WILK TAKES FIRST THUNDER MOUNTAIN WIN
Rick Wilk parlayed his third starting spot to a three car length win over Brian Weaver in the thirty lap Don’t Automotive Mall/Gary’s U-Pull-It King’s Royal Starting spot last Sunday night at the Thunder Mountain Speedway. Other winners on the eight class card included Chad Cook returning to form in the twenty-lap Sportsman go. J. T. McKernan getting closer to Mark Wainwright’s point lead in the twenty-lap Street Stock feature, Mike Wilbur nipping Buck Mills and Dick Stark in the twenty-lap Pure Stock event, Bob Doolittle returning to victory lane in the Four Cylinder Stock event, Gordie Isham winning another in the fifteen-lap Four Cylinder Modified feature plus Tim Parker winning the Thunder Dogs and Rich Gardner winning in the Thunder Pups.
For Wilk the win was bittersweet. After missing most of the season for personal reasons, Wilk’s been back for the last four weeks and has struggled since his return. The front row of Chris Weaver and Jim Gabriel Jr. dueled it out in the early going with Weaver getting the nod by lap eight. Brother Brian Weaver moved into second behind Chris using the unaccustomed high line. Wilk snuck by them both by lap twelve and Brian got by Chris a couple of laps later. It turned out to be a classic high-low dues with Wilk on the bottom and Brian Weaver on the top with brother Chris, Paul Jensen and Mike Decker all waiting for someone to make a mistake.
Wilk put the power down coming off the corners and Weaver would gain going in. This is how it went for the next dozen or so laps with Weave getting oh so close a couple of times. But in the end it was Wilk holding off Weaver for the win with Chris Weaver getting a solid third. Jensen edged out Mike Decker for fourth. Point leader Mike Colsten lost some ground to both Weaver and Jensen as he developed a flat right rear tire early in the race and had to pit. He later returned and finished ninth.
After a few weeks of not being there Chad Cook returned to victory lane in grand style by winning the twenty-lap Sportsman race on Don’t Automotive Mall/Gary’s U-Pull-It night. Cook got out front early from his sixth starting spot and held a comfortable margin the entire distance with only yellow flags to slow his pace. Brian Decker took home second followed by Ken Titus in third, Dusty Jagger in fourth and Billy Spoonhower in fifth. Strong runner Brian White was involved in two separate melees and was not a factor in the finish. Cook’s crew hand a long night after getting crunched on Saturday night.
The twenty-lap Street Stock feature was all J. T. McKernan. The two time feature winner led wire to wire. The real race was behind him as Chris Stull out dueled Saturday night’s winner Larry Hillis for second. Fourth went to Denny Decker while fifth went to point leader Mark Wainwright.
The most competitive feature of the night came in the twenty-lap Pure Stock event. Buck Mills, driving the Hillis #31, defending champion Mike Wilbur and Dick Stark plus Doug Stack and Jim Cornell Jr. all went at it for the entire twenty-lap distance. Mills was the early leader but Wilbur was all over him with Stark in tow. This trio left the field and only a late race caution brought Stack and Cornell into the picture. As the white flag flew Mills had less than a car length lead over Wilbur with Stark right behind. With the fans on their feet screaming Wilbur edged his nose just in front of Mills as the duo crossed the finish line under the checkers with Stark les than a car length behind. Stack was right on Stark’s bumper for fourth and Cornell was less than a bumper behind Stack for the most exciting finish this year.
The fifteen lap Four Cylinder Modified feature saw Gordie Isham get to the front from his sixth starting spot on lap four and led the rest of the way. Point leader Ken Stafford had mechanical problems as something in his front end broke on lap eleven and he was then hit by Dennis Copp II. Both were done for the evening. With Isham in front, Tom Fletcher had his hands full with Alan Bush and Mark Reynolds for the number two spot. At the checkers it was Isham followed by Fletcher, Bush, Reynolds and Bruce Detro in the top five spots.
Bob Doolittle wasted little time using the high groove to his advantage as he won the fifteen lap Four Cylinder Stock feature for the first time in a month. Doolittle started seventh on the field and waited until traffic cleared before making his move. Passing cars three and four wide Doolittle made it to the front on lap four and never looked back. His closest pursuer Harold Humphrey was involved in a couple of skirmishes and never was a serious challenger. Saturday night’s winner Mitch Hurlburt came home second with Humphrey in tow for third. Jason Tuttle and John Wilcox rounded out the top five.
In the twelve lap Thunder Dog feature it was Tim Parker scoring for the ninth time in 2003. Parker took the lead from Tim Grover on lap five and never looked back. Grover held on for his best finish of the year in second followed by Brady Foster in third, Rob Shutts in fourth and Scott Alexander in fifth.
The third Thunder Pup feature of the year saw its third different feature winner. Rich Gardner used his front row starting spot to capture the win. Saturday’s winner Amber Patrick came home second with Tim Livermore in third, Sean Gardner in fourth and newcomer Bobby Edwards in fifth.
Only two more point shows left on Thunder Mountain’s schedule all leading up to the “King Of The Mountain” on Saturday night September 20th. This week will feature a regular card of Modifieds, Sportsman, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, Four Cylinder Modifieds, Four Cylinder Stocks, Thunder Dogs and Thunder Pups. Gates are set to open at 4:00 with racing at 6:30 p.m. Thunder Mountain is located just off Route 79 in Center Lisle, New York, just a short distance off Exit of I81 in Whitney Point.