Fisher Beats Gray by 0.036-seconds in Stellar, Worth-the-Wait Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic

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Alan Ward photos

Barre, VT – While keeping an eye on the weather all day Sunday, Thunder Road International Speedbowl put on one of the best short track races in recent memory. Twenty-four Maplefields/Irving Late Models joined the field for the 63rd Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic 125 on Father’s Day Sunday with Kaiden Fisher earning the pole position in Plus/Minus qualifying. Fisher showed the way early as last Thursday’s winner Chris Pelkey followed in second followed by Brandon Gray, Bobby Therrien and Justin Prescott running nose-to-tail in the early goings.

While Fisher looked unstoppable, Gray began to close in late before the lap 100 caution for Stephen Donahue’s broken ride in turn one. On the restart, Gray would round Fisher to take the lead, but the hood-pins of the S.D. Ireland Concrete machine were glued to the bumper of the C.W. Gray Auctioneers Chevy. The two swapped lanes as the battle ensued and with five laps remaining, the lapped-car of Mike Rubalcaba made things interesting. With the gap closed between the two front runners, they again swapped lanes with Gray leading all but the last lap as Fisher just edged him at the line by 0.036-seconds on in inside groove. Chris Pelkey maintained third place at the line followed by Therrien and Prescott to complete the top five.

The rk Miles Street Stocks started thirty-three strong on Sunday’s Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic make-up date with former track champion Jamie Davis motoring around front-row starters Paul Rocheleau and Paige Whittemore. Davis would continue to lead the show while Rocheleau hung tight to his rear bumper after the lap five caution for Hayden Morris’ spin in turn one. Derek Farnham later made the save of the afternoon with a blown right-front tire, narrowly missing the turn three wall while bringing out the caution flag on lap 18. In the final circuits, Jamie Davis showed the way to the end with Rocheleau and Whittemore rounding out the podium.

Chris LaForest and Cam Gadue headed the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tiger field in Round #1 of the Myers Container Service Triple Crown. The two maintained the advantage through heavy lap traffic in the early stages until the lap 20 restart saw Gadue shuffle back on the outside groove with Jason Pelkey, Eric Messier and Logan Powers taking control of the bottom lane.

Pelkey made the move up to the outside and led lap 34 ahead of LaForest with former Myers Triple Crown champion Derrick Calkins following on the high side. By lap 38 Calkins was in control at the front while Pelkey and Logan Powers fought side-by-side for third. The story stayed the same following the lap 53 pile-up that ended the day for Eric Chase, Karsen Murphy and Rich Lowrey and Derrick Calkins went on to take the 75-lap win over Jason Pelkey and Logan Powers.

‘No-Look’ Nick Copping led the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors to green Sunday afternoon for their first feature since opening day with weather plaguing their early-season schedule. While Copping showed the way early, opening day winner Taylor Sayers drove up from tenth to take the lead at the halfway point and never looked back to take the win. ‘Fast’ Eddie Thompson took home second with Copping holding on for third.

The Dads 4 By Tool & Supply Kids Division made their season debut on Mekkelsen RV Sunday with thirteen on the grid in the first of five events for the youngsters this season. It was a spirited battle at the front between Kiptyn Aldrich and Kaden Wimble until Chloe Doyle and Gracen Gorham moved in by the halfway point. Wimble, Doyle and Gorham ran nose-to-tail around the Thunder Road highbanks until Doyle lost control off turn four and collected Clayton Houghton with three-to-go. The dents didn’t slow Houghton who kept it up front but it was Kaiden Wimble who nailed down the win, 2025 Mini Milk Bowl winner Evan Folsom in second and Houghton taking third by an inch over Madison Potter at the line.

The action at Thunder Road continues this Thursday, June 25 with Community College of Vermont (CCV) Double Feature Night for the Maplefields/Irving Late Models, Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, rk Miles Street Stocks and the Dads 4 By Tool & Supply Kids Division with a Special 6:30pm Post Time! Don’t forget, CCV Night is also home to the annual Kids Rides prior to the start of practice on Thursday!

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, Twitter, and Instagram at @ThunderRoadVT.

 

Sunday, June 21, 2026

Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl – Barre, VT

Mekkselsen RV Memorial Day Classic

 

Maplefields/Irving Late Models – Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic (125 Laps)

1.         18VT    Kaiden Fisher              Shelburne, VT

2.         00VT    Brandon Gray              E. Thetford, VT

3.         64VT    Christopher Pelkey      S. Barre, VT

4.         5VT      Bobby Therrien           Hinesburg, VT

5.         04VT    Justin Prescott             Fairfax, VT

6.         66VT    Jason Corliss               Barre, VT

7.         86VT    Marcel J. Gravel          Wolcott, VT

8.         0VT      Scott Dragon               Milton, VT

9.         88VT    Nick Sweet                  Barre, VT

10.       01VT    Stephen Martin           Craftsbury Common, VT

11.       48VT    Taylor Hoar                 South Hero, VT

12.       68VT    Brooks Clark                Fayston, VT

13.       10NH   Bryan Mason               Stark, NH

14.       7ME     Dylan Payea                Hollis, ME

15.       48K      Kyle Streeter               Waterbury Ctr., VT

16.       92VT    Jaden Perry                 Hardwick, VT

17.       17VT    Darrell Morin              Westford, VT

18.       7VT      Cooper Bouchard        Hinesburg, VT

19.       33VT    #Matt Sonnhalter        Randolph, VT

20.       25VT    Mike Rubalcaba          Barre, VT

21.       26VT    Stephen Donahue       Graniteville, VT

22.       99VT    Cody Blake                  Barre, VT

23.       4VT      Scott Coburn               Barre, VT

DNS     21VT    Reilly Lanphear           Waterbury, VT

 

Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers – Myers Container Triple Crown #1 (75 Laps)

1.         15VT    Derrick Calkins             Hinesburg, VT

2.         64VT    Jason Pelkey                Barre, VT

3.         31VT    Logan Powers              Middlesex, VT

4.         4VT      Cooper French             Northfield, VT

5.         94VT    Brendan Moodie         Wolcott, VT

6.         56VT    Chris Laforest              Barre, VT

7.         19VT    Eric Messier                Hinesburg, VT

8.         36VT    Jason Woodard           Waterbury Ctr., VT

9.         33VT    Matt Ballard               Williamstown, VT

10.       26VT    Luke Peters                 Groton, VT

11.       36NH   Tanner Woodard         Waterbury Ctr., VT

12.       55VT    Parker Gagne              Fairfax, VT

13.       23NY    Cam Gadue                 Highgate, VT

14.       20VT    Robert Gordon            Milton, VT

15.       3VT      Michael MacAskill      Williamstown, VT

16.       13VT    Ty Delphia                   Waterbury, VT

17.       16VT    #Dean Switser, Jr.       Waterford, VT

18.       22VT    Travis Patnoe              Wolcott, VT

19.       4NH     Shane Sicard               Barton, VT

20.       17VT    Brodie Frazier             E. Montpelier, VT

21.       5VT      Kyle Gravel                  Wolcott, VT

22.       8VT      Mike Billado                Grand Isle, VT

23.       8NY      Rich Lowrey                 South Hero, VT

24.       42VT    Karsen Murphy           Northfield, VT

25.       40VT    Eric Chase                   Milton, VT

26.       07VT    Sam Caron                   Milton, VT

27.       26JD    John Donahue             Graniteville, VT

28.       38VT    Ryan Heuser                Morrisville, VT

29.       30VT    Cameron Powers         Montpelier, VT

30.       98VT    Kasey Collins               Berlin, VT

31.       5NH     Erin Beaudry               Claremont, NH

32.       8NH     #Jaiden Del Toro         Graniteville, VT

33.       21WY   Lucas Wheeler            Montpelier, VT

DNS     29VT    Owen Cheney              Moretown, VT

 

rk Miles Street Stocks – (30 Laps)

1.         43VT    Jamie Davis                 Johnson, VT

2.         8VT      Paul Rocheleau           Georgia, VT

3.         47NH   Paige Whittemore       Graniteville, VT

4.         7VT      Kyle MacAskill             Williamstown, VT

5.         33VT    Curtis Franks               Topsham, VT

6.         13ME   Riley Morris                Barre, VT

7.         17VT    Connor Rueda             Barre, VT

8.         93VT    Jackson Hunt               Derby Line, VT

9.         99VT    Fred Fleury                  Graniteville, VT

10.       31VT    Tyler Wheatley            Brookfield, VT

11.       22VT    Thomas Smith             Williamstown, VT

12.       27VT    #Derrick Mann            Graniteville, VT

13.       74VT    Tyler Whittemore       Barre, VT

14.       06VT    Donat Premont           Johnson, VT

15.       13VT    Hayden Morris            Barre, VT

16.       16VT    Nate Brien                   Williamstown, VT

17.       22NH   Logan Farnsworth       St. Johnsbury, VT

18.       32HD   Erik Steel                     Colchester, VT

19.       75VT    TJ Haggett                   Waterford, VT

20.       77VT    #Zachary Garvey         Milton, VT

21.       48VT    #Owen Dupuis             Washington, VT

22.       15VT    Hayden Bushey           Fairfax, VT

23.       08VT    Ryan Foster                 Waterbury, VT

24.       3VT      Michael Gay                S. Burlington, VT

25.       39VT    Derek Farnham           Bethel, VT

26.       00VT    Howard Stockwell       Randolph, VT

27.       24VT    Todd Raymo                Swanton, VT

28.       96VT    Thomas Peck               Waterbury, VT

29.       04VT    Scott Weston               Berlin, VT

30.       18VT    Walker Fitch                Marshfield, VT

31.       76VT    #Braden LaRose          Essex, VT

32.       94VT    Trevor Rossi                Northfield, VT

DNS     34VT    Patrick Tibbetts           Plainfield, VT

DNS     25VT    Jennifer Getty             E. Fairfield, VT

DSQ     71VT    Jason Kirby                  Milton, VT

Disqualified for Ride Height Infraction

 

Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors – (20 Laps)

1.         95        Taylor Sayers               Barre, VT

2.         97        Eddie Thompson         Colchester, VT

3.         50        Nick Copping               Barre, VT

4.         51        Caleb Cramer              Georgia, VT

5.         42        Jacob Hall-Larson        Northfield, VT

6.         96        Bill O'Connor               S. Washington, VT

7.         70        Mason Frazier             E. Montpelier, VT

8.         5          Sierra Wilds                 W. Topsham, VT

9.         18        Cayden Green             Marshfield, VT

10.       53        Kevin Utton                 Graniteville, VT

11.       43        Anderson Boyd            Berlin, VT

DNS     05        Brandon Premont       Johnson, VT

 

Dads 4 By Tool & Supply Kids Division – (15 Laps)

1.         78VT    Kaden Wimble             Waterbury, VT

2.         81VT    Evan Folsom                Barre, VT

3.         63        Clayton Houghton       Concord, VT

4.         23        Madison Potter           Marshfield, VT

5.         04VT    Bella Hamel                Milton, VT

6.         74        Kiptyn Aldrich             N. Haverhill, NH

7.         77        Kenneth Richardson    Graniteville, VT

8.         14        Colton Williams          Washington, VT

9.         2          Cooper Benoit             Washington, VT

10.       79        Rian Thompson           Colchester, VT

11.       19        Chloe Doyle                 Northfield, VT

12.       56x      Gracen Gorham          E. Burke, VT

13.       17        Makenzi Sicard           Gilmanton, NH