PHOTO: Bobby Therrien celebrates his impressive Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic Tiger Sportsman victory. (Leif Tillotson photo)

Pilotte goes back-to-back in Memorial Day Street Street feature

BARRE — Bobby Therrien made a statement Sunday at Thunder Road.

The 24-year-old Hinesburg racer drove from his tenth starting position in the 50-lap Memorial Day Classic Tiger Sportsman feature race to the lead by lap 15. And it didn’t end there, as Therrien drove to an insurmountable lead — the No. 4 Therrien Motorsports car had a near half-track lead when the checkered flag flew.

“Hopefully, this is a testament on how this season is going to for us,” Therrien said. “We were a little discouraged here the first race. We talked about making some wholesale changes, but decided it just wasn’t our night. We came back with the same setup, tweaked it a little bit, and it paid off. Hopefully, it’s a statement on how our season is going to go.”

Therrien worked the outside lane on the quarter mile as many other competitors fought for a spot on the bottom. Therrien tried to settle in early after working his way toward the front, but saw an opportunity and took it.

“A lot of people were fighting for the bottom, just trying to hold their ground,” Therrien explained. “All practice, all we ran was the [outside]. And it paid off because we had to pass everyone there. The car was awesome.”

Wolcott’s Brendan Moodie crossed the line in second, while Eric Badore of Milton finished in the final podium spot. Barre’s Jason Allen and Middlesex’s Shawn Fleury completed the unofficial top five.

David Finck, John Lambert, Jason Corliss, Mike Ziter, and Joel Hodgdon finished sixth through tenth.

Nick Pilotte took advantage of a mistake by then race leader Jamie Davis to win the 25-lap Street Stock feature. Pilotte followed Davis into turn one on lap 18 when the Davis pushed up the track which allowed Pilotte to drive under him to take the lead.

“I thought to myself ‘Jamie has a good car and I’ll just ride behind him,’” explained Pilotte. “Then when he pushed up in turn one, I thought ‘Merry Christmas me. This can’t be happening.’ I was really fortunate to fall into that.”

It was Pilotte’s second consecutive Memorial Day Classic Allen Lumber Street Stock win.

Following Pilotte was veterans William Hennequin, of Morrisville, and Garry Bashaw, of Lincoln. Farifax’s Alan Maynard and Morrisville’s Dan Lathrop completed the top five. Cameron Ouellette, Ken Christman, Tommy Smith, and rookies Daniel Brassard and Kevin Wheatley completed the top ten.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS — Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic
Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl, Barre
Sunday, May 27, 2012

Pos.-Driver-Hometown
(# – denotes rookie)

Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen (50 laps)
1. Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg
2. Brendan Moodie, Wolcott
3. Eric Badore, Milton
4. Jason Allen, Barre
5. Shawn Fleury, Middlesex
6. David Finck, Barre
7. John Lambert, Northfield
8. Jason Corliss, Barre
9. Mike Ziter, Williamstown
10. Joel Hodgdon, Craftsbury
11. Mike Martin, Craftsbury Common
12. Kyle Pembroke, Montpelier
13. Blair Bessett, Worcester
14. Joe Steffen, Grand Isle
15. Tucker Williams, Hyde Park

Allen Lumber Street Stocks (25 laps)
1. Nick Pilotte, Jefferson, N.H.
2. William Hennequin, Morrisville
3. Garry Bashaw, Lincoln
4. Alan Maynard, Fairfax
5. Dan Lathrop, Morrisville
6. Cameron Ouellette, Barre
7. Ken Christman, Cabot
8. Tommy Smith, Williamstown
9. # Daniel Brassard, East Randolph
10. # Kevin Wheatley, Brookfield
11. Bob Eldred, Waterbury
12. # Dean Switser, Jr., Lyndonville
13. Ben Belanger, Whitefield, N.H.
14. Dave Whitcomb, Elmore
15. Michael Gay, South Burlington