Racing: Corliss Back On Top at “The Road”

Courtesy Thunder Road

Barre –– Barre’s Jason Corliss put his name back atop the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model heap at Thunder Road by storming to the WDEV Radio/Calkins Portable Toilets Night win on Thursday, August 1. Corliss dominated the second half of the 50-lap feature before surviving a green-white-checkered finish to take his second point-counting win of the year and third overall.

Washington’s Ricky Roberts started on the pole and led the opening circuit before the field got jammed up exiting turn two and Milton’s Scott Dragon spun to bring out the yellow. When the green flew again, Middlesex’s Phil Scott got the bite on the outside, taking the lead away from Roberts.

Graniteville’s Christopher Pelkey eventually followed Scott around Roberts for second and quickly chased down the Governor of Vermont once he did so. After stalking Scott for a few trips around the high banks, Pelkey ducked low on lap 15, putting the nose out front and eventually getting clear for the lead.

Corliss, who had started ninth, quickly moved through to second just before the second caution came out on lap 20 for an incident involving Trampas Demers and Cody Blake. On the restart, Corliss charged around Pelkey on the high groove for the top spot. Corliss and Pelkey then ran off and hid while Scott and Northfield’s Matt White got in a heated battle for third — and behind them, an even more heated fight developed for fifth between Roberts and Barre’s Jim “Boomer” Morris.

Two laps from the finish, things came unglued as Roberts spun on the frontstretch for the third and final caution. Two subsequent restart attempts were waved off, but on the third try, Corliss easily got out in front, taking his 15th career Late Model victory and unofficially retaking the point lead in the process.

White stole second from Pelkey at the line as the two took the checkered flag sideways. Scott, Kyle Pembroke, Morris, Demers, Dragon, Tyler Cahoon, and Marcel J. Gravel rounded out the top-10.

Williamstown’s Micheal MacAskill opened the second half of the season just like he did the first half with a win in the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers. MacAskill grabbed the lead from polesitter Chris Chambers of Brookfield at the drop of the green in the 40-lap feature. Milton’s Robert Gordon and Grand Isle’s Mike Billado, who along with MacAskill had endured some tough luck in recent weeks, soon nestled into second and third.

Gordon and Billado were never far behind MacAskill in a race that went caution-free for the second straight week. Near the midway mark, Barre’s Jason Pelkey and Morrisville’s Brandon Lanphear broke out of the pack and chased down the top three. Billado became too busy fending off his own challengers to mount a charge, and MacAskill was able to outpace Gordon down the stretch for his second win of the season.

The second-place finish for Gordon matched the best of his career at Thunder Road. Billado held on for third followed by Pelkey and Lanphear. Logan Powers, Cooper Bouchard, point leader Jason Woodard, Stephen Martin, and Tyler Austin completed the top-10.

Barre’s Tyler Pepin became the first three-time Allen Lumber Street Stock winner of the year by taking their 25-lap feature. Like MacAskill, Pepin started on the outside pole and took the lead at the start from polesitter Justin Blakely. Two cautions in the first half of the event allowed the field to take aim at Pepin, but the sophomore Street Stocker remained steadfast, leading a four-car breakaway down the stretch for the victory.

Rookie Keegan Lamson of Berlin finished second for his first career podium result. Two-time champion Jamie Davis of Wolcott took third. Tim Hunt, point leader Jeffrey Martin, Hunter King, Kasey Beattie, Kyle MacAskill, Bryan P. Wall, and Juan Marshall also earned top-10 finishes.

Northfield’s James Dopp came on strong late for his sixth career Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warrior victory to cap the night. Dopp barreled from 13th on the starting grid for the 20-lap feature to get right in the middle of a lead pack that reached 11 cars at times.

When the front finally sorted itself out, Dopp made his move, swinging around the outside of polesitter Jason Kirby with just five laps to go. He then held off Berlin’s Kylar Davis and Kylar’s dad Chris for the win. Kirby, Todd Raymo, Dan Garrett Jr., Fred Fleury, Mike Mitchell, Trevor Jaques, and Curtis Morse finished fourth through 10th.

The evening also featured the annual “Port-a-Potty Grand Prix” that pitted the top driver in each division against each other in a race of rolling port-a-lets. Flying Tiger representative Jason Woodard and his team won the Grand Prix along with the Golden Plunger for best-appearing Port-a-Potty.

Thunder Road is back this Sunday, August 4 at 6:00pm for the annual Bolduc Metal Recycling Enduro 200. One hundred cars or more are expected once again for “The People’s Race” with $3,000 awaiting the winner. The Allen Lumber Street Stocks also have their biggest event of the year with the 50-lap Bolduc Street Stock Special. Admission is $15 for adults and free for kids ages 12 and under.

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

WDEV-CALKINS PORTABLE TOILETS NIGHT
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

MAPLEWOOD/IRVING OIL LATE MODELS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Jason Corliss ( 66VT ) Barre, VT
2. Matt White ( 42VT ) Northfield, VT
3. Christopher Pelkey ( 64VT ) Graniteville, VT
4. Phil Scott ( 14VT ) Middlesex, VT
5. Kyle Pembroke ( 27VT ) Montpelier, VT
6. Boomer Morris ( 13VT ) Barre, VT
7. Trampas Demers ( 85VT ) Shelburne, VT
8. Scott Dragon ( 16VT ) Milton, VT
9. Tyler Cahoon ( 38VT ) Danville, VT
10. Marcel J. Gravel ( 86VT ) Wolcott, VT
11. Brendan Moodie ( 94VT ) Wolcott, VT
12. Eric Chase ( 40VT ) Milton, VT
13. Cody Blake ( 99VT ) Barre, VT
14. Matthew Smith ( 04VT ) Essex Jct., VT
15. Darrell Morin ( 17VT ) Westford, VT
16. Ricky Roberts ( 3VT ) Washington, VT

LENNY’S SHOE & APPAREL FLYING TIGERS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Micheal MacAskill ( 33VT ) Williamstown, VT
2. Robert Gordon ( 20VT ) Milton, VT
3. Mike Billado ( 8VT ) Grand Isle, VT
4. Jason Pelkey ( 64VT ) Barre, VT
5. Brandon Lanphear ( 11VT ) Morrisville, VT
6. #Logan Powers ( 31VT ) Middlesex, VT
7. Cooper Bouchard ( 7VT ) Hinesburg, VT
8. Jason Woodard ( 68VT ) Waterbury Ctr., VT
9. #Stephen Martin ( 9VT ) Craftsbury Common, VT
10. Tyler Austin ( 5VT ) East Calias, VT
11. Colin Cornell ( 54VT ) E. Burke, VT
12. Kelsea Woodard ( 55VT ) Waterbury Ctr., VT
13. Chris Chambers ( 14VT ) Brookfield, VT
14. Danny Doyle ( 51VT ) Chelsea, VT
15. Joe Steffen ( 00VT ) Grand Isle, VT
16. Brett Wood ( 29VT ) Georgia, VT
17. Kevin Streeter ( 67VT ) Waitsfield, VT
18. Michael Martin ( 01VT ) Craftsbury Common, VT
19. Sam Caron ( 07VT ) Milton, VT
20. Jeff Murray ( 35VT ) Georgia, VT
21. Bunker Hodgdon ( 83VT ) Wolcott, VT
22. Jaden Perry ( 92VT ) Hardwick, VT
DNS Shawn Fleury ( 31ME ) Middlesex, VT

ALLEN LUMBER STREET STOCKS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Tyler Pepin ( 78 ) Barre, VT
2. #Keegan Lamson ( 55 ) Berlin, VT
3. Jamie Davis ( 43 ) Wolcott, VT
4. Tim Hunt ( 93 ) Derby, VT
5. Jeffrey Martin ( 8 ) Barre, VT
6. Hunter King ( 64 ) E. Calais, VT
7. Kasey Beattie ( 45 ) St. Johnsbury, VT
8. #Kyle MacAskill ( 7 ) Williamstown, VT
9. Bryan P. Wall ( 77 ) E. Kingston, NH
10. Juan Marshall ( 79 ) Pittsfield, VT
11. Dean Switser Jr. ( 16 ) Lyndonville, VT
12. Thomas Smith ( 22 ) Williamstown, VT
13. Kasey Collins ( 98 ) Berlin, VT
14. Frank Putney ( 88 ) Graniteville, VT
15. Michael Gay ( 3 ) So. Burlington, VT
16. #Tanner Woodard ( 68 ) Waterbury Ctr., VT
17. J.T. Blanchard ( 66 ) Graniteville, VT
18. #Derek Farnham ( 5 ) S. Royalton, VT
19. Justin Blakely ( 17 ) Barre, VT
20. Gary Mullen ( 29 ) Tunbridge, VT
21. Scott Weston ( 04 ) Berlin, VT
22. Eric MacLaughlin ( 6 ) Milton, VT
23. Royce Lussier ( 95 ) Berlin, VT
24. Thomas Peck ( 96 ) Barre, VT
DNS #Cooper French ( 4 ) Northfield, VT

BURNETT SCRAP METALS ROAD WARRIORS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. James Dopp ( 0 ) Northfield, VT
2. Kyler Davis ( 68 ) Berlin, VT
3. Chris Davis ( 69 ) Berlin, VT
4. Jason Kirby ( 71 ) Milton, VT
5. Todd Raymo ( 26 ) Swanton, VT
6. Dan Garrett Jr. ( 54 ) Berlin, VT
7. Fred Fleury ( 99 ) Graniteville, VT
8. Mike Mitchell ( 1 ) Essex Jct., VT
9. Trevor Jaques ( 57 ) Milton, VT
10. Chris Morse ( 88 ) Graniteville, VT
11. Rodney Campbell ( 10 ) Worcester, VT
12. Steve Reno ( 00 ) Williamstown, VT
13. Josh Vilbrin ( 07 ) Northfield, VT
14. Sean McCarthy ( 86 ) Williamstown, VT
15. Brian Putney ( 87 ) E. Corinth, VT
16. Paige Whittemore ( 47 ) Graniteville, VT
17. Nate Brien ( 16 ) Brookfield, VT
DNS Haidyn Pearce ( 4 ) Middlesex, VT
DNS Kyle Chapin ( 27 ) Barre, VT
DNS Ryan Blaney ( 28 ) Craftsbury, VT
DNS Mark Beaulieu ( 12 ) Essex Jct., VT