photo by Norm Marx
Barre, Vermont – Joey Doiron of Berwick, Maine held off a hard-charging Jeremy Davis to score an historic 150-lap AIM PASS North Super Late Model victory at the famed ¼-mile Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vermont on Sunday afternoon (May 24).
For Doiron it was a homecoming of sorts, as he made his first appearance at the track in some six years, moving on to the Super Late Model ranks after winning the ACT Late Model Rookie of the Year award in his only full season of Late Model; competition.
While Doiron started the 150-lap headline event at Thunder Road’s annual Mekklesen RV Memorial Day Classic he had plenty of competition, as he chased fellow former ACT stars Glen Luce and Wayne Helliwell, Jr. through most of the first one-third of the event.
Luce, of Turner, Maine, looked dominant in his turn at the front of the pack, but after the event’s final restart he faded back to fifth position before retiring from the race with apparent mechanical woes.
Helliwell, a former ACT champion now residing in Dover, New Hampshire, then looked to be the dominant car, but after running a notably different line around the tricky oval the Bernhardt 27 appeared to run out of rubber and he dropped back to finish ninth.
Davis, of Tamworth, New Hampshire, kept the pressure on Doiron over the final 50 laps or so, steering a car purchased from the winning driver about a year ago.
Defending PASS North Super Late Model champion DJ Shaw of Center Conway, New Hampshire was third under the checkered flag, with any disappointment tempered by the fact that he had a hand in building all of the cars finishing in the top four at the family business, Dale Shaw Race Cars.
Thunder Road veterans rounded out the top five, with Bobby Therrien of Hinesburg crossing the line in fourth position, just ahead of eight-time ACT Late Model champion Brian Hoar of Georgia.
Two-time 2015 PASS North SLM winner Mike Rowe, who won the ACT Super Late Model title back in 1994, also winning a race at Thunder Road that season, ended up with a sixth-place finish after an altercation with six-time series champion Johnny Clark of Farmingdale, Maine dropped him to the back of the pack early in the race.
Travis Benjamin of Morrill, Maine ended up in seventh position, with Middlesex, Vermont racer Dave Pembroke close behind in eighth. Helliwell and four-time series champion Ben Rowe of Turner, Maine rounded out the top ten.
Doiron, Bradley Babb of Windham, Maine and Johnny Clark earned victories in 15-lap heat races, setting the grid for the 150-lap finale.
The next AIM Recycling USA Pro All Stars Series North Super Late Model event is set for Sunday, June 14 at Speedway 95 in Hermon, Maine. For more information please visit proallstarsseries.com
AIM Recycling USA Pro All Stars Series North Super Late Model results from Thunder Road Internatiional Speedbowl; Barre, Vermont; Sunday, May 24, 2015 (finishing position, car number, driver, driver’s hometown)
1 73 Joey Doiron, Berwick, ME;
2 09 Jeremy Davis, Tamworth, NH;
3 60 DJ Shaw, Center Conway, NH;
4 5 Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg, VT;
5 37 Brian Hoar, Georgia, VT;
6 7 Mike Rowe, Turner, ME;
7 17 Travis Benjamin, Morrill, ME;
8 44 Dave Pembroke, Middlesex, VT;
9 27 Wayne Helliwell, Jr., Dover, NH;
10 4 Ben Rowe, Turner, ME;
11 55 Brent Dragon, Milton, VT;
12 21 Dave Oliver, Standish, ME;
13 33 Richie Dearborn, Hollis, ME;
14 77 Cassius Clark, Farmington, ME;
15 16 Travis Stearns, Auburn, ME;
16 14 Brad Babb, Windham, ME;
17 00 Bryan Kruczek, Newmarket, NH;
18 75 Gary Smith, Bangor, ME;
19 12 Derek Griffith, Hudson, NH;
20 14 Scott McDaniel, Livermore, ME;
21 7 Glen Luce, Turner, ME;
22 88 Kyle DeSouza, East Providence, RI;
23 54 Johnny Clark, Farmingdale, ME;
24 71 Raphael Lessard, St-Joseph Beauce, QC;
25 97 Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, NH.