2021 Thunder Road Season: By the Numbers
/Alan Ward photo
2 —Trevor Sanborn and McKenna Merchant both won their first career starts at Thunder Road. Sanborn won the PASS Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel 150 on October 1 while Merchant took the Dads 4 By Tool & Supply Kids Truck special on October 16.
3 — Jason Corliss became just the third driver to win three straight “King of the Road” titles. He joins Chuck Beede (1992-94) and Derrick O’Donnell (2013-15). All three drivers did so in the modern Late Model division.
4 — Nick Sweet won his fourth Northfield Savings Bank Vermont Milk Bowl, equaling Robbie Crouch for the most all-time.
4 — Brendan Moodie (Late Models) and Josh Vilbrin (Road Warriors) each had four runner-up finishes, more than any other driver.
4 years, 30 days — The time that had passed since a women won a feature at Thunder Road before Paige Whittemore took the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warrior feature on August 5. Before that, the last female to win a feature at the track was Peyton Lanphear (Street Stocks) on July 6, 2017.
5 — Number of point-counting Late Model wins for Jason Corliss, the most in the 30-year history of the division. Four point-counting wins in a year had previously been accomplished 10 times by 8 different drivers. (Corliss’s five wins in 2020 included two non-point events.)
5 — Flying Tiger drivers Mike Martin, Derrick Calkins, and Mike MacAskill all had five heat race wins, the most of any driver in Thunder Road’s point-counting divisions. Chris Pelkey also had five wins when you add the non-point Labor Day Classic for the Late Models.
6 — Six different drivers over the age of 50 won a feature at Thunder Road this year: Tommy Smith, Mike Billado, Mark Beaulieu, Rodney Campbell, Fred Fleury, and Jamie York).
7 — Nick Sweet has now won a feature at 7 of the last 9 Vermont Milk Bowl Weekends. He won the Milk Bowl in 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2021; Sweet also won the PASS Super Late Model features in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
7 — Seven teenagers won a feature at Thunder Road in 2021: Kaiden Fisher, Bryan Wall Jr., Haidyn Pearce, Colin Cornell, Tanner Woodard, Stephen Martin, and Max Cookson (PASS Modifieds).
8 — The number of first-time winners in the Road Warrior division, more than any other class at Thunder Road.
8 — Barre’s Jeffrey Martin led all Thunder Road racers with eight podium finishes in 2021.
12 — Brooks Clark made his 12th consecutive Milk Bowl start, the longest active streak and now tied for 6th all-time.
12.107 — Time, in seconds, that Nick Sweet turned to win the Vermont Milk Bowl pole, setting a new track record in the process.
13 years, 356 days — Kaiden Fisher’s age when he was crowned RK Miles Street Stock champion on September 17, making him the youngest champion in track history (by nearly 3 years).
21 — Twenty-one of the drivers who won a feature at Thunder Road were first-time winners, whether in their class or at the track altogether.
23 — Number of drivers who earned at least one podium finish in the Late Models at Thunder Road this year. There were 18 different drivers in the Flying Tigers, 21 in the Street Stocks, and 15 in the Road Warriors.
25 — Jason Corliss now has 25 Late Model wins at Thunder Road, giving him sole possession of second all-time. Only Phil Scott (31) has more.
31 — Jason Corliss has 31 wins across all Thunder Road divisions. Joey Laquerre is the all-time leader with 46.
50 — The number of drivers who won at least one feature across all divisions and series that competed at Thunder Road this year.
59 years, 43 days — Mark Beaulieu’s age when he won the Road Warrior feature on September 10, making him the oldest winner of the season.
106 — Darrell Morin’s first career Late Model victory on August 20 came in his 106th event with the division. He began racing Late Models in 2015.
1,030 — The number of events that have now been run in the 62-year history of Thunder Road.
$9,100 — The combined purse Brooks Clark earned for sweeping the ACT Late Model Tour events at Thunder Road this year.
$12,280 — Nick Sweet’s total prize money from the Vermont Milk Bowl, one of the largest hauls in the event’s history.