCarthy got his revenge and caught Reno napping on the restart to grab the lead back. Garrett followed McCarthy around Reno for second, and as the field came to 15-to-go, Garrett went to McCarthy’s outside, snatching the lead away a circuit later.

Just as Garrett was clearing McCarthy, though, the duo approached a slower car exiting turn four. Garrett when to drive underneath just as the lapped car also went low to let the leaders by, and the resulting contact sent Garrett spinning to the infield. The caution came back out and McCarthy once again inherited the lead from another’s misfortune.

One more caution flew with nine to go after Clay Badger, Brian Putney, and York crashed hard on the backstretch with Garrett also getting a piece. On the final restart, a five-car battle broke out for the second spot, which was exactly what McCarthy wanted to see in his rear-view mirror as he cruised to the victory.

Fellow Wiliamstown driver Reno edged Northfield’s Josh Vilbrin for the second spot with Frank Putney, Justin Prescott, and a revived Garrett in hot pursuit. Nate “Tater” Brien, Tyler Whittemore, Paige Whittemore, and Kendall Zeno completed the top-10.

Graniteville’s Stephen Donahue survived a torrid late charge from former “King of the Road” Bobby Therrien to pick up his second career Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model victory. The third-generation racer had grabbed the lead from Northfield’s Matt White at the drop of the green for the 50-lap feature.

After the lone caution on lap four when point leader Marcel J. Gravel ground to a halt with a broken right-front suspension, Donahue, Graniteville’s Christopher Pelkey, and Montpelier’s Kyle Pembroke drove away from the field with several car lengths between them. As the laps wound down, though, an invisible rubber band drew the top-3 back together just as Hinesburg’s Therrien entered the mix from the 11th starting spot.

With three laps to go, Therrien put it on the high line, sweeping past Pembroke and Pelkey on consecutive circuits. He then gave a look outside Donahue coming down the back chute for the final time, but Donahue was able keep Therrien at bay for his first win of the season.

Pelkey finished third with Pembroke fourth. Jason Corliss, Trampas Demers, Jim “Boomer” Morris, White, Eric Chase, and Scott Dragon rounded out the top-10.

East Kingston, NH’s Bryan P. Wall also rode the outside groove to his second win of the season in the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers. The 17-year-old rookie started ninth in the 40-lap feature and spent the first half of the race boxed in traffic.

Once the outside opened up, though, Wall made his move. Taking the long way around the high banks, the youngster flew from fourth to first in as many laps, grabbing the top spot from polesitter Eric Messier with 14 laps to go. Wall then walked away from Grand Isle’s Mike Billado down the stretch for the win.

Hinesburg’s Messier took third for his career-best Thunder Road finish. Robert Gordon, Adam Maynard, Colin Cornell, Brandon Lanphear, Logan Powers, Bunker Hodgdon, and Cameron Ouellette finished fourth through 10th.

Graniteville’s J.T. Blanchard became the fifth first-time Allen Lumber Street Stock winner of the year he captured their 25-lap feature. Blanchard started alongside polesitter Justin Blakely and went back and forth over the opening circuits.

As they came to complete lap six, Blakely got loose and slid through the turn one infield. When Blakely came back onto the track, he nailed rookie Kyler Davis, sending the rookie on a wild flip-and-a-half through turn two. Davis was not injured in the incident.

When the race finally resumed, Blanchard easily got away with the lead as sophomore Cooper French of Northfield moved into the second spot. French gave Blanchard all he had over the rest of the event, but Blanchard rose to the occasion every time to get his first-ever victory.

French took second with defending champion Jeffrey Martin in third. Luke Peters, James Dopp, point leader Brandon Gray, Tanner Woodard, Kaiden Fisher, Josh Lovely, and Blakely also earned top-10 finishes.

Thunder Road is back with a full evening of stock car excitement next Thursday, August 20 at Vermont Tire & Service Night. All four divisions are on the card along with the annual Marvin Johnson Memorial Street Stock First-Time Winners Race. The first green flag flies at 7:00pm.

Admission is $15 for adults and $3 for kids ages 12 and under with limited fan attendance. Advance tickets are on sale from Friday until 10:00am Thursday, August 20 at https://happsnow.com/event/Thunder-Road-Speedbowl. Any remaining tickets will be offered for walk-up purchase at the gate. A $15 pay-per-view is also available on the Northeast Sports Network at www.NSNsports.net/sponsors/racing.Please visit www.thunderroadvt.com to find more information regarding face mask requirements and other health and safety guidelines for attendees.

THUNDER ROAD SPEEDBOWL

NORTHCOUNTRY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION NIGHT

THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

BURNETT SCRAP METALS ROAD WARRIOR CHALLENGE

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

1. Sean McCarthy ( 86 ) Williamstown, VT

2. Steven Reno ( 00 ) Wiiliamstown, VT

3. Josh Vilbrin ( 07 ) Northfield, VT

4. Frank Putney ( 78 ) Graniteville, VT

5. Justin Prescott ( 44 ) Williston, VT

6. Dan Garrett Jr. ( 54 ) Berlin, VT

7. Nate Brien ( 16 ) Williamstown, VT

8. Tyler Whittemore ( 74 ) Barre, VT

9. Paige Whittemore ( 47 ) Graniteville, VT

10. Kendall Zeno ( 21 ) Middlesex, VT

11. Jason Kirby ( 71 ) Milton, VT

12. Ryan Deuso ( 7 ) Worcester, VT

13. Clay Badger ( 9 ) E. Montpelier, VT

14. Brian Putney ( 87 ) E. Cornith, VT

15. Jamie York ( 68 ) Barre, VT

16. Mark Beaulieu ( 19 ) Essex Jct., VT

17. Shawn Moquin ( 76 ) Milton, VT

18. Todd Raymo ( 26 ) Swanton, VT

19. Fred Fleury ( 99 ) Graniteville, VT

20. Bernie Roy ( 2 ) Hinesburg, VT

21. Jeremy Vorce ( 0 ) Marshfield, VT

22. Luke Marcheski ( 65 ) Boston, MA

23. Trevor Jaques ( 57 ) Milton, VT

MAPLEWOOD/IRVING OIL LATE MODELS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

1. Stephen Donahue ( 2NH ) Graniteville, VT

2. Bobby Therrien ( 5VT ) Hinesburg, VT

3. Christopher Pelkey ( 64VT ) Graniteville, VT

4. Kyle Pembroke ( 27VT ) Montpelier, VT

5. Jason Corliss ( 66VT ) Barre, VT

6. Trampas Demers ( 85VT ) Shelburne, VT

7. Boomer Morris ( 13VT ) Barre, VT

8. Matt White ( 42VT ) Northfield, VT

9. Eric Chase ( 40VT ) Milton, VT

10. Scott Dragon ( 16VT ) Milton, VT

11. Chris Roberts ( 3ME ) Washington, VT

12. #Matthew Smith ( 04VT ) Essex Jct., VT

13. Craig Bushey ( 15NH ) Fairfax, VT

14. Tyler Cahoon ( 38VT ) St. Johnsbury, VT

15. Brendan Moodie ( 94VT ) Wolcott, VT

16. Marcel J. Gravel ( 86VT ) Wolcott, VT

LENNY’S SHOE & APPAREL FLYING TIGERS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

1. #Bryan Wall Jr. ( 77NH ) East Kingston, NH

2. Mike Billado ( 8VT ) Grand Isle, VT

3. Eric Messier ( 88NY ) Hinesburg, VT

4. Robert Gordon ( 20VT ) Milton, VT

5. Adam Maynard ( 45VT ) Milton, VT

6. Colin Cornell ( 54VT ) E. Burke, VT

7. Brandon Lanphear ( 11VT ) Morrisville, VT

8. Logan Powers ( 31VT ) Middlesex, VT

9. Bunker Hodgdon ( 83VT ) Wolcott, VT

10. Cameron Ouellette ( 90VT ) Barre, VT

11. Tyler Austin ( 5VT ) East Calais, VT

12. Jason Woodard ( 68VT ) Waterbury Ctr., VT

13. Jason Pelkey ( 64VT ) Barre, VT

14. Michael Martin ( 01VT ) Craftsbury Common, VT

15. Kyle Streeter ( 37VT ) Waterbury Ctr., VT

16. Cooper Bouchard ( 7VT ) Hinesburg, VT

17. Kelsea Woodard ( 55VT ) Waterbury Ctr., VT

18. Derrick Calkins ( 15VT ) Hinesburg, VT

19. Jaden Perry ( 92VT ) Hardwick, VT

20. Trevor Lyman ( 17VT ) Hinesburg, VT

21. Brett Wood ( 29VT ) Georgia, VT

22. Sam Caron ( 07VT ) Colchester, VT

23. #Kasey Beattie ( 45NH ) St.Johnsbury, VT

24. Chris Laforest ( 56VT ) Barre, VT

25. #Phil Potvin ( 08VT ) Underhill, VT

26. Thomas Smith ( 51NH ) Williamtown, VT

27. Ethan Tyrrell ( 23ME ) Worcester, VT

28. #Keegan Lamson ( 55NH ) Berlin, VT

29. Danny Doyle ( 51VT ) Randolph Ctr., VT

30. Stephen Martin ( 9VT ) Craftsbury Common, VT

ALLEN LUMBER STREET STOCKS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

1. JT Blanchard ( 66 ) Graniteville, VT

2. Cooper French ( 4 ) Northfield, VT

3. Jeffrey Martin ( 8 ) Barre, VT

4. #Luke Peters ( 26 ) Groton, VT

5. James Dopp ( 0 ) Northfield, VT

6. Brandon Gray ( 00 ) E. Thetford, VT

7. Tanner Woodard ( 68 ) Waterbury Ctr., VT

8. #Kaiden Fisher ( 18 ) Shelburne, VT

9. Josh Lovely ( 54 ) Williamstown, VT

10. Justin Blakey ( 17 ) Graniteville, VT

11. Tim Hunt ( 93 ) Derby, VT

12. Tommy Campbell ( 85 ) Middlesex, VT

13. Jamie Davis ( 43 ) Wolcott, VT

14. Thomas Peck ( 96 ) Waterbury, VT

15. Michael Gay ( 3 ) So. Burlington, VT

16. Scott Weston ( 04 ) Berlin, VT

17. Royce Lussier ( 95 ) West Berlin, VT

18. Juan Marshall ( 79 ) Pittfield, VT

19. Zach Audet ( 9 ) Morrisville, VT

20. #Kyler Davis ( 69 ) Berlin, VT

21. Eric MacLaughlin ( 6 ) Milton, VT

22. #Brodie Frasier ( 71 ) E. Montpelier,VT

DNS Reginald Dailey ( 09 ) Berlin, VT