BARRE, Vt. — The inaugural $2,000-to-win, 100-lap special for the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers certainly did not disappoint on Vermont Agency of Transportation night Thursday at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl.
Derrick Calkins claimed the victory.
It was a spirited side-by-side race at the front of the field starting with Rich Lowrey and Mike Martin at the onset.
Martin led the first nine laps before Lowrey powered by to lead lap ten on the outside groove. The biggest calamity of the race came on lap 40 as championship hopeful Sam Caron came into three-wide contact with the backstretch wall, counting both himself and Brendan Moodie among the damaged as he was towed pitside for repairs. The team worked feverishly to get him back on track just in time for the drop of the green flag as Lowrey and Martin again went to work for the lead.
Martin eventually fell out of favor just after the halfway point with a slippery ride, allowing Calkins to move in and stalk Lowrey for the lead. With ten to go Calkins motored his way into the lead as Lowrey fell back and eventually pitted with issues under the hood. Calkins, a mighty driver in part-time competition this season found his way back in the winner’s circle for the $2,000 win over Logan Powers and Cooper French in the end.
Point leader Cameron Ouelette kept his head above water with a hard-fought fourth-place run followed by an incredible rebound for Sam Caron rounding out the top five.
If the side-by-side battle for the Flying Tigers wasn’t enough, the Maplefields/Irving Late Models certainly did their fair share of hardnosed Thursday night racing. While Bryan Wall Jr. took off with an early lead, the battle for second between Scott Dragon and Taylor Hoar was one for the ages before Marcel Gravel and Kaiden Fisher entered the picture at the halfway mark. A restart following Mike Rubalcaba’s backstretch spin saw Dragon, Fisher and Gravel take off with the lead, all three fighting tooth and nail for the top spot. Eventually, Gravel used the high line to march around the two, take the lead and seal the deal to take his first win of the 2025 season. Dragon and Fisher rounded out the fan-favorite podium.
Thomas Smith won the street stock feature and Mason Frazier triumphed in road warriors.
