Marcel Gravel Takes ‘Pistol’ Pete Fecteau-Inspired Ride to 2nd-Straight Milk Bowl Win

Column By: Cale King / ACT MEDIA / THUNDER ROAD INTERNATIONAL SPEEDBOWL – BARRE, V.T. – A beautiful, summer-like day greeted the fans and teams of Thunder Road Speedbowl to set the scene for a history-making Vermont Milk Bowl. Three segments of racing awaited the Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour / Maplefields-Irving Late Models Sunday morning with Marcel Gravel pacing the pack early in Segment #1. It started with a bang on lap one, in turn one as Brandon Gray, Bryan Wall Jr. and Erick Sands saw their days end early in a crashing of steel and concrete. Gravel set the pace but fell under attack from current Touring point leader Raphael Lessard at lap 10. Gravel regained the high ground on lap 19 and kept the hammer down for the Segment #1 win.

The start of Segment #2 mirrored that of the first round as an incredible seven car pile-up stacked Jimmy Hebert and Scott Dragon three-high against the turn one wall but after lengthy clean up the Milk Bowl continued. Rookie Trevor Jaques paced the field in battle with sophomore touring driver Cole Littlewood until again Gravel made his way to the front and took the Segment #2 win.

Going into Segment #3 with a perfect score meant Gravel was the man to beat and in the early stages of the final segment it looked like Jason Corliss was giving it his all to topple the Wolcott driver. Aside from the earlier stages, Segment #3 was a calm affair with just one caution on lap 12 for Derek Gluchacki and Lessard in turn one slowing the pace. Gravel again worked his magic to get as high as third in the final segment to take an overall total of just five points, earning him the additional $5,000 score bonus for winning with under six points!

Marcel Gravel was crowned the 2025 Vermont Milk Bowl champion with the help of Northfield Savings Bank as the first back-to-back victory since Jason Corliss in 2018 while his $21,900 victory is unofficially the biggest winner’s payout in Milk Bowl history! Not to mention, Gravel’s score of just 5 points is the lowest winning score since Brian Hoar’s 4-point win back in 1998.

After winning Saturday’s opening segment in the Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers Mini Milk Bowl, Jason Woodard started Sunday’s 40-lapper dead last alongside fellow Milk Bowl hopeful Luke Peters. The two methodically made their way up through the pack, with the aid of a couple cautions no doubt, but Woodard finally broke away and stole the lead with ten laps remaining. Woodard would go on to take the win and the perfect Mini Milk Bowl score of ‘2’ to take the emotional win and return to Northfield Savings Bank victory lane.

The rk Miles Street Stocks returned to also finish out their Mini Milk Bowl action on Northfield Savings Bank Sunday. While Derek Farnham dominated the final segment out front, all eyes were on Nick Pilotte and Jacob Roy after the two broke away from Saturday’s hot-shoes Hayden Morris and Hayden Bushey. The two fought neck and neck through the final stages with Pilotte unable to gain the last crucial spot to secure the tie as White Mountain Motorsports Park regular Jacob Roy nailed down the Mini Milk Bowl honors.

The Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors put on a rough and rowdy affair for the end of season honors at Thunder Road. Cayden Green’s on-track win in Segment #2 was enough to take the overall until an illegal tire was discovered in post-race technical inspection. Taylor Sayers was handed the win afterwards with a first and third, respectively.

The Dad’s 4 By Tool & Supply Kids Division also made the trip over to Vermont Milk Bowl weekend for a pair of 12-lap segments on Sunday. Hometown boy Evan Folsom put on a clinic to win the opening round before coming home second in a door-to-door finish with Owen Dupuis to take the overall in his first career Kids Division win.

That is a wrap on the 2025 season at Thunder Road International Speedbowl with officials already planning for year 67 on the highbanks in 2026! Keep tabs on all the winter happenings online at www.thunderroadvt.com or on social media as we announce exciting new partnerships, drivers and programs for the upcoming season.

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.

63rd Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank

Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl – Barre, VT

Sunday, October 5, 2025

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour / Maplefields-Irving Late Models –

63rd Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank

(Finish Pos., Starting Pos., Car #, Driver, Hometown, Seg #1 Fin., Seg #2 Fin., Seg #3 Fin., (Overall Score))

1. 1          75VT    Marcel J. Gravel          Wolcott, VT                             1, 1, 3 (5)
2. 2          66VT    Jason Corliss               Barre, VT                                 3, 3, 5 (11)
3. 3          18VT    Kaiden Fisher              Shelburne, VT                         5, 5, 2 (12)
4. 6          64VT    Christopher Pelkey     Graniteville, VT                       4, 7, 6 (17)
5. 4          48QC   Raphael Lessard         St-Joseph, QC                          2, 8, 8 (18)
6. 11        91QC   Patrick Laperle            St-Denis, QC                            9, 2, 9 (20)
7. 12        7AK      Derek Gluchacki         Dartmouth, MA                      7, 4, 11 (22)
8. 13        25NH   Jesse Switser               W. Burke, VT                          11, 6, 7 (24)
9. 15        45NH   Stephen Martin          Craftsbury Common, VT         13, 18, 1 (32)
10. 31        31CT    Logan Powers             Middlesex, VT                         19, 14, 4 (37)
11. 22        04VT    Justin Prescott             Milton, VT                               17, 10, 13 (40)
12. 30        16VT    Brandon Lanphear     Morrisville, VT                         18, 13, 10 (41)
13. 19        2NH     Taylor Hoar                 South Hero, VT                        15, 16, 12 (43)
14. 18        68VT    Brooks Clark               Fayston, VT                             21, 9, 14 (44)
15. 20        55VT    Keegan Lamson          Berlin, VT                                16, 15, 15 (46)
16. 24        57VT    #Trevor Jaques           Milton, VT                               22, 12, 17 (51)
17. 25        4VT      Scott Coburn              Barre, VT                                 24, 11, 19 (54)
18. 23        99VT    Cody Blake                  Barre, VT                                 20, 19, 18 (57)
19. 28        73MA  Cole Littlewood          Orange, MA                            25, 17, 16 (58)
20. 9          46VT    Brian Hoar                  South Hero, VT                        6, 26, 32 (64)
21. 7          58VT    Jimmy Hebert             Williamstown, VT                   8, 25, 32 (65)
22. 16        0VT      Scott Dragon               Milton, VT                               10, 24, 32 (66)
23. 10        60BH   DJ Shaw                       Center Conway, NH                12, 23, 32 (67)
24. 21        55BM  Gabe Brown                Center Conway, NH                14, 22, 32 (68)
25. 27        26VT    Stephen Donahue      Graniteville, VT                       23, 21, 32 (76)
26. 29        41QC   Jonathan Bouvrette   Blainville, QC                          28, 20, 32 (80)
27. 26        17VT    Darrell Morin              Westford, VT                           26, 32, 32 (90)
28. 17        33QC   Remi Perreault           St. Paul, QC                             27, 32, 32 (91)
29. 5          00VT    #Brandon Gray           E. Thetford, VT                        29, 32, 32 (93)
30. 8          6VT      Bryan Wall Jr.              E. Kingston, NH                       30, 32, 32 (94)
31. 14        36NH   Erick Sands                  Derry, NH                                31, 32, 32 (95)