Gonyaw, Smith Take Feature Victories
Barre, VT – Shelburne’s Dennis Demers showed his son, and the rest of the Late Model field, how it was done on WDEV/WLVB/Calkins night at Thunder Road on Thursday, August 2. Demers was chased by late charging Nick Sweet and South Barre’s Mike “Beatle” Bailey to the checkers.
Jeffersonville’s Joey Becker took the early lead from pole-sitter Bailey, but it only took until lap 12 for Bailey to find his groove in the outside lane and reclaim the lead. Bailey ran from the field while father-son duo Dennis and Trampas Demers stormed through the field nose to tail from mid-pack. By lap 20 the pair had reached second and third and engaged in a no-holds-barred family duel for the second position. Father Dennis Demers on the high side, son Trampas below, they battled it out until lap 30 when Dennis finally surged ahead. Seven laps later he slipped underneath Bailey for the lead, while point-leader Nick Sweet methodically picked off the top five one by one in the last ten laps of the race. Sweet broke up the family affair by claiming second in the closing laps, leaving Bailey to third place, Trampas Demers to fourth, and Brooks Clark to round out the top five. Three-time Champion Phil Scott finished sixth, and Becker, Chip Grenier, Eric Chase, and Cody Blake rounded out the top ten.
Demers was ecstatic to claim his first win of 2012. “This is a dream come true, it is so great to race with such talent here,” claimed Demers. “Honestly, just to beat Trampas is fun. Goes to show us old guys can still get it done,” he grinned.
South Barre’s Randy Gonyaw found victory lane for the first time in years in the Bond Auto Tiger Sportsman feature, dominating the 35-lap event. Gonyaw was chased to the line by two-time 2012 feature winner Chris Pelkey, also of South Barre, and Barre’s own David Finck. Rookie Jason Woodard, who was shuffled out of second in a two wide brawl for the top six positions, came home fourth, and Williamstown’s Mike Ziter rounded out the top five.
Gonyaw felt redemption at the fall of the checkers. “I’m so relieved. It’s been a long time coming,” said Gonyaw. “We’ve just stumbled all season. It’s taken me 20 years to get here, but we finally did it,” he finished.
Tommy “Thunder” of Williamstown, VT claimed his division-record 24th victory in the Allen Lumber Street Stocks, winning a duel with Hardwick’s Bunker Hodgdon while sophomore sensation Cameron Ouellette chased the pair home to claim third. Rookie of the Year contender and second-place point man Dean Switser, Jr. stole fourth away from point-leader Nick Pilotte rounding out the top five.
Allen Lumber Street Stocks will be back in action this Sunday, August 5 for their 50-lap special, plus the M&M Beverage Enduro 200, where over 100 amateurs in virtually street-legal cars will line-up three wide on the front stretch of Thunder Road and battle for 200 non-stop laps for a $3,000 payday. Post time is 6:00pm
Late Models and Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen will return to action on Thursday, August 9 for Run-What-You-Brung-night, where fans can try their hand at the Barre highbanks with their registered and insured cars for one on one matches. Thunder Road will also host their first Tough Truck Tug-O-War challenge. Post time for Run-What-You-Brung night is 6:30pm.
WDEV/WLVB/Calkins Night Unofficial Results
Thunder Road – Barre, VT
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Late Models
Pos. Driver (Car#) Hometown
1. Dennis Demers (86VT) Shelburne, VT
2. Nick Sweet (88VT) Barre, VT
3. Mike Bailey (00VT) South Barre, VT
4. Trampas Demers (85VT) S. Burlington, VT
5. Brooks Clark (68VT) Fayston, VT
6. Phil Scott (14VT) Berlin, VT
7. Joey Becker (16VT) Jeffersonville, VT
8. Chip Grenier (9VT) Graniteville, VT
9. Eric Chase (40VT) Milton, VT
10. Cody Blake (99VT) Barre, VT
11. Dave Pembroke (44VT) Middlesex, VT
12. Dave Whitcomb (25VT) Essex Jct., VT
13. Brett Wheeler (1VT) Waterbury, VT
14. Scott Payea (89VT) Milton, VT
15. Derek Ming (31VT) Island Pond, VT
16. Joey Laquerre (15VT) E. Montpelier, VT
17. Jamie Fisher (18VT) Shelburne, VT
18. Marcel Gravel (5VT) Wolcott, VT
19. Jim Morris (13VT) Barre, VT
20. #Lance Allen (17VT) Barre, VT
21. Jamie Aube (41VT) No. Ferrisburg, VT
22. Jerry Lesage (74VT) Winooski, VT
23. Cris Michaud (6VT) E. Montpelier, VT
Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen
Pos. Driver (Car#) Hometown
1. Randy Gonyaw (22) S. Barre, VT
2. Christopher Pelkey (64) S. Barre, VT
3. David Finck (90) Barre, VT
4. #Jason Woodard (68) Waterbury Ctr., VT
5. Mike Ziter (26) Williamstown, VT
6. Scott Coburn (1) Barre, VT
7. Bobby Therrien (4) Hinesburg, VT
8. Kyle Pembroke (27) Montpelier, VT
9. Joe Steffen (00) Grand Isle, VT
10. John Lambert (2) Northfield, VT
11. Dylan Payea (07) Henniker, NH
12. Eric Badore (04) Milton, VT
13. Brendan Moodie (94) Wolcott, VT
14. Jason Allen (29) Barre, VT
15. Mike Martin (01) Craftsbury Comm., VT
16. #Chris Roberts (38) Washington, VT
17. Jason Corliss (61) Barre, VT
18. Josh Demers (10) Middlesex, VT
19. Shawn Fleury (31) Middlesex, VT
20. Mike Billado (8) Essex, VT
21. Adam Pierson (85) East Corinth, VT
22. Darrell Morin (71) Essex Jct., VT
23. Taber Gagne (17) Fairfax, VT
24. Shawn Powell (40) Jericho, VT
25. Pete Ainsworth (80) Middlesex, VT
Allen Lumber Street Stocks
Pos. Driver (Car#) Hometown
1. Tommy Smith (50) Williamstown, VT
2. Bunker Hodgdon (83) Hardwick, VT
3. Cameron Ouellette (90) Barre, VT
4. #Dean Switser Jr. (16) Lyndonville, VT
5. Nick Pilotte (11) Jefferson, NH
6. #Kevin Dodge (8) Barre, VT
7. Dave Whitcomb (77) Elmore, VT
8. Garry Bashaw (92) Lincoln, VT
9. Gary Mullen (29) Tunbridge, VT
10. William Hennequin (47) Morrisville, VT
11. Ron Gabaree (9) Barre, VT
12. Bob Eldred (31) Waterbury, VT
13. #Kevin Wheatley (33) Brookfield, VT
14. Donny Yates (05) N. Montpelier, VT
15. Emily Packard (51) E. Montpelier, VT
16. Michael Gay (3) So. Burlington, VT
17. Ken Christman (4) Cabot, VT
18. Keith Lord (2) Groton, VT
19. Troy Kingsbury (39) Waitsfield, VT
20. Amanda Habel (09) Roxbury, VT
21. Marvin Johnson (24) Essex Jct., VT
22. #Daniel Brassard (32) E. Randolph, VT
23. Scott Maynard (59) Burlington, VT
24. #Paul Grant (46) E. Calais, VT
25. Brett Pierce (85) Barre, VT
26. Keith Fortier (35) Hinesburg, VT
27. Jennifer Getty (25) Cambridge, VT