Champions, Special Award Winners Honored at Barre Banquet

Barre, VT — On Saturday, a capacity crowd of drivers, team members, sponsors and officials gathered at the Barre Elks Club to celebrate the 2023 season at Thunder Road International Speedbowl. Joined by the top stars of the American-Canadian Tour, the hard-nosed drivers in weekly competition at Thunder Road were honored for their efforts throughout the season alongside a list of special award winners on Saturday.  

The evening began with a series of raffle prizes courtesy of a collection of contingency sponsors. AR Bodies provided a Late Model ‘A’ Body Package and a $500 merchandise certificate for Flying Tigers with Kyle Pembroke and Colin Cornell, respectively, getting the draw. Chris Roberts was drawn for a complete NextGen body courtesy of Five Star Bodies while Travis Patnoe was chosen for a $500 Five Star certificate. Top Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model teams were also up for a complete set of QA1 Shocks which saw Cooper Bouchard get the lucky pull.

The top accolades went to 2023 Thunder Road track champions James Dopp, Kyle Streeter and Stephen Donahue, each of them giving emotional speeches thanking family, sponsors and supporters of their respective championship seasons. Likewise, top rookies Kaiden Fisher, Tyler Pepin and Ryan Foster also took the opportunity to speak in thankfulness to their supporters during the evening’s activities. The leading Myers Container Triple Crown runners and a supporting group of top Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warrior teamsters were also on hand to celebrate the year.

Alan Ward photo

Alan Ward photo

Alan Ward photo

Milton, Vermont took home the bulk of the special awards for 2023. Street Stock Mini Milk Bowl winner Trevor Jaques brought home the annual Most Improved Driver award while first-year Maplewood/Irving Late Model competitor Justin Prescott was given the prestigious Gordon R. ‘Doc’ Nielsen Rookie Award. A pair of Barre’s-own were listed as the season’s most honorable with Nick Sweet earning the Overall Sportsmanship Award and Jeffrey Martin taking the annual Ed Carroll Memorial Sportsmanship Award for the Street Stocks.

The Inside Groove’s Nick Mumley was awarded the Pete Hartt Memorial Media Award while head groundskeeper Tom Croteau earned the Ken Squier Award for contributions to the Nation’s Site of Excitement. Head of Race Day Operations at Thunder Road, New Hampshire’s White Mountain Motorsports Park and the American-Canadian Tour Scott Tapley was given the Tom Curley Award and longtime Northeast driver, car-owner and sponsor John Wall, Sr. was awarded the prestigious Don MacTavish Memorial Award.

Alan Ward photo

Alan Ward photo

The 2024 Thunder Road schedule of events is slated to be released by Thanksgiving with all 2024 Rule Books also ready to be released in November. Season Passes for the upcoming year will be on sale as soon as the 2024 schedule is finalized.

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.