Barre, VT — Another successful Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Milk Bowl Friday set the stage for the iconic 60th Vermont Milk Bowl weekend at Thunder Road. The New England Supermodified Series brought thunder and lighting to Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Milk Bowl Friday while the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models delivered a deserving first-time winner in Thunder Road victory lane. Also, the Ammonoosuc Asphalt Mini Late Models saw another multi-time winner in the newfound series with the Kennebec Equipment PASS Modifieds putting on another world famous showdown on the Barre highbanks.

After Dan Brown won the qualifying heat race, Spencer Vaughn and Alex Ricker took the Kennebec Equipment PASS Modified field down to green for their 40 lap main event. As Vaughn quickly grabbed the early lead, he had a rearview mirror full of Spencer Morse. Morse tried the outside and inside of Vaughn before tackling the lead with a crossover move in turn four on lap 13. The first caution flag would wave on lap 24 for the spinning Brandon Varney stopped on the turn three apron.

On the restart Vaughn got the early jump on Morse before the inside line proved faster for the #34 and Morse took back the lead coming off of turn two. The one true caution of the feature would come on lap 32 as Bill Fiske went spinning in turn one and collected Kennebec Equipment PASS Modified point leader Garrett Lamb with him. Both would rejoin the field. On the final restart, both Vaughn and Morse were dead even at the line, but the backstretch was a totally different story. Under the checkered flag Spencer Morse would take the win followed by Spencer Morse for second and Alex Ricker coming home third.

The Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models took to the Thunder Road highbanks next after former Vermont Milk Bowl champions Bobby Therrien and Eddie MacDonald took down heat race wins. Led to point by Therrien and 2021 Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Milk Bowl Friday winner Trevor Sanborn, Therrien quickly scooped up the lead at the start. PASS North point leader Ryan Kuhn began falling back in the early stages of the 150 lap event as 2022 Oxford Plains Speedway champion Max Cookson quickly moved into third place behind Sanborn and Therrien.

By lap 17, Sanborn used the inside lane to overtake Therrien before Cookson used the same move to steal away the lead on lap 29. Over the next sixty laps the field spread out as Cookson sliced through lap traffic while D.J. Shaw, MacDonald, Ryan Kuhn and Gabe Brown kept pace behind the leader. Scott McDaniel would fall out of the race on lap 95 as his rear end went haywire, sending him pit-side under the black flag.

On lap 104 the battle for second overheated and boiled over. As D.J. Shaw moved around Eddie MacDonald to steal away second, MacDonald made contact with Shaw. The pair went flying into the turn one barrier with MacDonald ending his run early. The first restart of the event would pit Cookson and Kuhn against each other with Cookson snagging the lead back once again. Meanwhile, Gabe Brown slid underneath Kuhn to steal second and set his sights on the top spot.

On lap 109, Brown would officially take the lead as Cookson took hold of second. The second yellow would fly on lap 134 as Jimmy Renfrew Jr.’s right front expired. On the restart Cookson and Brown would faceoff once again with Kuhn waiting in the cat-bird seat. With five laps remaining Cookson slid under Brown, moving the #50 machine to take the lead. Brown, unhappy with the move, retaliated in turn four, sending the Cookson machine around off his front bumper. Both would restart at the tail of the field.

On the final restart, Ryan Kuhn would drag race fellow youngster Jake Matheson under the green flag. With Kuhn gaining the advantage, Trevor Sanborn followed him on the inside groove to take second leaving Matheson to duke out the final podium spot with Joe Pastore. Ryan Kuhn would take down his first career Thunder Road victory followed by Trevor Sanborn in second and Joe Pastore stealing away third after hard contact with Matheson at the line.

The return of the New England Supermodified Series (NESS) brought back the lightning fast speeds and ground thrashing power for the second time at Thunder Road in 2022. After winning his heat, the #25 of Dan Bowes set a blistering pace at the front, leaving his competition in the dust. Bowes would pull a half-a-track lead by lap 10 and began slicing lap traffic by lap 15. Unfortunately, it didn’t last. Attempting to motor around the lapped car of Dan Conners, Conners moved up on the backstretch and sent Bowes hard into the backstretch wall ending his strongest run to date in the NESS Series.

Following the clean-up, Ben Seitz and Rob Summers led the field back to green but no-one stood a chance against Seitz. Ben Seitz would take down his first New England Supermodified Series win followed by Rob Summers in second and Matt Swanson in third.

The White Mountain Motorsports Park Ammonoosuc Asphalt Mini Late Models would round out the night after Garrett Labounty and Chris Judd took down the heat race wins to qualify into the front row of the $1,000 to win feature. Former North East Mini Stock Tour champion Emerson Cayer would take the lead by lap 5 around Labounty with Matt Sonnhalter in tow. The roles were quickly reversed with Sonnhalter taking the lead on lap 7. The lone caution would fly on lap 22 for the spinning and stopped Taber Andrews and Matt LeBlanc in the backstretch grass.

Under the restart, Sonnhalter once again led Cayer as Desmond Skillings and Nick Anderson battled for second. Skillings day would worsen still with a lap 36 spin sending him into the infield grass but remained moving, keeping the field under green. Matt Sonnhalter would take down his second Ammonoosuc Asphalt Mini Late Model win of the year followed by Emerson Cayer for second and White Mountain champion Nick Anderson for third.

Tomorrow brings back the all-important Booth Bros./Hood Milk Bowl Qualifying Day with Time Trials and $1,000 to win triple-50 heat races for Late Models, group time trials and Mini Milk Bowl segment one for the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers and rk Miles Street Stocks plus Full Mini Milk Bowls for the White Mountain Motorsports Park Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank Strictly Stock Minis and Dad’s 4 By Tool & Supply Kids Division. Saturday General Admission is $20 for adults, $5 for kids 6-12 with 5 and under free. Three day and Saturday/Sunday package tickets are available at the gate!

Saturday night will feature the Thunder Road Go-Karts on the infield along with band Vinyl Spell and Bonfire in the Turn Three and new VIP Parking Areas.

Sunday, October 2nd showcases the 60th edition of the famed Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank. Headlined by the $12,000 to win ‘Toughest Short Track Stock Car Race in North America,’ Sunday’s action also includes the final segment in the career-defining Flying Tiger and Street Stock Mini-Milk Bowls plus the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warrior Mini Milk Bowl. Full schedule for all three days of the 60th Vermont Milk Bowl weekend is now available online at www.thunderroadvt.com/schedule. Sunday-only General Admission is $35 for adults, $15 for kiddos aged 6-12 with those 5 and under free! Two and three day ticket packages are also available.

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, Twitter, and Instagram at @ThunderRoadVT.

Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl – Barre, VT

Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Milk Bowl Friday

Friday, September 30, 2022

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

PASS Super Late Models – 150 Laps

1. 72 Ryan Kuhn E. Bridgewater, MA

2. 29 Trevor Sanborn E. Parsonsfield, ME

3. 20 Joe Pastore Gorham, ME

4. 52 Jake Matheson Hillsboro, NH

5. 39 Max Cookson Pittsfield, ME

6. 50 Gabe Brown Center Conway, NH

7. 5x Bobby Therrien Hinesburg, VT