WHITE, SPOONHOWER, AND MCKERNAN PICK UP THUNDER MOUNTAIN RAIN DELAYED WINS!
By Admin on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 12:11 pm: Edit Post
Lisle, NY - The dreaded Saturday rains returned this weekend, forcing racing action at the Thunder Mountain speedway to be delayed until Sunday. Eddie White, of Candor, held off a solid field of heavy-weight contenders to lead wire to wire en route to his first ever Modified feature win at the Thunder Mountain Speedway.
White started on the outside pole position for the 30 lap main event, and grabbed the lead at the start over Binghamton's Steve Babicek. By the half-way point, Binghamton native Mike Colsten and Windsor's Brian Weaver had made their way up through the pack from their respective 6th and 9th starting spots to put some pressure on White.
White opened up a commanding 4 car-length lead, but a caution on lap 26 would put Colsten and Weaver right back on his tail. Weaver was able to take the second spot from Colsten as the yellow flag returned with just 3 laps left to go. White was able to hold of the Veteran Weaver to pick up the win. Weaver came in second, followed by Colsten, Jim Gabriel Jr, and Paul Hensen.
The 20 lap Sportsman feature saw opening night winnder Billy Spoonhower return to victory lane. Berkshire native Spoonhower, who does double duty driving in the Modified division as well, took the lead from Scott Allen on lap number four with Rick Wilk following through into second.
A lap one caution sidelined a few competitiors, including Sportsman points leader Chad Cook who lost three laps before returning to the racing action. Spoonhower held off some serious late race challenges from Wilk to capture the win in the caution-filled event. Wilk came home second, followed by Brent Boyer, who edged out Scott Allen for third, Allen, and Brian Decker.
In Street Stock racing action, attrition seemed to be a large factor as about only half of the 19 car starting field remained as the checkers flew on the 20th circuit. Rick Davis took off from his pole starting position to lead the first four laps, until Monroeton, PA native J.T. McKernan out-handled him to take over the top spot on lap five.
As J.T. McKernan had his hands full holding off Davis, his uncle Ed McKernan was powering his way up through the field from his 10th starting spot. Ed McKernan took over third from Bob Mills on lap 5, and then set his sights on Davis. Two laps later he had made the move to grab the second and now had just his nephew between him and victory lane.
Youth prevailed as J.T. was able to hold off Ed and take home top honors. Harold Humphrey, Davis and Larry Hillis complted the top five.
Jamie Rosh grabbed the lead from his third starting spot at the start of the 20 lap Pure Stock main event. Rosh's lead was short lived as Endicott's Rich Green moved under him to take over the top spot just two laps later.
Green, who started ninth, began to open up a slight distance over the pack, as his twin brother Butch Green moved up to challenge Rosh for the second spot as the field hit lap six. Butch Green seemed to have snagged second away from Rosh, but the two drivers tangled as they exited turn two, ending a good run for them both.
Buck Mills got a good jump on a lap 8 restart and was able to take over the lead from Rich Green. Spencer's Mike Wilbur made a bid for second, and edged out Green as the cautions came out again on lap ten. The top three diced it out a bit, but remained the same until a late race caution on lap 17 tightened them back up.
Despite some heavy pressure from Wilbur, Mills was able to hold on for the win. Green came in for third, followed by Rich Talada with a good run for his first time at the Mountain this year, and John Cooper Jr for a solid 5th.
Harold Humphrey and Bob Doolittle ended up battling it out again for first and second in the 15 lap Four Cylinder Stock feature. Humphrey, from Norwich, moved up from his seventh starting spot to grab the lead from John Wilcox by lap three.
Doolittle, who had started next to Humphrey, moved past Wilcox into second a lap later, and the chase was on. Doolittle seemed to have the faster car down the straightaways, but could not mount an effort against Humphrey, as he tried him high and low.
As the checkers flew it was Humphrey in for the win, his second of the season, with Doolittle riding second, Wilcox third, Fred Newton II and Rich Powell completing the top five.
It was a classic battle of youth against experience in the 15 lap Four Cylinder Modified feature event. As r15 year old Ken Stafford took off from his seventh starting spot to power up to first at the start.
Windsor's Gordie Isham, often referred to as the Flying Fossil in regards to his many years as a top racer got his car hooked up and set his sights on the Stafford machine. The two had some good close wheel to wheel action while Dennis Copp watched from his third position. At the end though, youth prevailed as Stafford was able to hold on for the win. Isham was second, with Copp, John Powers and Dick Case.
The 12 lap Thunder Dog feature saw newlywed Tim Parker return to victory lane after taking a week off to get married. Parker, who started third in the field, took the lead from Ben Poirier on lap 3 and never looked back. Paul Larow, Jerry Lobdell Jr, Jeff Wilcox and Dick Baker completed the top five.
With the cooperation of the weather, racing will return to Thunder Mountain this Saturday, with racing set to start at 6:30pm. Thunder Mountain is located just off Route 79 in Lisle, NY.
MODIFIED RESULTS: EDDIE WHITE, Brian Weaver, Mike Colsten, Jim Gabriel Jr, Paul Jensen, Chris Weaver, J.R. Hurlburt, Brian Decker, Jeff Sheeley, Mike Frost, Darl Ellis, George Kostelansky, Doug Worthing, Scott Frack, Josh Beierle, Chris Grbac, Rich Keehle, Chris Ostrowsky, Mike Decker, Brent Wilcox, Billy Spoonhower, Steve Babicek, Billy Jenkins.
SPORTSMAN RESULTS:BILLY SPOONHOWER, Rick Wilk, Brent Boyer, Scott Allen, Brian Decker, George Howe, Brian White, Shawn Mills, Cliff Pierce, Bruce Evans Jr, Chad Cook, Dusty Jagger, Myron Leonard, Ken Kokoszka, Ken Titus, DNS-Bret Tonkin, DNS-Sean Olenski.
SUPER STOCK RESULTS: J.T. MCKERNAN, Ed McKernan, Harold Humphrey, Rick Davis, Larry Hillis, Kurt Decker, Mark Wainwright, Wade Decker, Chris Stull, Brett Relyea, Dan Pompey, Bob Mills, Larry Lane, Ken Benjaminm, Skip Peabody, Toby Lier, Matt Roberts, Mike Austin, Denny Decker.
PURE STOCK RESULTS: BUCK MILLS, Mike Wilbur, Rich Green, Rich Talada, John Cooper Jr, Jess Snell, Louie Gordinier, Ty Hurlbut, Jon Dale Howey, James Gould, Dick Stark, Howard Jones, Butch Green, Dee Ramey, Doug Stack, Don Moshier, Jamie Rosh, Cris Smith, Bret Welch, DNS-Bob Boynton, DNS-Frank Mills.
FOUR CYLINDER STOCK: HAROLD HUMPHREY, Bob Doolittle, John Wilcox, Fred Newton II, Rich Powell, Kevin Miller, Chuck Wheeland, John Carter, Jerry Wilcox, Randy Gardner, DNS-Mitch Hurlburt.
FOUR CYLINDER MODIFIED: KEN STAFFORD, Gordie Isham, Dennis Copp, John Powers, Dick Case, Duane Knapp, Jameson Kehrer, Curt Pierce, Eric Meres, Tom Fletcher, DNS-Jason Howe, DNS-Kim Pierce.
THUNDER DOG: TIM PARKER, Paul Larow, Jerry Lobdell Jr, Jerry Lobdell Sr, Jeff Wilcox, Dick Baker, Ben Poirier.