2021 59th Vermont Milk Bowl at Thunder Road Speedbowl (Day 1)

Trevor Sanborn Snaps PASS Drought In Thunder Road Debut

Trevor Sanborn Snaps PASS Drought In Thunder Road Debut

Trevor Sanborn scored his first PASS victory since 2010 on Friday night at Thunder Road.

Oct 2, 2021 by FloRacing Staff
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Barre, VT — East Parsonfield, ME’s Trevor Sanborn broke a decade-plus winless streak on the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) by soaring to victory in the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel 150 at Barre’s Thunder Road on Friday, October 1. Sanborn took the lead from Jeremy Davis just past halfway and kept five-time PASS Super Late Model champion D.J. Shaw at bay to win as part of Milk Bowl Friday on FloRacing.

It was Sanborn’s first PASS North win since 2010 and his first PASS National victory since 2008. To top things off, it came in Sanborn’s first-ever start on the Barre high banks.

Tamworth, NH’s Davis started on the pole and led the first eight laps before former “King of the Road” Bobby Therrien of Hinesburg took over. Therrien pulled away at first, but came back to the field, with Davis retaking the top spot at lap 21. Ben Rowe, Sanborn, Jake Matheson, and others followed Davis past Therrien as the handling went further and further south on the Fast One Motorsports car.

The lone caution on lap 27, which came after Rowland Robinson Jr.’s engine exploded in a fireball on the backstretch, bunched things up again. Davis darted away, though, as the pack duked it out behind him. Rowe faded on the restart as former champions Shaw, Johnny Clark, and Derek Griffith tried to fight out of the back. However, Sanborn and Matheson were able to hold them off.

As the race neared halfway, Davis’s lead began to shrink. Sanborn slowly but steadily closed the gap, and after sizing Davis up, he went around the outside to take the lead on lap 78.

Shaw moved into the second spot not too long after as Davis began to backslide. But by then, Sanborn had already built up a straightaway lead. Shaw slowly inched towards Sanborn and was able to get within a few car lengths multiple times. But every time he did, Sanborn turned up the wick, expertly navigating through the lapped traffic. With no caution flag to let Shaw draw alongside, he could only watch through his windshield as Sanborn rolled to a convincing win.

Hillsboro, NH’s Matheson, an 18-year-old in his first season with PASS, had the best run of his career by taking third. Griffith got around Davis late and finished fourth. Davis, Scott McDaniel, Kate Re, Dan Winter, Josh King, and Clark rounded out the top-10.

Pittsfield, ME’s Max Cookson came on like a shot in the final laps to get his fifth PASS Modified win of the season. Cookson started 10th for the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel 50, but barely made the starting grid after replaced a hub that seized up following his heat race win. He then spent most of the race mired in the middle of the top-10 as Bridgton, ME’s Troy Morse held several other challengers to build up a lead.

With about five laps to go, Cookson went into turbo mode. He swung to the outside from fifth and flew past Brandon Varney, Spencer Vaughn, and Shawn Knight in short order. Cookson then ran down Morse with less than two laps to go. Coming out of turn four to take the white flag, Morse drifted high and bounced off the wall. Cookson darted underneath to take the mesmerizing win.

Morse was able to nurse his car home for second. Knight held off A.J. Cates and a spinning Vaughn for third. Varney, Garrett Lamb, Jake Madore, Spencer Morse, and Zach Nicholson completed the top-10. Unofficially, Cookson will take the point lead from Lamb by just two markers.

Waitsfield’s Kyle Streeter, a Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger veteran, scored one for the hometown crowd in the Honey Badger Bar & Grill Street Stock Series. Streeter finished third in the first of two 25-lap Milk Bowl-style segments, chasing Bangor, ME’s Kris Watson and reigning Flying Tiger champion Mike Martin across the line.

The field was inverted for the second 25-lap segment. Chaos struck less than two laps in when Brandon Gray, Jason Woodard, and Chris Riendeau went three-wide entering turn three. Riendeau and Woodard touched with the contact sending Woodard into the Gray machine. Gray pounded the wall while Woodard, Martin, and Watson piled in. Of the four, only Watson was able to continue.


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Brandon Gray was not happy with Jason Woodard after a crash in the Street Stock race Friday night.


As Tanner Woodard pulled away at the front, Watson chased Streeter through the field. Streeter eventually reeled in Kaiden Fisher for second and got past him with three laps to go. Watson caught Fisher as Streeter was completing the pass but could not find a way around the youngster. As a result, both Streeter and Watson finished with five total points. Streeter, who had to sit out most of the Thunder Road season due to a shoulder injury, was awarded the victory thanks to his better finish in the final segment.

Watson took home a second-place trophy for his nearly 10-hour round trip to and from Thunder Road. Tanner Woodard’s Segment 2 victory gave him third in the overall. Riendeau and Martin completed the top-five.

East Thetford’s Matt Sonnhalter drove his four-cylinder pickup truck to victory in the 50-lap North East Mini Stock Tour feature. Sonnhalter was running fourth when Cale Skillings slapped the turn-two wall on lap nine to bring out the only caution. He knifed past Braden Morrie and early leader Brian Putney on the restart, then set his sights on Ken Marier at the front.

After stalking Marier for 15 laps, Sonnhalter finally got an opening when Marier slid wide in turn four. Sonnhalter filled the hole, took the top spot on lap 28, and rumbled home to the checkered flag.

Littleton, NH’s Marier settled for second while Springfield’s Braden Morrie had a strong run in third. Tim Paquette and Mike Viens were fourth and fifth. Former champion Cody Leblanc finished seventh in a car borrowed from Thunder Road Street Stock racer Jeffrey Martin after Leblanc’s ride blew an engine in practice.

The Booth Bros./H.P. Hood Milk Bowl Qualifying Day program originally scheduled for Saturday, October 2 has been cancelled due to a rainy forecast. Thunder Road will make an announcement around 4:00pm on Saturday regarding the status of Northfield Savings Bank Vermont Milk Bowl Sunday. If the forecast permits it, the Saturday and Sunday shows will be condensed into a one-day format starting at approximately 12:30pm. This would include qualifying and the three-segment Milk Bowl plus support division action. Visit www.thunderroadvt.com for further updates.

For more information, contact the Thunder Road offices at (802) 244-6963, media@thunderroadvt.com, or visit www.thunderroadvt.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @ThunderRoadVT. For more information about FloRacing, visit www.FloRacing.com.