Therrien Asserts Control Late for Labor Day Classic Victory

Barre, VT — Hinesburg’s Bobby Therrien saved his best for last to win the Optical Expressions Berlin Labor Day Classic 200 on Sunday, September 6 at Barre’s Thunder Road. Therrien got the top spot for good from Barre’s Jason Corliss on a lap-140 restart and stormed into the sunset for his fourth career win both at Thunder Road and on the American-Canadian Tour (ACT).

Therrien started sixth for the 200-lap endurance test and put on a charge early. The 2018 “King of the Road” moved around Matt White into the runner-up spot on lap 22 and went to work reeling in polesitter Stephen Donahue. Therrien went around the outside of Donahue for the lead on the 42nd circuit. However, after the second caution on lap 45 for Ryan Kuhn broken suspension, it was Donahue who got the jump to regain the point.

The current number-two Thunder Road point driver wasn’t done, though, as Therrien snatched the lead back from Donahue on lap 56. Defending Thunder Road champion and former Labor Day Classic winner Corliss then went underneath Donahue for second just before the fourth and fifth yellow flags on lap 68.

When the race resumed following a tangle involving Dylan Payea and Chip Grenier on the restart, Corliss outgunned Therrien to take the lead. As the race neared the halfway point, Barre’s Nick Sweet made it a three-car tango with the lead trio slicing through slower traffic.

Two more cautions on lap 111 let Milton’s Scott Dragon into the picture. Corliss drove away on the second restart with Therrien seemingly falling into the clutches of Dragon and Sweet as another pair of yellows interrupyed the action — including one on lap 119 when Tyler Cahoon slammed the turn-one wall and necessitated a lengthy clean-up.

As it turned out, though, Therrien was simply leaving something in the chamber for later. After the 10th and ultimately final caution flew on lap 140 for debris, Therrien decided it was time to push the button. He got the jump on his 2020 Thunder Road championship rival and continued to rim-ride the outside even after clearing Corliss. As the green flag run went longer, Therrien got stronger, running some his fastest laps with nearly 200 laps on the tires.

Sweet got around Corliss for second on lap 161 and tried his hardest to catch the leader in traffic. But Therrien was simply too much to handle, putting all but six other drivers a lap down as he walked away for his second win of the season.

Corliss ended up third and maintained his Thunder Road points lead with one event to go. Dragon took fourth while Graniteville’s Christopher Pelkey had his career-best ACT effort in fifth. Brendan Moodie, Brooks Clark, D.J. Shaw, Matt White, and ACT point leader Jimmy Hebert rounded out the top-10.

Hardwick’s Jaden Perry completed a Labor Day weekend sweep with a win in the 40-lap Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger feature. Perry, who also won the Flying Tiger event at New Hampshire’s White Mountain Motorsports Park the night before, started on the outside pole due to a long stretch of tough luck on the high banks. After polesitter Tyler Austin led the first two circuits, Perry swung around him to gain the top spot.

East Calais’s Austin kept Perry honest throughout the caution-free race and even got back to his rear bumper late as they negotiated lapped traffic. Perry was able to shake his recent demons, though, and took the victory on a day where 35 Flying Tigers attempted to qualify.

Austin had his best run of the year in second while rookie Keegan Lamson of Berlin finished a career-best third. Adam Maynard, Chris LaForest, Brett Wood, Colin Cornell, Kelsea Woodard, Sam Caron, and Bryan P. Wall completed the top-10.

Shelburne’s Kaiden “Tropical Storm” Fisher was more powerful than a tornado en route to his third win of the season in the Allen Lumber Street Stocks. The rookie had charged from 13th on the starting grid to second just past halfway in the 25-lap feature. However, he was still well behind Williamstown’s Josh Lovely.

Fisher got the break he needed when Royce Lussier spun on lap 16 while trying to hold on to a top-five run. The caution wiped out Lovely’s advantage in a heartbeat, and on the restart, Fisher blazed right past. After another yellow two laps later for Scott Weston’s spin, Fisher put the hammer down to complete the first-year trifecta.

Point leader Brandon Gray of East Thetford got around Lovely on the final restart to finish second. The veteran Lovely settled for third. Kyler Davis, Kyle MacAskill, Tanner Woodard, Tim Hunt, Jamie Davis, Trevor Jaques, and Michael Gay also earned top-10 finishes.

Williamstown’s Sean “Chubby Rambo” McCarthy took advantage of some last-lap good fortune to snare his second Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warrior win of the season. After getting shuffled back early from his sixth starting position, McCarthy rumbled back through the field and grabbed the second spot on lap-14. He then went to work chasing down polesitter Luke Marcheski, who had built a huge lead while the field sliced and diced behind him.

McCarthy had moved with a few car lengths of Marcheski as they took the white flag, but a win still seemed out of reach. Coming down the back chute for the final tap, Marcheski suddenly slowed, and McCarthy alertly swung around the outside to steal the win.

Boston, MA’s Marcheski finished a heartbreaking second. Swanton’s Todd Raymo fended off a hornet’s nest of fellow Warriors to take third. Justin Prescott, Josh Vilbrin, Tyler Whittemore, Dan Garrett Jr., Fred Fleury, Brian Putney, and Trevor Jaques came home fourth through 10th.

The ACT Late Model Tour travels to Loudon’s New Hampshire Motor Speedway this Friday, September 11 and Saturday, September 12 as part of Full Throttle Weekend. ACT joins a card that also includes the Musket 200 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and two events for the Granite State Legend Cars. Qualifying is on Friday, September 11 with the ACT Full Throttle 75 going green at approximately 2:30pm on Saturday, September 12. Advance tickets and other information is available at www.nhms.com.

Thunder Road crowns its 2020 champions on Friday, September 18 at 6:30pm with Barre Granite Association Championship Night. The Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models will go 61 laps for the track’s 61st season to decide the “King of the Road”. The Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers have a 100-lap, $1,000-to-win event in the finale of the Myers Container Service Triple Crown Series. The Allen Lumber Street Stocks and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors round out the card.

Advance tickets for Barre Granite Association Championship Night will go on sale later this week at https://happsnow.com/event/Thunder-Road-Speedbowl. Please visit www.thunderroadvt.com for the track’s face mask policies plus other health and safety guidelines. A live pay-per-view broadcast will also be available on the Northeast Sports Network at www.NSNsports.net/sponsors/racing.

THUNDER ROAD SPEEDBOWL

OPTICAL EXPRESSIONS BERLIN LABOR DAY CLASSIC

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

ACT LATE MODEL TOUR

LABOR DAY CLASSIC 200

Pos., Start Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown, Laps

1. ( 6 ) Bobby Therrien ( 5VT ) , Hinesburg, VT , 200 Laps

2. ( 12 ) Nick Sweet ( 40VT ) , Barre, VT , 200 Laps

3. ( 10 ) Jason Corliss ( 66VT ) , Barre, VT , 200 Laps

4. ( 19 ) Scott Dragon ( 16VT ) , Milton, VT , 200 Laps

5. ( 9 ) Christopher Pelkey ( 64VT ) , Graniteville, VT , 200 Laps

6. ( 11 ) Brendan Moodie ( 94VT ) , Wolcott, VT , 200 Laps

7. ( 14 ) Brooks Clark ( 68VT ) , Waitsfield, VT , 200 Laps

8. ( 16 ) D.J. Shaw ( 04VT ) , Center Conway, NH , 199 Laps

9. ( 2 ) Matt White ( 42VT ) , Northfield, VT , 199 Laps

10. ( 17 ) Jimmy Hebert ( 58VT ) , Williamstown, VT , 199 Laps

11. ( 7 ) #Marcel J. Gravel ( 86VT ) , Wolcott, VT , 199 Laps

12. ( 5 ) #Derek Gluchacki ( 03MA ) , Dartmouth, MA , 199 Laps

13. ( 22 ) Trampas Demers ( 85VT ) , Shelburne, VT , 199 Laps

14. ( 4 ) Dylan Payea ( 7NH ) , Milton, VT , 199 Laps

15. ( 21 ) Chris Roberts ( 3ME ) , Washington, VT , 198 Laps

16. ( 26 ) Chip Grenier ( 13VT ) , Graniteville, VT , 198 Laps

17. ( 1 ) Stephen Donahue ( 2VT ) , Graniteville, VT , 197 Laps

18. ( 24 ) Matt Anderson ( 49NH ) , Andover, NH , 195 Laps

19. ( 23 ) Reilly Lanphear ( 21VT ) , Waterbury, VT , 195 Laps

20. ( 25 ) #David MacDonald ( 69ME ) , New Gloucester, ME , 192 Laps

21. ( 3 ) Ryan Kuhn ( 72MA ) , E.Bridgewater, MA , 176 Laps

22. ( 13 ) Kyle Pembroke ( 27VT ) , Montpelier, VT , 162 Laps

23. ( 18 ) Bryan Kruczek ( 19NH ) , Newmarket, NH , 138 Laps

24. ( 15 ) Tyler Cahoon ( 38VT ) , St. Johnsbury, VT , 119 Laps

25. ( 20 ) Jesse Switser ( 25NH ) , W. Burke, VT , 58 Laps

26. ( 8 ) Cody Blake ( 99VT ) , Barre, VT , 3 Laps

Lap Leaders: Stephen Donahue, 1-41; Bobby Therrien, 42-45; Donahue, 46-55; Therrien, 56-68; Jason Corliss, 69-140; Therrien, 141-200. (5 lead changes among 3 drivers)

Time of Race: 1 hour, 32 minutes, 17 seconds   Margin of Victory: 1.698 seconds

Cautions: 10 (laps 3, 45, 58, 68, 68, 111, 111, 119, 129, 140)

Heat Winners: Jason Corliss, Derek Gluchacki, Bobby Therrien

Consi Winner: Jimmy Hebert

LENNY’S SHOE & APPAREL FLYING TIGERS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

1. Jaden Perry ( 92VT ) Hardwick, VT

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

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

4. Adam Maynard ( 45VT ) Milton, VT

5. Chris Laforest ( 56VT ) Barre, VT

6. Brett Wood ( 29VT ) Georgia, VT

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

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

9. Sam Caron ( 07VT ) Colchester, VT

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

11. Brandon Lanphear ( 11VT ) Morrisville, VT

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

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

14. Derrick Calkins ( 15VT ) Hinesburg, VT

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

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

17. Jason Pelkey ( 64VT ) Barre, VT

18. Cameron Ouellette ( 90VT ) Barre, VT

19. Cooper Bouchard ( 7VT ) Hinesburg, VT

20. Logan Powers ( 31VT ) Middlesex, VT

21. Rich Lowrey ( 8NH ) Charlotte, VT

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

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

24. Eric Messier ( 88NY ) Hinesburg, VT

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

26. Jamon Perry ( 62NH ) Hardwick, VT

27. Kevin Streeter ( 67VT ) Waitsfield, VT

28. Robert Gordon ( 20VT ) Milton, VT

ALLEN LUMBER STREET STOCKS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

1. #Kaiden Fisher ( 18 ) Shelburne, VT

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

3. Josh Lovely ( 54 ) Williamstown, VT

4. #Kyler Davis ( 69 ) Berlin, VT

5. Kyle MacAskill ( 7 ) Williamstown, VT

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

7. Tim Hunt ( 93 ) Derby, VT

8. Jamie Davis ( 43 ) Wolcott, VT

9. Trevor Jaques ( 57 ) Milton, VT

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

11. Cooper French ( 4 ) Northfield, VT

12. Justin Blakey ( 17 ) Graniteville, VT

13. #Luke Peters ( 26 ) Groton, VT

14. Scott Weston ( 04 ) Berlin, VT

15. Thomas Peck ( 96 ) Waterbury, VT

16. Royce Lussier ( 95 ) West Berlin, VT

17. Jared Rouleau ( 60 ) Warren, VT

18. Eric MacLaughlin ( 6 ) Milton, VT

19. James Dopp ( 0 ) Northfield, VT

20. Joshua Poirier ( 15 ) Fairfield, VT

21. Jeffrey Martin ( 8 ) Barre, VT

22. Zach Audet ( 9 ) Morrisville, VT

23. JT Blanchard ( 66 ) Graniteville, VT

24. Nate Brien ( 16 ) Brookfield, VT

DNS Tommy Campbell ( 85 ) Middlesex, VT

DNS Juan Marshall ( 79 ) Pittfield, VT

BURNETT SCRAP METALS ROAD WARRIORS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

1. Sean McCarthy ( 86 ) Williamstown, VT

2. Luke Marcheski ( 65 ) Boston, MA

3. Todd Raymo ( 26 ) Swanton, VT

4. Justin Prescott ( 44 ) Williston, VT

5. Josh Vilbrin ( 07 ) Northfield, VT

6. Tyler Whittemore ( 74 ) Barre, VT

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

8. Fred Fleury ( 99 ) Graniteville, VT

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

10. Trevor Jaques ( 57 ) Milton, VT

11. Jamie York ( 68 ) Barre, VT

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

13. Jason Kirby ( 71 ) Milton, VT

14. Steven Reno ( 00 ) Wiiliamstown, VT

15. Paige Whittemore ( 47 ) Graniteville, VT

16. Ryan Deuso ( 7 ) Worcester, VT

17. Kendall Zeno ( 21 ) Middlesex, VT

18. Josh Kennett ( 45 ) East Barre, VT

19. Nick Copping ( 50 ) Barre, VT

20. Bernie Roy ( 2 ) Hinesburg, VT

21. Matt Ballard ( 33 ) Williamstown, VT

22. Frank Putney ( 78 ) Graniteville, VT

23. Britney Lampro ( 08 ) Barre, VT

DNS Eric Chase ( 13 ) Berlin, VT