Colsten, Jordan And Shea Share Thunder Mountain Wins

Center Lisle, New York - ..Mike Colsten was the benefactor of a late race incident to take win number three and pad his point lead in the thirty lap Modified feature last Sunday evening at Thunder Mountain Speedway. Kevin Jordan led wire to wire to grab off win number one in the twenty lap Sportsman go while Jamie Shea keeps rolling along, notching his seventh win in nine tries at the fast Thunder mountain oval. Other winners on the seven race card included. Scott Allen winning his second Four Cylinder Modified event, Steve Klock also gaining number two in the Mini Sprints, Bill Rampe and Rick Angle both getting initial wins in the Pure Stocks and Four Cylinder Stocks respectively on a night that saw a record 158 cars jam the pit area.

&= nbsp; Pole sitter Bob Hamm led the first two laps of the Modified feature before third year Modified pilot Rick Wilk took control with his potent machine and appeared head for his first win of the season despite the five yellow flags that slowed the early portion of the race, one of which involved two time winner Doug Worthing. As Wilk kept a comfortable distance between himself and the rest of the field, former track champion and first time 2001 Thunder Mountain starter, Brian Weaver had deftly avoided the mishaps and found himself getting by Colsten for the second spot by the halfway point. Lapped cars started to come into play as the field neared the two-thirds of the race point and Weaver crept closer to Wilk s rear deck. Going into turn three Weaver made a bold move to the bottom of the track but Wilk was already there and contact was made with Wilk going around and Weaver getting by. The yellow flew and Weaver drifted high as to fall to the back of the pack. Wilk also went to the rear but chose later to go pit side, as did Weaver one lap later. This gave the lead to the track point leader, Colsten who had to hold off Worthing the last six laps and claim the win by three car lengths. J. R. Hurlburt, who was also involved in one of the early race jingles came back and got third while Carl Nagel and Jimmy Wrench, who came from a consi starting spot claimed the top five spots.

&= nbsp; It s been a frustrating season for former Street Stock track Kevin Jordan in the open-wheeled Sportsman class. Some bad luck with mechanical woes, flat tires and the like plus a problem surfacing when he got his only win a while back have kept the likable Jordan out of victory lane in a class he was supposed to well in. Sunday night that all changed. Using his outside pole starting spot to his advantage, Jordan held off Billy Spoonhower early and Chad Cook late to claim that elusive first victory in the twenty-lap event. Cooke came home with a solid on-the-back bumper second followed by point leader Don Hart Jr, who never seemed to get a groove on in the feature, in third. Spoonhower and Steve Anderson rounded out the top five.

&= nbsp; In the Street Stocks in was a different night but the same result, Jamie Shea getting the win. Shea, who started tenth on the field, wasted little time getting to the front of the pack. A couple of yellows early on helped Shea get to the place spot by lap four. Two laps later, he went by leader Ken Hammond and he said sayonara to the rest of the strong field. Harold Humphrey played the chaser for the rest of the race but couldn t muster enough to make a pass on the potent Shea machine and had to settle for a strong second. He was followed by Hammond in third, Charlie Fulton in fourth and Chris Piasecki in fifth. Second place point man Ed McKernon got in tangles twice plus had a flat tire late, which put him back to nineteenth in the final rundown.

&= nbsp; In the fifteen lap Pure Stock event, it was Bill Davey leading off his pole starting spot for the initial lap before a fourth starting Bill Rampe took over on lap two. Numerous early cautions tightened up the field and never gave Rampe any breathing room. North-South Pure Stock point leader James Cornell, in one of his infrequent Thunder Mountain Starts got to Rampe s back bumper late in the race but the former Four Cylinder Stock champ was equal to the task and brought 2000 point championship car he bought over the winter home first for his first ever Pure Stock win. Cornell was content to get second followed by Don Moshier in third, Sean O connor in fourth and invader, Tom Cundy in fifth.

&= nbsp; Six time winner Steve Hill didn t answer the bell in the fifteen lap Four Cylinder Modified feature and that left the door open for a new winner but it was the only other winner so far in 2001, other than Hill, Scott Allen who held forth. Allen, who started in the sixteenth spot didn t take command until the sixth lap from Ben Bushaw. Once in front Allen had all he could do to hold of the charge from first time Thunder Mountain visitor Don Knapp. Allen did hang on despite some tough pressure for his second win of the year. Knapp took home second followed by Bushaw in third, Cliff Pierce in fourth and Pete Christiansen in fifth.

&= nbsp; It was a long time coming but Rick Angle garnered his first win of the 2001 season in the Four Cylinder Stock feature. Angle who started in the sixth spot took the top spot on lap two, lost it to two-time winner Dan Talada on lap eight but regained it three laps later and held it the rest of the way, winning by some ten car lengths as he checkers flew. Talada was comfortably in second followed by Stanley Mathews in third, Jeff McKinney in fourth and point leader Rich Powell in fifth.

&= nbsp; Steve Klock best a short field of Mini Sprints in their twelve-lap feature. Bruce Gould came home second, Darl Ellis was third and Rick Wust failed to finish after his car caught fire early in the event.

&= nbsp; Next week will Green s Do-It Center night featuring a seven class show with the Modifieds, Sportsman, Super Stocks, Pure Stocks, Four Cylinder Modifieds, Four Cylinder Stocks and the Mini Sprints. Gates will open at 4:00 and racing is scheduled to begin at 6:30. This will be followed by a gigantic fireworks display. Thunder Mountain is located just off New York Route 79 in Center Lisle. Turn right at the church and follow the signs to Thunder Mountain Speedway.

&= nbsp; MODIFIED FINISH: Mike Colsten, Doug Worthing, J. R. Hurlburt, Carl Nagel, Jimmy Wrench, George Kostelansky, Jeff Bronson, Dick Sundgren, Tom McGurrin, Mike Decker, Alan Schifler, Scott Frack, Mike Frost, Sean Collins, Steve Babicek, Mike Payne, Chris Weaver, Brian Weaver, Rick Wilk, Marty Bunker, Josh Bierle, Pat Lynch, Bob Hamm, Butch Cerullo, Frank Yankowski, Mike Nagel. DNQ-Denny Superko, Dan Morden, Chris Schupp, Dave Jenkins.

&= nbsp; SPORTSMAN FEATURE: Kevin Jordan, Chad Cook, Don Hart Jr., Billy Spoonhower, Steve Anderson, Tom Sienko, Bob Hamm, Rick Wilk, Brian Decker, Ken Titus, Chris Ostrowski, Tony Pease, Dennis Latwinski, Brian Payne, Scott Allen. DNS-Tony Vyziak.

&= nbsp; STREET STOCK FEATURE: Jamie Shea, Harold Humphrey, Ken Hammond, Charlie Fulton, Chris Piasecki, Chris Stull, Ron Latwinski, Ray Taylor, Larry Hillis, Jeremy Clark, Matt Roberts, Doug Nelson, Dan Howe, Bill Williams, Dwayne Robbins, Scott Dennison, Wayne Baldwin, John Morse, Ed McKernon, J. T. McKernon, Rick Davis, Brad Butcher, Don Russell, Billy Spoonhower. DNQ-Dave Button, Darl Ellis, Tim Davey, Nate Evans, Lyle Williams, Ernie Martin, Brian MacRabie, Mike West, Randy Rollison, Terry Mudge.

&= nbsp; PURE STOCK FINISH: Bill Rampe, James Cornell Jr., Don Moshier, Sean O connor, Tom Cundy, Max Moshier Jr., Mike Wilbur, Norm Whittemore, Mike Foote, Randy Percival, Tom Witko, John Dale Howey, Buck Mills, Butch Dimick, Craig Decker, Bret Welch, Larry Fenton Jr., Rich Green, Jess Snell, Rob Larson, Bill Davey, Doug Stack, William Soloweij, Geoff Powell. DNQ-Auburn Lyons, Bill Goodrich, Derek Baldwin, Shane Wolf, Fred Peters, Mike Austin, Jamie Rosh, Dave Majercik, Craig Hawley, Jay Bradley.

&= nbsp; FOUR CYLINDER MODIFIEDS: Scott Allen, Don Knapp, Ben Bushaw, Cliff Pierce, Pete Christiansen, Curt Pierce, Alan Bush, Chet Carr, Mark Reynolds, Jim Waite, Andy Carr, Roger Dewitt, Calvin Pierce, Dick Case, Anna Howe, George Howe, Kala Bush, Chris Berg. DNS-Steve Hill.

&= nbsp; FOUR CYLINDER STOCK FINISH: Rick Angle, Dan Talada, Stanley Mathews, Jeff McKinney, Rich Powell, Jeff Wilcox, Jeff Wilcox Jr., Jerry Wilcox, Russ Hendrickson, Rich Talada, Shaun Mills, Lloyd Twarz, Jay Hayward, Kasey Milliar, Frank Fink, John Coish, Jim Rosh, Randy Mathews, Mike Darrow, Fred Newton, John Carter, John Wilcox, Richard Wolford. DNS-Rich Ferrara.