Morin, Fisher prevail at Thunder Road | Sports | timesargus.com – Barre Montpelier Times Argus
Shelburne’s Kaiden Fisher lived up to his nickname at a hot and humid Vermont Tire & Service Night at Thunder Road.
The 13-year-old phenom charged to the lead just before the halfway mark in the 50-lap Street Stock Special to win the event for the second straight year. Fisher also took over the points lead in the RK Miles Street Stock division.
The youngster started 16th in the 27-car field as Berlin’s Haidyn Pearce set a torrid pace early. Showing shades of his track champion father, Fisher flew up the high side and climbed to sixth by lap 14.
Campbell caught up with Pearce and went to his outside just as Thomas Peck spun to bring out a caution. Pearce would have remained the leader, but his car shut down during the yellow-flag break to spoil his chances. That handed the top spot to Campbell, with Fisher sitting fifth.
Fisher continued to make mincemeat of the field, moving up to third two laps later when Michael Gay spun around in turn four to trigger a multi-car logjam. Blakey was to Campbell’s outside on the restart but began to backslide after several circuits. Once the outside lane opened up, Fisher went right to it and sped around Campbell with 24 laps complete. The Berlin father-son duo Chris and Kyler Davis of Berlin moved into second and third, respectively, when Campbell spun off turn four a few laps later.
A pair of caution flags flew on laps 32 and 35 — the first when Blakely cut a right-front tire while dueling with Williamstown’s Josh Lovely for fourth, and the second when Campbell and Jesse Laquerre looped it in turn three. The restarts set up a 15-lap dash for cash. Lovely moved to second on the restart as Kyler Davis slipped back to fifth on the outside.
Williamstown’s Tommy Smith climbed to fourth in the shuffle. He then attempted a crossover move on Chris Davis coming off turn two with seven laps remaining. Davis held his ground and they made contact in turn three. Smith, who entered the night as the points leader, spun to the infield. All the while, Fisher was unstoppable while cruising to his fifth career victory.
Lovely grabbed second, while Chris Davis placed third while driving in a substitute role for Todd Ramyo. Davis’ teammates Kyler Davis and Jeffrey Martin chased him to the finish. Dean Switser Jr., James Dopp, Taylor Hoar, Tyler Whittemore and J.T. Blanchard completed the top-10.
Westford’s Darrell Morin picked up his first career win in the Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Models. Morin started on the pole for the 50-lap event. After Graniteville’s Stephen Donahue led the opening circuit, Morin regained the lead.
Donahue was able to stay on Morin’s tail for the first half of the caution-free event. However, the pack of Phil Scott, Matthew Smith and rookie Brandon Lanphear ran down Donahue. Scott was more than happy to put the pressure on the second-place car. Barre’s Jason Corliss joined the battle as well in the closing stages after coming from 11th. Morin was loving every minute of it as he pulled away from the hornet’s nest to earn his first Late Model victory after seven years in the division.
Donahue took the runner-up trophy. Corliss caught Scott at the white flag for third. Smith, Lanphear, Christopher Pelkey, Chip Grenier, Scott Dragon and Kyle Pembroke completed the top-10. Pelkey now leads Corliss by one point in the “King of the Road” fight with three weekly events remaining.
Hardwick’s Jaden Perry snagged his second victory of the season in the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers. Perry started eighth in the 40-lap feature and managed to break out of the pack following the lone caution on lap six for Colin Cornell’s flat tire.
After taking brothers Ryan Boutin and Kevin Boutin Jr. on the outside for second, Perry quickly swallowed up the gap to leader Michael MacAskill. As MacAskill’s car pushed high in the corners, Perry took advantage of the open door and drove underneath him to grab the lead on lap 24. Perry then drove off into the night for his fourth career Flying Tiger victory.
Hinesburg’s Derrick Calkins and Craftsbury Common’s Stephen Martin both chased down MacAskill as well to complete the podium. MacAskill ended up fourth and was followed by Ryan Boutin, Tanner Woodard, Joel Hodgdon, Kevin Boutin, Sam Caron and Brandon Gray. Points leader Michael Martin was 11th, allowing his son Stephen to close within eight points in the season-long race.
Wiiliamstown’s Nate Brien earned his third win of the year in the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors. Brien flew from 13th to win the first of two 15-lap segments. He then came from the back again, getting into a four-way duel for second in the segment with Josh Vilbrin, Nick Copping and Matt Ballard.
Copping got crossed up while taking the white flag, which wound up triggering a multi-car frontstretch pile-up. Brien raced back to the line, finishing third in the segment behind Jamie York and Vilbrin. That gave Brien the victory with an overall score of four points.
Northfield’s Vilbrin came in second overall with six total points. Williamstown’s Ballard was awarded the third spot following a scoring recheck. Taylor Sayers, York, Frank Putney, Nicholas Copping, Ryan Foster, Paige Whittemore and Mark Beaulieu also earned top-10 finishes.
Thunder Road will host Jet Service Envelope/Accura Printing Night at 7 p.m. Thursday. The final Thursday event of the year will feature the annual “Run What U Brung” spectator races plus a full card for every division. The pits open at 3:30 p.m. and the front gates open at 5:15 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for children ages 6-12 and $30 for a family of four (two adults, two children).