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Mark A. Cote photo
Barre, VT — The Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour returned home to Barre, Vermont’s Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl on Sunday for the 47th running of the EastRise Credit Union Labor Day Classic 200. The longest-distance event of the season at Thunder Road saw one of its strongest stars steal the spotlight away from the Touring drivers in a dominant performance on the highbanks.
Thirty-seven teams flooded the Thunder Road pit area Sunday morning from across New England and Quebec, all vying for one of thirty starting spots in three rounds of qualifying to set the field. The heats races saw a quartet of champions with former Thunder Road Kings Christopher Pelkey and Jason Corliss nabbing qualifying wins along with current Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour point leader Raphael Lessard and 2020 ACT champion Jimmy Hebert. The cream continued to rise to the top in two consolation events as D.J. Shaw and Marcel Gravel took the fifteen-lap wins while Stephen Donahue muscled his way to win the B-Feature and qualify into the 200.
In a surprise return, 2016 Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour champion Nick Sweet took the pole position with a ‘+5’ earned in Heat #4 alongside Gravel with Shaw and Jesse Switser following double-file behind at the start. Sweet and Gravel fought door-to-door through the early paces before Sweet fell back on the outside groove and in stepped Jason Corliss.
Corliss dispatched Gravel after a few circuits to lead lap 17 and began to run away with the lead out front. The chase was slowed on lap 46 for Alexendre ‘Fireball’ Tardif’s stop high atop turn two with officials using the caution as the designated fuel stop for all teams. Back under green, Corliss again made headway at the front with Gravel trailing just feet behind. Gravel had his best shot at a slowing Corliss just after the halfway point, pulling up alongside to try and take the lead before Corliss used the lap car of Kyle Streeter as a pick and powered away again on the outside groove.
The third and final caution flag flew on lap 163 for Cooper Bouchard’s turn four spin with Kaiden Fisher now lined up alongside Corliss for the final thirty-seven laps. Corliss, the cat-and-mouse master of Thunder Road, ran hard over the final circuits with a rearview mirror full of Fisher’s S.D. Ireland Concrete machine but never faltered en-route to his second career EastRise Credit Union Labor Day Classic victory over Fisher and Shaw at the line.
Fellow Thunder Road full-timers Gravel and Justin Prescott rounded out the top five. Rookie campaigner Brandon Gray took sixth over Nick Sweet followed by Chris Pelkey, Jesse Switser and Alexendre Tardif to round out the top ten.
The Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour returns to racing action at White Mountain Motorsports Park on Saturday, September 13 for the 47th Bar Harbor Bank & Trust Fall Foliage 200. With the season coming to a close, the Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour teams will have all eyes on Raphael Lessard as the Quebec campaigner is looking to sweep all three events at the New Hampshire oval on Saturday, September 13.
For more information about the American-Canadian Tour, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com. You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ACTTour.
For more information about Milton CAT, visit their website at www.miltoncat.com or get updates from their Instagram account at @milton_cat.
The 47th Labor Day Classic presented by EastRise Credit Union
Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl – Barre, VT
Sunday, August 31, 2025
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour – EastRise Credit Union Labor Day Classic 200
1. 66VT Jason Corliss Barre, VT
2. 18VT Kaiden Fisher Shelburne, VT
3. 60BH DJ Shaw Center Conway, NH
4. 86VT Marcel J. Gravel Wolcott, VT
5. 04VT Justin Prescott Fairfax, VT
6. 00VT Brandon Gray E. Thetford, VT
7. 88VT Nick Sweet Barre, VT
8. 64VT Christopher Pelkey S. Barre, VT
9. 25NH Jesse Switser W. Burke, VT
10. 31CT Alexendre Tardif Notre Dame des Pins, QC
11. 47NH Gabe Brown Center Conway, NH
12. 9VT Chip Grenier E. Barre, VT
13. 03MA Derek Gluchacki Dartmouth, MA
14. 48QC Raphael Lessard St-Joseph, QC
15. 0VT Scott Dragon Milton, VT
16. 26VT Stephen Donahue Graniteville, VT
17. 48K #Kyle Streeter Waterbury Ctr., VT
18. 16VT Brandon Lanphear Morrisville, VT
19. 68NH Tanner Woodard Waterbury Ctr., VT
20. 92VT Jaden Perry Hardwick, VT
21. 58VT Jimmy Hebert Williamstown, VT
22. 36NH Erick Sands Derry, NH
23. 45NH Stephen Martin Craftsbury Common, VT
24. 7VT Cooper Bouchard Hinesburg, VT
25. 27MA Chase Curtis Rutland, MA
26. 73MA Cole Littlewood Orange, MA
27. 60NH Derrick O’Donnell N. Haverhill, NH
28. 55VT Keegan Lamson Berlin, VT
29. 68VT Brooks Clark Fayston, VT
30. 48VT Taylor Hoar South Hero, VT
31. 41QC Jonathan Bouvrette Blainville, QC
DNQ 33VT Matt Sonnhalter Randolph, VT
DNQ 47MA #Justin Storace Seabrooke, NH
DNQ 23NH Craig Smith Newport, NH
DNQ 71VT Jesse Laquerre E. Montpelier, VT
DNQ 17VT Darrell Morin Westford, VT
DNQ 33QC Remi Perreault St. Paul, QC
