Derrick O’Donnell Rallies Late for Second Thunder Road Win
Barre, VT – Derrick O’Donnell of North Haverhill, NH wheeled around 16-year-old Joey M Laquerre – three months removed from Driver’s Ed at U-32 High School – and went on to a car-length win in the 50-lap ENPRO Services Late Model main at Thunder Road.
Right behind Joey M Laquerre for 3rd came his grandfather Joey Laquerre, a fixture at Thunder Road for decades. “I tried to give him a little room, I didn’t want to make him nervous,” Grandpa Joey said.
“I have a lot of fun racing with my family,” Joey M Laquerre said in victory lane.
O’Donnell’s impressive win in the Gary Clay Builders No. 60 was his second of the season. He started 16th on the grid and sat 8th at the halfway mark. Phil Scott and Scott Payea finished 4th and 5th respectively after passing one another several times.
The second half of the top ten consisted of Rick Roberts, Jamie Fisher, Nick Sweet, Kyle Pembroke and Cody Blake.
Laquerre, Kyle Pembroke, Brett Gervais and Jason Corliss – rookies all – held the top four positions on a lap 17 restart after Emily Packard got turned around in the fourth turn.
Gervais and Corliss glanced off one another through the turns a lap later. Gervais couldn’t resist payback on the next lap and both drivers were sent to the rear to sort out their differences. One circuit later, the yellow was out again when point leader Dave Pembroke got torn up in a four-car skirmish.
The new front four on the ensuing restart consisted of young Laquerre and Kyle Pembroke, the elder Joey Laquerre and Phil Scott. Lurking in row three were Rick Roberts and Scott Payea.
Darrell Morin of Essex hung tough from the pole to complete a triple-crown night in the 35-lap Tiger Sportsman feature. Morin had to survive a restart on lap 23 after a four-car crash started when the field overran Tucker Williams as he tried to limp into the pits with his hood up over the windshield.
Morin made the low line work to finish ahead of runner-up Jeff Bousquet of Worcester, Mike Ziter, Brendan Moodie and Shawn Fleury, who finished nose-to-tail 3-4-5.
Greg Adams of Hardwick won his second Allen Lumber Street Stock feature in three days. Adams quickly left the field behind once he got to the front on lap 17. Runner-up George Butler of Randolph managed to hold off Jamie Davis and Tommy Smith as they traded paint behind him. Davis, by inches, earned 3rd with Smith 4th and Bunker Hodgdon 5th.
Louie Mayer of North Brookfield, Mass. took the checkers in the first-ever appearance at Thunder Road by the Northeast Mini Stock Tour.
Calvin Caswell of Jericho claimed his first career Rough Rider win followed by Richie Veilleux and Alan Derrington.
Thunder Road is back in action Thursday, July 11 when NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer tries his hand at the Barre high banks in the VT Lottery Commission Governor’s Cup 150 – post time 6:00 p.m. The event is also the third in the four-race Vermont State Late Model Championship.
ENPRO Services Night Unofficial Results
Thunder Road – Barre, VT
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Late Models
Pos. Driver (Car #) Hometown
1. #Derrick O’Donnell (60vt) N. Haverhill, NH
2. #Joey M. Laquerre (51vt) E. Montpelier, VT
3. Joey Laquerre (15vt) E. Montpelier, VT
4. Phil Scott (14vt) Middlesex, VT
5. Scott Payea (89vt) Milton, VT
6. Rick Roberts (3vt) E. Barre, VT
7. Jamie Fisher (18vt) Shelburne, VT
8. Nick Sweet (88vt) Barre, VT
9. Kyle Pembroke (27vt) Montpelier, VT
10. Cody Blake (99vt) Barre, VT
11. Mike Bailey (00vt) South Barre, VT
12. Jean-Paul Cyr (32vt) Milton, VT
13. Eric Chase (40vt) Milton, VT
14. Matthew White (42vt) Northfield, VT
15. Brooks Clark (68vt) Fayston, VT
16. Joey Becker (16vt) Jeffersonville, VT
17. Trampas Demers (85vt) S. Burlington, VT
18. Emily Packard (9me) E. Montpelier, VT
19. Brett Gervais (11nh) Island Pond, VT
20. Marcel Gravel (5nh) Wolcott, VT
21. Mark Norris (22me) Farmington, ME
22. David Whitcomb (25vt) Essex Jct., VT
23. #Terry Reil (11vt) E. Barre, VT
24. Dave Pembroke (44vt) Middlesex, VT
25. #Jason Corliss (66vt) Barre, VT
26. #Robert Eldred (38vt) Waterbury, VT
Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen
Pos. Driver (Car #) Hometown
1. Darrell Morin (71) Essex Jct., VT
2. Jeffrey Bousquet (60) Worcester, VT
3. Mike Ziter (26) Williamstown, VT
4. Brendan Moodie (94) Wolcott, VT
5. Shawn Fleury (31) Middlesex, VT
6. Christopher Pelkey (64) South Barre, VT
7. Joe Steffen (00) Grand Isle, VT
8. Chris Roberts (9) Washington, VT
9. Jason Allen (29) Barre, VT
10. Scott Coburn (1) Barre, VT
11. Adam Pierson (85) Bradford,VT
12. Matthew Potter (23) Marshfield, VT
13. Eric Badore (04) Milton, VT
14. Tucker Williams (11) Hyde Park, VT
15. Josh Demers (10) Montpelier, VT
16. #Cameron Ouellette (90) Barre, VT
17. Mike Billado (8) Essex, VT
18. John Lambert (2) Northfield, VT
19. Mike Martin (01) Craftsbury Common, VT
20. Jason Woodard (68) Waterbury Ctr., VT
21. Randy Gonyaw (22) S. Barre, VT
22. #Daniel Lathrop (6) Hyde Park, VT
23. #Chris Judd (51) Springfield, VT
24. Martin Ingram (02) Essex Jct., VT
25. Clem Despault (3) Waterbury, VT
26. Doug Crowningshield (14) Barre, VT
North East Mini-Stock Tour
Pos. Driver (Car #) Hometown
1. Louis Maher (69) N. Brookfield, MA
2. Danny Field (18) Deep River, CT
3. Mike Parker (28) Bradford, VT
4. Ricky Labrecque (52) Antrim, NH
5. Emerson Cayer (88) Contoocook, NH
6. Matt Sonnhalter (33) E. Thetford, VT
7. Toby Wells (2) Dublin, NH
8. Shawn Swallow (04) Stark, NH
9. Desmond Skillings (90) Antrim, NH
10. Nic Skillings (25) Warner, NH
11. Will Hennequin (47) Morrisville, VT
12. Mitchell Bombard (10) Willimantic, CT
Allen Lumber Street Stocks
Pos. Driver (Car #) Hometown
1. Greg Adams (38) Hardwick, VT
2. #George Butler (9) Randolph, VT
3. Jamie Davis (43) Wolcott, VT
4. Tommy Smith (50) Williamstown, VT
5. Bunker Hodgdon (83) Wolcott, VT
6. Will Hennequin (47) Morrisville, VT
7. Troy Kingsbury (39) Waitsfield, VT
8. Dean Switser, Jr. (16) Lyndonville, VT
9. Alan Maynard (10) Fairfax, VT
10. Jaden Perry (02) Hardwick, VT
11. Donnie Yates (05) N. Montpelier, VT
12. #Tyler Austin (5) E. Calais, VT
13. Gary Mullen (29) Tunbridge, VT
14. Marvin Johnson (19) Essex Jct., VT
15. #Patrick Tibbetts (48) Barre, VT
16. Kyle Streeter (37) Waitsfield, VT
17. Jennifer Getty (25) Cambridge, VT
18. Joe Fecteau (75) Hardwick, VT
19. Kevin Dodge (8) Barre, VT
20. Keith Fortier (35) Hinesburg, VT
21. George Sanders (68) Northfield, VT
22. #Tommy Elwood (88) Morrisville, VT
DNS Jamon Perry (62) Hardwick, VT
DNS Michael Gay (3) S. Burlington, VT
Rough Riders
Pos. Driver (Car #) Hometown
1. Calvin Caswell (23) Jericho, VT
2. Richie Veilleux (22) Lisbon, NH
3. Alan Derrington (75) Bethlehem, NH
4. Paul Dudley (42) Waitsfield, VT
5. Justin Johnson (79) East Barre, VT
6. Jamie Benneig (98) Williston, VT
7. Randy Johnson (101) East Barre, VT
Sources: Thunder Road Speedbowl PR