JENSEN, WALKER, RAMPE AND GREEN CAPTURE THUNDER MOUNTAIN CHECKERS!
Despite heavy rains earlier in the day, racing action took to the track Saturday night at the Thunder Mountain Speedway. West Edmeston driver Paul Jensen found his way to victory lane for the second time this season in the Modified ranks, while Shaun Walker picked up his fourth Sportsman feature win.
Also in victory lane were Bill Rampe in Street Stocks, Rich Green in Pure Stocks, Duane Knapp in Four Cylinder Modifieds, Rich Poweill in Four Cylinder Stocks, Brady Foster in Thunder Dogs and Rich Gardner in the Thunder Pups.
In Modified action, Kingsley, PAs Rocket Rick Holgate took command at the start of the 30 lap Feature event from his pole starting position. Binghamtons Mike Colsten quickly moved up into second after starting sixth, and put pressure on Holgate for the lead.
As the field hit lap eleven, Colsten took the low side past Holgate to take over the top spot. A lap fourteen caution tightened the pack back up. As the field returned to green flag racing, Colsten held the lead, but West Edmeston driver Powerful Paul Jensen took over the runner up spot from Holgate and looked for room under the Colsten machine.
Three laps later, Jensen, who had started eighth, made his move and took over the race lead. Current point leader Mike Decker, of Gibson, PA, diced his way up through the pack, and took over second from Colsten on lap twenty.
At the drop of the checkers it was Jensen coming in for his second win of the season, with Decker second, Brent Wilcox third, Colsten fourth and Holgate fifth.
The 20 lap Sportsman main event saw Kirkwoods Ken Titus leap out from his third place starting position to lead the way in the early going. Meanwhile, Masonvilles Shaun Walker followed suit from his fourth starting spot and moved into second.
The top two remained the same until Walker took over the top spot at the half-way point after a lap nine caution. Brent Boyer, who had started back in tenth, was quickly picking his way through the pack, and with four laps to go he started challenging Titus for second.
At the finish it was Walker with the win, his fourth of the season, with Boyer taking home second after getting the spot from Titus with one to go. Titus finished third, followed by Cliff Pierce in fourth and Rick Wilk in fifth.
The 20 lap Street Stock feature turned out to be a nail biter, as the finish was determined by just a few short feet. Berkshires Bill Rampe started fourth in the field, and edged out pole starter Richard Post, of Dallas, PA, for the top spot on lap three.
Current point leader Ken Hammond, of Speedsville, started deep in the field at eleventh, but wasted no time getting to the front, as he took over second from Binghamtons P.J. Goodwin on lap seven, and set his sights on Rampe for the lead.
Hammond made a few charges on the outside of Rampe, but came up short as Rampe held on for the close victory. Jim Howard came In third, with Goodwin and Harold Humphrey completing the top five.
In the 20 lap Pure Stock main event, Newark Valleys Chuck Alexander grabbed the early race lead after starting on the outside pole, but pole starter Joe George, of Whitney Point, and eighth place starter Rich Green, of Endicott, had other thoughts as they took over the top two spots by lap seven.
George held the lead until slipping high coming out of turn two allowing Green to take over the lead. George stayed in line right behind Green, but didnt make a bid for the lead as he had his hands full holding off third place runner Dick Stark, of Lansing.
Green cruised on for the win, his fourth regular feature and fifth overall at the speedway this season. George came home second, with Stark, Jess Snell, and Shane Wolff completing the top five.
Sherburnes Duane Knapp continues to dominate the Four Cylinder Modified ranks as he put the caps on win number eleven for the season. Knapp started eighth in the fifteen lap event, and took the lead from seventh place starter John Powers on lap eight.
Powers, of South New Berlin, finished second, with Tom Fletcher, Cal Pierce and Curt Pierce completing the top five.
In the Four Clynder Stock 15 lap feature, Rome, PA’s Rich Powell made it two in a row as he picked up the win. Powell took over command of the race from Cooperstowns Ken Carson on lap seven, and went on to open up a commanding lead over runner up Bob Doolittle.
Doolittle came in for second, followed by Jason Tuttle, Carson and Chuck Wheeland, Jr.
Michael Morse appeared to have the win for the 10 lap Thunder Dog main event, but a post race inspection changed all that as Morse, second place finisher Art Palmer and fourth place finisher Roger Walburn all were disqualified after the tech check.
Owegos Brady Foster, who came across third, was creditied with the win, with Tim Grover, Lloyd Twarz, Tim Gwardyak and David Ackley in for the top five.
Chenango Forks driver Rich Gardner also made it two in a row as he picked up the win in the 10 lap Thunder Pup feature. Gardner started sixth in the field, and took over the top spot on lap two.
This coming Saturday is a regular night of racing at the clay oval, with all eight regular classes on the card for the evenings events. Gates open at 4pm, with racing set to start at 6:30pm.