Alan Ward photo
Barre, VT – Seventeen-year-old Stephen Donahue of Graniteville was not to be denied at Thunder Road on Thursday, August 13 as he took the overall win in the Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen Twin 50s on U.S. Army Recruiting Night.
The rookie won the first 50-lap feature after Wolcott’s Brendan Moodie blew a right-front tire while racing with Donahue coming to the white flag. But Donahue had a right front of his own go down on lap 12 of the second feature after contact with point leader Jason Woodard.
Undeterred, Donahue stormed through the field, eventually grabbing the second position on the final lap for a winning overall score of three points. It was the second win of the year for the third-generation driver.
“Woodard came down a little on me, and I just lost my temper,” Donahue said of the incident that set him back. “I kept driving it in, and I deserved what I got. My dad (John) calmed me down in the pits, and I went back out, and once I got the new right front heated up, the car was great from then on out.
“This win means a lot more to me than the first one,” he added. “Anytime you win is great, but when you can start from the back and move to the front, even when you don’t win, that’s the best feeling in the world to me.”
The race was a wild affair, with nine cautions in the first segment and 13 overall. The carnage led to wild swings in position throughout the night, with multiple cars going from the front the back, then back to the front again.
Milton’s Dylan Payea took second overall after finishing second in the first segment and fourth in the second segment. Joe Steffen was third with 10 points followed by Christopher Pelkey and Kyle Streeter, who was making his first Tiger Sportsman start at Thunder Road. Second-segment winner Moodie, Woodard, Mike Billado, Shawn Fleury, and Brian Delphia completed the top-10.
Local driver Jason Corliss grabbed his second Thunder Road Late Model win of the year in the 50-lap trophy dash. Corliss took the lead from polesitter Eric Chase halfway through the event and survived consecutive restarts for incidents that swept up two of the top contenders for the Thunder Road championship.
Cody Blake was the first contender to fall by the wayside when he and Trampas Demers got together fighting for third on lap 32, which also swept up Josh Demers and Mike Bailey. A lap following the restart, Matt White dove three wide for second with Sweet on the outside. Sweet ended up banging doors with point leader Derrick O’Donnell and Brett Gervais before spinning in turn one.
White finished second followed by Jim “Boomer” Morris. Scott Dragon took fourth and O’Donnell came in fifth, taking advantage of Sweet and Blake’s misfortune. Rookie Darrell Morin, John Donahue, Chase, Kyle Pembroke, and Jason Allen rounded out the top-10.
North Montpelier’s Donny Yates became the first three-time Allen Lumber Street Stock winner of the season in the 25-lap feature. Yates grabbed the lead on lap eight and was never seriously challenged the rest of the way.
Marcel J. Gravel finished second. Jamie Davis took third followed by Bunker Hodgdon and point leader Jaden Perry. Jamon Perry, Matthew Smith, Will Hennequin, Alan Maynard, and Gary Mullen also earned top-10 finishes.
The penultimate Thursday night of the 2015 Thunder Road season is next Thursday, August 20 with Jet Service Envelope/Accura Printing Night. The Thunder Road Late Models, Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen, and Allen Lumber Street Stocks will all be in action along with the annual Run-What-U-Brung spectator races. Pots time is 7:00pm. Admission is $12 for adults, $3 for kids ages 6-12, and $25 for a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids).
For more information contact the Thunder Road offices at 802.244.6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.thunderroadspeedbowl.com.
U.S. ARMY RECRUITING NIGHT
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
BOND AUTO TIGER SPORTSMEN TWIN 50S
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
- Stephen Donahue ( 26 ) Graniteville, VT
- Dylan Payea ( 7 ) Milton, VT
- Joe Steffen ( 00 ) Grand Isle, VT
- Christopher Pelkey ( 64 ) S. Barre, VT
- Kyle Streeter ( 87 ) Waitsfield, VT
- Brendan Moodie ( 94 ) Wolcott, VT
- Jason Woodard ( 68 ) Waterbury Ctr., VT
- Mike Billado ( 8 ) Essex, VT
- Shawn Fleury ( 48 ) Middlesex, VT
- Brian Delphia ( 27 ) Duxbury, VT
- Tommy Smith ( 50 ) Williamstown, VT
- Cameron Ouellette ( 90 ) Barre, VT
- Mike Martin ( 01 ) Craftsbury, VT
- Bert Gallison ( 30 ) Graniteville, VT
- Brent Currier ( 1 ) Johnson, VT
- Cody LeBlanc ( 17 ) Gorham, NH
- Doug Crowningshield ( 14 ) Barre, VT
THUNDER ROAD LATE MODELS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
- Jason Corliss ( 66VT ) Barre, VT
- Matt White ( 42VT ) Northfield, VT
- Boomer Morris ( 13VT ) Barre, VT
- Scott Dragon ( 16VT ) Milton, VT
- Derrick O’Donnell ( 60VT ) N. Haverhill, NH
- #Darrell Morin ( 17VT ) Westford, VT
- John Donahue ( 26VT ) Graniteville, VT
- Eric Chase ( 40VT ) Milton, VT
- Kyle Pembroke ( 27VT ) Montpelier, VT
- Jason Allen ( 29VT ) Barre, VT
- Phil Scott ( 14VT ) Middlesex, VT
- Trampas Demers ( 85VT ) S. Burlington, VT
- Eric Badore ( 4VT ) Milton, VT
- Jean-Paul Cyr ( 32VT ) Milton, VT
- David Whitcomb ( 25VT ) Essex Jct., VT
- #Scott Coburn ( 72VT ) Barre, VT
- Cody Blake ( 99VT ) Barre, VT
- Nick Sweet ( 88VT ) Barre, VT
- Brett Gervais ( 11NH ) Island Pond, VT
- Ricky Roberts ( 3VT ) E. Barre, VT
- Mike Bailey ( 00VT ) S. Barre, VT
- Josh Demers ( 10VT ) Montpelier, VT
ALLEN LUMBER STREET STOCKS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
- Donny Yates ( 05 ) N. Montpelier, VT
- Marcel J. Gravel ( 86 ) Wolcott, VT
- Jamie Davis ( 43 ) Wolcott, VT
- Bunker Hodgdon ( 83 ) Hardwick, VT
- Jaden Perry ( 92 ) Hardwick, VT
- Jamon Perry ( 62 ) Hardwick, VT
- #Matthew Smith ( 04 ) Essex Jct., VT
- Will Hennequin ( 47 ) Morrisville, VT
- Alan Maynard ( 10 ) Fairfax, VT
- Gary Mullen ( 29 ) Tunbridge, VT
- #Chris LaForest ( 56 ) Barre, VT
- Kevin Dodge ( 8 ) Barre, VT
- Richard Gravel ( 68 ) Wolcott, VT
- Travis Streeter ( 61 ) Waitsfield, VT
- Tyler Austin ( 5 ) E. Calais, VT
- Thomas Merchant ( 38 ) Eden Mills, VT
- Kyle Gravel ( 98 ) Wolcott, VT
- #Chris Cardarelli ( 9 ) St. George, VT
- Scott Weston ( 40 ) Berlin, VT
- Kyle Streeter ( 37 ) Waitsfield, VT