BARRE – Thunder Road International Speedbowl officially closed out the 2024 season on Saturday night at the Barre Elks Club with the annual Banquet of Champions to celebrate year 65 at the Northeast’s premier short track. Over 250 drivers, team members, officials and honorees packed the facility to celebrate the 2024 season and a host of special award winners.
photo by Alan Ward
Starting off the evening with several blind draw prizes courtesy of several of Thunder Road’s valued contingency partners, Stephen Martin was drawn for a full NEXT-GEN Late Model body kit courtesy of Five Star Race Car Bodies of Twin Lakes, Wisc., with Cam Gadue earning the $500 Five Star Flying Tiger certificate. Tennessee’s AR Bodies awarded Brandon Lanphear a $1,500 certificate towards any Late Model body package with Jason Pelkey getting drawn for the Flying Tiger body reskin kit. Justin Prescott’s chip was pulled for a set of four QA1 Series 63 shocks as the evening’s trophy presentations began.
photo by Alan Ward
The top 10 in Street Stocks, Flying Tigers and Late Models earned their trophies and point fund monies while top rookies Kylee Potter and Jesse Laquerre were also on hand to accept their Rookie of the Year awards. Potter was also awarded the prestigious Gordon Nielsen Memorial Award for her two track efforts and successes in her freshman season at Thunder Road. Longtime Thunder Road photographer Buzz Fisher was awarded the 16th annual Pete Hartt Memorial Media Award for his contributions to Thunder Road through the lens of his many cameras over the years.
Longtime crew member and savior of many a torn-up racecar over his tenure at Thunder Road, Ellis O’Hear was awarded the Eddie Carroll Memorial Sportsmanship Award with a standing ovation from the crowd on hand. Kyle Streeter was awarded the Sportsmanship Award for the Flying Tigers with Brandon Lanphear earning the same award for the Late Model division.
photo by Alan Ward
With multiple family members on hand, the Ken Squier Award for contributions to Thunder Road was awarded to the Pelkey family for their longstanding support of Thunder Road as drivers, fans and their unmistakable work on the popular Granite Monuments at the Speedbowl with their Memorial Sandblast company. Barre’s Chris LaForest was awarded the 2024 Most Improved Driver Award after finally making the grade and earning his first career Flying Tiger win and multiple podium finishes in a career turn-around this summer.
photo by Alan Ward
The night ended with the annual presentation of the Tom Curley and Don MacTavish Memorial Awards. For his longtime, multi-generational support in and around Thunder Road and American-Canadian Tour racing, Brian Hoar was presented the Thomas Michael Curley Memorial Award, named after the late founder of the ACT Tour and longtime Thunder Road promoter. Similarly, for his lifelong efforts in and around Northeast stock car racing, Scott Dragon joined his father Bobby, uncle Beaver and cousin Brent as a recipient of the Don MacTavish Memorial Award, the longest running and most prestigious award in the Thunder Road fold.
