Double Points and Double Money Up for Grabs at Midseason Championships

Alan Ward photo

Barre, VT — Thunder Road reaches halfway of its 62nd season with the Times Argus Midseason Championships this Thursday, July 22. Fans both at the track and watching live on FloRacing are in for a night of thrills with added distance features and double points awards in all races.

This year, the Midseason Championships are even bigger than normal. Thanks to Thunder Road’s multiyear live streaming agreement with FloRacing, double the prize money will be paid out on Thursday. Regardless of where they finish, teams in all four divisions are getting an extra cash infusion to prepare for the season’s second half.

Add in the returns of both longtime event sponsor The Times Argus and the annual driver autograph session, and it shapes up to be a memorial Thursday night. Drivers like Jason Corliss, Trampas Demers, Michael Martin, Bryan Wall Jr., and Tommy “Thunder” Smith know how important double-points night is to their title hopes. As such, they will be putting in extra time at the shop this week to make sure they are ready.

The Times Argus Midseason Championships give the rest of the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model division a chase to catch up with Corliss. Following his third win of the year at the Essex Equipment Vermont Governor’s Cup, the hometown racer has a 59-point lead over Shelburne’s Demers. Graniteville’s Christopher Pelkey and Stephen Donahue, the third- and fourth-place Late Model racers, are 67 and 98 points behind the leader.

However, the winner of Thursday’s 75-lap feature receives 150 points. Another 20 points goes to each heat race winner. A great night for a couple of his challengers, combined with even an ordinary night by Corliss, would completely change the outlook. With nothing to lose and everything to gain for most of the field, a must-watch main event is in store.

Buzz Fisher/Creative Outbursts photo

The title picture is pretty much guaranteed to shift in the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers. The top-15 drivers are separated by only 56 points — less than the gap between first and second for the Late Models. Anyone from current leader Michael Martin of Craftsbury Common to 15th-place rookie Tanner Woodard of Waterbury Center could realistically end the night as point leader. The lead has changed hands five weeks in a row, meaning Martin can’t feel comfortable with a herd of Tigers on his heels.

East Kingston, NH’s Bryan Wall Jr. became the division’s first repeat winner last week, moving him within two points of Martin. Youngsters Stephen Martin, Logan Powers, and Kelsea Woodard are closely locked in the hunt along with veterans Robert Gordon and Cameron Ouellette. Reigning champion Jason Woodard has not been up to his lofty standards this year, but still is just 35 points out of first. Woodard won the Midseason Championships last year and knows that doing so again would make him the frontrunner for a fifth title.

The RK Miles Street Stocks have a two-man dance between “The King” and “The Kid”. The point leader is 51-year-old Tommy “Thunder” Smith of Williamstown, the all-time winningest Street Stock driver and 2014 champion. Twelve points behind is 13-year-old Kaiden “Tropical Storm” Fisher of Shelburne, who is in just his second year of Thunder Road competition.

Smith got started in the Street Stocks when Kaiden’s dad Jamie was one of the division’s stars. Now “Thunder” is trying to fend off the next generation. Kyler Davis, two-time champion Jamie Davis, rookie Trevor Jaques, and Justin Blakely are there to pounce if they have the opportunity.

The evening will conclude with a long-distance feature for the Burnett Scrap Metals Warriors, who return following a week off. That means Frank “Scrappy Doo” Putney, Nate “Tater” Brien, Dan Garrett Jr., Paige Whittemore, and the division’s other colorful characters have some pent-up thrills to unleash. The division does not race for points, and that means drivers don’t have to think about them — they just try to win.

The Times Argus Midseason Championships come to Barre’s Thunder Road this Thursday, July 22 at 7:00pm. All four divisions have added distance, double points, and double prize money on the line. The annual driver autograph session will be held at intermission.

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.