Dragon Wins While Corliss Breaks Open Title Chase on Jet Service-AccuraNight

Pelkey, Weston, and Jaques Earn Victories

Barre, VT — Both Milton’s Scott Dragon and Barre’s Jason Corliss emerged as big winners on a wild Jet Service Envelope/Accura Printing Night at Thunder Road on Thursday, August 27. Dragon drove away from the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model field following a multi-car midrace tangle for his third victory of the year while Corliss took control of the “King of the Road” battle with his runner-up finish.

Both drivers were mired in traffic early in the 50-lap feature as Wolcott’s Brendan Moodie set the pace off the outside pole. After the first yellow on lap six when Marcel J. Gravel and Boomer Morris smacked the turn-two wall, Graniteville’s Christopher Pelkey went to work on Moodie’s outside.

Pelkey put a bumper up for the first time on lap nine before finally clearing Moodie seven circuits later following a breathtaking battle. When the second caution came out on lap 21 for Nick Sweet’s spin, Dragon had only managed to advance three spots from his ninth starting position while Corliss was running eighth after taking the green in 14th. Meanwhile, championship runner-up Bobby Therrien was forced to pit during the yellow to try and correct an overheating issue.

On the restart, Essex Junction’s Matthew Smith moved under Moodie for the second spot while Dragon and Corliss began to slash behind him. As the field started the 26th circuit, Smith went to Pelkey’s inside in a bid for the lead. The leaders made contact entering turn one, sending Pelkey spinning with Gravel, Trampas Demers, Craig Bushey, and Reilly Lanphear among those catching a piece. The accident meant that all three of Corliss’s closest challengers entering the night — Therrien, Demers, and Gravel — had run into trouble.

It was Moodie finding himself back on the point for the restart with Dragon second and Corliss fourth. Dragon easily outgunned Moodie at the drop of the green and set sail into the night. Corliss was able to get around Moodie for second 10 laps later, but Dragon was long gone, taking his 13th career Thunder Road victory as he tries to make a belated bid at a third Late Model championship.

Moodie hung on for a season-best third-place finish. Kyle Pembroke, Brooks Clark, Stephen Donahue, Matt White, Tyler Cahoon, Smith, and Demers completed the top-10.

Barre’s Jason Pelkey had far better luck than his cousin Christopher as he finally found some good fortune to win the 40-lap Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger feature. Pelkey was running a distant third to Hardwick’s Jaden Perry and St. Johnsbury’s Kasey Beattie when the first caution flag came out on lap 32 for two separate incidents involving Kyle Streeter, Chris LaForest, and Bryan P. Wall.

On the restart, Perry suddenly fell off the pace with a flat tire. The field stacked up behind him exiting turn two with Mike Billado, Mike Martin, and Sid Sweet Jr. getting the worst of it. When the second attempt came to resume the race, Pelkey got the jump on Beattie, bringing Craftsbury Common’s Stephen Martin and Hinesburg’s Cooper Bouchard with him around the outside.

Pelkey had to survive one more yellow with three laps to go for another double-incident when Colin Cornell and LaForest crashed in turn three followed by Wall and Phil Potvin tagging each other on the front chute. The fourth-year Tiger racer again got a great restart and picked up his third career victory.

Bouchard got underneath Martin for second during the three-lap dash to the checkers. Beattie, Danny Doyle, Robert Gordon, Logan Powers, point leader Jason Woodard, Sam Caron, and Cameron Ouellette rounded out the top-10.

Berlin’s Scott Weston withstood the thundering herd of the Allen Lumber Street Stocks down the stretch to triumph in their 25-lap feature. Weston had more than a straightaway lead on the field with seven laps to go when Josh Lovely blew an engine, sending him spinning to the infield in smoke and flames to bring out the race’s only caution.

When the green came back out, runner-up Royce Lussier began falling back on the outside. Middlesex’s Tommy Campbell and Derby’s Tim Hunt were first ones to get past him and threw the woodshed at Weston along with others as the laps ticked down. Weston was unfazed, though, and earned his third career Street Stock win.

Campbell, last week’s Marvin Johnson Memorial winner, matched his career-best point-counting effort with his second-place trophy. Hunt bounced back from a rollover on the opening circuit of Sunday’s Street Stock Special to take third. Jamie Davis, J.T. Blanchard, Kyler Davis, point leader Brandon Gray, Kyle MacAskill, Michael Gay, and Luke Peters finished fourth through 10th.

Milton’s Trevor Jaques went flag-to-flag to become only the second repeat winner of the year in the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors. Jaques started pole for the 20-lap feature after a rough period since his first win. After a lap-1 caution when Justin Prescott and Kendall Zeno got together, which ended with Prescott hard in the wall, Jaques pulled away from the pack.

Berlin’s Dan Garrett Jr. threaded his way through the field from the 11th starting spot to grab the second spot with two to go. Garrett was nearing Jaques’ bumper at the end, but Jaques had enough to get his second win of the year — with each win coming in a different car.

Barre’s Tyler Whittemore filled the final spot on the podium. Josh Vilbrin, Luke Marcheski, Brian Putney, Fred Fleury, Frank Putney, Todd Raymo, and Jamie York also ended their nights in the top-10.

East Barre’s Chris Couture was the four-cylinder champion of the annual “Run-What-U-Brung” spectator races in a #44 Mini Cooper. Berlin’s Justin Lawrence and his Chevy Corvette triumphed in the eight-cylinder division for the second straight year.

The winners then held multiple run-offs to determine the overall champion. Couture won the first run-off on a “handicapped” start while Lawrence took the second shootout with a straight-up start.

Thunder Road celebrates Labor Day weekend with the 42nd Optical Expressions Berlin Labor Day Classicon Sunday, September 6 at 1:00pm. The American-Canadian Tour and Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models joins forces for 200 laps of green flag action while the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, Allen Lumber Street Stocks, and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors also have a full card of racing.

Admission is $25 for adults and $5 for kids ages 12 and under with limited fan attendance. Advance tickets are on sale until Saturday, September 5 at https://happsnow.com/event/Thunder-Road-Speedbowl. Please visit www.thunderroadvt.com for more information on face mask policies and other health and safety guidelines. For those who can’t attend in-person, the Northeast Sports Network is offering a $25 live pay-per-view broadcast at www.NSNsports.net/sponsors/racing.

THUNDER ROAD SPEEDBOWL

JET SERVICE ENVELOPE/ACCURA PRINTING NIGHT

THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2020

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

MAPLEWOOD/IRVING OIL LATE MODELS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

1. Scott Dragon ( 16VT ) Milton, VT

2. Jason Corliss ( 66VT ) Barre, VT

3. Brendan Moodie ( 94VT ) Wolcott, VT

4. Kyle Pembroke ( 27VT ) Montpelier, VT

5. Brooks Clark ( 68VT ) Waitsfield, VT

6. Stephen Donahue ( 2VT ) Graniteville, VT

7. Matt White ( 42VT ) Northfield, VT

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

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

10. Trampas Demers ( 85VT ) Shelburne, VT

11. Nick Sweet ( 40VT ) Barre, VT

12. Darrell Morin ( 17VT ) Westford, VT

13. Christopher Pelkey ( 64VT ) Graniteville, VT

14. Bobby Therrien ( 5VT ) Hinesburg, VT

15. James Aube ( 41VT ) Charlotte, VT

16. Scott Coburn ( 72VT ) Barre, VT

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

18. #Anthony Hill ( 8VT ) Waterford, VT

19. Chris Roberts ( 3ME ) Washington, VT

20. Craig Bushey ( 15NH ) Fairfax, VT

21. Reilly Lanphear ( 21VT ) Waterbury, VT

22. Boomer Morris ( 13VT ) Barre, VT

DNS Tom Sheehan ( 65NH ) Bow, NH

LENNY’S SHOE & APPAREL FLYING TIGERS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

1. Jason Pelkey ( 64VT ) Barre, VT

2. Cooper Bouchard ( 7VT ) Hinesburg, VT

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

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

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

6. Robert Gordon ( 20VT ) Milton, VT

7. Logan Powers ( 31VT ) Middlesex, VT

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

9. Sam Caron ( 07VT ) Colchester, VT

10. Cameron Ouellette ( 90VT ) Barre, VT

11. Brett Wood ( 29VT ) Georgia, VT

12. Derrick Calkins ( 15VT ) Hinesburg, VT

13. Eric Messier ( 88NY ) Hinesburg, VT

14. Adam Maynard ( 45VT ) Milton, VT

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

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

17. Brandon Lanphear ( 11VT ) Morrisville, VT

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

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

20. Micheal MacAskill ( 33VT ) Williamstown, VT

21. Jaden Perry ( 92VT ) Hardwick, VT

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

23. Chris Laforest ( 56VT ) Barre, VT

24. Sid Sweet Jr. ( 5QC ) Williamstown, VT

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

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

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

28. Dwayne Lanphear ( 40VT ) Morrisville, VT

29. Trevor Lyman ( 17VT ) Hinesburg, VT

DNS #Keegan Lamson ( 55NH ) Berlin, VT

ALLEN LUMBER STREET STOCKS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

1. Scott Weston ( 04 ) Berlin, VT

2. Tommy Campbell ( 85 ) Middlesex, VT

3. Tim Hunt ( 93 ) Derby, VT

4. Jamie Davis ( 43 ) Wolcott, VT

5. JT Blanchard ( 66 ) Graniteville, VT

6. #Kyler Davis ( 69 ) Berlin, VT

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

8. Kyle MacAskill ( 7 ) Williamstown, VT

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

10. #Luke Peters ( 26 ) Groton, VT

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

12. James Dopp ( 0 ) Northfield, VT

13. Tyler Pepin ( 78 ) Barre, VT

14. Justin Blakey ( 17 ) Graniteville, VT

15. #Kaiden Fisher ( 18 ) Shelburne, VT

16. Royce Lussier ( 95 ) West Berlin, VT

17. Nate Brien ( 16 ) Brookfield, VT

18. Eric MacLaughlin ( 6 ) Milton, VT

19. Zach Audet ( 9 ) Morrisville, VT

20. Thomas Peck ( 96 ) Waterbury, VT

21. Cooper French ( 4 ) Northfield, VT

22. Josh Lovely ( 54 ) Williamstown, VT

23. Juan Marshall ( 79 ) Pittfield, VT

24. Jeffrey Martin ( 8 ) Barre, VT

BURNETT SCRAP METALS ROAD WARRIORS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

1. Trevor Jaques ( 57 ) Milton, VT

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

3. Tyler Whittemore ( 74 ) Barre, VT

4. Josh Vilbrin ( 07 ) Northfield, VT

5. Luke Marcheski ( 65 ) Boston, MA

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

7. Fred Fleury ( 99 ) Graniteville, VT

8. Frank Putney ( 78 ) Graniteville, VT

9. Todd Raymo ( 26 ) Swanton, VT

10. Jamie York ( 68 ) Barre, VT

11. Paige Whittemore ( 47 ) Graniteville, VT

12. Eric Chase ( 13 ) Berlin, VT

13. Shawn Moquin ( 76 ) Milton, VT

14. Sean McCarthy ( 86 ) Williamstown, VT

15. Kendall Zeno ( 21 ) Middlesex, VT

16. Rodney Campbell ( 10 ) Worcester, VT

17. Justin Prescott ( 44 ) Williston, VT

DNS Jason Kirby ( 71 ) Milton, VT

DNS Nick Copping ( 50 ) Barre, VT