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Claremont’s Cody Schoolcraft Joins Strong Late Model Rookie Class at Thunder Road
Press Release from Thunder Road Speedbowl
Photo Courtesy of Claremont Motorsports Park
Barre, VT — After announcing a pair of family-tied hot shoes have entered the race for the 2023 Maplewood/Irving Oil Late Model Rookie of the Year at Thunder Road, an unexpected third man has thrown his hat into the ring. Cody Schoolcraft of Claremont, New Hampshire has submitted his paperwork to the Barre, Vermont office and has stated his intention of tackling the Rookie award for one of the most competitive weekly racing classes in New England.
Cody Schoolcraft entered the racing fray behind the wheel of a four-cylinder at Claremont Motorsports Park, his hometrack, before taking on the V-8 Street Stock division. Schoolcraft took the 2019 Street Stock Rookie of the Year in the same competitive class that saw David Greenslit take two-consecutive NASCAR Division II national championships. After three years in the Street Stocks, Cody started 2022 in the same V-8 machines before moving up to the Late Model Sportsman midseason, earning one win in each division last year.
Schoolcraft has limited time on the unique Thunder Road highbanks, attempting to race with the Honey Badger Street Stock Series in 2021 but was unable to start the feature event. He stated his intention to run the full Thunder Road season in 2023 and included visits to White Mountain Motorsports Park and on the American-Canadian Tour might also be in the cards for the additional experience, should time allow.
“Let’s be honest, if you live up here and haven’t run a full season at Thunder Road you’re doing it wrong,” said Schoolcraft. “My car owner Nathan Kelly and myself are ready for it, we have great people behind us, a great crew and excited sponsors. I’m just looking forward to a full season in front of that crowd at that world class facility. We’re ready for May 7th.”
“We’re obviously excited to have such a strong rookie class at Thunder Road this season,” said Thunder Road managing partner Cris Michaud. “I’m thrilled that we’re seeing some ‘outside’ guys joining in, not only with Cody coming from Claremont but we’re also seeing a ton of rookie interest in the ACT Tour. Between the three of these guys, the Thunder Road rookie battle will be one to keep tabs on all season.”
Thunder Road opens with an epic 25th annual Community Bank N.A. lid-lifter weekend. It all starts with the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models, Modifieds and R&R Street Stocks on Saturday, May 6th following the annual Thunder Road car show starting at 9:00am. Sunday, May 7th will feature the silver anniversary for the American-Canadian Tour Community Bank 150 plus the start of the championship season for the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers and rk Miles Street Stocks with the Burnett Scrap Metal Road Warriors in tow.
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.
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eNASCAR iRacing Driver Ryan Doucette Looking to Make First Career NAPA Spring Sizzler Start
Press Release from Stafford Speedway
Photo Courtesy of Stafford Speedway
(Stafford Springs, CT)—When Stafford Speedway drops the green flag on the 51st Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler®, scheduled for April 29-30, Framingham, MA native Ryan Doucette will be looking to qualify for “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring” with the #55 All Phases Renovations team owned by his father, Joe.
“This will be my first attempt at the Sizzler®,” said Doucette. “We’ve ran a few of the Open 80s, a Tri-Track race and an MRS race, so this won’t be my first time at Stafford but it will be my first Sizzler®. Stafford is in my eyes absolutely the pinnacle, top-tier track that you want to go to in the Northeast. There’s no facility quite like Stafford. I have to give a big thanks to my sponsors All Phases Renovations, GFA Arms Tech, Spot on Photography, and all the crew members who come to the track and help us out. We’re a pretty small team and we’re always looking to expand whether it’s crew members or sponsors, anything we can get helps.”
Compared to many of the other drivers who will be in the NAPA Spring Sizzler® starting field, Doucette has a lack of experience at Stafford. Doucette has only 3 career starts at Stafford with a best finish of 14th in 2020. While Doucette will be taking to the track with his #55 car prior to the Sizzler®, as a member of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Pittsburgh Knights team, he can always turn to the virtual Stafford to help get himself acclimated to the track.
“The Sizzler® will be our second race of the year after we get started with a race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway a few weeks prior, so hopefully we’ll have all the bugs worked out of the car and we can really see what we have when we come to Stafford,” said Doucette. “I’ve ran Stafford occasionally on iRacing and it’s not exactly like real life, but it’s pretty close. The physical features are pretty much spot on, it’s just small things like the groove are a little different. I’ve tried to use it in the past to get prepared for Stafford but I don’t think it benefits me all that much. It definitely helps keep your reflexes sharp and as long as you’re learning to drive something, then it’s always a benefit. It might not be the most realistic experience, but it teaches you to drive a wide variety of cars. Nothing beats going out on the track for that first practice for the open modified cars.”
With one of Doucette’s prior Stafford starts coming in a Tri-Track modified race in 2020, he feels like he has the team and the ability to earn one of the 33 starting positions for the NAPA Spring Sizzler®.
“When you’re competing against all the guys who run Stafford weekly on Friday nights, there’s so much experience on the track that I’m lacking,” said Doucette. “I feel like I have the ability to make the race because we were able to qualify for the Tri-Track race a couple years ago, it will just be a matter of hitting on the right setup and being in the right spot.”
While most drivers will have their sights set on winning the race or securing a top-5 finish, Doucette has a modest goal of making the starting grid, which he says would be just like winning the race for his small team.
“Making the race through the heat races will be the biggest challenge for us,” said Doucette. “If we can make the race that would be like a win for a small team like ours. Assuming we make the race, I would be ecstatic with a top-10 finish but I’ll be pretty happy if we can just qualify for the race.”
The 51st Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® kicks off on Saturday, April 29, and will consist of two 40-lap NAPA Duel qualifying races for the Open Modified division. The 40-lap races will each pay $3,500 to win and will set the field for Sunday’s NAPA Spring Sizzler®. The American Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Models will also make their return to Stafford Speedway on April 29th with a 75-lap feature with over 40 cars expected for the race. Limited Late Model, Street Stock, and Vintage All-Star divisions will complete Saturday’s racing program.
Sunday, April 30th will play host to the $20,000 to win 51st NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler®. Filling out Sunday’s racing card will be qualifying and feature racing for the SK Modified®, SK Light Modified, and Late Model divisions along with last chance qualifiers for the Spring Sizzler®.
For more information, visit staffordspeedway.com, follow Stafford Speedway on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or contact the track office at 860-684-2783.
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ACT, PASS to kickoff 2023 season this weekend in Hickory
Story By: Matthew Wiernasz
Photo By: Erik Tavares
HICKORY, NC- The ACT (American Canadian Tour) along with the PASS (Pro All Star Series) Super Late Models will kick off their 2023 season this weekend at the legendary Hickory Motor Speedway in Hickory, NC as both series will race back to back nights this Friday and Saturday.
Both races for the American Canadian Tour this weekend will be a non-points event while both races for the Pro All Star Series will be counted towards National Points
The Pro All Star Series returns to the 3/8 mile oval for the Easter Bunny Twin 150’s. Ryan Moore won the first twin 150 race last year while NASCAR Cup Series driver William Byron took down the win in the second 150 lap race.
Moore has entered both races this weekend along with Wayne, Helliwell, Jr, D.J. Shaw, 2022 PASS Champion Ryan Kuhn, Ben Rowe, Mike Hopkins, Joey Dorion, and more.
For the American Canadian Tour Late Model teams, the road begins for them at Hickory Motor Speedway for a chance to punch their ticket in for All-Star Showdown Late Model race that will take place at Thunder Road Speedbowl when the SRX Series comes to the Green Mountain State for the very first time on Thursday, July 20. The All-Star Late Model race will be 64 laps in honor of Thunder Road Speedbowl’s 64th season.
Some of the drivers that have entered the ACT Tour race this weekend at Hickory include D.J. Shaw, Tom Carey, III, Nick and Jake Johnson along with Derek Gluchacki and ACT veteran drivers Patrick Laperle, and Joey Polewarczyk, Jr.
The winner from the St. Patricks Day 125 and the Easter Bunny 125 this weekend will earn a spot for the All-Star Showdown at Thunder Road this summer.
Their first points event of the season will be at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the third annual Northeast Classic coming up next month.
This weekend will also see the debut of the ACT Tour Mighty Mini Series as they will race 40 laps on Friday and Saturday.
There will be an optional practice this Thursday where the Pit Gates will open at 1:00 p.m. and the rotating practice sessions will begin at 3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
On Friday, the pit gates will open at noon, with practice beginning at 2:30 p.m. and going until 5:30 p.m. Racing will begin at 6:00 p.m. with qualifying heat races and then features to follow as it will be the St. Patrick’s Day 150 for the PASS Super Late Models, along with the 40 lap Mighty Mini Stock Feature and to close out the Friday night portion of the program will be the St. Patrick’s Day 125 for the ACT Tour Late Models.
On Saturday, the pit gates will open at 10:30 a.m. with practice beginning at 12:30 p.m. and going until 2:30 p.m. Racing will begin at 3:00 p.m. with qualifying as features will begin at 4:00 p.m. with the PASS Super Late Models Easter Bunny 150, along with the ACT Tour Late Models Easter Bunny 125, and the Mighty Mini Stock Feature that will be 40 laps
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Zherenko makes 33 stops as T-Birds defeat Charlotte
Story By: Matthew Wiernasz
Photo Courtesy of the Springfield Thunderbirds
SPRINGFIELD, MA- The Springfield Thunderbirds defeated the Charlotte Checkers for the second time in a week on Saturday night at the MassMutual Center in front of a sellout crowd by the final score of 4-1.
The T-Birds fourth line got on the board in the first period with 9:14 remaining in the first period as Greg Printz fired the one-timer and Drew Callin was able to put the puck into the net to make it 1-0.
Matthew Highmore extended the lead for the Thunderbirds 17 seconds into the second period as he grabbed the loose puck and scored. Martin Frk received the assist and earned his 300th AHL point.
Riley Nash scored for the Checkers with 17:15 remaining in the second period as he redirected a shot on the power play to make the score 2-1.
The Thunderbirds extended the lead as Adam Gaudette fired the shot and Mikhail Abramov was able to put in the rebound with 17:24 remaining in regulation to make it 3-1.
Martin Frk scored the final goal of the night for the Thunderbirds as he scored on the rebound from a Matt Kessel shot to make it 4-1.
The T-Bird’s three-game winning streak came to an end on Sunday as they lost to the Bridgeport Islanders 3-0 at Total Mortgage Arena.
Thunderbirds goaltender Joel Hofer was named the AHL Player Of The Week. The League made the announcement on Monday. Hofer stopped 57 out of 58 shots during his two starts over the weekend.
The Springfield Thunderbirds return to action tonight for the first of three games this week as they will face their I-91 rival the Hartford Wolf Pack at the MassMutual Center. The Wolf Pack come to the Thunderdome tonight after losing to the Charlotte Checkers 6-3 on Sunday afternoon at the XL Center.
The T-Birds will also take on the Providence Bruins on Friday and the Laval Rocket on Saturday for Pink In The Rink at the MassMutual Center. Both games will begin at 7:05 p.m.
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Hofer, T-Birds beat I-91 rival in goaltending duel win in a shootout
Story By: Matthew Wiernasz
Photo Courtesy of the Springfield Thunderbirds
SPRINGFIELD, MA- Matthew Highmore and Matthew Peca were able to score goals in the shootout for the Springfield Thunderbirds as they defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack 1-0 on Friday night at the MassMutual Center.
The game was scoreless until the shootout. Thunderbirds goaltender Joel Hofer made 10 saves while Wolf Pack goaltender Louie Domingue made seven saves.
The Thunderbirds would continue the momentum in the second as they fired 16 shots at Domingue including seven shots in the first six minutes of the second period. Domingue denied scoring chances point blank from T-Birds forwards Greg Printz and Mitchell Hoelscher.
The best scoring opportunity for the Wolf Pack was when Turner Elson fired the shot that beat Hofer but rang off the crossbar.
After 65 minutes of play, both goaltenders earned a shutout. It was onto the shootout. Both teams could not score in five rounds. T-Birds forward Matthew Highmore was able to change that in the sixth round of the shootout. Highmore lifted the forehand shot over Domingue’s glove to score.
The Wolf Pack would tie it in the sixth round of the shootout. Defenseman Adam Clendenberg was making his debut for the Wolf Pack. He would beat Hofer blocker side to keep the game going as the shootout was tied at 1-1.
Matthew Peca would go in the seventh round of the shootout. Peca was able to score as he fired the shot over the glove of Domingue to make it 2-1.
Bobby Trivigno would go for the Wolf Pack and would be denied by Hofer for his 20th win of the season and his third shootout of the year.
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T-Birds rebound against Charlotte
Story By: Matthew Wiernasz
Photo Courtesy of the Springfield Thunderbirds
SPRINGFIELD, MA- The Springfield Thunderbirds responded against the Charlotte Checkers with a 5-2 victory including four goals in the first period.
Matthew Highmore got the Thunderbirds 21 seconds into the opening period when he deflected a shot from Matt Kessel past through Checkers goaltender Mack Guzda to make it 1-0.
Scott Perunovich one-timed a pass from Matthew Peca to give the Thunderbirds a 2-0 lead with 14:41 remaining in the first period.
Gerry Mayhew cut into the Thunderbird’s lead as he used the wrap-around and beat Hofer to score for the Checkers to make it 2-1 with 12:17 remaining in the first period.
Mathias Laferriere extended the lead for the Thunderbirds as he took the shot from the left faceoff circle that went through the legs of Guzda to make it 3-1 with 6:21 remaining in the first period. Keean Washkurak made it 4-1 as he centered a pass from Mikhail Abramov to complete the first period.
The Checkers made a goaltending change to start the second period as Jean-Francois Berube replaced Guzda. Lucas Carlsson would cut into the Thunderbird’s lead cutting the deficit down to two goals. Carlsson faked out a Thunderbirds defender and beat Hofer with the shot to make it 4-2 1:08 into the second period.
Nikita Alexandrov scored his 13th goal of the season for the Thunderbirds and on his ninth shot of the game as he beat Berube with the wrist shot to make it 5-2.
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T-Birds defeated by Rochester on Military Appreciation Night
Story By: Matthew Wiernasz
Photo Courtesy of the Springfield Thunderbirds
SPRINGFIELD, MA- The Springfield Thunderbirds lost to the Rochester Americans on Miltary Appreciation Night by the final score of 7-1.
Martin Frk got the Thunderbirds on the board 1:28 into the opening period as he ripped the one-timer with assists from Dmitri Samorukov and Matthew Highmore to make it 1-0.
The Americans responded back with seven unanswered goals throughout the game and would tie the game with 12:46 remaining in the first period when Michael Mersch put in the rebound from the edge of the crease to make it 1-1.
Brett Murray gave the Americans their first lead of the night with 1:15 remaining in the first period as he redirected the puck to make it 2-1 after one period of play.
The Americans would continue to extend their lead in the second period as they would score three goals. Linus Weissbach scored on an odd-man rush with 17:08 remaining in the second period to make it 3-1. Isak Rosen scored his first goal of the evening with a bank shot past Hofer with 12:22 remaining in the second period to make it 4-1.
Jeremy Davies made it 5-1 with the third power-play goal of the evening for Rochester. Hofer’s night would come to an end as Vadim Zherenko came in relief.
Rochester would score two more goals as they took 13 shots on Zherenko as Joe Cecconi and Isak Rosen’s second goal of the game were by the final goals scored by Rochester.
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Islanders defeat Belleville Senators but lose to Charlotte and Lehigh Valley
Story By: Matthew Wiernasz
Photo Courtesy of the Bridgeport Islanders
BRIDGEPORT, CT- The Bridgeport Islanders defeated the Belleville Senators 5-1 last Thursday night at Total Mortgage Arena.
Luke Richardson was making his AHL debut for the Senators heading into last Thursday night’s game.
William Dufour would get the Islanders on the board in the first period as he fired the wrist shot that went past Richardson with 8:01 remaining in the first period to make it 1-0.
Reece Newkirk scored his first AHL goal 1:29 into the second period. Newkirk went on a 2-on-1 rush as he put in a rebound from Jeff Kubiak to make it 2-0.
After an Islanders penalty expired, Paul Thompson would be on a breakaway with the pass from Andy Andreoff. Thompson would be denied by Richardson but Islanders defenseman Grant Hutton would put in the rebound with the backhand to make it with 11:47 remaining in the second period.
Dufour would add his second goal of the game as he went on a 2-on-1 rush with Kyle MacLean. Dufour would end up putting the puck in the back of the net to make it 4-0.
Mark Kastelic would score his first goal of the season on the power play for the Senators with 7:00 remaining in the second period to make it 4-1.
The Islanders would get a power play goal in the third period as Ruslan Iskhakov would score his 12th goal of the year with 14:33 remaining in regulation to make it 5-1.
The Islanders would take on the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday at Total Mortgage Arena and would lose to the Checkers 5-2. On Sunday, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms came to Bridgeport. The Islanders would go up 3-0 in the second period against the Phantoms as Cole Bardreau, William Dufour and Ruslan Iskhakov would score. Iskhakov scored on a penalty shot. The Phantoms would respond with four unanswered goals as Artem Anisimov scored the game-winning goal for the Phantoms with 4:27 remaining in regulation as the Phantoms would defeat the Islanders 4-3.
The Islanders will return to action on Thursday when they take on the Providence Bruins at Total Mortgage Arena
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Thunderbirds have tough going against their I-91 rival
Story By: Matthew Wiernasz
Photo courtesy of the Springfield Thunderbirds
SPRINGFIELD, MA- The Springfield Thunderbirds were defeated by the Hartford Wolf Pack 5-1 last Wednesday night at the MassMutual Center.
Matthew Robertson got the Wolf Pack on the board late in the first period with 3:50 when he took the shot and put it in the open net. Thunderbirds Head Coach Drew Bannister and goaltender Joel Hofer felt that Hofer tried to get back to the net to play the puck but the goal stand as it was 1-0 after one period of play.
Will Cuylle help extend the lead for the Wolf Pack on a turnover. He found Lauri Pajuniemi and he fired the shot past Hofer’s glove to make it 2-0 for Hartford with 11:48 remaining in the second period
Will Bitten cut into the lead for the Thunderbirds as he scored on a rebound with the wrist shot from Martin Frk from the blue to make it 2-1.
Pajuniemi would add his second goal of the game for the Wolf Pack with the one-timer with 6:19 remaining to make it 3-1.
The Wolf Pack would add two more goals in the third period. Cuylle made it 4-1 for the Wolf Pack just 1:10 into the third period. Pajuniemi added an empty net goal to complete the hat trick with 2:48 remaining in regulation to make it 5-1.
These two I-91 rivals will be meeting a lot during the month of March. The first meeting of the month will be this Friday night at the MassMutual Center for the drop of the puck at 7:05 p.m.
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AIC finishes in a tie gets extra point in a shootout, regular season concludes on Saturday
Story By: Matthew Wiernasz
Photo courtesy of AIC
SPRINGFIELD, MA- The AIC Yellow Jackets finished in a 2-2 tie against the Sacred Heart Pioneers on Friday night at the MassMutual Center but would win 2-1 in a shootout with Brian Kramer scoring the game-winning goal to get the extra point.
” For us this time of year, we obviously want to be playing our best hockey. I thought the 60 minutes prior to that was as good as we could play against a really good opponent. I told our group we got what we deserved and the extra point was big for us because it gives us a chance to be a 2 seed tomorrow which is really important for our hockey program. We want to finish as high as we can with the regular season.” AIC Yellow Jackets Head Coach Eric Lang Said
I thought we battled hard tonight. I thought AIC had the better of the play in the first and kind of in the middle of second, we flipped the switch. We started stacking shifts on top of each other. It was a gritty game. I thought we were in a good spot and got the lead. Tough call I think to put on that 5-on-4 but AIC executed and got that goal. You go to a shootout and anything can happen. It’s a skills competition. It is what it is.” Pioneers Head Coach C.J. Marottolo
” First off it was a great game overall. We battled back to get to even late. We played a full 60 minutes and then went into overtime. I was watching MacDonald’s goal what he did on the first move so I kept that in mind. Puck went in.” AIC defenseman Brian Kramer Said
Oscar Geschwind will get the Yellow Jackets on the board as he got the puck on a turnover and scored his eighth goal of the year to make it 1-0.
The Pioneers responded late in the second period as Dante Fantauzzi redirected a shot that went off a Yellow Jackets player stick to tie the game at 1-1 with 5:41 remaining in the second period.
Neil Shea gave the Pioneers their first lead of the night with the wrist shot to make it 2-1 with 10:58 remaining in regulation.
The Yellow Jackets tied the game late in regulation as Blake Bennett tied the game with the wrist shot for his team leading and conference leading 20th goal of the season at 2-2. Bennett becomes the second player in the Division-1 program for AIC to score 20 goals.
The game would finish in a shootout as Brian Kramer would use the nifty move and beat Pioneers goaltender Luke Lush to win the game.
The regular season will conclude tonight when these two teams meet with a lot on the line. Tonight’s game could be like a playoff-style game
” It has to be. It’s a good dry run for both of us because after this week we’re playing for keeps.” Lang Said
” Oh most definitely,” Kramer Said
The puck drop tonight is at 7:05 p.m.
The AIC Yellow Jackets will host the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals next weekend Friday through Sunday at the MassMutual Center.
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