BARRE, Vt. – The Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series visited Thunder Road International Speedbowl for the first time in history with Chase Dowling taking the victory.
Dowling captured the $10,000 winning prize in the Granite City 100, passing for the lead with 48 laps to go and leading the remainder of the distance en route to victory lane.
Dowling bested Anthony Nocella and six-time Tri-Track champion Matt Hirschman in the 25-car starting field.
“First off, I want to stop and say to all of you guys here and the fans, this is badass,” Dowling said in victory lane. “All of you guys coming out on Memorial Day, it’s great to see a great crowd, this is a great facility. The car was on rails today – the crew did a great job. Can’t do it without all of the sponsors.”
Dowling’s victory was his sixth in Tri-Track competition in 17 starts, only trailing Hirschman, who has 14. Nocella, who had speed in his No. 92 all day, finished a solid second in a field that had a total purse rising over $40,000.
“All in all a decent run today,” Nocella said. “I have to thank Tri-Track for coming here and Thunder Road for having us, it’s a great facility with great racing.”
Hirschman’s goal is always to get to the front, and the Pennsylvania native made it there late in the race, but couldn’t capture the checkered flag. It was Hirschman’s 29th top-five finish in 36 career Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series races.
“Track position was important,” Hirschman said. “We had some speed at the end. I’m happy we were able to get to third. Thunder Road has a great thing going here on Memorial Day weekend as we remember those who were lost fighting for our freedom. I like to win, but we moved forward, got third and we will see if we can be better next time.”
Ronnie Williams and Kirk Alexander finished the top-five. Woody Pitkat and Stan Mertz Racing made the late decision to visit Thunder Road and finished sixth, while Matt Swanson was seventh, Jake Johnson eighth, Brian Robie ninth and Chris Pasteryak 10th.