By Lou Modestino
With Governor Peter Shumlin out of town, Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott took the first victory for a Vermont Acting Governor in state history in the 50-lap Late Model Feature at Barre’s Thunder Road on Thursday night, June 20, adding his 28th win to his resume as the track’s all time winningest driver. A pair of Milton, VT competitors, Scott Payea and Jean-Paul Cyr, completed the podium.
Barre’s own Jim Morris led the early part of the race, holding off attacks from Scott and pole-sitter Blair Bessett until a series of wild cautions mid-race sent cars spinning all over the track. Morris would withstand several restarts before Scott took over, powering to the victory ahead of a mad dash for second place. Payea and Cyr made it ahead of the fray to pick up second and third. Cyr was followed by co-point leader Dave Pembroke in fourth, and “Hurricane” Jamie Fisher in the top five.
Morris, Trampas Demers, Cody Blake, Cris Michaud – who made his first return back to the track after an offseason injury -, and Defending Champion Nick Sweet rounded out the top ten.
Wolcott, VT’s Brendan Moodie, Jr., took down his first win of 2013 in the Bond Auto Tiger Sportsman, besting John Lambert and Jeff Bousqet in a 35-lap thriller.
Moodie took over the lead on lap 18 of the feature event, under constant attack from “Double O” Joe Steffen. A lap 27 caution set up a restart with 8 laps to go. Lambert powered past Steffen off the start – with a flapping hood– for second place and Bousqet slid by him to nab third at the line. Jason Allen took home fourth, and Steffen rounded out the top five.
Another Wolcott driver, Jamie Davis took home the victory in the Allen Lumber Street Stock division, holding off point leader Dean Switser, Jr., and “Hot Shot” Bunker Hodgdon who completed the podium.
The race was led early by rookie George Butler, before he suddenly veered into the infield mid-race to hand the lead to former Champion Gary Mullen. Mullen led until an altercation with 2011 Champion Greg Adams sent both cars to the back, handing a restart to Davis and Switser for all the marbles. Davis powered away to the victory, leaving Switser to fend off Hodgdon. Waitsfield, VT’s Troy Kingsbury and East Montpelier, VT’s Donny Yates finished fourth and fifth respectively.
The Rough Riders made their debut at the “Nation’s Site of Excitement,” with two 12 lap features to kick off their 8-race schedule. Waitsfield, VT’s Paul Dudley survived the door-jamming, paint-swapping event to win with a 1st place finish in segment one and a second-place in segment two. He was followed by Jamie Benneig and Alan Derrington on the podium.
Thunder Road will return to action next Thursday night, June 27 for Fairpoint Communications night. Post time is 6:30pm.
Casella Waste Management Night
Thunder Road International Speedbowl – Barre, VT
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Late Model Unofficial Results
Pos. Driver (Car #) Hometown
1. Phil Scott (14vt) Middlesex, VT
2. Scott Payea (89vt) Milton, VT
3. Jean-Paul Cyr (32vt) Milton, VT
4. Dave Pembroke (44vt) Middlesex, VT
5. Jamie Fisher (18vt) Shelburne, VT
6. Jim Morris (13vt) Barre, VT
7. Trampas Demers (85vt) S. Burlington, VT
8. Cody Blake (99vt) Barre, VT
9. Cris Michaud (6vt) Montpelier, VT
10. Nick Sweet (88vt) Barre, VT
11. Mike Bailey (00vt) South Barre, VT
12. #Derrick O’Donnell (60vt) N. Haverhill, NH
13. Brooks Clark (68vt) Fayston, VT
14. David Whitcomb (25vt) Essex Jct., VT
15. #Jason Corliss (66vt) Barre, VT
16. Kyle Pembroke (27vt) Montpelier, VT
17. Brett Wheeler (1vt) Waterbury, VT
18. Brett Gervais (11nh) Island Pond, VT
19. Emily Packard (9me) E. Montpelier, VT
20. Rick Roberts (3vt) E. Barre, VT
21. Joey Becker (16vt) Jeffersonville, VT
22. #Terry Reil (11vt) E. Barre, VT
23. Mark Norris (22me) Farmington, ME
24. Blair Bessett (21vt) Worcester, VT
25. #Joey M. Laquerre (51vt) E. Montpelier, VT
26. Joey Laquerre (15vt) E. Montpelier, VT
27. #Robert Eldred (38vt) Waterbury, VT
28. Eric Chase (40vt) Milton, VT
29. Matthew White (42vt) Northfield, VT
Bond Auto Tiger Unofficial Results
Pos. Driver (Car #) Hometown
1. Brendan Moodie (94) Wolcott, VT
2. John Lambert (2) Northfield, VT
3. Jeffrey Bousquet (60) Worcester, VT
4. Jason Allen (29) Barre, VT
5. Joe Steffen (00) Grand Isle, VT
6. Shawn Fleury (31) Middlesex, VT
7. Jason Woodard (68) Waterbury Ctr., VT
8. Scott Coburn (1) Barre, VT
9. Josh Demers (10) Montpelier, VT
10. Eric Badore (04) Milton, VT
11. Mike Martin (01) Craftsbury Common, VT
12. Mike Rollins (91) Williamstown, VT
13. Adam Pierson (85) Bradford,VT
14. David Finck (37) Barre, VT
15. Chris Roberts (9) Washington, VT
16. Mike Ziter (26) Williamstown, VT
17. Darrell Morin (71) Essex Jct., VT
18. #Cameron Ouellette (90) Barre, VT
19. Randy Gonyaw (22) S. Barre, VT
20. #Daniel Lathrop (6) Hyde Park, VT
21. Ty Gagne (17) Fairfax, VT
22. #Chris Judd (51) Springfield, VT
23. Christopher Pelkey (64) South Barre, VT
24. Tucker Williams (11) Hyde Park, VT
25. Clem Despault (3) Waterbury, VT
26. #Justin Gibbs (30) Waterbury, VT
27. Kevin Dodge (14) Barre, VT
28. Mike Billado (8) Essex, VT
Allen Lumber Street Stocks Unofficial Results
Pos. Driver (Car #) Hometown
1. Jamie Davis (43) Wolcott, VT
2. Dean Switser, Jr. (16) Lyndonville, VT
3. Bunker Hodgdon (83) Wolcott, VT
4. Troy Kingsbury (39) Waitsfield, VT
5. Donnie Yates (05) N. Montpelier, VT
6. Alan Maynard (10) Fairfax, VT
7. #Tommy Elwood (88) Morrisville, VT
8. Kyle Streeter (37) Waitsfield, VT
9. Kevin Dodge (8) Barre, VT
10. Martin Ingram (99) Essex Jct., VT
11. Greg Adams (38) Hardwick, VT
12. Joe Fecteau (75) Hardwick, VT
13. #Tyler Austin (5) E. Calais, VT
14. Gary Mullen (29) Tunbridge, VT
15. #Patrick Tibbetts (48) Barre, VT
16. Keith Fortier (35) Hinesburg, VT
17. George Sanders (68) Northfield, VT
18. Alex Perkins (55) White River Jct., VT
19. Scott Maynard (59) Burlington, VT
20. Marvin Johnson (19) Essex Jct., VT
21. Paul Grant (46) East Calais, VT
22. #George Butler (9) Randolph, VT
23. Michael Gay (3) S. Burlington, VT
DNS – Jennifer Getty (25) Cambridge, VT
DNS – Tommy Smith (50) Williamstown, VT
Rough Riders Unofficial Results
Pos. Driver (Car) Hometown, Seg. 1, Seg. 2, Total
1. Paul Dudley (42) Waitsfield, VT, 1, 2, 3
2. Jamie Benneig (98) Williston, VT, 5, 4, 9
3. Alan Derrington (75) Bethlehem, NH, 9, 1, 10
4. Tommy Smith (Bee) Williamstown, VT, 4, 7, 11
5. Bunker Hodgdon (Hotshot) Wolcott, VT, 3, 8, 11
6. Richie Veilleux (22) Lisbon, NH, 7, 5, 12
7. Calvin Caswell (23) Jericho, VT, 6, 6, 12
8. Justin Johnson (79) East Barre, VT, 12, 3, 15
9. Randy Johnson (101) East Barre, VT, 10, 9, 19
10. Jamie Davis (Silver) Wolcott, VT, 11, DNS, N/A
DSQ. Donnie Yates (CJ) N. Montpelier, VT, 8, DSQ, N/A
DSQ. Greg Adams (Bash) Hardwick, VT, 2, DSQ, N/A
The American Canadian Tour suffered another postponed event on Saturday, June 22 at White Mountain Motorsports Park. Heavy rains moved in at the scheduled post time forcing the postponement. The event has been rescheduled for Saturday, August 10.
Before the rains came, twenty-six (26) ACT Late Models took advantage of three practice sessions. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. and Wayne Helliwell, Jr. topped the speed charts.
The annual Lee USA Speedway “El Camino Night” attracted a strong contingent of NECOA members to the race track on Friday night, with dozens of the unique machines joining the weekly NASCAR Whelen All American Series racing program for some parade laps and a wild burnout contest that had the fans cheering for more.
Prior to the start of the evening’s feature event action, fans and competitors once again stood for a moment of silence, this time in memory of NASCAR racer Jason Leffler, who lost his life in a dirt track Sprint Car race, as well as longtime speedway supporter Howard “Howdy” Clapp of Groton, MA, who passed away during the week.
Clapp, who was a driver in the 70’s and 80’s, dating back to the old Lee Tri-Oval Raceway, was most recently known for his efforts as car owner of the H. Clapp Motorsports Small Block Super-Modified entry, driven by such notables as Bobby Melvin, Butch Valley, Jr., and its current wheelman, “Super Dave” Sanborn.
For nearly forty years, Clapp and his racecars were no strangers to victory lane at the Route 125 speed plant, as well as other tracks throughout the region, and he will be sorely missed by the Lee USA Speedway family.
The highly-competitive Benson Lumber and Hardware Small Block Supermodifieds once again put on an entertaining 30-lap feature event for the fans, and for the fifth time in five races, a different driver rolled into victory lane, as rookie competitor Jon “The Hurricane” Booth grabbed his first career win.
Booth jumped out to the lead when flagman Steve Grant unfurled the green, and he never looked back, leading every lap on his way to victory lane. Defending champion Tommy Tombarello finished in the second spot aboard the Witkum Brothers Racing entry, with Leslie Keyser rounding out the podium in third in his family-owned ride.
Opening night winner Ryan Gath brought home a fourth place finish, with Sparky MacIver fifth in the Bob Chabot entry and Tony Carroll sixth in the Full Throttle Racing machine, followed by former Late Model champ Ricky Wolf, Jr., Super Dave Sanborn, Mike Netishen, and Jake Stergios.
Prime Storage and Warehouse Late Model Sportsman action saw Ricky Porter move out to the early lead in the James R St. Jean Auctioneers machine, but his teammate Grant Aither wasted little time, moving past after a lap six restart to take his turn out front.
Aither and Porter ran nose to tail the rest of the way, picking up an impressive one-two finish when the checkers waved. Niko Maniatis continued his strong early season, rounding out the podium with a solid third place run in the Rick Solt entry.
Fourth spot went to defending LMS champ J.R. Baril in the Brian House-owned A Family Cab-sponsored machine, with 2011 champion Ryan Green right behind to round out the top five at the stripe. Alby Ovitt scored sixth, with two-time feature winner Geoff Rollins, Jimmy Russell, John Falconi, and Patrick Stewart closing out the top ten.
Another first-time winner found his way to victory lane in the David’s Race Cars and Components Hobby Stock feature event, as second-generation racer Billy Clement, Jr. picked up his first ever Lee checkers in that 25-lap main event.
Sophomore racer Kyle Sawyer had the best race of his young career, leading the first 11 laps before yielding the top spot to Clement, then holding off several challenges over the second half of the race to collect a strong runner-up finish, his first visit to the post-race podium.
A winner the last time the Hobbies did battle, Paul Palen moved up quickly in the late laps to checker third, with Jim Piaseczny, Wade Worster, David MacDonald, Torrey Kovalesky, Patrick Tanguay, Troy Washburn, and Chris Jacobson finishing up the top ten.
Danielle Simoneau finally broke the bad luck streak that started her 2013 season, leading flag to flag to pick up her first win of the season in the American Used Auto Parts Ironman feature event. Shane Horvath was next across the stripe to collect runner-up honors, with Tyler Mitchell, Travis Hollins, and Wayne Osborne taking home third through fifth.
Joey Payne inherited the lead with four laps left and went on to win the Northeastern Midget Association’s Iron Mike Scrivani Memorial Saturday night at Monadnock Speedway. It was Payne’s first win since 2008.
Driving the new Breault #44, he took command when John Zych Jr. (Zych 9), who had led since lap 13, spun to avoid another car. Zych had a seven car-length lead at the time.
The early leader, Payne had to beat back a late single-file restart challenge from Greg Stoehr (Stoehr 26b) before claiming his 21st career NEMA win. In a late second-turn challenge, Greg Stoehr bobbled enough for brother Russ (Dumo’s Desire 45) to claim second. Seth Carlson (Feigel 71) and Ian Cumens (Seymour 29s) filled out the top five.
“We got lucky tonight,” summed up Payne, pointing out it came down to Zych “choosing the wrong lane” evading a spinning car. “We were catching him in traffic and it would have been interesting.”
“What can I say?” offered an unhappy Zych who charged from the 12th starting spot. “The car was great and I finished ninth.” Passing Payne on the outside through three and four, his apparent romp was interrupted only by a lap 17 restart where he had no trouble getting away.
The race was seven laps old before it really started, five cautions plaguing the early going. At that point Greg Stoehr, who started 15th, was fourth. Zych was seventh. Defending champ Randy Cabral was “out” at that point, a victim of NEMA’s two-spin rule.
Payne, whose last win came at Monadnock, did get away from Paul Scally and establish a lead on a lap seven restart. Zych caught him four laps later. “I followed Joey for two or three laps and then decided to go for it,” said Zych who had the fastest lap (12.042) on the 14th circuit.
“He had us covered,” admitted Payne who at that point decided traffic would be a factor.
With four winners in four races, NEMA heads for Stafford Spring’s Motor Speedway for Carquest Super Saturday.
The race memorialized Iron Mike Scrivani. NEMA president Mike Scrivani Jr. was the honorary starter. Part of the ceremonies was the distribution of gift bags, some which contained $21, recognizing the number the Scrivani family is associated with…Payne owned the fastest lap of the night, an 11.6 en route to a heat win. Russ Stoehr won the other heat…Seth Carlson, Ian Cumens and Jim Chambers, four through sixth in a bunch, all had strong runs …There were four Stoehrs in the feature, Avery driving the Miller 3t.
Results: 1. Joey Payne, 2. Russ Stoehr, 3. Greg Stoehr, 4. Seth Carlson, 5. Ian Cumens, 6. Jim Chambers, 7. Todd Bertrand, 8. Paul Scally, 9. John Zych Jr., 10. Avery Stoehr, 11. Ryan Bigelow, 12. Doug Cleveland, 13. Bethany Stoehr, 14. Matt O’Brien, 15. Anthony Marvuglio, 16. Randy Cabral.
P.J. Stergios “kind of got lazy” but rallied in plenty of time to win the NEMA Lites feature at the Northeastern Midget Association’s Iron Mike Scrivani Memorial Saturday night at Monadnock Speedway. It was his third win of the season and the fourth for the car.
Starting eighth, Stergios, in the family 11, needed 12 laps to assume command. Andy Barrows continued his run of podium finishes with a second followed by Kenny Johnson (Johnson 46), Danny Cugini (Cugini 51) and Kevin Hutchins (Hutchins 27).
A Stergios-Barrows duel was the highlight, the latter coming from the ninth starting spot to second just before the third yellow flew on lap 22. Barrows, coming off a victory at Star Speedway actually took the lead as the two battled before caution flew again with seven laps left.
“I was a little nervous,” said Stergios. “He was outside on the restart and I wanted to give him enough room and I think I slowed myself down.” It was, however, an inside move into three that put Barrows in the lead. He was still there when the final caution showed.
“I had him,” offered Barrows, claiming the final caution “messed up my rhythm. I stepped up my game and he stepped up his game.”
Stergios dispatched Barrows through one and two – “that’s where the car was best all day,” he said – and went to an almost three second edge at the checkered. The fastest lap of the race – a 12.570 by Stergios – came shortly after he took the lead back.
Barrows was left to thwart the challenge of Kenny Johnson, the latter rallying at the end.
Paul Bigelow, Hutchins and Logan Rayvals all led before Stergios took command.
The point leader going in Carl Medeiros Jr. lost his steering and crashed in his heat. He drove the Scrivani 21 in the feature. Rayvals and Paul Bigelow were heat winners.
RESULTS: 1, PJ Stergios, 2. Andy Barrows, 3. Kenny Johnson, 4. Danny Cugini, 5. Kevin Hutchins, 6. Richie Morrocco, 7. Paul Bigelow, 8. Logan Rayvals, 9. Scott Bigelow, 10. Kevin Park, 11. Megan Cugini, 12. Carl Mederios, 13. Avery Stoehr, 14. Steve Powers.
The Wachusett Valley Riders Club at 783 Spring Street ,Winchendon,MA reopens on Sunday 6/30/2013. There will be Open Practice Day For Flat Track Motorcycles of all classes. It’s $25 for bikes $20 for mini’s.