{"id":14690,"date":"2015-04-29T17:55:36","date_gmt":"2015-04-29T21:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maineracing.com\/wp\/?p=14690"},"modified":"2015-04-29T17:55:36","modified_gmt":"2015-04-29T21:55:36","slug":"odonnell-goes-for-thunder-road-three-peat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/2015\/04\/odonnell-goes-for-thunder-road-three-peat\/","title":{"rendered":"O’Donnell Goes For Thunder Road Three-Peat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alan

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

Barre, VT \u2013<\/em> Derrick O\u2019Donnell has already made history with his first two championships in Thunder Road\u2019s American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Models. He is ready to add to the record books again in 2015, beginning at the season-opening Merchant\u2019s Bank 150 on Sunday, May 3.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

N. Haverhill, NH\u2019s O\u2019Donnell won his first Thunder Road Late Model Championship in 2013, becoming the first rookie to be crowned \u201cKing of the Road.\u201d Last year he was the sixth driver in track lead division history to successfully defend his title. A third championship in 2015 would make him only the second driver to hold the crown for three years running. Chuck Beede previously won three straight Late Model championships in 1992-1994.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would definitely be really important to me,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said of the possibility. \u201cWith this pairing up of me and MikelJon (Mascitti, his car owner), we\u2019ve proved that anything is possible. We basically do whatever it takes between him and I. There\u2019s no mountain we won\u2019t climb if it\u2019s going to make us better.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell and Mascitti Brothers Racing have built a new car for the 2015 season, based on a chassis designed by former NASCAR Champion Dale Shaw. O\u2019Donnell started on the car before last year\u2019s season-ending Milk Bowl. He says he has spent 30 to 40 hours a week working on it over the winter in hopes the new mount will bring him a third title and also help him win big events such as the Merchant\u2019s Bank 150.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The team maintained two cars last year, but O\u2019Donnell, who just welcomed his second child with wife Abby, believes this kept them from putting enough time into either vehicle. They will be focusing fully on their new mount this season.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAt this level, you can\u2019t just ride where you\u2019re at,\u201d O\u2019Donnell added. \u201cI\u2019ll be the first one to admit that, even last year and the year before, we knew we could be a lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A deep field of veterans and rising stars alike will try to beat O\u2019Donnell this year. Barre\u2019s Nick Sweet, the 2010 and 2012 \u201cKing of the Road,\u201d finished second to O\u2019Donnell each of the last two years. Sweet led the division with three wins in 2014, including the Vermont Governor\u2019s Cup and the Labor Day Classic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a tough team,\u201d Sweet said of O\u2019Donnell. \u201cThey\u2019re running really well right now. We\u2019re just trying to keep up with them. We\u2019ve got to try and better ourselves.\u201c<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Three-time Bond Auto Tiger Sportsman Champion Shawn Fleury won two Late Model features and finished third in the 2014 standings in his first full year driving for Hallstrom Motorsports. He will now attempt to add a Late Model title to his racing accomplishments. Two-time Champion Dave Pembroke was leading the standings at mid-season last year before a rough second half. He will try to rebound in 2015. Three-time champion Phil Scott will also attempt to bounce back after a tough season.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Established veterans Trampas Demers and John Donahue have battled for Late Model championships in the past and are back to do so again. Young standouts Jason Corliss and Cody Blake all finished in the top-10 in points in 2014 and are capable of making a championship run. Last year\u2019s rookie class of Eric Badore, Josh Demers, and Jason Allen all will return as well and try to knock off the established guard.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The stars of the Thunder Road ACT Late Models will take on the ACT Late Model Tour\u2019s best, including defending Tour Champion Joey Polewarczyk Jr. and defending Merchant\u2019s Bank 150 winner Wayne Helliwell Jr., on Sunday, May 3 as part of the 56th<\/sup> Thunder Road season opener. Saturday, May 2<\/span><\/span> will see the annual Thunder Road Car Show on Barre\u2019s Main Street, followed by the race car parade up Quarry Hill to Thunder Road and practice for all divisions. The practice session is open to the public. Post time on Sunday<\/span><\/span> is 1:00pm<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more 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

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

Barre, VT \u2013 Derrick O\u2019Donnell has already made history with his first two championships in Thunder Road\u2019s American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Models. He is ready to add to the record books again in 2015, beginning at the season-opening Merchant\u2019s Bank 150 on Sunday, May 3.   N. Haverhill, NH\u2019s O\u2019Donnell won his first Thunder Road […]<\/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":[7,4],"tags":[42,1347],"class_list":["post-14690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-canadian-tour","category-latest-touring-news","tag-act","tag-thunder-road"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14690","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=14690"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14692,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14690\/revisions\/14692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}