Barre, VT – This Thursday’s Times Argus Mid-Season Championships at Barre’s Thunder Road will be the most important event for any team with 2010 title hopes, as double points are on the line for all four divisions. Some drivers will be looking to keep their momentum going into the second half of the 2010 season while others will be looking to use the double points night to turn around a forgettable first half of the season.
Montpelier’s Dave Pembroke, with two wins already this season, holds an eight point lead over Senator Phil Scott in the Thunder Road Late Model Championship standings. Barre’s Nick Sweet also has two wins this season, although one was an ACT Tour point counting event at Thunder Road, and sits just 26 points out of the lead. Among the top three Scott, who also has a feature win already this season, is the only one with a finish outside of the top ten in the first eight races.
Graniteville’s John Donahue is currently fourth in the standings and seems to be gaining momentum at the right time, with two podium finishes in the last three events, including a win in last Thursday’s Charter night. Northfield’s Matt White has used his feature win from two weeks ago to position himself in fifth place and 50 points back.
Last year’s “King of the Road” Jean-Paul Cyr used his mid-season double points win to catapult himself from fifth to first in the standings, a 38 point swing, which jump started the second half of his championship season.
The Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen championship battle is also separated by just eight points. Peacham’s Tony Rossi hasn’t scored a win yet this season but has used six top tens in the first seven events to hold his lead over Williamstown’s Mike Ziter. Middlesex’s Shawn Fleury is 23 points behind in third, while David Finck is 28 points back and Eric Badore and Derrick O’Donnell are tied for fifth just 31 points out.
Topsham’s Tim Campbell is the current Allen Lumber Street Stocks point standings leader thanks in large part to his four feature wins so far this season. He leads Travis Hull, and David Whitcomb who are all separated by just 48 points.
Double points night should give Barre’s Kevin Dodge a chance to close the 47 point gap between himself and current Junkyard Warrior point leader Ken Christman. Christman has six wins in the first eight races while Dodge has two.
The Times-Argus Mid-Season Championships is this Thursday, July 15. All four divisions will battle for double points on the most important night of the 2010 Thunder Road season. Drivers will also be available during intermission for the annual autograph session. Post time is 6:30pm.