Roberts, Jaques Use Outside Groove to Taste First Victories on Nolato Night

By admin August 11, 2023 Thunder Road

Corey Martin Cruises to Road Warrior Challenge Victory

Barre, VT — With skies far clearer than they were just twenty-four hours before, Thunder Road International Speedbowl roared to life for Nolato Night on Friday. Two first-time winners graced victory lane high atop Quarry Hill for the first time on a stellar Friday night of racing.

The Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers started off the evening’s feature racing action with twenty-two cars led to the green flag by sophomore racer Cam Gadue and longtime pilot Mike Billado. Charging ahead from his third-place starting position, Logan Powers quickly overtook the spotlight to lead the field. With Rich Lowrey and Jason Pelkey in tow, Powers continued to pace the field and click the laps off one-by-one. In the green-to-checkered, caution-free feature event, Cam Powers would take down his third-career Flying Tiger victory flanked by Rich Lowrey and Jason Pelkey on the podium.

Kyle Gravel and Kasey Collins led round two for the rk Miles Street Stock Triple Crown to green. Evenly matched at the onset, the two swapped the lead again and again in the opening laps before Gravel powered back to the front. A wild melee on the 13th lap saw Juan Paco Marshall fly across the middle of the pack in turn one with Collins, Eric Johnson and Kyle MacAskill piling down pit road and into the tire barrier. One other caution lay ahead on lap 22 as another wild cross-up saw Tyler Whittemore and top rookie Ryan Foster hook on the frontstretch to collect MacAskill, once again, Parker Gagne and Haidyn Pearce.

The final restart found a face-off between Gravel and Trevor Jaques with three laps remaining saw the two young-guns lead the field side-by-side. Under the white flag Jaques put the hammer down on the outside groove and never lifted on his way to Nolato victory lane. After taking the Marvin Johnson Memorial Non-Winners Race back in June, Milton’s Trevor Jaques took down his first career points-counting win over Tommy ‘Thunder’ Smith and Kyle Gravel. The rk Miles Street Stocks will crown their Triple Crown champion tomorrow as part of the McGee Hyundai of Barre Super Saturday program.

The Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models put another date in the running for the best event of the 2023 season on Friday after being led to green by Scott Coburn and Tyler Cahoon. The battle between Cahoon and Coburn got physical quickly with third-place runner Chris Roberts getting quite the show across his windshield. While remaining two-by-two, Brandon Lanphear and Chip Grenier made masterful use of the outside lane to claim second and third before the lone caution flew on lap 37 for the turned-around Justin Prescott on the frontstretch.

With just thirteen laps remaining, Lanphear went to work outside of longtime race leader Cahoon with Chris Roberts following the Richard Green Trucking machine to the front. Looking strong on the outside, Roberts let it all hang out up top and lead over Lanphear on lap 45. Not backing down, and under heavy pressure from behind, Chris Roberts used the outside groove all the way to the checkered flags to take down his first career Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model win over Brandon Lanphear and top rookie Kaiden Fisher.

Taking the field for their fifth annual 50-lap Challenge, the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors went all out in front of the hometown crowd. Quickly jumping up from his fourth-place starting spot, Brodie Frazier took the ‘Freakin Chicken’ to the top spot early and the chase was on. Nate ‘Tater’ Brien caught up to the Chicken to lead lap 11 before a leaking fuel issue saw Tater fade into the back while last-week’s winner Corey Martin charged forward.

Complete mayhem ensued throughout the field as the leaders bobbed and weaved around lap traffic before the first and only caution flew on lap 39. Staring down the barrel, Martin again punched the skinny pedal to lead the restart over Frank Putney in the ‘Unofficial Thunder Road Pacecar.’ After taking his first win in post-race tech inspection last time around, Corey Martin proved it was no fluke by winning the Road Warrior Challenge over Tyler Wheatley and Frank Putney.

Thunder Road teams have a quick 24-hour turnaround before tomorrow’s Super Saturday presented by McGee Hyundai of Barre on Saturday, August 12th. Along with extra money on the line for all four Thunder Road divisions, the rk Miles Street Stocks wrap up their all-new three-in-a-row Triple Crown for even more cash bonuses for the top three in series standings!

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

Nolato Night feat. 5th annual Road Warrior Challenge

Friday, August 11, 2023

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS 

Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors – (50 Lap Challenge)

  1. 26        Corey Martin               Northfield, VT
  2. 31        Tyler Wheatley            Brookfield, VT
  3. 88        Frank Putney               Graniteville, VT
  4. 17        Brodie Frazier             E. Montpelier, VT
  5. 19        Neal Foster                  Moretown, VT
  6. 75        Bert Duffy                    Milton, VT
  7. 99        Fred Fleury                  Graniteville, VT
  8. 71        Jason Kirby                  Milton, VT
  9. 77        Zach Garvey                Milton, VT
  10. 43        Anderson Boyd            Berlin, VT
  11. 81        Mike Slingerman
  12. 03        Robert Catchapaw      Waterbury, VT
  13. 18        David Wilder               Barre, VT
  14. 96        Bill O’Connor               S. Washington, VT
  15. 97        Nick DeBlois                Barre, VT
  16. 65        Connor Noyes              E. Montpelier, VT
  17. 50        Nick Copping               Barre, VT
  18. 33        Brayden Murphy         Barre, VT
  19. 13        Kevin Wheatley           Brookfield, VT
  20. 42        Karsen Murphy           Northfield, VT
  21. 07        Benjamin Bushey        Springfield, VT
  22. 16        Nate Brien                   Williamstown, VT
  23. 76        Easton Garvey             Milton, VT
  24. 83        Gavin Hodgdon

Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models – (50 Laps)

  1. 8VT      Chris Roberts               Washington, VT
  2. 16VT    Brandon Lanphear      Morrisville, VT
  3. 18VT    #Kaiden Fisher             Shelburne, VT
  4. 86VT    Marcel J. Gravel          Wolcott, VT
  5. 9VT      Chip Grenier               Orange, VT
  6. 38VT    Tyler Cahoon               Danville, VT
  7. 5VT      Bobby Therrien           Hinesburg, VT
  8. 64VT    Chris Pelkey                 Graniteville, VT
  9. 88VT    Nick Sweet                  Williamstown, VT
  10. 4VT      Scott Coburn               Barre, VT
  11. 27VT    Kyle Pembroke            Montpelier, VT
  12. 01VT    Stephen Martin           Craftsbury Common, VT
  13. 31KS    #Cody Schoolcraft       Claremont, NH
  14. 7VT      Cooper Bouchard        Hinesburg, VT
  15. 17VT    Darrell Morin              Westford, VT
  16. 31VT    Stephen Donahue       Graniteville, VT
  17. 0VT      Scott Dragon               Milton, VT
  18. 55VT    #Keegan Lamson         Berlin, VT
  19. 04VT    #Justin Prescott           Milton, VT
  20. 99VT    Cody Blake                  Barre, VT

Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers – (40 Laps)

  1. 31VT    Logan Powers              Middlesex, VT
  2. 8NH     Rich Lowrey                 South Hero, VT
  3. 64VT    Jason Pelkey                Barre, VT
  4. 68VT    Jason Woodard           Waterbury Ctr., VT
  5. 23NY    Cam Gadue                 Highgate, VT
  6. 00VT    Brandon Gray              E. Thetford, VT
  7. 20VT    Robert Gordon            Milton, VT
  8. 37VT    Kyle Streeter               Waterbury Ctr., VT
  9. 3VT      Michael MacAskill      Williamstown, VT
  10. 07VT    Sam Caron                   Milton, VT
  11. 90VT    Cameron Ouellette     Barre, VT
  12. 45VT    Adam Maynard           Milton, VT
  13. 8VT      Mike Billado                Grand Isle, VT
  14. 54VT    Colin Cornell               E. Burke, VT
  15. 56VT    Chris Laforest              Barre, VT
  16. 78VT    #Tyler Pepin                Barre, VT
  17. 08VT    Phil Potvin                   Underhill, VT
  18. 33VT    Matt Ballard               Williamstown,VT
  19. 22VT    Travis Patnoe              Wolcott, VT
  20. 26VT    #Luke Peters               Groton, VT
  21. 67VT    Kevin Streeter             Waitsfield, VT
  22. 9VT      #Zach Audet                Morrisville, VT

rk Miles Street Stocks – (25 Laps)

  1. 57        Trevor Jaques              Milton, VT
  2. 22        Thomas Smith             Williamstown, VT
  3. 5          Kyle Gravel                  Wolcott, VT
  4. 34        Patrick Tibbetts           Plainfield, VT
  5. 16        Dean Switser, Jr.         Waterford, VT
  6. 68        Kyler Davis                  Berlin, VT
  7. 30        Cameron Powers         E. Montpelier, VT
  8. 71        Jesse Laquerre             Berlin, VT
  9. 0          James Dopp                 Northfield, VT
  10. 24        Todd Raymo                Swanton, VT
  11. 50        Eric MacLaughlin        Milton, VT
  12. 9          #Logan Farrell             Barre, VT
  13. 3          Michael Gay                S. Burlington, VT
  14. 74        Tyler Whittemore       Barre, VT
  15. 20        Eric Johnson                Randolph, VT
  16. 39        Derek Farnham           Bethel, VT
  17. 2          Haidyn Pearce             Chelsea, VT
  18. 88        #Paul Rocheleau         Georgia, VT
  19. 04        Scott Weston               Berlin, VT
  20. 96        Thomas Peck               Waterbury, VT
  21. 08        #Ryan Foster               Waterbury, VT
  22. 55        Parker Gagne              Fairfax, VT
  23. 48        Taylor Hoar                 South Hero, VT
  24. 7          Kyle MacAskill             Williamstown, VT
  25. 98        Kasey Collins               Berlin, VT
  26. 79        Juan ‘Paco’ Marshall   Pittsfield, VT
  27. 43        Jamie Davis                 Johnson, VT

Sources:Cale King/Thunder Road Speedbowl PR

(IMG_4483.jpg): Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger victory lane (L-R) Jason Pelkey (3rd), winner Logan Powers, Rich Lowrey (2nd).

(IMG_4509.jpg): rk Miles Street Stock victory lane (L-R) Kyle Gravel (3rd), winner Trevor Jaques, Tommy Smith (2nd).

(IMG_4535.jpg): Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model victory lane (L-R) Kaiden Fisher (3rd), winner Chris Roberts, Brandon Lanphear (2nd).

(IMG_4596.jpg): 5th annual Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warrior Challenge victory lane (L-R) Frank Putney (3rd), winner Corey Martin, Tyler Wheatley (2nd).

(Alan Ward photos)