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Lowrey, Lovely and Brien Share in Mini Milk Bowl Victories
Alan Ward Photo
Barre, VT — The 61 Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank once again proved itself to be the Toughest Short Track Race in North America on Sunday, and not just for the American-Canadian Tour and Maplewood/Irving Late Models. The Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, rk Miles Street Stocks and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors joined their headlining brethren in providing some of the hardest racing of the season with everyone looking to make their mark on an iconic Northeast tradition.
The Late Models started off the show in grand fashion. Outside polesitter Stephen Donahue led lap one and gained each lap afterward over polesitter Derek Gluchacki. Cody Blake made it a three-car race with Nick Sweet quickly joining the fun just behind Donahue. Following Shawn Swallow’s spin in turn four, Donahue and Sweet battled hard on the restart before Sweet settled in and Pelkey followed for a three-car train out front and continued to the Segment One checkered flag.
Segment Two had Brooks Clark at the helm but third-place Erick Sands quickly led the charge under Clark. While the back half of the first segment led the way in the second, Sweet and Donahue made gains methodically through the field before Brendan Moodie’s spin off turn two slowed their advance under caution. ACT Tour regular Sands faced-off against Thunder Road hotshoe Kyle Pembroke on the restart but quickly slowed for Patrick Laperle’s dust-up with the turn one tire wall. Two more cautions quickly let loose starting with Bobby Therrien’s hit into the turn four wall before Laperle reunited with the turn one tires on the restart.
Now up against ACT point leader Gabe Brown, Sands couldn’t hold up to Brown’s outside lane advantage as the duo chased lap money up front. Deeper in the pack, Donahue kept it rolling through traffic until a three-wide move between Sweet, Scott Dragon and Brandon Lanphear saw ‘Lil Irish’ slam the binders with Chris Pelkey also getting a slight advantage before the checkers in segment two flew.
Both Moodie and Therrien returned to lead the third and final segment of the 61st Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank while Donahue and Pelkey started the segment tied in the overall lead with seven points each. Moodie, Therrien and then Laperle kept their rigs up front and took advantage of lap money after the hard-day all three had faced on the Barre highbanks. While the back three-quarters of the field ran side-by-side, eventually Donahue got a break and put the pedal down with Pelkey mired in traffic way out back.
Brian Hoar’s brush-up with the Widowmaker frontstretch wall, and subsequent spin into turn one, brought out the caution just after the halfway point. Several tense moments followed for Donahue as he side-swiped the Widowmaker not just once, but twice in heavy traffic, each one putting a possible curse on his Milk Bowl goal. Coming down to the wire, with five laps remaining and a windshield full of Nick Sweet and a rear-view mirror full of Chris Pelkey, Donahue kept his head down and took the 61st Vermont Milk Bowl. In victory lane, he shared his achievement with fellow Milk Bowl champion, and father, John Donahue, car-owner Bill Donahue and family patriarch Paul Donahue, each taking a big swig of Booth Bros. milk from the trophy bowl!
The rk Miles Street Stocks were the first to wrap up their 2023 Mini Milk Bowl on Northfield Savings Bank Sunday. Physical from the start, Danny Doyle and 2023 track champion James Dopp paced the field after newcomer Cameron Ruggles, all the way from Richmond, Virginia, tried a three-wide move for the top spot in the early running. While Dean Switser Jr. and Logan Farrell tried to charge up through the field, Switser found himself trapped in traffic with Farrell looking to have motor issues in the early going. Josh Lovely sliced through the field to lead the overall under the crossed, half-way flags before the lap 19 caution.
Lovely took advantage of the re-shuffle while his main opponent Dean Switser ended his day in a frontstretch pile-up with just four laps remaining. While Doyle and Dopp continued to show the way, Lovely jumped to the white line under Doyle to a nearly sideways victory in segment one and take the overall Mini Milk Bowl trophy. Apparent second-place finisher Taylor Hoar was disqualified for a technical infraction giving second-place to Trevor Jaques and rookie pilot Logan Farrell coming back to take third overall. The rk Miles Street Stock Mini Milk Bowl remains unofficial pending an engine inspection for the Josh Lovely machine.
The Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors were the only supporting division to run both their Mini Milk Bowl segments on Sunday. Fast-timers Flyin’ Fred Fleury and Nate ‘Tater’ Brien showed the way in segment one. Although chaos filled the track from corner to corner, front to back, both veterans found their way in the caution-free first segment with Brien taking the win over Fleury to start the afternoon.
Segment Two was full of role reversal as the first segment finish was inverted to make the second, Bill O’Connor and Bert Duffy led the start before a lap three melee saw Kris Russell and Jason Kirby end their day early, Kirby running third in the overall standings at the time. On the restart both Fleury and Brien had made it to ninth and tenth, respectively, while the pair faced heavy lap traffic. Oil blew from beneath the hood of the Jason Ball Cavalier, quickly turning to fire under the hood while the fluid on the racing surface saw Ben Bushey and Karsen Murphy collect each other into the turn three wall. A dogfight to the end, Williamstown’s Nate Brien took a perfect score by winning both segments to a Mini Milk Bowl victory with Fred Fleury’s two second-place finishes giving him second and Hunter Garduno in third overall.
The Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers put on the biggest thrill of the afternoon to close out their Northfield Savings Bank Mini Milk Bowl. Matt Ballard and former Flying Tiger track champion Craig Bushey led the field to green with the segment one leaders in the back of the pack. Mired in heavy side-by-side traffic, drivers, fans and scores watched and waited for anyone to make the move. As they ran, Jason Woodard was the overall champion at the halfway point even as the field remained grid-locked in traffic while Tyler Pepin, Ballard and Mike Martin paced the race.
Calamity struck with just five laps remaining as the right front blew on the Woodard car, calling out the caution and reshuffling the overall point lead. Jason Pelkey took over the Mini Milk Bowl standings as they took the green and looked to take it all the way to victory lane until disaster struck on the final lap. Ballard and Mike Billado tangled and slid across turn three, collecting Pelkey, Cam Gadue and others while Rich Lowrey snuck underneath and took his #8NH Malibu to the Mini Milk Bowl checkered flag with the overall win over Woodard and Derrick Calkins at the end.
With the conclusion of the 61st Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank, so too comes a close on the 64th season of stock car racing at Thunder Road. While the Nation’s Site of Excitement slows into a long winter’s nap, the top stars and champions of the 2023 season will be honored on Saturday, November 4 with the annual Banquet of Champions held at the Barre Elks Club. Banquet order forms are available online at www.thunderroadvt.com/forms.
For more information, contact the Thunder Road offices at (802) 244-6963, media@thunderroadvt.com, or visit www.thunderroadvt.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @ThunderRoadVT.
Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl – Barre, VT
61st Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank
Sunday, October 1, 2023
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
American-Canadian Tour / Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models – 61st Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank
(Pos, Start Pos, Driver, Car #, Hometown, Seg. #1 Fin., Seg. #2 Fin., Seg. #3 Fin.) Overall Score)
1. ( 2 ) Stephen Donahue ( 29VT ) , Graniteville, VT, (1 , 6 , 12), 19
2. ( 5 ) Nick Sweet ( 88VT ) , Barre, VT, (2 , 9 , 11), 22
3. ( 8 ) Chris Pelkey ( 64VT ) , Graniteville, VT, (3 , 4 , 16), 23
4. ( 7 ) Marcel J. Gravel ( 86VT ) , Wolcott, VT, (4 , 14 , 9), 27
5. ( 13 ) D.J. Shaw ( 04VT ) , Center Conway, NH, (10 , 3 , 15), 28
6. ( 1 ) Derek Gluchacki ( 92MA ) , North Dartmouth, MA, (6 , 18 , 5), 29
7. ( 3 ) Cody Blake ( 99VT ) , Barre, VT, (8 , 21 , 2), 31
8. ( 6 ) Bobby Therrien ( 14VT ) , Hinesburg, VT, (5 , 26 , 1), 32
9. ( 14 ) Jason Corliss ( 66VT ) , Barre, VT, (14 , 8 , 13), 35
10. ( 16 ) Jimmy Hebert ( 58VT ) , Williamstown, VT, (9 , 23 , 4), 36
11. ( 9 ) #Bryan Wall Jr. ( 77NH ) , E. Kingston, NH, (7 , 22 , 7), 36
12. ( 10 ) Stephen Martin ( 01VT ) , Craftsbury Common, VT, (11 , 19 , 8), 38
13. ( 4 ) Gabe Brown ( 60ME ) , Center Conway, NH, (18 , 1 , 19), 38
14. ( 18 ) Patrick Laperle ( 91QC ) , St-Denis, QC, (13 , 25 , 3), 41
15. ( 23 ) Joey Polewarczyk ( 97NH ) , Hudson, NH, (15 , 20 , 6), 41
16. ( 15 ) Scott Dragon ( 0VT ) , Milton, VT, (12 , 11 , 18), 41
17. ( 20 ) #Tanner Woodard ( 68NH ) , Waterbury Ctr., VT, (19 , 16 , 10), 45
18. ( 17 ) #Kaiden Fisher ( 18VT ) , Shelburne, VT, (16 , 13 , 17), 46
19. ( 21 ) Shawn Swallow ( 04NH ) , Groveton, NH, (21 , 15 , 14), 50
20. ( 12 ) Erick Sands ( 36NH ) , Derry, NH, (24 , 2 , 25), 51
21. ( 27 ) Brandon Lanphear ( 16VT ) , Morrisville, VT, (20 , 12 , 20), 52
22. ( 22 ) Kyle Pembroke ( 27VT ) , Montpelier, VT, (22 , 7 , 26), 55
23. ( 24 ) Brian Hoar ( 45NY ) , Williston, VT, (17 , 17 , 24), 58
24. ( 19 ) Brooks Clark ( 68VT ) , Fayston, VT, (26 , 10 , 23), 59
25. ( 26 ) #Justin Prescott ( 04NY ) , Milton, VT, (25 , 27 , 22), 74
26. ( 28 ) #Andrew Molleur ( 31CT ) , Shelton, CT, (23 , 24 , 27), 74
27. ( 11 ) Chip Grenier ( 9VT ) , Orange, VT, (28 29 21), 78
28. ( 25 ) Brendan Moodie ( 94VT ) , Wolcott, VT, (27 , 27 , 28), 82
Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers Mini Milk Bowl –
(Car #, Driver, Hometown, (Seg. #1 Fin., Seg. #2 Fin.), Overall Score)
1. 8NH Rich Lowrey South Hero, VT (3, 3), 6
2. 68VT Jason Woodard Waterbury Ctr., VT (1, 8), 9
3. 15VT Derrick Calkins Hinesburg, VT (5, 5), 10
4. 7VT Logan Powers Middlesex, VT (4, 6), 10
5. 01VT Michael Martin Craftsbury Cmn, VT (11, 1), 12
6. 78VT #Tyler Pepin Barre, VT (17, 2), 19
7. 64VT Jason Pelkey Barre, VT (2, 17), 19
8. 45VT Adam Maynard Milton, VT (16, 4), 20
9. 52VT Brad Bushey Fairfax, VT (12, 9), 21
10. 65VT Robert Gordon Milton, VT (8, 13), 21
11. 8VT Mike Billado Grand Isle, VT (9, 14), 23
12. 2VT Craig Bushey Fairfax, VT (18, 7), 25
13. 4ME Cooper French Northfield, VT (6, 19), 25
14. 07VT Sam Caron Colchester, VT (10, 16), 26
15. 90VT Cameron Ouellette Barre, VT (7, 22), 29
16. 5VT Kyle Gravel Wolcott, VT (19, 11), 30
17. 08VT #Phil Potvin Underhill, VT (15, 15), 30
18. 2NY Cam Gadue Highgate, VT (13, 18), 31
19. 33VT Matt Ballard Williamstown, VT (22, 10), 32
20. 77VT Issac Spaulding Northfield, VT (20, 12), 32
21. 54VT Colin Cornell E. Burke, VT (14, 20), 34
22. 6VT Kylar Davis Berlin, VT (25, 21), 46
23. 37VT Kyle Streeter Waterbury Ctr., VT (21, 26), 47
24. 93FL Jeff Oeschger Dover, FL (23, 26), 49
25. 31NH Shawn Fleury Middlesex, VT (24, 26), 50
rk Miles Street Stocks Mini Milk Bowl –
(Car #, Driver, Hometown, (Seg. #1 Fin., Seg. #2 Fin.), Overall Score)
1. 54 Josh Lovely Williamstown, VT (2, 1), 3
2. 48 Taylor Hoar Williston, VT (5, 6), 11
3. 57 Trevor Jaques Milton, VT (3, 9), 12
4. 9 #Logan Farrell Barre, VT (8, 5), 13
5. 0 James Dopp Northfield, VT (12, 3), 15
8. 88 Danny Doyle Northfield, VT (14, 2), 16
7. 55 Parker Gagne Fairfax, VT (9, 7), 16
6. 16 Dean Switser Jr. Waterford, VT (1, 15), 16
9. 08 #Ryan Foster Waterbury, VT (11, 8), 19
10. 66 Zach Audet Morrisville, VT (10, 10), 20
11. 2 Haidyn Pearce Berlin, VT (17, 4), 21
13. 3 Michael Gay So. Burlington, VT (15, 11), 26
14. 57NH Todd Derrington Littleton, NH (13, 13), 26
12. 43 Jamie Davis Wolcott, VT (6, 20), 26
15. 16NH Nick Pilotte Jefferson, NH (4, 23), 27
17. 24 Todd Raymo Swanton, VT (16, 12), 28
16. 16x Patrick Switser Waterford, VT (7, 21), 28
18. 33 Curtis Franks Topsham, VT (21, 14), 35
19. 98 Kasey Collins Barre, VT (18, 19), 37
20. 2x Cameron Ruggles Richmond, VA (20, 18), 38
22. 50 Eric MacLaughlin Milton, VT (24, 16), 40
21. 17 Connor Rueda Barre, VT (23, 17), 40
23. 90 Kyle Goodbout Lincoln, NH (19, 22), 41
24. 04 Scott Weston Berlin, VT (22, 25), 47
25. 13 Travis Gay So. Burlington, VT (25, 24), 49
26. 8 Jeffrey Martin Barre, VT (26, 27), 53
Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors Mini Milk Bowl –
(Car #, Driver, Hometown, (Seg. #1 Fin., Seg. #2 Fin.), Overall Score)
1. 16 Nate Brien Williamstown, VT (1, 1), 2
2. 99 Fred Fleury Graniteville, VT (2, 2), 4
3. 31 Hunter Garduno (4, 5), 9
4. 81 Mike Slingerland Fairfax, VT (11, 4), 15
5. 17 Brodie Frazier E. Montpelier, VT (9, 6), 15
6. 42 Karsen Murphy Northfield, VT (7, 13), 20
7. 74 Keegan Tabor Williamstown, VT (14, 7), 21
8. 71 Jason Kirby Milton, VT (3, 19), 22
9. 05 Brandon Premot (20, 3), 23
10. 97 Eddie Thompson Colchester, VT (8, 15), 23
11. 07 Benjamin Bushey Springfield, VT (12, 12), 24
12. 26 Corey Martin Northfield, VT (10, 14), 24
13. 35 Kris Russell St. Johnsbury, VT (6, 18), 24
14. 43 Anderson Boyd Berlin, VT (16, 9), 25
15. 57 Jason Ball (15, 11), 26
16. 33 Brayden Murphy Barre, VT (17, 10), 27
17. 75 Bert Duffy Milton, VT (22, 8), 30
18. 19 Neal Foster Moretown, VT (5, 27), 32
19. 11 Steven Corbett (18, 16), 34
20. 32 Kylee Potter Plainfield, VT (13, 22), 35
21. 65 Luke Marcheski (19, 17), 36
22. 22 Jason Stewart Williamstown, VT (21, 20), 41
23. 96 Bill O’Connor S. Washington, VT (23, 3), 46
24. 23 Jennesta Garrett Middlesex, VT (26, 21), 47
25. 83 Gavin Hodgdon Hyde Park, VT (24, 27), 5126. 54 Dan Garrett, Jr. Berlin, VT (25, 27), 52
