BARRE, VT – The open-wheeled True Value Modified Racing Series stock cars will make their historic debut at Barre, VT’s Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl at this weekend’s 46th Annual Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic. Modifieds have not raced at the high-banked 1/4-mile oval in over than 40 years, and return as part of a twin 100-lap doubleheader with the American-Canadian Tour Late Models on Sat./Sun., May 24/25.
“I told my crew over the winter that if we only win one race this year, I wanted it to be at Thunder
Road,” said current True Value Modified point leader David Pinkham of Buxton, ME. Pinkham raced at Thunder Road with ACT in the 1995 Chittenden Milk Bowl, and has been waiting for an opportunity to come back ever since.
“We’re going for the championship, and winning a couple of weeks ago at Waterford (CT) Speedbowl was very big, but my own personal goal for the season is to win at Thunder Road,” Pinkham said. “I love that place, there’s just so much history. You look at the names in the record books there, and any short track racer anywhere will want to be a part of it. This weekend is very important for a lot of people.”
Eddie Dachenhausen of Danbury, CT agrees. “I saw Thunder Road on a video about five or six years ago, and I’ve been asking our officials for a race there ever since,” he said. “They say Thunder Road is where everyone wants to win, and now I finally get to try. I can’t wait.”
Pinkham and Dachenhausen will be joined by top Modified stars from around New England, including
Connecticut’s Les Hinckley, Mike Holdridge, and Chris Pasteryak, New Hampshire’s Rob Goodenough and three-time TVMRS Champion Kirk Alexander, and Massachusetts’ Vinnie Annarummo and Jon McKennedy.
Vermont will be represented by Ascutney brothers Dwight and Peter Jarvis, and Milton’s Jean-Paul Cyr. Dwight Jarvis was the 2006 TVMRS Champion, while Peter Jarvis was the 2007 Rookie of the Year. Cyr is the seven-time and defending ACT Late Model Tour Champion, and earned a 12th-place finish in TVMRS competition at Lee USA (NH) Speedway last month. The last Modified race at Thunder Road was in June 1965, won by New York’s Dick Nephew. A Vermont native has never won a Modified event in the Green Mountain State.
The 46th Annual Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic is considered by many to be the biggest doubleheader in Thunder Road’s 49-year history. General admission is only $20 for adults, $5 for children (6-12), and just $40 for the “Family Fare” for any two adults and two kids. Thunder Road’s weekly NAPA Tiger Sportsman, Allen Lumber Street Stock, and Power Shift Warrior divisions will also be on hand. Modified and ACT practice will be held on Saturday, May 24 beginning at 1:00pm, followed by Sportsman, Street Stock, and Warrior qualifying at 3:30pm.
Modified and ACT qualifying will begin at 1:30pm on Sunday, May 25. For more information, call (802) 244-6963 or visit www.thunderroadspeedbowl.com.