The names Decker and white have been seen in Thunder Mountain’s victory lane so far in 2003 but this time the first names a slightly different. Mike Decker parlayed his up front starting position to capture his first ever Modified in the thirty lap Modified headliner last Saturday night at the Thunder Mountain Speedway. Likewise Brian White in the twenty lap Sportsman go. The second generation driver ran and hid from his competition as he took home his first win of the 2003 season. Other winners on the card included Mark Wainwright in the twenty-lap Street Stock feature, taking over the point lead in the process. Doug Stack, fresh off his tremendous win in the “Hurricane on the Mountain” event beat out event organizer Dick Stark in the twenty lap Pure Stock feature. Ken Stafford, Harold Humphrey and Tim Parker added to their win totals in the Four Cylinder Modifieds, Four Cylinder Stocks and Thunder Dogs respectively while Tim Livermore won in the debut of the Thunder Pups on a full night of racing.
Decker, who’s first career open wheel win came in the Don’s Automotive Mall Sportsman Series race back on August sixth, started third on the grid behind pole sitter Billy Jenkins and one time feature winner Jeff Sheely. Decker wasted little time getting to the front as the field completed lap one, the potent BPG sponsored machine was in front to stay. Meanwhile the field behind him was jockeying for positions. The man on the move was Paul Jensen, who had a problem in hot laps but got it fixed in time to run the heats. Jensen moved into second as point leader Brian Weaver and second place Mike Colsten battled it out for third.
After Jensen got the second spot time seemed to be on the side of Decker as the laps were clicking off without a yellow to help, Jensen was running out of time. Jensen got close but Decker held the fort and claimed his first ever Modified win. Jensen was a strong second with Brian Weaver third, Colsten fourth and Brent Wilcox claiming the fifth spot. This tightened up the point chase even more as Weaver now leads Colsten by five points and Jensen is looming in third, eighteen points behind Weaver.
Brian White’s been close before. He lost a feature win in 2002 by a whisker when he went high in turn four and let Chad Cook take a win on the very last lap. This time there was no denying the sophomore chauffer. After jumping in front from his outside pole starting spot, White seized the moment and opened a sizable gap between himself and the rest of the field. Only a pair of yellow flags slowed the races progress and each time White was able to pull away from the field, much to the dismay of runner-up Brian Decker. Points leader Chad Cook got mired in traffic and never got to a challenging spot until late in the race and even then was not able to make any moves on the top two spots. As the checkers flew, White had a big cushion and was able to secure that elusive first win. Decker came home second; Cook was third and also able to stretch out his point differential over Billy Spoonhower who wound up sixth. Fourth went to Brent Boyer while Ken Titus took home fifth.
In the early going of the twenty-lap Street Stock feature, Bob Mills was the top gun, that is before he had his hands full with new point leader Mark Wainwright who was seeking his fifth win of the year here at Thunder Mountain. Mills was able to stay at the point for a few laps until Wainwright got by. Once in front Wainwright had his hands full with defending track champion Ed McKernan but Wainwright was equal to the task and McKernan had to settle for the second spot. Mills earned his best finish of the year with a solid third while Kurt Decker and Ray Taylor completed the top five spots. Point leader J. T. McKernan had a tough night, getting a flat tire while in a contending spot and having to go pitside to change it and losing a lap in the process, finishing eleventh and relinquishing the top point spot to Wainwright.
Doug Stack took up right where he left off. The very quick chauffer from the Keystone state took over the lead around the halfway point of the twenty-lap Pure Stock feature and never looked back. If he had he might have seen two-time feature winner Dick Stark hovering in his mirror. Not to worry Stack was able to keep his treasured spot and come home with another victory. Stark grabbed off second followed by Mike Wilbur in third, John Cooper Jr. in fourth and Howard Jones in Cooper’s team car in fifth.
As per usual Ken Stafford and Gordie Isham bolted to the front of the fifteen-lap Four Cylinder Modified feature but when they got to the top two spots, Isham’s mount broke, leaving Stafford all alone up front. Stafford took full advantage as he cruised home with another win. Veteran Tom Fletcher was an early challenge to Stafford but eventually dropped back and settling for second. He was followed by Alan Bush in the third spot as Duane Knapp had a major motor problem and pulled into the infield. The ageless Bruce Detro wound up fourth and Mark Reynolds secured the fifth spot.
Harold Humphrey made a nice inside move pay off at the halfway point to beat out Bob Doolittle for the top spot and take home yet another win. Doolittle hung close for the remainder of the fifteen lapper and even challenged for the top spot but Humphrey never gave it up so Doolittle had to settle for second and fall further back in the points chase. John Wilcox came home third followed by Fred Newton II and Mitch Hurlburt in the top five spots.
The Thunder Dogs once again put on an exciting twelve lapper with final outcome in doubt until the final checkers flew. Tim Parker led most of the way and grabbed off the win, his sixth of the season. Dick Baker gave Parker all he could handle but had to settle for second. Point leader Paul Larow, with a steady third place finish kept his point lead while Jeff Wilcox and Greg Lockwood completed the top five spots.
Also on the card for the first time was the debut of the “Thunder Pups”, which a Four Cylinder incarnation of the Thunder Dogs. In the classes maiden voyage Tim Livermore edged out Amber Patrick for the win with Walt Case taking home third.
Next week Thunder Mountain will be in action on two nights. Both Saturday and Sunday will be regular point shows for all the classes. The Modifieds, Sportsmen, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, Four Cylinder Modifieds, Four Cylinder Stocks, Thunder Dogs and Thunder Pups. Gates are scheduled to open at 4:00 while racing is set for 6:30 on both nights. Thunder Mountain is located just off New York route 79 in Center Lisle just a few minutes off Exit 8 of Interstate 81 in Whitney Point. Come join us next weekend for the double header.