Derrick O’Donnell put an exclamation point on his third consecutive T Road Championship

New Hampshire's O'Donnell showed the Vermont drivers the way to win three T Road championships in a row. Credit: Thunder Road photo.)

New Hampshire’s O’Donnell showed the Vermont drivers the way to win three T Road championships in a row. Credit: Thunder Road photo.)

 

N. Haverhill, NH’s Derrick O’Donnell put an exclamation point on his bid for a third consecutive Thunder Road championship by making a late charge for his fourth win of the season Thursday, August 27 on Cody Chevrolet Cadillac Night.

 

O’Donnell broke out of traffic late in the 50-lap main event and sliced through the front of the pack, passing cars low and high before reaching leader Mike “Beetle” Bailey. The two-time defending champion then swung to the outside of Bailey and grabbed the top spot with just three laps remaining.

 

“The car was really tight in the beginning, but I knew it would get better as we burned off some fuel, and it did just that,” O’Donnell said. “It almost worked out perfectly. As soon as the car got better, traffic opened up, and we had some running room. I was a little surprised when we got to Beetle; I thought we’d be a lot closer on laps than we were.”

 

Essex Jct.’s Dave Whitcomb, who was gunning for the Triple Crown, started on the pole. South Barre’s Bailey drew alongside him for the race’s second and final restart on lap 7 and the two racers, who were both looking to break long winless streaks, dueled for nearly 30 laps before Bailey got the edge.

 

Meanwhile, O’Donnell had worked his way up from the 12th starting position to sixth, but found himself boxed behind two-by-two traffic that also included Trampas Demers and Cody Blake. Once the pack sorted itself out, O’Donnell made his move and was in the second position by lap 43. The two-time defending champion caught Bailey a few laps later and got past for his seventh career Thunder Road Late Model victory.

 

Bailey settled for second and Whitcomb took third. Demers, Blake, Jason Corliss, Scott Dragon, Nick Sweet, John Donahue, and Kyle Pembroke rounded out the top-10. Results are pending ongoing technical inspection.

 

Essex’s Mike Billado picked up his first win of the season and seventh of his career in the Bond Auto Tiger Sportsman feature. Billado took the lead from rookie Tommy Smith of Williamstown on lap eight of the 35-lap feature following the race’s only restart and cruised to the victory.

 

Smith held off Cameron Ouellette for second. Doug Crowningshield finished fourth followed by Brendan Moodie, who unofficially takes over the point lead. Mike Martin, Jason Woodard, Christopher Pelkey, Dylan Payea, and Stephen Donahue finished sixth through 10th.

 

Waitsfield’s Kevin Streeter nabbed his first career Allen Lumber Street Stock victory in the 25-lap feature. Streeter came out on top of a duel with Jennifer Getty just before the halfway point and ran away for the win.

 

Getty held off a charge from rookie Matthew Smith for second. Jamie Davis finished fourth to unofficially take a sizeable point lead after nemesis Jaden Perry was involved in an early crash. Marcel J. Gravel, Brandon Gray, Alan Maynard, Tyler Austin, Chris LaForest, and Will Hennequin completed the top-10.

 

The Thunder Road regular season concludes Sunday, September 6 with the 37th Coca-Cola Labor Day Classic. The Thunder Road Late Models will run 200 green-flag laps, and at the conclusion the 2015 “King of the Road” will be crowned. The Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen and Allen Lumber Street Stocks will also crown their champions. Post time is 1:30pm. Admission is $25 for adults and free for kids 12 and under.

 

For more information contact the Thunder Road offices at 802.244.6963, media@acttour.com, or visitwww.thunderroadspeedbowl.com.

 

CODY CHEVROLET CADILLAC NIGHT

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

 

THUNDER ROAD LATE MODELS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

  1. Derrick O’Donnell ( 60VT ) N. Haverhill, NH
  2. Mike Bailey ( 00VT ) S. Barre, VT
  3. David Whitcomb ( 25VT ) Essex Jct., VT
  4. Trampas Demers ( 85VT ) S. Burlington, VT
  5. Cody Blake ( 99VT ) Barre, VT
  6. Jason Corliss ( 66VT ) Barre, VT
  7. Scott Dragon ( 16VT ) Milton, VT
  8. Nick Sweet ( 88VT ) Barre, VT
  9. John Donahue ( 26VT ) Graniteville, VT
  10. Kyle Pembroke ( 27VT ) Montpelier, VT
  11. Matt White ( 42VT ) Northfield, VT
  12. Eric Badore ( 4VT ) Milton, VT
  13. Brooks Clark ( 68VT ) Fayston, VT
  14. Brett Gervais ( 11NH ) Island Pond, VT
  15. Phil Scott ( 14VT ) Middlesex, VT
  16. Josh Demers ( 10VT ) Montpelier, VT
  17. Boomer Morris ( 13VT ) Barre, VT
  18. Adam Pierson ( 18NY ) East Corinth, VT
  19. #Darrell Morin ( 17VT ) Westford, VT
  20. Scott Coburn ( 72VT ) Barre, VT
  21. Ricky Roberts ( 3VT ) E. Barre, VT
  22. Tyler Cahoon ( 38VT ) St. Johnsbury, VT
  23. Arthur Heino Jr. ( 07ME ) Newport, NH
  24. Jason Allen ( 29VT ) Barre, VT
  25. Eric Chase ( 40VT ) Milton, VT
  26. Mark Norris ( 22ME ) Benson, VT
  27. Chip Grenier ( 9VT ) Graniteville, VT

 

BOND AUTO TIGER SPORTSMEN

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

  1. Mike Billado ( 8 ) Essex, VT
  2. Tommy Smith ( 50 ) Williamstown, VT
  3. Cameron Ouellette ( 90 ) Barre, VT
  4. Doug Crowningshield ( 14 ) Barre, VT
  5. Brendan Moodie ( 94 ) Wolcott, VT
  6. Mike Martin ( 01 ) Craftsbury, VT
  7. Jason Woodard ( 68 ) Waterbury Ctr., VT
  8. Christopher Pelkey ( 64 ) S. Barre, VT
  9. Dylan Payea ( 7 ) Milton, VT
  10. Stephen Donahue ( 26 ) Graniteville, VT
  11. Shawn Fleury ( 31 ) Middlesex, VT
  12. Brian Delphia ( 27 ) Duxbury, VT
  13. Joe Steffen ( 00 ) Grand Isle, VT
  14. David Finck ( 37 ) Barre, VT
  15. Bert Gallison ( 30 ) Graniteville, VT
  16. Adam Maynard ( 25 ) Milton, VT

 

ALLEN LUMBER STREET STOCKS

Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown

  1. Kevin Streeter ( 67 ) Waitsfield, VT
  2. Jennifer Getty ( 25 ) Cambridge, VT
  3. #Matthew Smith ( 04 ) Essex Jct., VT
  4. Jamie Davis ( 43 ) Wolcott, VT
  5. Marcel J. Gravel ( 86 ) Wolcott, VT
  6. Brandon Gray ( 00 ) E. Thetford, VT
  7. Alan Maynard ( 10 ) Fairfax, VT
  8. Tyler Austin ( 5 ) E. Calais, VT
  9. #Chris LaForest ( 56 ) Barre, VT
  10. Will Hennequin ( 47 ) Morrisville, VT
  11. Gary Mullen ( 29 ) Tunbridge, VT
  12. Kyle Streeter ( 37 ) Waitsfield, VT
  13. Jamon Perry ( 62 ) Hardwick, VT
  14. Kevin Dodge ( 8 ) Barre, VT
  15. Thomas Merchant ( 38 ) Eden Mills, VT
  16. Justin Town ( 53 ) East Barre, VT
  17. Bunker Hodgdon ( 83 ) Hardwick, VT
  18. Scott Maynard ( 59 ) Burlington, VT
  19. Scott Weston ( 40 ) Berlin, VT
  20. Richard Gravel ( 68 ) Wolcott, VT
  21. #Reilly Lanphear ( 21 ) Duxbury, VT
  22. Jaden Perry ( 92 ) Hardwick, VT
  23. Kelly Miller Jr. ( 0 ) Johnson, VT

Source: Thunder Road Speedbowl PR