Corliss Making His Mark in Thunder Road Late Models

Apr 16, 2015 | American Canadian Tour, Thunder Road, Touring Series News

Leif Tillotson photo

Barre, VT – Before his 2013 rookie season in the Thunder Road Late Models, Barre’s Jason Corliss hoped that his team would be a championship contender in five years’ time. Corliss is now entering his third year in the top division, and already finds himself high on the list of title threats.

Corliss enters the upcoming season after a 2014 campaign in which he captured the first two wins of his American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Model championship career. He finished fourth in the point standings. His defining moment came at the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic. Corliss muscled underneath two-time “King of the Road” Nick Sweet on the final circuit of the 100-lap event, beating him to the checkered flag by a bumper for his first win. The victory sent a message: he and his Chris Burnett–owned team have arrived. (more…)

Blake Set To Go From Contender To Champion In 2015

Apr 10, 2015 | American Canadian Tour, Thunder Road, Touring Series News

Barre, VT – Barre’s Cody Blake, at the age of 23, already has a growing list of accomplishments at Barre’s Thunder Road Speedbowl. This year, he hopes to become the “King of the Road.”

Blake was sixth in the final Thunder Road Late Model point standings in 2014, his fourth straight season finishing eighth or better. He stood atop the standings after six races before a hard crash bent his car’s A-frame and his team spent the rest of the year struggling to get the car dialed back in. Now entering his sixth year in the lead division, Blake hopes that a new car and 16 years’ worth of maturity behind the wheel will be a championship combination.

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Dragon, RGR Team Ready for Thunder Road Title Run

Mar 30, 2015 | American Canadian Tour, Thunder Road, Touring Series News

photo by Al Ward photo

Barre, VT – Second-generation racer Scott Dragon is about enter his second full season of Late Model competition at Thunder Road International Speedbowl, and after a year of working with the Richard Green Racing (RGR) team, is ready to contend for a title in 2015.

After the opening event of the 2014 Thunder Road season, veteran Joey Becker of Cambridge, VT, one of Thunder Road’s favorite racers, told his long-time friend and car owner Rick Green that, for health and personal reasons, he needed to give up the driver’s seat of the RGR ACT Late Model ride. Green first chose Becker out of the Thunder Road Tiger Sportsman division to be his driver during the 2003 season. That partnership enjoyed much success over the years, and Becker, an accomplished fabricator, told Green he would still like to work on the 16VT Chevrolet Impala SS. He also suggested that they try and get his friend Scott Dragon of Milton, VT to take over the driver’s seat for the remainder of the full Thunder Road season.

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O’Donnell, Sweet, Woodard, Smith Honored at Banquet of Champions

Mar 22, 2015 | American Canadian Tour, Thunder Road, Touring Series News

Barre, VT – Thunder Road International Speedbowl honored its 2014 Champions with the annual Banquet of Champions at the Barre Elks Club on Saturday, March 21. Derrick O’Donnell received the top honors for the second consecutive season in the Late Model division, while Nick Sweet also went back-to-back in claiming Vermont State Late Model Championship. Jason Woodard and Tommy Smith earned the Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen and Allen Lumber Street Stock championships, respectively.

O’Donnell, of North Haverhill, NH, became the sixth driver in Thunder Road history to repeat as “King of the Road”, doing so in his first two years in the division. O’Donnell caught fire in the second half of the season, ending the year with seven straight podium finishes, including the third Late Model victory of his young career in mid-August. O’Donnell also finished runner-up in three of the biggest races on the 2014 calendar: the Vermont Governor’s Cup, the Labor Day Classic, and the Milk Bowl. (more…)