Vermont Farmer Wins Thunder Road Milk Bowl
Toughest Short Track Stock Car Race in America
Oct 18, 2009
Donahue drove the United States Army National Guard No. 26 to a 5th place finish in the final 50-lap leg of the Milk Bowl, which consists of three 50-lap segments cumulatively scored. His overall event score of 17 points (3rd, 9th, 5th) was four points lower than his closest competitor Brent Dragon.
Donahue and Dragon began the final 50-lap segment side-by-side in the seventh row as the low-score leaders, a point apart from American Canadian Tour title contender Scott Payea, who was three rows farther back. What unfolded were four of the fiercest laps of the year as drivers showed no hesitation in contesting track position three-wide in places where it’s seldom possible.
Thunder Road Late Model Champion Jean-Paul Cyr
As Jean-Paul Cyr, Chip Grenier and Joey Polewarczyk broke away from the pack to lead the third segment, Donahue, about to get pinned in lapped traffic, dropped down into the low line just ahead of Dragon. Dragon returned the favor one lap later. The action continued for three more laps before the jousting sent Dragon to the top of turn three as Payea and Dave Whitcomb flew off it and into the styrofoam barriers.
"It got a little rough there for a while," Donahue said. "I was playing it smart in the first two segments. Then it was time to take the gloves off. This is the Milk Bowl. It's not like a regular Thursday night."
"The third segment began to get rough about halfway through," Dragon said. " I got pushed out three wide, right out in the dirt; I can’t believe we didn’t wreck. We got back to the inside and then everyone was bouncing off one another. We got the rear end knocked out and that messed the car up. I had to just ride it out after that, which was too bad because I had a good car. At the start, Donahue was on the inside, I was on the outside and the outside was a little slower. That's the luck of the draw. It's everybody for themselves at the end of the Milk Bowl. That's just the way it is."
American Canadian Tour Late Models
Fifty-three American Canadian Tour Late Models were at Thunder Road attempting to qualify for 30 Milk Bowl starting positions. Nick Sweet of Barre and Joey Polewarczyk Jr. of Hudson, NH qualified on the front row. Dragon and Dave Pembroke, two former Milk Bowl winners were in row two. Donahue started fifth.
Dragon drove underneath Nick Sweet on lap six and led the rest of the first 50-lap segment. He was able to run high or low with equal ease and began lapping cars on lap 30. Donahue was unable to overtake Sweet, but he finished third after a lengthy duel with Polewarczyk.
LEE USA Late Model Champion Wins 2nd Milk Bowl Segment
Wayne Helliwell Jr. of Dracut, Mass., won the second segment handily after some early challenges from Whitcomb. Tyler Cahoon, Tony Andrews, Brian Hoar and Payea were next in line.
"This means so much to me, I don't know how to describe it," Donahue said. "I wanted it so bad. Now I get to have my name up there on the that third monument, that Milk Bowl one."
Donahue won the Labor Day Classic in 2007 and last spring added his name to the list of winners of the Memorial Day Classic last year. His name appears on both granite monuments commemorating those traditional Thunder Road events and his name will now be engraved upon the Milk Bowl monument.
NASCAR Busch North Champion Dale Shaw
Donahue said the Kendall Roberts-owned team turned a corner in mid-July, when car builder and former NASCAR Busch North Champion Dale Shaw came on as crew chief on a regular basis. "The first part of the season was rough for us," Donahue said. "And then Dale helped us get something situated with this car, so everywhere we went the car was really good with a little tweaking. The second half of the year, we came on really strong."
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