{"id":14652,"date":"2015-04-24T13:59:41","date_gmt":"2015-04-24T17:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maineracing.com\/wp\/?p=14652"},"modified":"2015-04-24T13:59:41","modified_gmt":"2015-04-24T17:59:41","slug":"strong-field-of-thunder-road-street-stock-racers-aim-for-2015-crown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/2015\/04\/strong-field-of-thunder-road-street-stock-racers-aim-for-2015-crown\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong Field of Thunder Road Street Stock Racers Aim For 2015 Crown"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"photo

photo by Alan Ward<\/p><\/div>\n

Barre, VT \u2013<\/em> The Allen Lumber Street Stock division at Thunder Road Speedbowl is guaranteed to have a different champion in 2015. Defending Champion Tommy Smith is moving up to the Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen, which opens the door for a number of contenders to ascend to the Street Stock Championship.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2014 Street Stock runner-up Alan Maynard looks to lead the charge. The Fairfax, VT driver finished in the top-10 in all 18 races. His impressive run of consistency saw him fall 10 points short of Smith. The University of Vermont associate professor returns this year with the same car and a fresh determination to capture the title.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t really load up every week to come run third or 10th<\/sup> or 12th<\/sup> \u2013 we come to win every week,\u201d Maynard said. \u201cThere are probably people that come just for fun, but winning is fun to us, and not winning is not fun to us. It\u2019s a pretty simple equation, I think, on a day-to-day basis. We prepare to win, and we prepare to win championships. Anything short of that is a disappointment.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hardwick, VT brothers Jaden and Jamon Perry will also factor into the championship hunt. Both are in their second full season at the \u201cNation\u2019s Site of Excitement.\u201d Jaden won two races in 2014 and placed third in the final point standings. Jamon got his first career win in the August 28<\/span><\/span> event and finished seventh in points.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fellow Hardwick driver Bunker Hodgdon will be trying to recapture the title belt. The 2013 Street Stock Champion has built a new Volkswagen Gulf Street Stock with his familiar number 83 after finishing 5th<\/sup> in the final standings, just 23 points out of first.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to find that balance between aggressiveness and patience,\u201d Hodgdon said. \u201cI was a little too patient last year. You\u2019ve got to find that balance, and you\u2019ve got to take the opportunity when it\u2019s there.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The list of drivers to watch is a long one. Wolcott, VT\u2019s Jamie Davis had three wins in 2014 and will be back to chase an elusive first title, along with fellow veterans Garry Bashaw of Lincoln and Dave Whitcomb of Morrisville. Young drivers such as Kyle Streeter of Waitsfield, Tyler Austin of East Calais, and Marcel J. Gravel of Wolcott will all return after winning races in 2014.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the division is strong,\u201d Hodgdon added. \u201cWith the rules package the way it is, and the tire rule where we can only buy so many, I think the division is only going to grow from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Street Stocks will begin their championship chase at Thunder Road\u2019s 56th<\/sup> season opener on Sunday, May 3<\/span><\/span> as part of the ACT Merchant\u2019s Bank 150. Post time is 1:00pm<\/span><\/span>. Saturday, May 2<\/span><\/span> will see the annual Thunder Road Car Show on Barre\u2019s Main Street from 9:00am<\/span><\/span>–12:00pm<\/span><\/span>, followed by the stock car parade to the track and an open practice session for all divisions. This practice session is open to the public.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For additional information contact the Thunder Road office at 802.244.6963<\/a>, media@acttour.com<\/a>, or visit www.thunderroadspeedbowl.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barre, VT \u2013 The Allen Lumber Street Stock division at Thunder Road Speedbowl is guaranteed to have a different champion in 2015. Defending Champion Tommy Smith is moving up to the Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen, which opens the door for a number of contenders to ascend to the Street Stock Championship.   2014 Street Stock […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6,65,4],"tags":[42,1347],"class_list":["post-14652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-canadian-tour","category-new-england-racing-news","category-thunder-road","category-latest-touring-news","tag-act","tag-thunder-road"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14654,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14652\/revisions\/14654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}