BARRE, Vt. — Matt White barreled to his first Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl win in more than two years by taking the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model victory on Thursday night.
White dove underneath Washington’s Ricky Roberts for the lead early in the 50-lap feature and never let go of the top spot.
The veteran bounced back from a last-place finish the week before by making a bold move to get out front. White was running third when the event’s only caution flew on lap five for an incident involving Tyler Cahoon.
On the restart, White got a huge bite off turn two, along him to drive inside both polesitter Ricky Roberts and runner-up Brendan Moodie. White completed the pass a lap later to take over the point.
From there, no one could touch White. A lengthy duel eventually developed for second that included Boomer Morris, Jason Corliss, Cody Blake, and Kyle Pembroke. When Corliss had to back off after trying the inside line of second on lap 30, Blake jumped to the outside, and he found the bite that Corliss had been unable to get earlier.
Blake eventually cleared Morris for the second spot himself with 15 laps to go. But White was long gone by then, taking his seventh late model win by more than a straightaway.
Barre’s Blake finished second with Morris taking his first podium of the year in third. Corliss held off a late bid from Kyle Pembroke to finish fourth and unofficially retain the points lead.
Brandon Lanphear continued his second-half hot streak by grabbing his first feature win of the year in the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers. Lanphear charged from 12th on the starting grid to third just past halfway in the 40-lap feature but was more than a straightaway behind leader Cooper Bouchard.
However, Kevin Streeter ended up in the turn-three wall to bring out the second caution on lap 24, which allowed the field to close up.
Lanphear got past Colin Cornell for second just before Cornell spun on lap 26 to bring out the third caution. After another yellow when Brian Delphia got turned around on the restart, Bouchard and Lanphear went at it for seven laps before Lanphear was able to complete the pass for the lead. Just seconds later, Bouchard broke a wheel, coming to a halt in turn four and drawing yet another yellow.
The sixth and final caution on lap 35 for a three-car incident set up a battle to the checkers between Lanphear and rookie Stephen Martin. The two locked horns and swapped the lead multiple times before Lanphear got clear on the final lap for the win.
Martin finished second and unofficially took over the points lead from Jason Woodard, who got nipped at the line by Barre’s Jason Pelkey for third.
Keegan Lamson roared to his first career Thunder Road victory in the 25-lap Allen Lumber Street Stock feature. The 14-year-old got the jump on polesitter Royce Lussier at the drop of the green to take the lead. Tanner Woodard followed him to second and soon began to apply the pressure as the two walked away from the field.
Kasey Beattie eventually broke out of the pack and caught the two leaders with nine laps remaining in the caution-free event. But try as they might, neither Woodard nor Beattie could find a way around Lamson as the rookie earned the victory.
Woodard and Beattie, a pair of 15-year-olds, took second and third.
Juan “Paco” Marshall also became a first-time winner in the Marvin Johnson Memorial. Marshall started sixth in the 19-lap event and suddenly found himself in second after a multi-car backstretch tangle on the second circuit.
The sophomore competitor then got the jump over Royce Lussier on the restart and held off East Kingston, NH’s Bryan P. Wall through two more restarts, including one for Derek Farnham’s head-on trip into the frontstretch wall, to claim the victory. Wall finished second followed by Kasey Collins.
Brian Putney capped the night with his second win of the year in the Burnett Scrap Metal Road Warriors. Putney pulled away from the field following two early cautions. Berlin’s Haidyn Pearce started to reel Putney in down the stretch, but Putney had enough to hold on for the win.
Pearce earned his first career podium result with a second-place finish.