BARRE, Vt. — Three-time King of the Road Jason Corliss returned to his roots at Thunder Road Speedbowl and once again stood victorious before the large crowd on hand for the 43red Vermont Governor’s Cup presented by the Vermont Lottery.
The 43rd Vermont Governor’s Cup 150 presented by the Vermont Lottery brought one of Thunder Road’s largest fields of the season as 28 Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models took to the challenge of battling against NASCAR Champion Brad Keselowski.
As the field took off under the green flag, front row starters Derrick O’Donnell and Cody Blake dominantly led the way by upwards of three car lengths. After the first caution flew on lap 16 with Keselowski spinning in turn one, O’Donnell and Blake once again paced the field with a stout lead.
Their two-car lead once again mired on lap 22 after White Mountain Motorsports Park rookie contender, and former Flying Tiger winner, Bryan Wall Jr. spun into the turn three grass and was unable to refire his Wall’s Ford machine.
On the restart, the real story was former track champions Scott Dragon and Jason Corliss battling side-by-side for third with Brendan Moodie in tow.
By a lap-60 restart, following Keegan Lamson’s spin in turn two, it was O’Donnell on the inside and Corliss on the outside with Corliss finally edging the ‘Dark Knight of the White Mountains’ for the top spot just five laps later. The leaders began to hit lapped traffic by lap 85 but it was lap 111 that brought an audible gasp across the grandstands.
Coming out of turn four, with Corliss, O’Donnell and Blake in close quarters, Chris Roberts and Matt White spun sideways and blocked the track. All three front runners slammed the brakes like they’ve never been slammed before, with only O’Donnell sustaining damage to his fender.
Ten laps after the restart, O’Donnell’s rearranged fender and hood caused the Oil Boys 60NH machine to overheat and gave Corliss the cat-bird seat.
The last 28 laps certainly weren’t a cakewalk for the defending champ, as Corliss bobbed and weaved through heavy lap traffic with Blake gaining inches with every hold up.
Ultimately, Corliss would cross the line first under the checkered flag to gain his third-consecutive Vermont Governor’s Cup presented by the Vermont Lottery. He admitted in victory lane that 2022 was a rest and relaxation season for the team that worked non-stop from 2015 until 2021 and the win proved to him that he still had it.
Tanner Woodard (Flying Tigers) and Josh Lovely (street stocks) also made the thrilling trip to Thunder Road victory lane.
The finish:
Jason Corliss, Cody Blake, Brendan Moodie, Marcel J. Gravel, Jamie Swallow Jr., Scott Dragon, Stephen Donahue, Kyle Pembroke, Brandon Lanphear, Bobby Therrien, Shawn Swallow, Darrell Morin, Chris Pelkey, Brooks Clark, Chip Grenier, Matt White, Cooper Bouchard, Brad Keselowski, Keegan Lamson, Chris Roberts, Tyler Cahoon, Matthew Smith, Phil Scott, Eric Chase, Raphael Lessard, Stephen Martin, Derrick O’Donnell, Bryan Wall Jr.