Doiron Claims First PASS Race at Thunder Road
Posted By Tj Ingerson On May 27, 2015
Categories: Pro All Stars Series | Thunder Road
PHOTO: Joey Doiron celebrates the win in the first Pro All Stars Series North race win at Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl on Sunday afternoon. (T.J. Ingerson/VMM photo)
--by T.J. Ingerson (@TJIngerson)
VMM Editor
BARRE -- Joey Doiron will forever have the notoriety of being the first Pro All Stars Series winner at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl.
The Berwick, Maine driver took the lead from Wayne Helliwell Jr. on lap 93 and held off Jeremy Davis over the closing laps to secure his first Super Late Model win of the season.
Doiron started on the pole position in the first 150-lap Super Late Model feature event since 1995 at Thunder Road and held the lead until lap 17 when Glen Luce secured the top spot. Doiron would retake the top spot on a lap 42 restart, but relinquish it just a few laps later to Helliwell.
After taking the lead, Doiron settled in and opened up a gap to Davis, who had negotiated his way around Helliwell just a few laps after Doiron. However, as Doiron encountered lapped traffic, Davis was able to plant his No. 09 car on Doiron’s rear bumper.
“(Davis) could have won the race if he had used his bumper,” Doiron said, “but he was a class act. I regretted all last year that I sold (that car) to him.”
For Doiron, a former ACT Late Model Tour competitor, the win was something special.
“When we started (racing) PASS, I never thought I’d get the chance to come back here and race,” Doiron said. “When it came on the schedule, I was so pumped.
“They say Thunder Road is one of the hardest places to race at and I couldn’t agree more with them.”
Davis, of Tamworth, N.H., finished second in his first race ever at the tough quarter-mile bullring.
Defending series champion D.J. Shaw of Center Conway, N.H., finished third after he started in the seventh spot.
“This is a whole lot better than my first three visits (to Thunder Road),” Shaw said. “It’s been a while and I guess I like it better now than I did eight years ago.”
Hinesburg, Vt., driver and former Thunder Road Tiger Sportsman champion Bobby Therrien finished fourth from a 15th place starting spot, thus making it four Dale Shaw-built cars in the top-four. Eight-time American-Canadian Tour champion Brian Hoar of Williston, Vt., completed the top-five finishers as he moved through the field with Therrien from a 14th place starting spot.
Series point leader Mike Rowe bounced back from a midrace spin to finish sixth while Travis Benjamin claimed the seventh spot from a 16th place starting spot. Thunder Road favorite Dave Pembroke finished in the eighth spot while Helliwell fell to ninth after he lost the lead. Four-time PASS North champion Ben Rowe rallied from a heat race spin which forced him to start in the 24th position to claim the final spot in the top-ten.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS -- Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic 150
Pro All Stars Series North -- Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl, Barre, Vt.
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Pos.-(Start)-Driver-Hometown
1. (1) Joey Doiron, Berwick, Maine
2. (4) Jeremy Davis, Tamworth, N.H.
3. (7) D.J. Shaw, Center Conway, N.H.
4. (15) Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg, Vt.
5. (14) Brian Hoar, Williston, Vt.
6. (11) Mike Rowe, Turner, Maine
7. (16) Travis Benjamin, Morrill, Maine
8. (8) Dave Pembroke, Middlesex, Vt.
9. (9) Wayne Helliwell Jr., Dover, N.H.
10. (24) Ben Rowe, Turner, Maine
11. (23) Brent Dragon, Milton, Vt.
12. (17) David Oliver, Standish, Maine
13. (18) Richie Dearborn, Hollis, Maine
14. (5) Cassius Clark, Farmington, Maine
15. (10) Travis Stearns, Auburn, Maine
16. (2) Brad Babb, Windham, Maine
17. (20) Bryan Kruczek, Newmarket, N.H.
18. (19) Gary Smith, Bangor, Maine
19. (21) Derek Griffith, Hudson, N.H.
20. (25) Scott McDaniel, Livermore, Maine
21. (6) Glen Luce, Turner, Maine
22. (22) Kyle DeSouza, East Providence, R.I.
23. (3) Johnny Clark, Hallowell, Maine
24. (12) Raphael Lessard, St-Joseph, Que.
25. (13) Joey Polewarczyk Jr., Hudson, N.H.