BARRE, Vt. — Jason Corliss made Thunder Road history by capturing his fifth Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model win of the season Thursday night.
Corliss snatched the lead from Chip Grenier with 14 laps to and outlasted a charge by Kyle Pembroke down the homestretch in front of one of the season’s largest crowds.
Corliss became the first driver to win five point-counting Thunder Road Late Model features in a season since the creation of the modern late model class in 1992.
It was also Corliss’s 25th career late model victory and 31st overall at Thunder Road, the latter of which moves him into a tie with Phil Scott for fourth all-time.
Corliss quickly moved up to third in the 50-lap feature before getting trapped behind a duel for the top spot between polesitter Chris Roberts and Grenier. Although Grenier eventually got the nose out front, Roberts kept his foot in the door lap after lap, leaving Corliss without a hole. Montpelier’s Kyle Pembroke eventually joined the action and filled the lane inside Corliss, leaving him to hope that Grenier could finally seal the deal on Roberts.
The break came on lap 32 when Grenier and Roberts touched at the start-finish line, which got Roberts out of shape entering turn one. Roberts was able to save it, but both Grenier and Corliss shot past. It didn’t take Corliss long from there to make his move, getting to the passenger door of Grenier on lap 35 and getting the top spot one circuit later.
Pembroke was able to roll around the outside in his own right and snatch second from Grenier a few laps later. He then gave chase and was slowly gaining on Corliss at the end but ran out of time as Corliss took home victory in the caution-free race.
Grenier took third followed by Trampas Demers and Roberts. Stephen Donahue, Scott Dragon, Marcel J. Gravel, Tyler Cahoon, and Brendan Moodie rounded out the top-10.
Logan Powers finally turned around a trying season with his first career victory in the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers.
Haidyn Pearce held off Jeffrey Martin by a whisker to pick up his first ever RK Miles Street Stock victory.
“Flyin’” Fred Fleury lived up to his nickname by soaring up the outside line for his second Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warrior victory of the year.
Part-time Road Warrior racer Jacob Hall-Larson won the four-cylinder bracket of the “Run-What-U-Brung” spectator races. In the eight-cylinder division, Barre’s Nathan Felch wheeled a 1988 Chevrolet Camaro to the win.