BARRE, VT – Shawn Sicard of Barre won the Casella Waste Management Tiger Sportsman 100 stock car race at Barre, VT’s Thunder Road on Sunday night, after the car of apparent first-place finisher Pete Ainsworth of Middlesex failed post-race technical inspection. Sicard started 21st on the 30-car grid, and made a quick last-lap maneuver underneath fellow Barre driver Lance Allen while running with lapped traffic to take second place on the race track. Sicard and Dave Finck, another Barre native, had traded the third position several times in the closing laps before the move under Allen.
Sicard’s victory was the second of his NAPA Tiger Sportsman career. Allen, who like Sicard is in his second season in the division, held on for second place. Finck matched a season-best effort in third. Eighteen year-old Derrick O’Donnell of Bradford finished fourth over unofficial point leader Craig Bushey of Cambridge. Barre rookie Cody Blake finished sixth ahead of North Middlesex driver Chris Gendreau, who was making his first start of the year. Craftsbury’s Joel Hodgdon, veteran Joey Laquerre of
East Montpelier, and Mark Barnier of Essex Junction completed the revised top ten in order, unofficially.
Rookie Matt White of Northfield earned his second victory of the year in the Late Model division. White drove from ninth starting position, avoided a lap 7 wreck that eliminated the top three runners, and then won a see-saw battle with Brooks Clark for the lead in the middle stages of the 50-lap race. After Clark spun on lap 27 and front-runner John Donahue had a flat tire on lap 30, a razor-close four-car battle developed behind White. The cars of Dave Pembroke, Chip Grenier, point leader Eric Williams, and Cris Michaud ran in tight formation for nearly 20 laps. Williams made an unsuccessful bid in the low groove on the final lap under Pembroke, and that allowed Grenier, of Graniteville, to
slip by for second place at the finish.
Pembroke, of Middlesex, crossed the line third ahead of Northfield’s Michaud and Williams of Hyde Park. Rookie Tony Andrews of Middlebury finished sixth with Gary Caron, Joe Becker, Phil Scott, and rookie Tyler Cahoon completing the unofficial top ten in order.
Hometown driver Erik Steel earned his first career Allen Lumber Street Stock victory in a 25-lap feature. Steel broke out of a duel with Barre’s Josh LaCourse after the halfway mark and cruised to the win. Garry Bashaw of Lincoln took his second consecutive runner-up finish ahead of North Troy driver David Allen, LaCourse, and Greg Adams, Jr. of Hardwick. Mark LaFleche of Graniteville and Mike Gay of South Burlington were each first-time winners as they split a pair of 18-lap Power Shift Online Junkyard Warrior features. LaFleche won the Calkins Portables/WDEV Radio event, previously rained out on July 31.
Del Jarvis of Barre, Travis Hull of Graniteville, Jeff Martin, Jr. of Moretown, and Jamie Davis of Wolcott completed the top five in order behind LaFleche. Gay won the regularly-scheduled Casella Waste Management feature over Hull, Barre’s Justin Gay, Scott Weston of Berlin, and Donny Yates of North Montpelier. Thunder Road is back in action on Thursday, August 21 as Kinney Drugs presents double 50-lap features for the headline Late Model division. A full card of Sportsman, Street Stock, and Warrior races is on tap, as well as the annual Kids Poster Contest.
General admission is $9.50 for adults, $3 for kids (6-12), and just $20 for a family of four. Gates open at 5:00pm, racing begins at 6:30pm. For more information, call (802) 244-6963 or visit www.thunderroadspeedbowl.com.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS – Casella Waste Management Night
Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl – Barre, VT – Sunday, August 17, 2008
(# – denote rookie)
Pos.-Driver-Hometown
Casella Waste Management Tiger Sportsman 100
1. Shawn Sicard, Barre
2. Lance Allen, Barre
3. Dave Finck, Barre
4. Derrick O’Donnell, Bradford
5. Craig Bushey, Cambridge
6. # Cody Blake, Barre
7. Chris Gendreau, North Middlesex
8. Joel Hodgdon, Craftsbury
9. Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier
10. Mark Barnier, Essex Junction
11. Tom Therrien, Hinesburg
12. Brendan Moodie, North Wolcott
13. Ricky Roberts, Websterville
14. Trevor Lyman, Hinesburg
15. Scott Coburn, Barre
16. Eric Badore, Georgia
17. Tony Rossi, Groton
18. Brian Delphia, Duxbury
19. Jimmy Hebert, Williamstown
20. # Chris Lacey, Burlington
21. # Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg
22. Chris Chambers, Brookfield
23. Matt Potter, Marshfield
24. # Mike Ziter, Williamstown
25. Justin Hart, Williamstown
26. Josh Lovely, Barre
27. Gene Welch, Jr., East Corinth
28. Eric Pembroke, Montpelier
29. Joe Steffen, Essex Junction
DSQ – Pete Ainsworth, Middlesex
Late Model (50 laps)
1. # Matt White, Northfield
2. Chip Grenier, Graniteville
3. Dave Pembroke, Middlesex
4. Cris Michaud, Northfield
5. Eric Williams, Hyde Park
6. # Tony Andrews, Middlebury
7. Gary Caron, Colchester
8. Joey Becker, Jeffersonville
9. Phil Scott, Montpelier
10. # Tyler Cahoon, St. Johnsbury
Allen Lumber Street Stock (25 laps)
1. Erik Steel, Barre
2. Garry Bashaw, Lincoln
3. David Allen, North Troy
4. Josh LaCourse, Barre
5. Greg Adams, Jr., Hardwick
6. Steve Mandigo, Wolcott
7. David Greenslit, Waitsfield
8. Lloyd Blakely, Graniteville
9. Jason Corliss, Plainfield
10. Bruce Melendy, Danville
Power Shift Online Junkyard Warrior (18 laps – Calkins Portables/WDEV Radio)
1. Mark LaFleche, Graniteville
2. Del Jarvis, Barre
3. Travis Hull, Graniteville
4. Jeff Martin, Jr., Moretown
5. Jamie Davis, Wolcott
6. Kevin Dodge, Barre
7. Chad Brown, Milton
8. Neal Foster, Waterbury
9. Justin Gay, Barre
10. Ken Christman, Cabot
Power Shift Online Junkyard Warrior (18 laps – Casella Waste Management)
1. Mike Gay, South Burlington
2. Travis Hull, Graniteville
3. Justin Gay, Barre
4. Scott Weston, Berlin
5. Donny Yates, North Montpelier
6. Ken Christman, Cabot
7. Jeff Martin, Jr., Moretown
8. Justin Prescott, Williston
9. Chad Brown, Milton
10. Kevin Dodge, Barre