Courtesy American Canadian Tour
Barre – Nick Sweet of Barre continued his domination of the Coca-Cola Labor Day Classic, but it wasn’t enough to deny Scott Dragon of Milton his first Thunder Road Late Model track championship. Sweet led the final 117 laps on his way to his third straight win, and his fourth overall, in the 38th edition of the 200-lap holiday event, but Dragon’s runner-up finish was enough to give him the “King of the Road” crown by one point over Sweet.
Thunder Road crowned two other first-time champions in the final regular-season event of the year: Stephen Donahue of Graniteville won Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen title, while Jamon Perry of Hardwick took the Allen Lumber Street Stocks championship.
Dragon led Sweet by eight points in the overall Late Model standings after the qualifying heats. Once Sweet moved into the lead, Dragon had to finish second place to earn the title. He saved it until late in the event, passing Tyler Cahoon of Danville for the runner-up position on lap 195.
Cahoon held on for third, and was followed in the top 10 by Jason Corliss of Barre, Cody Blake of Barre, Phil Scott of Middlesex, Brooks Clark of Fayston, Cody Blake of Barre, Shawn Fleury of Middlesex, and Eric Badore.
Joe Steffen of Grand Isle earned his second victory of the season in the Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen Triple 25’s, while Stephen Donahue of Graniteville edged defending champion Brendan Moodie of Wolcott by one point to claim the track championship in the division.
Steffen posted third-, fourth- and seventh-place finishes in the three 25-lap segments to defeat Jason Woodard of Waterbury Center by two points in the combined standings. Cameron Ouellette of Barre, Brian Delphia of Duxbury, and Trevor Lyman of Hinesburg finished third through fifth overall. Mike Billado of Essex, Delphia, and Lyman were the segment winners.
Donahue’s seventh-place finish in the final combined standings was enough to produce a one-point margin over Moodie in the final Tiger Sportsmen standings, earning Donahue the first Thunder Road track championship of his career.
In the Allen Lumber Street Stocks, rookie Peyton Lanphear of Duxbury earned her second victory of the season, while Jamon Perry of Hardwick clinched the overall season championship for the division.
Lanphear took the lead from Kelly Miller Jr. on a restart with four laps remaining and stayed in front the rest of the way. Miller finished in second, and was followed in the top 10 by Garry Bashaw of Lincoln, Perry, Reilly Lanphear of Duxbury, Jamie Davis of Wolcott, Alan Maynard of Fairfax, Brandon Gray of E. Thetford, Michael Gay of So. Burlington, and Greg Collette of Milton.
In the overall Streets Standings, Perry finished 30 points in front of his brother Jaden Perry to earn the first track championship of his career at Thunder Road.
Racing action returns to Thunder Road on Saturday and Sunday, October 1 and 2, for the 54th Vermont Milk Bowl.