FIVE NEW WINNERS AT THUNDER MOUNTAIN AS WILK GETS FIRST MODIFIED
Center Lisle, New York… - 052502 - There were five new winners last Saturday night at the Thunder Mountain as Rick Wilk led wire to wire to grab off the thirty lap Modified headliner. Other first timers for 2002 included Tom McGurrin in the Sportsman, Ronnie Clark in the Four Cylinder Modifieds, Dale Pitcher in the Mini Sprints and a career first for Pure Stock driver Rich Green. Both Ed McKernan in the Super Stocks and Bob Doolittle in the Four Cylinder Stocks added to their respective win totals in a racing card that was completed in less than four hours and had close to 160 cars cram the pit area.
Wilk, who’s luck so far this season has been nothing short of rotten was rewarded for this luck with an pole starting spot which he used to it’s full advantage by leading every lap and fending off a final lap charge by a persistent Brian Weaver to get the win. The race’s first yellow came on lap six for a multi-car shuffle in turn four and resulted in point leader and three time feature winner Mike Colsten starting in the rear of the pack. Wilk meanwhile got his momentum going on the bottom groove as the laps clicked off as Colsten and a super fast George Kostelansky worked their way up through the pack. Weaver threw everything but the kitchen sink at Wilk, trying to get by. He closed to Wilk’s back bumper as the white flag flew and actually was partially underneath as the pair crossed under the checkers. Kostelansky wound up third as Colsten got back to fourth and Bob Hamm took home fifth.
Rookie Matt Smith paced the twenty laps Sportsman go from his pole position for the first eighteen laps while the real action was going on behind him. The “big guns” of McGurrin, Cook, Spoonhower, Terrell, Decker and Jordan were swapping spots midway through the pack. Tom McGurrin broke free and began to reel in Smith. He caught him with two to go and made the “rookie” pay as he got underneath going into turn one as the white flag was in sight. McGurrin took home his first Thunder Mountain Sportsman win. Smith was a solid second in only his sixth race. Cook came home third but was penalized for overly aggressive driving and was fourth in the final rundown. Brian Decker was credited with third and Ken Titus rounded out the top five.
It was business as usual for Ed McKernan was he passed leader Jamie Shea on lap eight and never looked back, capturing his fourth win in five starts at Thunder Mountain. Gary Roberts led the twenty-four car field to the start and led the first two circuits before Shea, who’s been a funk lately, took over on lap three. McKernan, who started eleventh on the field, worked his way into the runner-up spot by lap five and began to pressure Shea. Three laps later he went to the front and stayed there although Shea kept him in sight, he couldn’t muster enough for a shot at the victory. It was Shea’s best finish since his opening night victory. Wade Decker moved into third when Larry Lane and Harold Humphrey tangled late in the race and stayed there until the end. Mike Decker was fourth and Lane came back to grab off fifth in the second McKernan mount.
The fifteen lap Pure Stock affair was a wild and woolly event that saw numerous yellow flags and much side by side racing before it was all over. Bob Mills led the early going but was soon over taken by Don Mosher who kept the field behind him until the white flag lap when sophomore driver Rich Green got his nose underneath the Mosher car on the back stretch. The duo raced that way but a late race yellow set the stage for a one lap “dash for the cash”. Green was equal to the task and came with his first ever victory. Mosher held on for second. Doug Stack took third while Jess Snell and Shaun Walker completed the top five.
Calvin Pierce led lap one of the Four Cylinder Modified event before rookie driver Ronnie Clark took over. The former Don Knapp machine outdistanced himself from the field to take home his first win ever. Pierce held off a late race charge by Ben Carpenter to get his best finish of the year so far with a solid second. Carpenter took home third followed by Scott Allen in fourth and Curt Pierce in fifth.
Bob Brown led the first three circuits of the fifteen lap Mini Sprint go before being passed by veteran Dale Pitcher. Once in front, Pitcher put it on cruise as he easily commandeered the field. Rick Wust came home second followed by Jeff Black in third, Jeff Howell came home fourth and Ryan Lund in fifth. Brown later bounced off the homestretch wall and flipped but was not injured.
The last race on the twenty-nine event show was the fifteen lap Four Cylinder Stock feature and it once again turned out be a torrid battle between Bob Doolittle, Harold Humphrey, Shawn Mills and Rich Powell. Jerry Wilcox led the first four laps before Doolittle took over from his eleventh starting spot. Once in front Doolittle had to keep Humphrey and Powell behind him. That he did to score his second consecutive win. Powell made a bonzai move on the last lap to claim second, Humphrey was third Wilcox claimed fourth and Mills was fifth.
Next week will be a regular seven class show featuring the Modifieds, Sportsmen, Super Stocks, Pure Stocks, Four Cylinder Modifieds, Four Cylinder Stocks and the Mini Sprints. Gates open at 4:00 p.m. while racing action is set to begin at 6:30. Thunder Mountain Speedway is located just off New York route 79 in Center Lisle, New York.
MODIFIED FINISH: Rick Wilk, Brian Weaver, George Kostelansky, Mike Colsten, Bob Hamm, Tom McGurrin, Brent Wilcox, Paul Jensen, Chris Weaver, J. R. Hurlburt, Doug Worthing, Dick Sundgren, Dave Jenkins, Scott Brady, Denny Superko, Jeff Sheely, Sean Collins, Jim Crawn, Carl Nagel, Jim Gabriel Jr., Brian Payne, Mike Nagel, Steve Babicek, Kevin Ingram. DNS-Alan Bush, Butch Cerullo, Bill Clark.
SPORTSMAN FINISH: Tom McGurrin, Matt Smith, Brian Decker, Chad Cook, Ken Titus, Billy Spoonhower, Kevin Jordan, Craig Terrell, Dan Vauter, Cliff Pierce, Chad O’Hara, Brent Boyer, Pat Jordan, Bryan White, Ed Bennett, Tony Vyziak, Mark Wainwright, Chris Berg, Bruce Evans Jr., Scott Allen, Dan Buchanan. DNS-Ray Purcell
SUPER STOCK FINISH: Ed McKernan, Jamie Shea, Wade Decker, Mike Decker, Larry Lane, Ken Hammond, Art Darling Jr., Larry Hillis, Ray Taylor, Gary Roberts, Mark Wainwright, Terry Mudge, Rick Davis, Jay Wood, Earl Zimmer, Brian MacRabie, John Stanley, Harold Humphrey, Pete Gulick, Ken Winn, Butch Green, Matt Roberts, Skip Peabody, Dick Stark Jr. DNS-Brian Steigerwald, Dave Nixon, Dwayne Robbins.
PURE STOCK FINISH: Rich Green, Don Mosher, Doug Stack, Jess Snell, Shaun Walker, Bill Clark, Mike Wilbur, Matt Visingard, Jon Dale Howey, Harry Uhl Jr., John Cooper, Bill Davey, Dan Freelove, Billy House, Bret Welch, Geoff Powell, Jamie Rosh, Buck Mills, Dave Denton Jr., Mike Austin, Bob Mills, Bill Rampe, Charles Mosher, Brian Hicks, Dan Babcock, Rick Russell. DNS-Chuck Alexander, Corey Bond, John Cooper Jr., Bill Goodrich, Ralph Jennings Jr.
FOUR CYLINDER MODIFIED FINISH: Ronnie Clark, Calvin Pierce, Ben Carpenter, Scott Allen, Curt Pierce, Ken Stafford, Ben Bushaw, Kala Bush, Kim Pierce, Roger Dewitt, George Howe, Tom Fletcher, Anna Howe, Jameson Kehrer, Ick Pierce.
FOUR CYLINDER STOCK FINISH: Bob Doolittle, Rich Powell, Harold Humphrey, Jerry Wilcox, Shawn Mills, Ed Dyson, Lloyd Twarz, Dan Talada, Jeff Wilcox, Roger West, Stanley Mathews, Rich Talada, Jim French, Jeff Wilcox Jr., Jay Hayward, Mick Labarron, Jon Talada, Greg Reynolds, Fred Newton, Chuck Wheeland, John Coish, Richard Wolford, Tim Rudolph, Fred Newton II, John Wilcox, Aaron Peck.
MINI SPRINT FINISH: Dale Pitcher, Rick Wust, Jeff Black, Jeff Howell, Ryan Lund, Bruce Brown, Garry Moore, Jimmy Lawler, Bruce Gould, Aric Copeland, Keith Rifanburg, Brian Baxter, Bob Brown, Steve Diffendorf.