BARRE, Vt. — Even as snowflakes fell during the first driver’s meeting of the 2026 season at Thunder Road on Sunday, the race fans of the Northeast couldn’t stay away and filled into the Nation’s Site of Excitement to witness the frigid opening event of year 67 on Quarry Hill.
A stellar pit area greeted them with 119 cars in the pit area with the rk Miles Street Stocks on high with 38 entries on Sunday!
The large field prompted officials to appreciate their commitment and run two 25-lap features to split the entry list. Defending Alera Group Triple Crown champion Paige Whittemore and sophomore racer Jason Kirby led the first feature to green. While Whittemore later fell out with mechanical issues, Kirby went toe-to-toe with Nate ‘Tater’ Brien just ahead of the lap 8 pileup caution. Back under green, young hot-shoe Hayden Morris worked from third on the restart to first, taking the checkers on feature one ahead of last year’s top rookie Hayden Bushey and all-time division winner Tommy ‘Thunder’ Smith.
Feature two for the rk Miles Street Stocks never slowed as polesitter Connor Rueda bested the field with a 1.675-second lead over Derek Farnham at the end with Ryan Foster rounding out the podium.
The 31-car Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers kicked off their 2026 season strong with their 40-lap main event. After Parker Gagne led the early going, the lone caution for Rich Lowrey’s spin on lap nine allowed for fourth-place starter Eric Messier to restart alongside the youngster under the renewed green flag. Gagne fought back to the lead for two laps before Messier made it known he aimed to see the checkers first and so he did. Hinesburg’s Eric Messier would take the Community Bank bonus check over Parker Gagne with Brendan Moodie taking third.
Thirty-five Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour teams made the trip to Thunder Road for the 28th annual Community Bank, n.a. 150. Twenty-nine would start the show led by Rehobeth, Massachuesetts-driver Jake Johnson and Quebec’s Jeff Côté. While the two touring stars drove away with the top spots, the best battle on track saw the last two Thunder Road champions Jason Corliss and Kaiden Fisher duke it out for seventh on the grid. The two Kings swapped lanes and paint throughout the middle of show.
The final caution came for Cooper Bouchard’s run-in with the Widowmaker in turn four prompting a three-lap shootout to the end. By then, Center Conway, New Hampshire’s Gabe Brown had led the majority of the Community Bank 150 but now had the field closed back up to his rear bumper. The former Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour champion chose the outside lane on the restart and drove away with the $5,000 win as Jake Johnson and Jesse Switser clashed at the line to come home second and third, respectively. Fisher and Corliss would round out the top-five as the highest finishing Maplefields/Irving Oil Late Models in fourth and fifth.
Vermont Milk Bowl winner Marcel Gravel made it up to sixth from a 21st-place starting spot followed by D.J. Shaw, Justin Prescott, Côté, and top ACT rookie Jacob ‘Rowdy’ Burns in tenth.
The Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors rounded out Sunday’s racing action with mechanical woes bringing the 15-car line-up to just ten starters. Taylor Sayers would use a midrace pick with lap-car Jami Raymo to steal the lead away from Neal Foster and take the opening day win. Eddie Thompson motored his way into second in the final three laps with Foster rounding out the podium.
