Street Stocks in Spotlight Again at CCV Night

Alan Ward photo

Barre, VT — Thunder Road holds its first official race of summer this Thursday, June 24 with Community College of Vermont (CCV) Night live on FloRacing. The full card of championship stock car racing sees the RK Miles Street Stocks take center stage for the second straight week with a pair of 4-cylinder races that are sure to be memorable.

The Street Stocks begin the program with qualifying and their 25-lap CCV feature. Point leader Tommy “Thunder” Smith, Kaiden “Tropical Storm” Fisher, Josh Lovely, Kyler Davis, Jamie Davis, Kyle MacAskill, and other standouts will get after it in pursuit of the 2021 track championship. Drivers who had a rough double-feature night last week, such as former Street Stock champion Jeffrey Martin and multi-time winner Patrick Tibbetts, will try to start their turnaround.

Later in the night, the division’s up-and-comers take center stage in the seventh annual Marvin Johnson Memorial First-Time Winner’s Race. The 19-lap event is for Street Stock drivers who have not won a Thunder Road feature or are not a previous Memorial winner.

The Marvin Johnson Memorial has been held every year since 2015 in honor of the late Marvin Johnson, a well-liked underdog racer and professional pharmacist. Johnson never won a feature in his long career, but he loved racing and would do whatever it took to get to the track. His spirit was rewarded posthumously with the 2014 Ed Carroll Memorial Sportsmanship Award.

After Johnson’s passing, Thunder Road created the First Time Winner’s Race in his honor, with the 19-lap distance inspired by one of his former car numbers. It is a chance for rising young racers such as Luke Peters, Trevor Jaques, Haidyn Pearce, Thomas Peck, and Jared Rouleau to strut their stuff. When the checkered flag falls, one of them will be a first-time winner in Marvin Johnson’s memory.

Three other divisions are on the schedule with plenty of drama and stories to be told in each. In the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models, Barre’s Jason Corliss continues to stand atop the mountain. The two-time defending “King of the Road” charged from the 17th starting position last Thursday to win his 22nd career Thunder Road Late Model event. That moved him into a tie with Nick Sweet for second all-time. It also gave him a 29-point lead in the standings after three point-counting events.

Still, there is a long way to go before the 2021 championship is decided. Graniteville’s Christopher Pelkey, Shelburne’s Trampas Demers, and Northfield’s Matt White are among those who have shown great speed this year. Graniteville’s Stephen Donahue, Wolcott’s Brendan Moodie, and Milton’s Scott Dragon have also been fast. There are 11 chapters left to write for this year’s title tale, and fans will be on the edge of their seats seating what plot twists are in store.

The Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers are their usual hyper-competitive selves. After four point-counting events, Barre’s Cameron Ouellette is the leader of the pack. The five-time winner is the only driver to finish in the top-10 of every feature so far.

That consistency has him ahead of a trio of teammates. East Kingston, NH’s Bryan Wall Jr., Waterbury Center’s Jason Woodard, and his daughter Kelsea Woodard sit second through fourth in points. Youngsters like Stephen Martin, Colin Cornell, Logan Powers, and Jason Pelkey are within striking distance.

The Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors round out the program. Last week’s feature came down to the final corner with Nate “Tater” Brien nipped “Flyin’” Fred Fleury for the victory. They’ll aim for an encore this week as Josh Vilbrin, Clay Badger, Neal Foster, and Jason Kirby stand in their way.

Thunder Road welcomes the summer this Thursday, June 24 at Community College of Vermont Night. The Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models, Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, RK Miles Street Stocks, and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors all have a full card of championship racing. The program also features the Marvin Johnson Memorial First-Time Winner’s Race for the Street Stocks.

Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for kids ages 6-12, and $30 for a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids). Advance tickets are available at www.happsnow.com/event/Thunder-Road-Speedbowl. All Thunder Road events are also live-streamed on FloRacing for those with a monthly or yearly subscription.

For more information, contact the Thunder Road offices at (802) 244-6963, media@thunderroadvt.com, or visit www.thunderroadvt.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @ThunderRoadVT. For more information about FloRacing, visit www.FloRacing.com.