Therrien Tightens Championship Battle with Win on VT Tire & Service Night

By admin August 20, 2020 Thunder Road

Martin, Dopp, Campbell, & Putney Also Earn Wins

Barre, VT — Hinesburg’s Bobby Therrien put a supercharge into his bid to become the 2020 “King of the Road” by capturing the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model main event at Vermont Tire & Service Night on Thursday, August 20. The 2017 Thunder Road track champion took the lead from Shelburne’s Trampas Demers with 13 laps remaining and then drove away to considerably tighten this year’s title battle.

Therrien started eighth for the 50-lap trophy dash and followed fellow title contender Marcel J. Gravel through the field as outside polesitter Matt White set the pace. As Gravel and Therrien hounded second-place runner Demers at the halfway point, Eric Chase came to a stop on the front stretch, drawing the race’s only caution.

Demers had been losing ground to White at the time of the yellow, but he came to life on the restart, sailing around White to take the lead. Therrien followed Demers around on the high side a few laps later and then began putting the pressure on for the top spot.

With 14 laps to get, Therrien found a hole underneath Demers and went for it, completing the pass a lap later and taking off like a rocket from there for the win. His first victory of the year unofficially pulled him within 12 points of overall leader Jason Corliss with just three point-counting events remaining.

The second-place finish for Demers, who came into the feature fourth in points, also helped him gain ground in the title chase. Northfield’s Matt White held off Gravel, Corliss, and Jim “Boomer” Morris to finish third.

Gravel edged Corliss at the line for fourth, meaning that Corliss’s three closest challengers all finished ahead of him in the feature event. Milton’s Scott Dragon came on strong late to take seventh. Chris Roberts, Brooks Clark, and Matthew Smith rounded out the top-10.

Craftsbury Common, VT’s Stephen Martin reaped the benefits of a late caution flag to steal his first career Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger victory in their 40-lap feature. The defending Rookie of the Year had just passed Randolph Center’s Danny Doyle for third with three laps to go when last week’s winner Bryan P. Wall spun in turn two to bring out the caution flag. The yellow erased a big lead for rookie Kasey Beattie of St. Johnsbury and bunched the field together for one last sprint.

On the restart, Martin overtook second-place runner Kyle Streeter, then put a nose inside Beattie on the backstretch. Beattie was able to hold off the initial challenge, but coming to the white flag, Martin dove low again off turn four. This time, the 17-year-old made it stick and grabbed the win on the final lap.

Beattie’s heartbreaking second-place finish still turned around a tough recent stretch. Doyle got below Streeter on the final circuit for third place. Eric Messier, Colin Cornell, point leader Jason Woodard, Robert Gordon, Cameron Ouellette, and Derrick Calkins came home fifth through 10^th.

Northfield’s James Dopp was also a first-time winner in the Allen Lumber Street Stock main event. Dopp was running third when leader Michael Gay and Kyler Davis touched coming to complete the sixth circuit. As the two gathered it back up, Dopp alertly shot around both on the outside.

He then easily drove away following a pair of midrace cautions before surviving a late charge from Groton’s Luke Peters to triumph in the 25-lap feature. In doing so, the Road Warrior graduate became the sixth first-time Street Stock winner of the year.

Peters finished second with Graniteville’s J.T. Blanchard backing up last week’s win by taking third. Cooper French, Tanner Woodard, point leader Brandon Gray, Josh Lovely, Davis, Kaiden Fisher, and Justin Blakely completed the top-10.

Middlesex’s Tommy Campbell made it first-time winner number seven by coming from behind to win the Marvin Johnson Memorial. Campbell was leading the 19-lap event just past the halfway point when he got tagged by Peters on the front chute, sending Campbell for a spin and allowing Waterbury’s Thomas Peck to inherit the lead.

After Peck pulled away a bit on the restart, Campbell and Peters reeled him back in. Entering turn three with three laps to go, the duo split Peck, with Campbell passing him low and Peters going high. Campbell then fended off Peters for the victory with Peck coming in third.

East Corinth’s Brian Putney was practically uncontested on his way to victory in the 20-lap Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warrior feature. Putney started fifth after a crash the previous week and needed just two laps to get the lead. A pair of late cautions, including one with just two laps to go for Trevor Jaques’ spin, tightened the field back up. But no one had anything for Putney as he rolled to his fifth career win.

Berlin’s Dan Garrett Jr. snuck underneath Northfield’s Josh Vilbrin on the final two-lap sprint to finish second. Frank Putney, Tyler Whittemore, Paige Whittemore, Justin Prescott, Fred Fleury, Sean McCarthy, and Shawn Moquin also nabbed top-10 finishes.

Thunder Road caps the weekend this Sunday, August 23 at 6:00pm with the 36^th Bolduc Metal Recycling Enduro 200 and Street Stock Special. Grandstand admission for the event is sold out. However, a $15 pay-per-view is available on the Northeast Sports Network at www.NSNsports.net/sponsors/racing.

The final Thursday night event of the year at Thunder Road is next Thursday, August 27 at 7:00pm. Jet Service Envelope/Accura Printing Night features a full card of racing for all four divisions plus the annual “Run What U Brung” spectator races.

Thursday admission is $15 for adults and $3 for kids ages 12 and under with limited fan attendance. Advance tickets will be on sale until 10:00am Thursday, August 27 at https://happsnow.com/event/Thunder-Road-Speedbowl. Any remaining tickets will be offered for walk-up purchase at the gate. Fans can also watch live via pay-per-view on the Northeast Sports Network at www.NSNsports.net/sponsors/racing.

For more information, contact the Thunder Road offices at (802) 244-6963, media@thunderroadvt.com, or visit www.thunderroadvt.com. You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ThunderRoadVT.

For more about the Northeast Sports Network, visit www.NSNsports.net or follow them on Facebook and Twitter at @NSNsports.

THUNDER ROAD SPEEDBOWL

VERMONT TIRE & SERVICE NIGHT

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2020

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

MAPLEWOOD/IRVING OIL LATE MODELS