Home Track Advantage is “Sweet” in Milk Bowl Friday Thriller

Waterville, ME’s Cody Leblanc grabbed the North East Mini Stock Tour event. (Alan Ward photo)

Barre, VT – Hometown racer Nick Sweet came out on top of a late-race battle with St-Denis, QC’s Patrick Laperle to take the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) 150 at the inaugural Northfield Savings Bank Milk Bowl Friday on September 28. The two former Milk Bowl winners went door-to-door for nearly 20 breathtaking laps to kick off the 56^th Vermont Milk Bowl Weekend. But it was Sweet who prevailed to take his first Super Late Model win at his home track.

Sweet first grabbed the top spot on lap 36 of the 150-lap main event when he swung to the outside of Tamworth, NH’s Jeremy Davis. The 2-time “King of the Road” kept hold of the top spot until he came under fire from PASS point leader D.J. Shaw of Center Conway, NH.

Shaw’s first attempt to get underneath Sweet was thwarted by the event’s third caution on lap 100 when Joey Polewarczyk Jr., Gabe Brown, and Glen Luce tangled off turn 4. The former PASS North Champion made it stick six laps later, only to see Laperle enter the fray and grab the lead away on a lap-115 restart.

Shaw didn’t give up, though, and swiped the lead back just as the sixth caution came for a 5-car fracas on the front stretch. After the two went back-and-forth on the restart, Sweet suddenly re-entered the fight, aggressively getting underneath Shaw entering turn 3 on lap 123 for the top spot.

One final caution on lap 127 for Davis’s spin in turn 2 set up the run to the finish. Laperle went under Shaw for second on the restart and got underneath Sweet on lap 132. But Sweet was able to use the momentum on the high side to keep the nose in front even as the two swapped paint. Coming to the white flag, Sweet was able to use the lapped car of Calvin Rose Jr. as a pick, sealing an emotional victory.

Laperle finished second with Shaw taking third to pad his PASS North point lead. Hinesburg’s Bobby Therrien recovered from a mid-race spin to come in fourth. Derek Griffith, Derek Ramstrom, Garrett Hall, Davis, Travis Benjamin, and Brown finished fifth through 10^th.

Waterville, ME’s Cody Leblanc took advantage of a pair of late-race cautions to snare the win in the North East Mini Stock Tour feature. The series point leader started 12^th on the grid in the 50-lap event and steadily worked his way up to second. However, by this time, he sat more than half a lap behind polesitter Kodi Sabins of Windsor, VT with the race beginning to wind down.

But a lap-33 caution for a frontstretch incident involving Emerson Cayer, Joe Katula, and Dana Shepard allowed Leblanc to catch up to Sabins. Leblanc ducked inside of Sabins and had the lead by a bumper on lap 38 only to see the second caution for Michael Vien’s spin negate the pass. On the restart, though, Leblanc got the jump, and he held off Sabins over the final 12 laps for the victory.

Sabins settled for second while Contoocook, NH’s Cayer recovered to finish third. Matt Boucher, Matthew Kimball, Julia Raymond, Desmond Skillings, Jacob Rheaume, Pat Houle, and Justin Fafond rounded out the top-10.

In the V8 Street Stock Showdown Series, Leeds, ME’s Billy Childs Jr. emerged as the victor. Childs quickly came from the fourth starting spot in the 50-lap feature to move around the outside of reigning Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger Champion Joel Hodgdon for the lead on lap 8.

Hodgdon hung with Childs for the rest of the event, and even ducked inside late in the going as the two diced through lapped traffic. But Childs was too strong and held serve following the second and final caution on lap 44 to take the win over Hodgdon.

Kyle Hewins, a fellow Leeds, ME resident with Childs, lucked into the third spot after Kyle Treadwell and Jason Woodard got together fighting for the position with four laps remaining. Treadwell ended up spinning off turn three while Woodard was penalized by series officials for his involvement.

Enfield, NH’s Joe Tetreault also benefitted from the incident as he ended up fourth. Woodard, Travis Cass, Lucas Wheeler, Travis Lovejoy, Joe Areana, and Corey Hutchings completed the top-10.

Three times was a charm for Graniteville’s Frank Putney as he inherited his third Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warrior win of the season. Putney came from 23^rd on the grid to cross the finish line a distant third behind Waterford, ME’s Jamie Heath and St. Johnsbury’s Colby Bourgeois, who also bot came charging out of the back.

But Heath and Bourgeois subsequently flunked post-race technical inspection, handing the win over to Putney. Heath was disqualified for a front camber violation while Bourgeois failed due to a suspension violation.

Fred Fleury, another Graniteville resident, moved into the second spot on the podium. East Montpelier’s Brodie Frazier became the new third-place finisher. Kylar Davis, James Dopp, Haidyn Pearce, Josh Vilbrin, Ethan Howes, Andrew Casavant, and Eric Chase also earned top-10 finishes.

Vermont Milk Bowl Weekend continues on Saturday, September 29 at 1:00pm with Booth Bros./H.P. Hood Milk Bowl Qualifying Day. The Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models open the day with Time Trials followed by 50-lap qualifying races to set the first 22 positions on the Milk Bowl starting grid. The Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, Allen Lumber Street Stocks, and New England Dwarf cars join them with group Time Trials and Segment 1 of their Mini Milk Bowls. Racing will be followed by the Junior Champ Kart season finale and a performance from local band RumbleCaddy in the Turn 3 Pavilion.

Adult admission is $10 for Saturday-only or $30 for a 2-day Saturday/Sunday ticket. Kids 12 and under are admitted free. The pits open on Saturday at 7:30am and the front gates open at 10:00am.

For more information, contact the Thunder Road offices at (802) 244-6963, media@thunderroadvt.com, or visit www.thunderroadvt.com.

NORTHFIELD SAVINGS BANK MILK BOWL FRIDAY

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

PASS SUPER LATE MODELS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

( 40 ) Nick Sweet, Barre, VT
( 91 ) Patrick Laperle, St-Denis, QC
( 60 ) D.J. Shaw, Center Conway, NH
( 5X ) Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg, VT
( 12G ) Derek Griffith, Hudson, NH
( 35 ) Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA
( 94 ) Garrett Hall, Scarborough, ME
( 09 ) Jeremy Davis, Tamworth, NH
( 7 ) Travis Benjamin, Morrill, ME
( 47 ) Gabe Brown, Center Conway, NH
( 37VT ) Scott Payea, Milton, VT
( 97NH ) Joey Polewarczyk Jr., Hudson, NH
( 4N ) Ben Rowe, Turner, ME
( 8 ) Calvin Rose Jr., Turner, ME
( 24J ) J.P. Josaisse, Ennismore, ON
( 24 ) Scott MacMichael, Newbury, NH
( 27 ) Wayne Helliwell Jr., Dover, NH
( 66VT ) Jason Corliss, Barre, VT
( 42VT ) Matt White, Northfield, VT
( 7L ) Glen Luce, Turner, ME
( 1VT ) Evan Hallstrom, Northfield, VT
( 4ME ) Brad Babb, Windham, ME

DNS ( 43 ) Devin O’Connell, Madison, CT

NORTHEAST MINI STOCK TOUR

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

( 7NH ) Cody Leblanc, Waterville, ME
( 36 ) Kodi Sabins, Windsor, VT
( 88 ) Emerson Cayer, Contoocook, NH
( 71 ) Matt Boucher, Andover, NH
( 50 ) Matthew Kimball, Bennington, NH
( 62 ) Julia Raymond, Winchester, NH
( 90 ) Desmond Skillings, Antrim, NH
( 18NH ) Jacob Rheaume, Rochester, NH
( 57X ) Pat Houle, Vernon, VT
( 04 ) Justin Fafond, Westminster, MA
( 43 ) Dana Shepard, Putney, VT
( 52NH ) Jeremy Carter, East Andover, NH
( 85 ) Michael Viens, Seekonk, MA
( 69 ) Louis Maher, North Brookfield, MA
( 23 ) Devin Guy, Dublin, NH
( 4K ) Joe Katula, Lisbon Falls, ME
( 25NH ) Ben Belanger, Whitfield, NH
( 48NH ) Christopher Jackman, Charlestown, NH

DNS ( 1 ) Corey Plummer, Keene, NH

DNS ( 33VT ) Matthew Sonnhalter, E. Thetford, VT

DNS ( 8 ) Jeffrey Martin, Barre, VT

STREET STOCK SHOWDOWN SERIES

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

( 1 ) Billy Childs Jr., Leeds, ME
( 36VT ) Joel Hodgdon, Craftsbury Common, VT
( 51 ) Kyle Hewins, Leeds, ME
( 73 ) Joe Tetreault, Enfield, NH
( 68 ) Jason Woodard, Waterbury Center, VT
( 32 ) Travis Cass, Claremont, NH
( 21 ) Lucas Wheeler, Bradford, VT
( 711 ) Travis Lovejoy, Waterboro, ME
( 74 ) Joe Arena, Bristol, CT
( 36X ) Corey Hutchings, Salem, CT
( 93 ) Dan Dembek, Hampden, MA
( 44 ) Kyle Treadwell, Auburn, ME
( 4X ) Burt Spooner, East Montpelier, VT

DNS ( 67 ) Michael Haynes, Livermore Falls, ME

BURNETT SCRAP METALS ROAD WARRIORS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

Frank Putney ( 88 ) Graniteville, VT
Fred Fleury ( 98 ) Graniteville, VT
Brodie Frazier ( 17 ) E. Montpelier, VT
Kylar Davis ( 68 ) Berlin, VT
James Dopp ( 0 ) Northfield, VT
Haidyn Pearce ( 4 ) Berlin, VT
Josh Vilbrin ( 77 ) Northfield, VT
Ethan Howes ( 24 ) Fayston, VT
Andrew Casavant ( 64 ) E. Hardwick, VT
Eric Chase ( 13 ) Berlin, VT
Sean McCarthy ( 86 ) Williamstown, VT
Taylor Keene ( 7 ) E. Hardwick, VT
Jacob Hall-Larson ( 42 ) Northfield, VT
Mike Mitchell ( 1 ) Essex, VT
Jesse Gerrow ( 01 ) Craftsbury Common, VT
Kyle MacAskill ( 07 ) Williamstown, VT
Chris Davis ( 69 ) Berlin, VT
Rodney Campbell ( 10 ) Worcester, VT
Mark Beaulieu ( 12 ) Essex, VT
Patrick Lacasse ( 96 ) Wolcott, VT
Todd Raymo ( 26 ) Swanton, VT
Davey Chase ( 11 ) 0
Robert Audet ( 66 ) Morrisville, VT
Brad Kelley ( 55 ) Barre, VT
Brandon Clark ( 06 ) Brookfield, VT
Nate Brien ( 16 ) Brookfield, VT

DSQ Jamie Heath ( 91 ) Waterford, ME

DSQ Doug Duff Jr. ( 92 ) Milton, VT

DNS Brian Putney ( 87 ) E. Corinth, VT

DNS Steve Tracy ( 43 ) Williamstown, VT