Clark Gets First ACT Victory in Wild Community Bank N.A. 150

Perry, Martin, and Fleury Earn Wins in Support Division Action

Barre, VT — Fayston, VT’s Brooks Clark roared from deep in the field to get his first American-Canadian Tour (ACT) victory in a wild Community Bank N.A. 150 at Barre, VT’s Thunder Road on Sunday, May 2. Clark took the lead for good from Shelburne, VT’s Trampas Demers with 21 laps to go and held him off for the victory after starting 21st on the grid.

The biggest victory of Clark’s career came in an event with more twists and turns than a campfire mystery tale. Several early contenders were sidelined by a spate of midrace carnage before Clark and Demers, two accomplished locals, put on a show down the stretch for both the Barre crowd and a worldwide audience on FloRacing.

Montpelier, VT’s Kyle Pembroke started on the pole and led the first 54 laps. Behind him, the field shuffled early and often. The first major surprise came on lap 22 as reigning ACT champion Jimmy Hebert went to the pits and did not return. Six circuits later, Matt White’s car abruptly shut down while challenging Pembroke. Bobby Therrien assumed second on the restart, but couldn’t keep up on the outside, as D.J. Shaw and Scott Dragon both rolled past underneath.

Milton, VT’s Dragon then took the high lane around Shaw for second shortly before the third yellow on lap 53 for Tyler Cahoon’s stalled automobile. The next two laps would completely change the complexion of the race. Pembroke led on the initial restart, but Dragon put his nose out front for lap 55.

As Dragon tried to clear Pembroke coming out of turn four the next time around, the two cars touched, and Dragon ended up slamming the turn one wall head-on. Dragon wasn’t hurt in the incident, but was done for the day, while Pembroke was sent to the rear for his involvement.

Demers inherited the lead for the restart followed by Shaw, Clark, Christopher Pelkey, and ACT rookie Erick Sands. As the field took the green flag, Pelkey and Sands got together, triggering a seven-car pile-up entering turn one. The day ended right there for Pelkey, Sands, three-time Community Bank N.A. 150 winner Jason Corliss, and Matt Anderson. Stephen Donahue, Jesse Switser, and Cody Blake also sustained damage.

After another caution at lap 63 when rookie Cooper Bouchard backed into the turn one wall, the thinned-out field started making a different kind of fireworks. Clark was all over Demers through the seventh caution on lap 81 for Switser shutting down. The Fayston driver went to the outside on lap 85, and finally inched in front with 89 complete. Clark finally cleared Demers just before the eighth and last yellow triggered by Shawn Swallow’s turn-three spin.

On the restart, it was Demers taking back the upper hand after multiple lead changes and some door-slapping along the way. Demers, who was also looking for his first ACT win, put a bit of a gap between himself and Clarks. However, Clark ran him back down on the long green-flag run, eventually going back around the outside on lap 129. Demers simply couldn’t mount enough of counter-attack as Clark took his sixth career Thunder Road win.

Behind the lead duo, fellow Wolcott natives Marcel J. Gravel and Brendan Moodie put on a war of their own. After multiple crossover moves and many side-by-side laps, Gravel finally got clear of Moodie with 17 laps remaining, taking the final spot on the podium.

Moodie held off a brief charge from Turner, ME’s Ben Rowe for fourth. Shaw came back from multiple midrace pit stops for a sixth-place finish. Donahue, Dylan Payea, Blake, and Therrien completed the top-10.

Hardwick, VT’s Jaden Perry started his season the right way with a runaway win in the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers. Perry started eighth for the 40-lap feature and steadily climbed through the field. He had just poked a bumper in front of polesitter Keegan Lamson at the halfway mark when Chris LaForest, Rich Lowery, and rookie Justin Prescott tangled in turn three to bring out the race’s only caution.

On the restart, Perry made the field smaller and smaller in his rearview mirror, stretching his lead as big as a straightway before cruising to the victory. It was the third career Thunder Road Flying Tiger win for Perry, who also has multiple triumphs at New Hampshire’s White Mountain Motorsports Park.

East Kingston, NH’s Bryan Wall Jr. keep Middlesex, VT’s Logan Powers at bay for the second half of the event to finish second. Powers mixed it up with Craftsbury Common, VT’s Stephen Martin in the final laps, which saw Powers get shuffled back as a result. Martin ended up third with Sam Caron, Tyler Austin, Powers, Colin Cornell, Cameron Ouellette, rookie Brandon Gray, and Kelsea Woodard rounding out the top-10.

Barre, VT’s Jeffrey Martin survived several close calls en route to victory in the 25-lap RK Miles Street Stock feature. The former champion jumped to the lead off the outside pole and quickly pulled away as Northfield, VT’s James Dopp settled into second.

It wasn’t easy for Martin, though, as he had to constantly weave and dodge his way through lapped traffic. The closest shave came when teammate Chris Davis bounced off the frontstretch wall right in front of Martin with two laps to go. Martin was able to thread the needle three-wide in turn one to maintain the top spot.

Then, after Martin had taken the white flag, Thomas Peck spun in the middle of the backstretch. Derek Farnham had nowhere to go and clobbered Peck, which flipped Farnham’s machine over. The red flag came out and ended the race right there, with the field being scored as they came across on lap 24 per Thunder Road procedures.

Martin earned his 10th career Street Stock victory with Dopp second. Shelburne, VT’s Kaiden “Tropical Storm” Fisher came in third followed by Tom Campbell and Luke Peters. Dean Switser Jr., Kyler Davis, Jamie Davis, Tommy “Thunder” Smith, and rookie Trevor Jaques finished sixth through 10th.

Paige Whittemore’s heartbreak was “Flyin’” Fred Fleury’s joy in the 20-lap Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warrior feature. Whittemore inherited the lead on lap five when Matt Ballard suddenly shut down. Fleury then chased Whittemore away from the field as both vied for their first Road Warrior victory.

As they worked around lapped cars coming into turn four on lap 16, Whittemore ended up three-wide with the traffic. A slight bobble ended with her smacking the frontstretch wall and limping to the pits. Fleury ended up with a country mile of a lead and coasted to his second victory of the weekend after also winning Saturday’s Car Show. (Street Stocker Jeffrey Martin also pulled the Car Show/feature double.)

Graniteville, VT’s Frank Putney drove his Scooby Doo “Mystery Machine” tribute car to a runner-up finish followed by Northfield, VT’s Josh Vilbrin. Nate “Tater” Brien, Andrea St. Amour, Mark Beaulieau, Bert Duffy, Dan Garrett Jr., Taylor Sayers, and Jacob Hall-Larsen also earned top-10 finishes,

The ACT Late Model Tour travels to New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway on Sunday, May 16. The 150-lap event is part of a tripleheader with the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Models and PASS Modifieds. Post time is 2:00pm.

Thunder Road returns to action Sunday, May 28 with the 58th Mekklesen RV Memorial Day Classic at 1:30pm. The Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models open the “King of the Road” chase with the 125-lap Classic while the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers go 100 laps in the Myers Container Service Triple Crown Series opener. The RK Miles Street Stocks and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors round out the card. Admission is $20 for adults and $5 for kids ages 6-12.

THUNDER ROAD SPEEDBOWL — BARRE, VT

COMMUNITY BANK N.A. 150

SUNDAY, MAY 2, 2021

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

ACT LATE MODEL TOUR

Pos., Start Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown, Laps

1. ( 21 ) Brooks Clark ( 68VT ) , Waitsfield, VT , 150 Laps

2. ( 8 ) Trampas Demers ( 85VT ) , Shelburne, VT , 150 Laps

3. ( 11 ) Marcel J. Gravel ( 86VT ) , Wolcott, VT , 150 Laps

4. ( 22 ) Brendan Moodie ( 94VT ) , Wolcott, VT , 150 Laps

5. ( 19 ) Ben Rowe ( 4ME ) , Turner, ME , 150 Laps

6. ( 7 ) D.J. Shaw ( 04VT ) , Center Conway, NH , 150 Laps

7. ( 20 ) Stephen Donahue ( 2VT ) , Graniteville, VT , 150 Laps

8. ( 23 ) Dylan Payea ( 7NH ) , Milton, VT , 150 Laps

9. ( 5 ) Cody Blake ( 99VT ) , Barre, VT , 150 Laps

10. ( 3 ) Bobby Therrien ( 5VT ) , Hinesburg, VT , 150 Laps

11. ( 1 ) Kyle Pembroke ( 27VT ) , Montpelier, VT , 150 Laps

12. ( 15 ) Tyler Cahoon ( 38VT ) , Danville, VT , 150 Laps

13. ( 9 ) Derek Gluchacki ( 03MA ) , North Dartmouth, MA , 150 Laps

14. ( 30 ) Shawn Swallow ( 04NH ) , Lancaster, NH , 149 Laps

15. ( 13 ) Nick Sweet ( 40VT ) , Barre, VT , 149 Laps

16. ( 6 ) Chip Grenier ( 9VT ) , Orange, VT , 149 Laps

17. ( 12 ) Tom Carey III ( 5MA ) , New Salem, MA , 145 Laps

18. ( 18 ) Boomer Morris ( 7VT ) , Barre, VT , 129 Laps

19. ( 17 ) Jesse Switser ( 25NH ) , West Burke, VT , 80 Laps

20. ( 27 ) #Cooper Bouchard ( 7MA ) , Hinesburg, VT , 62 Laps

21. ( 10 ) Scott Dragon ( 0VT ) , Milton, VT , 55 Laps

22. ( 14 ) Christopher Pelkey ( 64VT ) , Graniteville, VT , 55 Laps

23. ( 28 ) #Erick Sands ( 36NH ) , Derry, NH , 55 Laps

24. ( 4 ) Jason Corliss ( 66VT ) , Barre, VT , 55 Laps

25. ( 25 ) Matt Anderson ( 49NH ) , Franklin, NH , 53 Laps

26. ( 2 ) Matt White ( 42VT ) , Northfield, VT , 46 Laps

27. ( 26 ) Mike Foster ( 39VT ) , Williston, VT , 42 Laps

28. ( 24 ) #Brandon Lanphear ( 16VT ) , Morrisville, VT , 32 Laps

29. ( 16 ) Jimmy Hebert ( 58VT ) , Williamstown, VT , 22 Laps

30. ( 29 ) Anthony Hill ( 8VT ) , Waterford, VT , 15 Laps

Lap Leaders: Kyle Pembroke, 1-54; Scott Dragon, 55; Trampas Demers, 56-89; Brooks Clark, 90-96; Demers, 97-98, Clark, 99-101; Demers, 102-128; Clark, 129-150. (7 lead changes among 4 drivers)

Time of Race: 1 hours, 10 minutes, 15 seconds   Margin of Victory: 0.634 seconds

Cautions: 8 (laps 19, 28, 53, 55 [red], 55 [red]. 63, 81, 96)

Heat Winners: Scott Dragon, Marcel J. Gravel, Tom Carey III

Consi Winners: Jason Corliss, Kyle Pembroke

LENNY’S SHOE & APPAREL FLYING TIGERS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

1. Jaden Perry ( 92VT ) Hardwick, VT

2. Bryan Wall Jr. ( 77NH ) East Kingston, NH

3. Stephen Martin ( 9VT ) Craftsbury, Common, VT

4. Sam Caron ( 07VT ) Milton, VT

5. Tyler Austin ( 5VT ) East Calais

6. Logan Powers ( 31VT ) Middlesex, VT

7. Colin Cornell ( 54VT ) E. Burke, VT

8. Cameron Ouellette ( 90VT ) Barre, VT

9. Brandon Gray ( 00VT ) Thetford, VT

10. Kelsea Woodard ( 55VT ) Waterbury Ctr., VT

11. Michael Martin ( 01VT ) Craftsbury, Common, VT

12. Jason Woodard ( 68VT ) Waterbury Ctr., VT

13. Kevin Boutin Jr. ( 25NH ) Fairfax, VT

14. Derrick Calkins ( 15VT ) Hinesburg, VT

15. Jason Pelkey ( 64VT ) Barre, VT

16. Adam Maynard ( 45VT ) Milton, VT

17. Mike Billado ( 8VT ) Grand Isle, VT

18. Michael MacAskill ( 33VT ) Williamstown, VT

19. #Justin Prescott ( 44VT ) Williston, VT

20. Jamon Perry ( 62NH ) Hardwick, VT

21. Joel Hodgdon ( 36VT ) Craftsbury Common, VT

22. #JT Blanchard ( 66VT ) Graniteville, VT

23. Kevin Streeter ( 67VT ) Waitsfield, VT

24. Robert Gordon ( 20VT ) Milton, VT

25. Keegan Lamson ( 55NH ) Berlin, VT

26. Ryan Boutin ( 28VT ) Fairfax, VT

27. Rich Lowrey ( 8NH ) South Hero, VT

28. Chris Laforest ( 56VT ) Barre, VT

RK MILES STREET STOCKS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

1. Jeffrey Martin ( 8 ) Barre, VT

2. James Dopp ( 0 ) Northfield, VT

3. Kaiden Fisher ( 18 ) Shelburne, VT

4. Tom Campbell ( 85 ) Middlesex, VT

5. Luke Peters ( 26 ) Groton, VT

6. Dean Switser Jr. ( 16 ) Waterford, VT

7. Kylar Davis ( 68 ) Berlin, VT

8. Jamie Davis ( 43 ) Wolcott, VT

9. Thomas Smith ( 22 ) Williamstown, VT

10. #Trevor Jaques ( 57 ) Milton, VT

11. William Hennequin ( 47 ) Morrisville, VT

12. Justin Blakey ( 17 ) Graniteville, VT

13. Scott Weston ( 04 ) Berlin, VT

14. Patrick Tibbetts ( 84 ) Barre, VT

15. Josh Lovely ( 54 ) Williamstown, VT

16. #Haidyn Pearce ( 2 ) Chelsea, VT

17. #Todd Raymo ( 24 ) Swanton, VT

18. Christopher Davis ( 69 ) Berlin, VT

19. Eric MacLaughlin ( 6 ) Milton, VT

20. #Tyler Whittemore ( 74 ) Barre, VT

21. Gary Mullen ( 29 ) Tunbridge, VT

22. Michael Gay ( 3 ) So. Burlington, VT

23. Trevor Rossi ( 94 ) Washington, VT

24. Thomas Peck ( 96 ) Waterbury, VT

25. Derek Farnham ( 5 ) S. Royalton, VT

26. #Jared Rouleau ( 60 ) Warren, VT

27. Patrick Lacasse ( 9 ) Wolcott, VT

28. #Taylor Hoar ( 48 ) South Hero, VT

29. Juan Marshall ( 79 ) Pittsfield, VT

30. Jacob Roy ( 11 ) Danville, VT

DNS Kyle MacAskill ( 7 ) Williamstown, VT

BURNETT SCRAP METALS ROAD WARRIORS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

1. Fred Fleury ( 99 ) Graniteville, VT

2. Frank Putney ( 88 ) Graniteville, VT

3. Josh Vilbrin ( 07 ) Northfield, VT

4. Nate Brien ( 16 ) Williamstown, VT

5. Andrea St. Amour ( 20 ) Chelsea, VT

6. Mark Beaulieu ( 1 ) Essex Jct., VT

7. Bert Duffy ( 74 ) Milton, VT

8. Dan Garrett Jr. ( 54 ) Berlin, VT

9. Taylor Sayers ( 95 ) Barre, VT

10. Jacob Hall-Larsen ( 12 ) Northfield, VT

11. Ryan Foster ( 8 ) Waterbury, VT

12. Jason P. Kirby ( 71 ) Milton, VT

13. Neal Foster ( 19 ) Waterbury, VT

14. Jamie Buick ( 38 ) Orange, VT

15. Dan Wilder ( 28 ) Northfield, VT

16. Nicholas Copping ( 50 ) Barre, VT

17. Sean McCarthy ( 86 ) Williamstown, VT

18. Robert Catchapaw ( 03 ) Waterbury, VT

19. Paige Whittemore ( 47 ) Graniteville, VT

20. George Hoyt ( 09 ) Braintree, VT

21. Clay Badger ( 9 ) E. Montpelier, VT

22. Matt Ballard ( 33 ) Williamstown, VT