Colsten, Hart And Shea Share Opening Night Wins At Thunder

Center Lisle, New York - Mike Colsten, in the Modifieds, Don Hart Jr., in the first weekly Sportsman feature, Jamie Shea, in the Street Stocks along with Don Harvey in the Mini Sprints, Steve Hill in the Four Cylinder Modifieds, rookie sensation Sean Walker in the Pure Stocks and Rich Powell in the Four Cylinder Stocks were all opening night winners at the Thunder Mountain Speedway which saw over 140 cars pack the pit area and make for a long but good night of racing.

&= nbsp; Colsten, who started in the fifth spot quickly moved into the runner-up spot as outside pole sitter Mike Clapperton set the early pace in the thirty lap Modified headliner. Colsten slipped by pole sitter Marty Bunker on lap two and gave chase to Clapperton who had opened up a five-car length lead on the field by lap three. Things got hectic real early as 2000 track champ J. R. Hurlburt bounced off the front stretch wall, got into the air and landed hard back down on all fours and to everyone s amazement, he kept it going but the yellow flew anyway. Olsten assumed the lead on the restart but couldn t shake the pesky Clapperton who even got along side the Ford powered mount of Colsten a couple of times. A plethora of yellow flags kept the race close the rest of the way but nobody was the match for Colsten who notched his initial triumph of the year. Clapperton was a strong second while Bunker was a solid third in the Goodwin owned mount. Tom McGurrin got close to Bunker at the end but had to settle for fourth while 2000 points bridesmaid George Kostelansky completed the top five.

&= nbsp; Don Hart Jr. led all twenty laps to capture the first ever regularly scheduled Sportsman feature. The outcome of the race was pretty much decided on lap one when Hart, who had started on the outside pole, blasted into turn one ahead on Tom Sienko. Open wheel rookie Billy Spoonhower, driving the former Pat Lynch owned Modified, took up the chase and was even along side Hart at one point before the cars handle seemed to go away. Also in the mix was 2000 Sportsman event winner Bob Hamm but a late race yellow that also involved Spoonhower left Kevin Jordan to do the chasing. Hart was equal to the task and took home the win followed by Jordan, Brian Payne in third, former Legends car driver Ken Titus in fourth and Brian Decker completing the top five.

&= nbsp; After letting Street Stock rookie Ken Hammond lead the first three laps of the feature, Jamie Shea took command and never looked back. Another rookie Larry Hillis followed Shea to the front but was no match for the potent J1 and Hillis was left to his own devices trying to hold off a very fast P. J. Goodwin and Ed McKiernan for the second spot. By races end, Shea had stretched his leading margin over the rest of the field to a sizable distance and was able to cruise home with his first win on the year at Thunder Mountain and his fourth of the season. Hillis held off Goodwin for second while McKiernan took home fourth and Hammond, who showed well for a rookie rounded out the top five.

&= nbsp; Don Harvey started out 2001 just like he finished 2000 winning a feature. It wasn t as easy as it was last year as both pole sitter and Steve Boyd and hometown mate Lance O dell both gave Harvey all he could handle in the fifteen lap feature that was plagued by endless yellow flags. Boyd led to the midway point until Harvey took over and led the rest of the way. Boyd kept him sight as the front running duo tried to separate themselves from the rest of the twenty-car field. In the end it was Harvey winning over Boyd by a couple of car lengths. John Lieto came home third while Peter Sindt and Darl Ellis claimed the rest of the top five spots.

&= nbsp; George Howe led the early going o the Four Cylinder Modified event that didn t see it s first yellow flag until lap seven. On the restart Steve Hill, who had a problem in his heat and was forced to start scratch, took over the top spot and never looked back finishing in front of the field for the win. Cliff Pierce was a steady second followed by Scott Allen in third, Pete Christiansen in fourth and Curt Pierce for fifth.

&= nbsp; The Pure Stocks got off to a rousing start. With the top three point drivers from last season not back for this season, it left it wide open for someone new to come in and get the gold. Sixteen-year-old Sean Walker did just that. Starting on the pole and leading all fifteen laps, Walker held off a determined Max Moshier Jr. for a number of laps before Moshier bobbled on the last lap letting Walker home free. The race started off with probably the two toughest accidents of the entire evening. On the first circuit, Bullet Bill Goodrich ran out of brakes coming off the second turn and slammed the second turn wall a ton, pushing his front end back almost a foot. Before the race was another lap old, rookie Rich Green hid a rut in turn two the wrong way and flipped his car three complete times. Both drivers were okay. Walker s win was his second overall win of the year. Sean O connor in the former Chris Stull car came home second followed by Penn Can regular Nate Evans. Rounding out the top five in the twenty-six car field was Max Moshier and Gene Welch.

&= nbsp; The final event of the evening was the Four Cylinder Stock feature and it was all Rich Powell. Driving his lime green Pinto Powell, took the lead early from Jay Hayward and never was challenged for the rest of the fifteen-lap distance. Stan Mathews came home second, followed by Hayward in third, Dan Talada in fourth and Fred Newton in fifth.

&= nbsp; Next week another big seven class card featuring the Modifieds, the Sportsman, the Street Stocks, the Pure Stocks, the Four Cylinder Stocks, the Four Cylinder Modifieds and the Mini-Sprints. Gates will open at 4:00 with racing set to start at 6:30 p.m. Thunder Mountain Speedway is located just off NY State route 79 off Hunt s Corners Road. Just turn at the church in Center Lisle and follow the signs

&= nbsp; MODIFIED FINISH (30 Laps): Mike Colsten, Mike Clapperton, Marty Bunker, Tom McGurrin, George Kostelansky, Steve Babicek, Jeff Bronson, J. R. Hurlburt, Rick Wilk, Dick Sundgren, Jimmy Wrench, Doug Worthing, Dave Zona, Butch Cerullo, Buddy Altemose, Mike Frost, Sean Collins, Mike Payne, Dave Jenkins, Chris Weaver, Carl Nagel, Paul Jensen, Mike Nagel, Dan Morden, Bob Hamm, Ken Weirick.

&= nbsp; SPORTSMAN FEATURE (20 laps): Don Hart Jr., Kevin Jordan, Brian Payne, Ken Titus, Brian Decker, Bob Hamm, Dennis Latwinski, Billy Spoonhower, Rick Wilk, Tony Pease, Tom Sienko.

&= nbsp; STREET STOCK FEATURE (20 Laps): Jamie Shea, Larry Hillis, P. J. Goodwin, Ed McKiernan, Ken Hammond, Pete Gulick, Dwayne Robbins, Tracy Gregory, Dan Howe, Dave Button, Ron Latwinski, Jeremy Clark, T. J. Fitzgibbons, Matt Roberts, Chris Jordan, Brian MacRabie, Harold Humphrey, Doug Nelson, Chris Piasecki, J. T. McKiernan, Rick Davis, Mike Wilbur, Mike Lester, Mike West, Charlie Fulton.

&= nbsp; MINI-SPRINT FEATURE (15 Laps): Don Harvey, Steve Boyd, John Lieto, Peter Sindt, Darl Ellis, Garry Moore, Aric Copeland, Bruce Gould, Rob Winnie, Curt Shuttlesworth, Lance O dell, Steve Klock, Kenny Howland, Rick Wust, Dale Roloson, Jeff Collins, Jeremy Vunk, Paul James. DNS-Rick Christopher, Bruce Brown, Doug Smith.

&= nbsp; FOUR CYLINDER MODIFIEDS (15 Laps): Steve Hill, Cliff Pierce, Scott Allen, Pete Christiansen, Curt Pierce, Calvin Pierce, Andy Carr, Roger Dewitt, Billy Bushaw, Kala Bush, Ray Hurlburt, George Howe, Anna Howe, Ick Pierce, Steve Berg, Alan Bush.

&= nbsp; PURE STOCK FEATURE (15 Laps): Sean Walker, Sean O Connor, Nate Evans, Max Moshier Jr., Gene Welch, Mike Wilbur, Mike Foote Sr., Bill Leonard, Bill Rampe, Matt Sissenstein, Don Moshier, Buck Mills, Norm Whittemore, Sean Olenski, Dan Babcock, John Dale Howey, Dave Majercik, Doug Stack, Tom Witko, Bill Davey, Mike Austin, Dan Freelove, Rich Green, Bill Goodrich.

&= nbsp; FOUR CYLINDER STOCKS (15 Laps): Rich Powell, Stan Mathews, Jay Hayward, Dan Talada, Fred Newton, Jeff Wilcox Jr., Jeff Wilcox, Randy Gardner, Bill Coish, Jerry Wilcox, John Wilcox, Todd Smith, John Carter, Ed Harrel.