Three First-Time Track Champions Crowned on 63rd WDEV/Calkins Thunder Road Championship Night

Barre, VT — One of the most important events of the Thunder Road season did not disappoint as drivers in all divisions went all out on WDEV/Calkins Portable Toilets Championship Night. With founder Ken Squier in the house to view the culmination of the 63rd season of racing at the track he helped build and maintained for well over 50 years, the drivers sure put on a show to remember. In the end, three first-time track champions were crowned to put a pin in a stellar points season.

Following heat race action for the three championship divisions, the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger track championship was the most hotly contested with Sam Caron leading Justin Prescott by just ten points. Christopher Pelkey continued to lead a tied Kyle Pembroke and Scott Dragon by 17-points while the rk Miles Street Stocks were still led by Dean Switser Jr. over Kyler Davis to the tune of 39-points.

The annual Port-a-Potty Grand Prix began feature action on WDEV/Calkins Portable Toilets Championship Night with point leaders Pelkey, Caron, Switser and the Road Warrior team driven by Frank Putney starting four abreast at the start/finish line. Christopher Pelkey’s Memorial Sandblast team

Alan Ward photo

The just-for-fun, non-point Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors joined the field led by Josh Vilbrin and Jason Kirby. As the field spread out in the early stages, a lap 9 scuffle in turn three sent Dan Garrett Jr. and Tyler Wheatley pit-side with wiggly and wobbly wheels while frontrunner Kirby took his Bobby Dragon-inspired ride to the infield, unable to steer. Even after the scuffle, the field remained green until the first caution on lap 16 when a gaggle of cars, all battling hard for fourth-place position, went crashing into the turn four Widowmaker frontstretch wall. Rodney Campbell and Ryan Sayers were casualties of the crash, both taking wrecker rides back to their pit stalls.

The final caution on lap 17 for the spinning Ryan Foster off the front bumper of Nick Copping set up a dogfight for first between Vilbrin and Nate ‘Tater’ Brien. Over the final three laps, both top runners duked it out until ‘Tater’ powered up on the back stretch and waved good-bye with the lead in hand. Williamstown’s Nate Brien took down the WDEV/Calkins Portable Toilets win followed by Josh Vilbrin and Neal Foster.

Alan Ward photo

Twenty-eight rk Miles Street Stocks showed up for the 63rd Championship Night at Thunder Road with only one leaving as the champion. On the start, Haidyn Pearce took off from ‘The Farmer’ Gary Mullen with the field following quickly on his heels. The first yellow flag would wave on lap 8 for a rogue wheel rolling down the backstretch, 50-yards away from its home the right-rear hub of the Tommy ‘Thunder’ Smith-machine. Following the restart, a charging Taylor Hoar powered up the outside of Pearce side-by-side for the race of her career.

Through two more cautions for spins from the Jesse Laquerre machine and Mike ‘Biffer’ Gay, Hoar prevailed on each restart against all comers while on the final green flag stretch 5th through 18th battled side-by-side, bumper-to-bumper behind her. Under the twin checkers, Taylor Hoar earned her first career Thunder Road victory and joined an exclusive club of Female Winners at The Road. Scott Weston took home second with Haidyn Pearce hanging on for third.

Alan Ward photo

While Hoar dominated the front, Dean Switser Jr. patiently bide his time in the mid pack, making moves only when he had to. Coming away with a 10th-place finish was enough to secure the Waterford driver’s place in the history book as he took down the 2022 rk Miles Street Stock Thunder Road Track Championship. Using a strong run at the beginning of the year that saw back-to-back victories and staying in the hunt all summer long, Switser took down his first Thunder Road track championship by 45 points over Berlin’s Kyler Davis.

Alan Ward photo

The Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers were true to their name on WDEV/Calkins Portable Toilets Championship Night, nearly taking flight from the pavement as they went 40 green flag laps without so much as a hint of a caution. Leaping from the pole position, Kyle Streeter pounced under the green and drove his heart out. After calling New Hampshire’s White Mountain Motorsports Park home for much of the 2022 season, Streeter only recently returned to his roots at Thunder Road. Even under constant pressure from Rookie of the Year Kaiden Fisher, Streeter never faltered. Kyle Streeter took down his first Flying Tiger win of the season followed by Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger Rookie of the Year Kaiden Fisher and a hard charging Mike MacAskill in third.

Alan Ward photo

After first entering the ACT/Thunder Road landscape over twenty years ago, Milton’s Sam Caron used nothing but determined consistency to take down his first ever Thunder Road top prize as the 2022 Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger Track Champion. Caron had been growing as a driver in the famed support division over the last several years and really turned some heads this summer, certainly more so now as a Champion in the Number One Support Division in North America.

Alan Ward photo

Like the Tigers, the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models decided to take it right to the checkered flag, letting the pieces fall as they may. While Stephen Donahue stalked Chris Roberts throughout the race, all eyes were on the constant two-wide mid-pack battle between the top three in points. It seemed as if Scott Dragon, Kyle Pembroke and Christopher Pelkey were inseparable, leaving scorers pouring over the tie-breaking policy on the ever-evolving fight for position. At half-way, something extra seemed to slip in the gas tanks of these top three with Pembroke and Dragon hammering to the front of the strung-out field and Pelkey content to rim-ride the outside, looking for guarantees.

The final ten laps saw Roberts and Donahue side-by-side, Donahue pushing for every ounce of speed he could muster on the outside groove. On the final corner Roberts moved up on Donahue and under the checkered flags they would run out of real estate. Both cars slammed the ‘Widowmaker’ frontstretch wall with Donahue on his driver’s side door as flames erupted from a ruptured fuel line. Coming to rest on its roof in turn one, safety crews dumped cans of extinguisher across the overturned car with Donahue climbing out the right side window.

At press time Donahue is in the hospital with no burns awaiting an X-ray for a possible broken hand. Although first across the line, Roberts was penalized for contact which resulted in the last lap accident and relegated to last on the lead lap. It was initially incorrectly reported as “Contact with Intent” which would have resulted as a complete disqualification from the event.

Stephen Donahue has been declared the winner of the WDEV/Calkins Portable Toilets trophy dash with Kyle Pembroke taking second and Brandon Lanphear coming home third, triumphant after a hard wreck last time out two weeks ago.

Although Pembroke drove hard for his second-place finish, it wasn’t enough for Pelkey. Pelkey’s two wins, including one on Midseason Championships, and eleven top-10 finishes helped secure his first Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model Thunder Road Track Championship by just 5-points over Pembroke. Graniteville’s Christopher Pelkey is officially the 2022 King of the Road, joining a prestigious list of premier track championship drivers in a 63-year history of stock car racing here on Quarry Hill in Barre, Vermont.

Alan Ward photo

With the championship season finished at Thunder Road, that only means one thing. Three-days of stock car racing are on tap to celebrate the big 60th Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank starting Friday, September 30th. Alongside the $103,000 Vermont Milk Bowl, the spotlight will shine on the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, rk Miles Street Stocks and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors as they hunt down career-defining ‘Mini Milk Bowl’ victories at the The Road. Special appearances for the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models, PASS Mods, New England Supermodified Series, White Mountain Motorsports Park’s Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank Strictly Stock Minis and Dad’s 4 By Tool & Supply Kids Division! Full schedule and pricing for the three-day extravaganza will soon be available online at www.thunderroadvt.com/schedule.

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

WDEV/Calkins Portable Toilets 63rd Season Championship Night

Friday, September 9, 2022

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

Port-a-Potty Grand Prix Winner – Christopher Pelkey and Crew

Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models – 50 Laps

Champion – Christopher Pelkey       +5 Points

1.         2VT      Stephen Donahue       Graniteville, VT

2.         27VT    Kyle Pembroke            Montpelier, VT

3.         16VT    Brandon Lanphear      Morrisville, VT

4.         7VT      Cooper Bouchard        Hinesburg, VT

5.         0VT      Scott Dragon               Milton, VT

6.         04VT    Matt Smith                  Fairfax, VT

7.         01VT    #Stephen Martin         Craftsbury Common, VT

8.         64VT    Chris Pelkey                 Graniteville, VT

9.         9VT      Chip Grenier               Orange, VT

10.       86VT    Marcel J. Gravel          Wolcott, VT

11.       55VT    #Keegan Lamson         Berlin, VT

12.       17VT    Darrell Morin              Westford, VT

13.       18VT    Kaiden Fisher              Shelburne, VT

14.       14VT    Phil Scott        

15.       40VT    Eric Chase                   Milton, VT

16.       55TL    Blair Bessett                Barnet, VT

17.       4VT      Scott Coburn               Barre, VT

18.       3VT      Chris Roberts               Washington, VT *

*General Contact Penalty - Relegated to Last on the Lead Lap

Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers – 40 Laps

Champion – Sam Caron                     +22 Points

1          37VT    Kyle Streeter               Waterbury Ctr., VT

2          18VT    #Kaiden Fisher             Shelburne, VT

3          3VT      Michael MacAskill      Williamstown, VT

4          01VT    Michael Martin           Craftsbury, Common, VT

5          31VT    Logan Powers              Middlesex, VT

6          08VT    Phil Potvin                   Underhill, VT

7          56VT    Chris Laforest              Barre, VT

8          90VT    Cameron Ouellette     Barre, VT

9          07VT    Sam Caron                   Milton, VT

10        15VT    Derrick Calkins             Hinesburg, VT

11        20VT    Robert Gordon            Milton, VT

12        68NH   Tanner Woodard         Waterbury Ctr., VT

13        64VT    Jason Pelkey                Barre, VT

14        67VT    Kevin Streeter             Waitsfield, VT

15        44VT    Justin Prescott             Williston, VT

16        45VT    Adam Maynard           Milton, VT

17        8VT      Mike Billado                Grand Isle, VT

18        73VT    Larry Underwood        Fairfax, VT

19        35DG   Travis Calkins              Danville, VT *

20        33VT    #Matt Ballard             Williamstown, VT

21        23NY    Cam Gadue                 Highgate, VT

22        22VT    Travis Patnoe              Wolcott, VT

23        13VT    Ty Delphia                   Duxbury, VT

24        0VT      Mark Barnier              Essex Jct., VT

25        8NH     Rich Lowrey                 South Hero, VT

DNS     2VT      Eric Johnson                Randolph Ctr., VT

*Sub Driver for Colin Cornell

rk Miles Street Stocks – 25 Laps

Champion – Dean Switser, Jr.            + 45 Points

1.         48        Taylor Hoar                 South Hero, VT

2.         04        Scott Weston               Berlin, VT

3.         2          Haidyn Pearce             Chelsea, VT

4.         24        Todd Raymo                Swanton, VT

5.         29        Gary Mullen                Tunbridge, VT

6.         17        Justin Blakely              Graniteville, VT

7.         26        Luke Peters                 Groton, VT

8.         33        #Curtis Franks             Topsham, VT

9.         34        Patrick Tibbetts           Plainfield, VT

10.       16        Dean Switser, Jr.         Waterford, VT

11.       43        Jamie Davis                 Johnson, VT

12.       74        Tyler Whittemore       Barre, VT

13.       68        Kyler Davis                  Berlin, VT

14.       7          Kyle MacAskill             Williamstown, VT

15.       98        Kasey Collins               Berlin, VT

16.       0          James Dopp                 Northfield, VT

17.       8          Jeffery Martin             Barre, VT

18.       77        Bert Duffy                    Milton, VT

19.       47        William Hennequin     Morrisville, VT

20.       3          Michael Gay                S. Burlington, VT

21.       73        #Paige Whittemore     Graniteville, VT

22.       96        Thomas Peck               Waterbury, VT

23.       6          Eric MacLaughlin        Milton, VT

24.       9          Jesse Laquerre             Berlin, VT *

25.       30        #Cameron Powers       E. Montpelier, VT

26.       22        Thomas Smith             Williamstown, VT

DNS     79        Juan 'Paco' Marshall   Pittsfield, VT

DNS     54        Josh Lovely                  Williamstown, VT

*Sub Driver for Zach Audet

Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors – 20 Laps

1.         16        Nate Brien                   Williamstown, VT

2.         77        Josh Vilbrin                 Northfield, VT

3.         19        Neal Foster                  Moretown, VT

4.         38        Jamie Buick                 E. Barre, VT

5.         88        Frank Putney               Graniteville, VT

6.         8          Ryan Foster                 Waterbury, VT

7.         50        Nick Copping               Barre, VT

8.         10        Rodney Campbell       Worcester, VT

9.         94        Ryan Sayers                 Barre, VT

10.       44VT    Jesse Bundy                 Hinesburg, VT

11.       54        Dan Garrett, Jr.                       Berlin, VT

12.       99        Fred Fleury                  Graniteville, VT

13.       31        Tyler Wheatley                        Brookfield, VT

14.       71        Jason Kirby                  Milton, VT

DNS     44        Chris Couture              Barre, VT