COLSTEN MAKES IT THREE IN A ROW AT THUNDER MOUNTAIN
Center Lisle, New York…..050402.Mike Colsten of Binghamton is on a roll. The defending Modified track champion made it three in a row last Saturday night at the Thunder Mountain Speedway as he led the last eleven laps to take home win number three over Brian Weaver. Defending Sportsman champ Chad Cook finally got his first of 2002 while Ed McKernan made it two in a row in the Super Stocks and Don Harvey also made it three for three in the Mini Sprints. First time winners Charles Mosher in the Pure Stocks, Rich Talada in the Four Cylinder Stocks and Curt Pierce in the Four Cylinder Modifieds rounded out the twenty-eight event, one hundred fifty car show.
Colsten, who started twelfth on the field but quickly moved toward the front, closely follow by the previous two weeks’ runner-up and former track champion Brian Weaver. Fast Eddie White was the early leader in the Brian Payne mount before losing the top spot to veteran Mike Nagel. Nagel stayed on top for most of the mid part of the race and looked as though he might have shot at his first in three years but the dreaded restart did him in. On lap nineteen after a Jeff Bronson spin in turn three, Colsten who had made his way into second got under Nagel on the restart and the rest was history. Colsten lengthened his gap over the field as Weaver valiantly tried to get by Nagel for second. A lap twenty-six restart after a J. R. Hurlburt spin saw Weaver get Nagel and get after Colsten but Colsten’s Ford powered mount was too much and he crossed the finish line a car length ahead of Weaver. Nagel stayed a strong third while Doug Worthing took him a solid fourth after two dismal finishes and Paul Jensen completed the top five.
Although Chad Cook’s season so far this year contained two top finishes it wasn’t like the previous year when he seemed to have a dominant car. He certainly dis-proved that last Saturday night in the twenty-lap Sportsman feature. After being sent to the rear for an early race altercation, Cook steadily and methodically moved his way back toward the front as Brian Decker set the early pace. By the halfway point, he had passed point leader Kevin Jordan for the number two spot and went after Decker. That didn’t take long as by lap eleven, Cook powered by into the top spot leaving Decker and Jordan to fight it out for the number two spot. Twice as the race wound it’s conclusion Decker and Jordan got together and both wound up going to the rear giving Cook a huge advantage which he held until the end. The beneficiary of this was last week’s winner Billy Spoonhower who wound up second. Ken Titus grabbed off third while Sportsman rookie Cliff Pierce recorded his first top five finish with a solid fourth and Craig Terrell got fifth.
Brian Steigerwald used his pole starting to his advantage as he led the first four laps of the twenty-lap Super Stock feature. Last year’s track champ Jamie Shea moved into second on lap four and powered by Steigerwald to take over the lead on lap five. Meanwhile last week’s winner Ed McKernan established himself in second spot. One lap later McKernan went by and the rest of the race was history as McKernan put substantial distance between himself and the rest of the field over the remaining fifteen laps. Harold Humphrey made a late race pass stick as he took home second, Shea was relegated to third while Wade Decker came from dead last to get fourth and Steigerwald got his best ever Thunder Mountain finish with a strong fifth.
The fifteen lap Pure Stock event saw a brand new winner. In fact the winner was racing in his third race ever. Charles Mosher, who on opening night finished twentieth and last week didn’t even qualify, started on the pole and led all fifteen laps. Mike Austin tried to get him a couple of times but the rookie was equal to the task and got the elusive first one. Austin had to settle for second while Corey Bond took home third, co-point leader John Cooper took fourth and last week’s winner Buck Mills was fifth.
Don Harvey took him win number three in the fifteen-lap Mini Sprint feature. Harvey, who started deep in the pack, inherited the top spot when leader Duby Woodruff’s car developed a leak on a second lap restart. Once in front, Harvey made waste of the field and won by a dozen car lengths over teenager Brian Howland. Garry Moore was a steady third followed by Rick Wust in fourth and another teenager and rookie Brian Baxter got fifth.
The fifteen-lap Four Cylinder Stock event also saw a first time winner. Young Rich Talada took the lead on the very first lap from his third starting spot and never looked back. He opened up a comfortable margin over the rest of the field as Bob Doolittle, Harold Humphrey, and Shawn Mills dueled it out for the number two spot. Talada got the win, Mills prevailed for second, Humphrey third and Doolittle fourth and Rich Powell rounded out the top five.
Also a first time winner in the Four Cylinder Mods. Calvin Pierce led the first three laps before losing it to his brother Curt. Led the final twelve in a caution plagued race. Ben Bushaw came home second followed by Calvin Pierce, newcomer Ben Carpenter and Kala Bush.
Next week will be a double header weekend for Thunder Mountain as a Saturday/Sunday deal is planned. Saturday will feature a regular card of Modifieds, Sportsmen, Super Stocks, Pure Stocks, Four Cylinder Modifieds, Four Cylinder Stocks and Mini Sprints all in action while of Sunday evening the NSA Sprints will make their first of two scheduled appearances at Thunder Mountain. This fledgling group expects to have over thirty Sprints in only the second ever show at Thunder Mountain by Sprint Cars. Also on the card that night will be a Pure Stock thirty lapper paying $500 to win and a twenty-five lap Four Cylinder Stock show paying $300 to win. Both Saturday and Sunday shows are scheduled to go off at 6:30 with the gates opening at 4:00 p.m. Thunder Mountain Speedway is located just off New York route 79 in Center Lisle.
MODIFIED FINISH: Mike Colsten, Brian Weaver, Mike Nagel, Doug Worthing, Paul Jensen, George Kostelansky, Carl Nagel, Eddie White, Steve Babicek, Chris Weaver, Jeff Sheely, Jeff Bronson, Dick Sundgren, Bob Hamm, Mike Clapperton, Scott Brady, Tom McGurrin, J. R. Hurlburt, Chris Ostrowski, Rick Wilk, Brent Wilcox, Sean Collins, Denny Superko, Dave Jenkins, Butch Cerullo.
SPORTSMAN FINISH: Chad Cook, Billy Spoonhower, Ken Titus, Cliff Pierce, Craig Terrell, Tom McGurrin, Kevin Jordan, Dan Vauter, Brian Decker, Dave Dissinger, Scott Allen, Bret Tonkin, Tony Vyziak, Dan Buchanan, Sean Olenski, Ray Purcell, Matt Smith, Bob Bennett, Max Moshier Jr., Chris Berg, Tim Mayne, Bruce Evans.
SUPER STOCK FINISH: Ed McKernan, Harold Humphrey, Jamie Shea, Wade Decker, Brian Steigerwald, Ray Taylor, Ken Hammond, Larry Hillis, Gary Roberts, Todd Hurlburt, Pete Gulick, Rick Davis, Earl Zimmer, Art Darling Jr., Dwayne Robbins, Skip Peabody, Brian MacRabie, Matt Roberts, J. T. McKernan.
PURE STOCK FINISH: Charles Mosher, Mike Austin, Corey Bond, John Cooper, Buck Mills, Bill Davey, Doug Stack, Harry Uhl Jr., Jess Snell, John Dale Howey, Bill Rampe, Bill Clark, Geoff Powell, Brian Hicks, Shaun Walker, Bret Welch, Jamie Rosh, Dan Freelove, Bill Goodrich, Mike Wilbur, George Chamberlain, Chris Lord, Dan Babcock, Don Mosher, Bob Mills, Rich Green.
MINI SPRINT FINISH: Don Harvey, Brian Howland, Garry Moore, Rick Wust, Brian Baxter, Ryan Lund, Barry Virts, Jeff Black, Steve Diffendorf, Bob Brown, Woody Woodruff, Dale Roloson, Keith Rifanburg, Jason Wust, Duby Woodruff.
FOUR CYLINDER STOCK FINISH: Rich Talada, Shawn Mills, Harold Humphrey, Bob Doolittle, Rich Powell, Jeff Wilcox Jr., Bob Stevens, Jeff Wilcox, Lloyd Twarz, John Wilcox, Ed Dyson, Jim French, Jay Hayward, Chuck Wheeland, Tim Rudolph, Richard Wolford, Fred Newton, Fred Newton II, John Coish, Jerry Wilcox, Mick Labarron.
FOUR CYLINDER MODIFIED FINISH: Curt Pierce, Ben Bushaw, Calvin Pierce, Ben Carpenter, Kala Bush, George Howe, Roger Dewitt, Ronnie Clark, Ken Stafford, Kim Pierce, Scott Allen, Anna Howe.