Derrick O’Donnell Crowned “King of the Road”
Phil Scott, Darrell Morin, Will Hennequin and Al Derrington Claim Wins
Barre, VT – Phil Scott made Kyle Pembroke pay for one mistake at the front of the field on lap 37 of the VP Racing Fuels Late Model 50 Thursday at Thunder Road and went on to his 2nd win of the season and the 29th of his career.
Scott shot between a backmarker in the low lane and Pembroke on the rim of turn two in a go-for-broke move for the last of six lead changes.
“I knew I had to take the opportunity, when I saw it,” Scott said.
During the first half of the event, Pembroke and pole sitter Joe Becker raced side by side for more than 20 laps with Scott and eventual runner-up Joey Laquerre in close pursuit.
“I got my right side tires up in the dirt and Phil took full advantage,” Pembroke said.
Rookie Derrick O’Donnell from North Haverhill, NH, driving the Cody Chevrolet/Gary Clay Builders No. 60, had an even better night than Scott. O’Donnell rose from 18th to finish 8th and clinch the 2013 Thunder Road Late Model Championship.
O’Donnell won two races and had seven top-5 finishes in 2013 to become the first rookie in Thunder Road’s 53-year history to win the headline division crown.
“This won’t settle in for a while, but I’m thrilled,” O’Donnell said after receiving a large rotating trophy from 2012 champion Nick Sweet in victory lane. Sweet became the 2013 Runner-up.
Becker hung tough to finish 4th. Jamie Fisher was 5th, followed by Cody Blake, Brooks Clark, O’Donnell, Jason Corliss and Derek Ming.
Darrel Morin of Essex Jct. was the toughest Tiger Sportsman of them all in the VP Fuels 100. Morin regained the lead from Chris Roberts in timely fashion on lap 39. On lap 65, the skies opened up and sealed the deal for Morin, who was a car-length ahead of Mike Ziter.
Morin started the main event on the pole and led the first 32 laps before Roberts nosed ahead on a lap-32 restart. Earlier, he won his heat and the semi-feature. Chris Pelkey, Ziter and John Lambert were 2-3-4 in the semi-feature.
Ziter eased by Roberts for 2nd on lap 39. Jason Allen placed 3rd, just ahead of Jason Woodard and Roberts. Chris Pelkey, Cam Ouellette, Mike Martin, Joe Steffen and Adam Pierson completed the top ten. Ziter’s 2nd-place run from 11th on the grid unofficially moved him into the top spot in the Tiger Sportsman point standings.
Willy Hennequin trounced his Allen Lumber Street Stock rivals in the 4-cylinder 25-lap feature at the wheel of the Sanborn Machine/All Metal Recycling No. 47 It was the 7th career win for the Morrisville veteran, who made quick work of frontrunners George Butler, Kevin Dodge and Kyle Streeter on a lap 8 restart.
The restart was needed after Cassie Trendle, who had covered nearly every inch of the racing surface in the previous two laps, bounced off the wall and got hammered by Scott Weston.
Butler, a rookie from Randolph, had his 2nd top-5 finish of the season as the Runner-up. Streeter and Donnie Yates were 4-5. Point leader Bunker Hodgdon finished 8th.
Alan Derrinton claimed the Rough Rider feature win holding off Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon for his first feature victory.
The stars of the Thunder Road Late Model division will take on the American Canadian Tour competitors this Sunday, September 1 with the 35th running of the VT Foodbank Labor Day Classic. The Tiger Sportsmen and Street Stocks will also be in action with qualifying set to begin at 1:30pm.
VP Racing Fuels Night
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Thunder Road – Barre, VT
Late Models Unofficial Results
Pos. Driver (Car #) Hometown
1. Phil Scott (14vt) Middlesex, VT
2. Joey Laquerre (15vt) E. Montpelier, VT
3. Kyle Pembroke (27vt) Montpelier, VT
4. Joey Becker (16vt) Jeffersonville, VT
5. Jamie Fisher (18vt) Shelburne, VT
6. Cody Blake (99vt) Barre, VT
7. Brooks Clark (68vt) Fayston, VT
8. #Derrick O’Donnell (60vt) N. Haverhill, NH
9. #Jason Corliss (66vt) Barre, VT
10. Derek Ming (45vt) West Burke, VT
11. Emily Packard (9me) E. Montpelier, VT
12. Trampas Demers (85vt) S. Burlington, VT
13. Nick Sweet (88vt) Barre, VT
14. Jean-Paul Cyr (32vt) Milton, VT
15. Scott Payea (89vt) Milton, VT
16. Brett Gervais (11nh) Island Pond, VT
17. Dennis Demers (86vt) Shelburne, VT
18. #Joey M. Laquerre (51vt) E. Montpelier, VT
19. Mike Bailey (00vt) South Barre, VT
20. Chip Grenier (9vt) Graniteville, VT
21. Eric Chase (40vt) Milton, VT
22. Josh Demers (10vt) Montpelier, VT
23. David Whitcomb (25vt) Essex Jct., VT
24. #Robert Eldred (38vt) Waterbury, VT
25. Dave Pembroke (44vt) Middlesex, VT
26. Mark Norris (22me) Farmington, ME
27. Brett Wheeler (1vt) Waterbury, VT
DNS #Terry Reil (11vt) E. Barre, VT
Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen Unofficial Results
Pos. Driver (Car #) Hometown
1. Darrell Morin (71) Essex Jct., VT
2. Mike Ziter (26) Williamstown, VT
3. Jason Allen (29) Barre, VT
4. Jason Woodard (68) Waterbury Ctr., VT
5. Chris Roberts (9) Washington, VT
6. Christopher Pelkey (64) South Barre, VT
7. #Cameron Ouellette (90) Barre, VT
8. Mike Martin (01) Craftsbury Common, VT
9. Adam Pierson (85) Bradford,VT
10. Joe Steffen (00) Grand Isle, VT
11. Shawn Fleury (31) Middlesex, VT
12. Randy Gonyaw (22) S. Barre, VT
13. Scott Coburn (1) Barre, VT
14. Matthew Potter (23) Marshfield, VT
15. Brendan Moodie (94) Wolcott, VT
16. John Lambert (2) Northfield, VT
17. Mike Billado (8) Essex, VT
18. Jeffrey Bousquet (60) Worcester, VT
19. Eric Johnson (14) Randolph Center, VT
20. Eric Badore (04) Milton, VT
21. Caleb Nelson (07) Moretown, VT
Allen Lumber Street Stocks Unofficial Results
Pos. Driver (Car #) Hometown
1. Will Hennequin (47) Morrisville, VT
2. #George Butler (9) Randolph, VT
3. Kevin Dodge (8) Barre, VT
4. Kyle Streeter (37) Waitsfield, VT
5. Donnie Yates (05) N. Montpelier, VT
6. Alan Maynard (10) Fairfax, VT
7. Gary Mullen (29) Tunbridge, VT
8. Bunker Hodgdon (83) Wolcott, VT
9. Jamon Perry (62) Hardwick, VT
10. David Whitcomb (77) Morrisville, VT
11. Jamie Davis (43) Wolcott, VT
12. Marvin Johnson (19) Essex Jct., VT
13. Jaden Perry (02) Hardwick, VT
14. Danny Emerson (71) E. Ryegate, VT
15. Michael Gay (3) S. Burlington, VT
16. Tommy Smith (50) Williamstown, VT
17. #Tyler Austin (5) E. Calais, VT
18. Scott Maynard (59) Burlington, VT
19. Jennifer Getty (25) Cambridge, VT
20. Steve Bennett (75) Cameron, NC
21. Scott Weston (04) Berlin, VT
22. Cassie Trendle (28) Georgia, VT
23. Alex Perkins (55) White River Jct., VT
24. Thomas Merchant (38) Eden Mills, VT
DNS Troy Kingsbury (39) Waitsfield, VT
DNS #Patrick Tibbetts (48) Barre, VT
Rough Riders Unofficial Results
Pos. Driver (Car #) Hometown
1. Alan Derrington (75) Bethlehem, NH
2. Thom Lauzon (33) Barre, V
3. Justin Gay (BEE) Barre, VT
4. Aren Keene (50) E. Hardwick, VT
5. Paul Dudley (42) Waitsfield, VT
6. Tyler Placey (Silver) Barre, VT
7. Chris LaForest (56) Barre, VT
8. Calvin Caswell (23) Jericho, VT
Sources: Thunder Road Speedbowl PR