BARRE, Vt. – Jason Corliss dominated down the stretch to take his second consecutive Community Bank N.A. 150 victory at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl on Sunday.
Corliss held off a mid-race charge from reigning King of the Road Scott Dragon to grab his third consecutive ACT win at Thunder and 13th career Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model victory.
Corliss started third in the 26-car field and was content to ride in the early going as outside polesitter Trampas Demers set the pace. Just past the 20-lap mark, Corliss jumped to the outside of his fellow Thunder Road weekly runner, completing the pass on the 24th circuit.
The second caution of the day on lap 52 for a turn-one incident involving Darrell Morin and Josh Demers set up a duel between Corliss and Dragon, who had moved into the second spot. Dragon was able to stay at Corliss’s door for several laps following the restart before eventually dropping back in behind him.
Dragon got a second chance on lap 59 when Tyler Cahoon spun after getting accordioned in traffic. This time, Dragon poked his front bumper out front for three circuits, with the two swapping the lead three more times in the next few laps before Corliss got the upper hand.
No sooner did Corliss clear Dragon than the fourth and final caution came out on lap 66 for Trevor Lyman’s spin. Dragon got the nose up for two more laps on than restart before Corliss pulled back in front and set sail from there.
Fellow Barre racer Nick Sweet flew through the field from his 21st starting position to get second from Dragon on lap 116 and seemed like a potential threat in the closing stages. But Corliss responded by putting the hammer down and sailing away late for the victory.
Sweet finished second while Dragon took third. Demers ended up fourth followed by Rich Dubeau in fifth.
A total of 35 drivers attempted to earn a spot for the 26-car starting field. In a stunning development, two-time defending ACT Champion Scott Payea failed to qualify for the main event.
The Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger feature results were eventually decided in the tech line more than an hour after the event. Jason Pelkey appeared to have taken a runaway win after getting underneath Sam Caron on lap 24 of the 40-lap main event. Pelkey was later disqualified in post-race inspection for a chassis infraction. As a result, Micheal MacAskill inherited his first win after crossing the finish line second.
Another first-time winner emerged in the Allen Lumber Street Stocks with Tyler Pepin taking the victory. Pepin started seventh and managed to avoid a massive pile-up on a lap-two result that was triggered when two cars near the front of the field made contact on the backstretch. Pepin then got the jump on fellow sophomore J.T. Blanchard following the third and final restart on lap-16 before pulling away for the win.
Nate Brien became the third first-time winner of the day in the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors feature. Brien started on the pole of the 20-lap event and pulled away in the early stages before Davey Chase reeled him in down the stretch. Chase made a daring three-wide bid for the lead around a lapped-car coming to the two-to-go mark, but Brien managed to fend him off for the win.
The finish:
Jason Corliss, Nick Sweet, Scott Dragon, Trampas Demers, Rich Dubeau, Jimmy Hebert, Marcel J. Gravel, Stephen Donahue, Brooks Clark, Matt White, Cody Blake, Brandon Atkins, Jonathan Bouvrette, Joel Hodgdon, Dylan Payea, Chip Grenier, Josh Masterson, Tyler Cahoon, Christopher Pelkey, Bryan Kruczek, Trent Goodrow, Mathiew Kingsbury, Brendan Moodie, Trevor Lyman, Josh Demers, Darrell Morin.