BARRE – It’s the one and only chance all year long for a race at Thunder Road to be set by time trials and two teams that call the Nation’s Site of Excitement home every Thursday made the most of it. Marcel Gravel took a fast time of 12.193 seconds to claim the pole early but Jason Corliss made him sweat as he watched from the infield. Corliss, the reigning and four-time King of the Road track champion dug deep to run a 12.194-second lap that just wasn’t enough to knock Gravel off the top spot. The two set the front row for Sunday’s 63rd Vermont Milk Bowl, with everyone else tightening the belts for the remainder of qualifying action.
Last year’s track champion, Kaiden Fisher, went on to win the first of the Twin 50 qualifier events while current American-Canadian Tour point leader Raphael Lessard would win the second 50 lapper, both pocketing a cool $1,000 for their Saturday victories. After it was all said and done, 12 cars were on Sunday’s line-up sheet for the Last Chance Qualifier, all looking to be one of the final four additions to Sunday’s marquee event.
Fast times leading to the pole position was the story for Segment No. 1 in both the Flying Tiger and Street Stock Mini Milk Bowls. Jason Woodard launched himself to the top of the thirty-strong Flying Tiger field in group qualifying and then maintained that position through the end of the first 40 lap segment. It was the same for youngster Hayden Morris, leading the time charts and surviving a strong fight with 2025 top rookie Hayden Bushey to win the first of two 25-lap segments. The real story is whether or not Woodard, Morris or Bushey will make their way through their respective fields in Sunday’s final sprint to seal the overall and cap 2025 with a bang.
Epping, N.H.’s Dan Bowes left last year’s Vermont Milk Bowl weekend with a totaled race car after smashing his rear end hard into the turn two concrete and ending his day in practice just one year ago. Saturday was a much different outcome. Bowes took the lead from early leader John Leonard and paced the field to the very end to take the 50-lap win over Mike Mayberry and point leader Jeffrey Battle.
The NELCAR Legends made their debut at Thunder Road sixteen strong, the first to tackle the highbanks. It was all Ryan Vanasse Jr. from the drop of the green flag in their caution-free 25-lap main event with Jace Mougin able to keep pace for second and Frank Sweeney taking third.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
(local competitors)
American-Canadian Tour / Late Models –
1. 75VT, Marcel J. Gravel, Wolcott
15. 45NH, Stephen Martin, Craftsbury Common
Milk Bowl Last Chance B-Feature Starting Line-Up
4. 92VT, Jaden Perry, Hardwick
5. 36VT, Joel Hodgdon, Craftsbury Common
Flying Tigers – Segment No, 1 Finish – (40 Laps)
3. 15NH, Brendan Moodie, Wolcott
23. 22VT, Travis Patnoe, Wolcott
Street Stocks – Segment No. 1 Finish – (25 Laps)
19. 18x, Walker Fitch, Marshfield
20. 32. Kylee Potter, Marshfield
