BARRE – Central Vermont race fans and teams made the trip to Thunder Road International Speedbowl Sunday for the rain-delayed Community Bank 150 invasion from the Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour. Thirty-two teams made the return trip with a legendary name standing tall in victory lane.
Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour top three in Community Bank 150 victory lane were (from left) Raphael Lessard (3rd), first-time winner Kaiden Fisher, Chris Pelkey (2nd).
photo by Alan Ward
After two rounds of qualifying action it was St-Joseph, Quebec’s Raphael Lessard who took a plus-5 handicap to claim the pole position in Sunday’s Community Bank 150. The outstanding Quebec driver quickly came under pressure from defending Thunder Road King of the Road Kaiden Fisher in the opening laps before gaining more and more ground in the lead position. Several early yellow-flag scuffles finally sorted themselves out with Fisher eventually taking the lead after the lap 95 caution for D.J. Shaw’s spin cycle in turn-two.
Young Fisher, the latest generation of the racing Fisher Family from Northwestern Vermont, grabbed the restart lead and never faltered through lap traffic, even with Lessard and defending Community Bank 150 winner Chris Pelkey breathing down his neck. Kaiden Fisher claimed his first career Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour win in just his second season on the international touring circuit. Chris Pelkey sat within striking distance but settled for second with Raphael Lessard holding onto third. West Burke’s Jesse Switser took a respectable fourth place run with 2024 Vermont Milk Bowl champion Marcel Gravel rounding out the top five.
photo by Alan Ward
Both the Flying Tiger 40-lap feature and the Street Stock 25-lap feature went wire-to-wire, green to checkered without incident. It was a sophomore front row for the Street Stocks with former Rookie of the Year rivals Walker Fitch and Kylee Potter bringing the field to green. It didn’t take too long for the kids to go to school as defending four-cylinder champion Dean Switser sliced his way through the pack from ninth on the grid but it was Fred Fleury who stole the show. The Graniteville driver took down the win over Switser and Ryan Foster across the line.
Not so similar was the Flying Tigers who saw longtime veterans Travis Patnoe and Robert Gordon lead the pack under the initial green flag. Gordon’s familiar Monte Carlo quickly took the point and faced only Jason Pelkey in the second half of the event. Pelkey edged ever closer all the time, getting within inches of Gordon’s back bumper in the final five laps but after years of making the trip down from Milton, the longtime Renegade star finally took his first feature win.
Just one caution for a slam-bang rolling calamity in turn one slowed the Road Warriors at the end of Sunday’s racing card. In the end, Neal Foster took the Sunday special win over Taylor Sayers and Zach Garvey for a popular end to Sunday’s showcase.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour
5. 86VT, Marcel J. Gravel, Wolcott
26. 92VT, Jaden Perry, Hardwick
Flying Tigers – 40 Laps
7. 15NH, Brendan Moodie, Wolcott
20. 22VT, Travis Patnoe, Wolcott
21. 5VT, Tyler Austin, East Calais
29. 01VT, Michael Martin, Craftsbury Common
Street Stocks – 25 Laps
5. 18x, Walker Fitch, Marshfield
10. 34, Patrick Tibbetts, Plainfield
19. 32, Kylee Potter, Marshfield
Road Warriors – 20 Laps
6. 18, Cayden Green, Marshfield
