Colsten Again At Thunder Mountain
Center Lisle, New York..Mike Colsten made it two in a row and four for the season as he passed leader Rick Wilk on lap twenty-one and led the rest of the way in the thirty lap caution flag filled fest to record his second Modified win in a row and fourth of the year. Also recording wins on the lengthy show was Gary Roberts in the Street Stocks, Larry Hillis again in the Pure Stocks, Harold Humphrey in the Four Cylinder Stocks, Lee Dewitt in the Four Cylinder Modifieds and Don Harvey for the fourteenth time in the Mini-Sprints.
Colsten, who started twelfth on the field watch Mike Frost, Dave Zona, Dave Jenkins and Dave Zona Again and Rick Wilk lead the feature through a myriad of caution flag periods, ten to be exact, slow event. Colsten moved into second by lap twenty and a lap later he went by Wilk and that was all she wrote. Wilk made a couple of valiant efforts to retake the top spot but it was to no avail as Colsten was much too much for anybody. Wilk wound up second followed by a late race charge by point leader J. R. Hurlburt for third. Rounding out the top five was Brian Davis in his second appearance of the year in fourth and Zona getting his best finish of the year in fifth.
Outside pole sitter Gary Roberts led wire to wire to score his third twenty lap Street Stock feature of the year and gain some ground on point leader Scott Conover. Roberts held on through four caution periods and some pressure from second place finisher Billy Spoonhower to get the win. Spoonhower took home second and also gained ground on Conover. Third went Ed McKernan who challenged Spoonhower at the end but settle for third while Harold Humphrey and John Morse completed the top five.
Ho Hum it was business as usual for Larry Hillis as he won his second feature in a row and his seventh of the year. It was also his fifth consecutive win over two tracks. It almost didn t happen though. Rookie William Solliway, in the former Jim Giles car, led the first eight laps with Hillis right on his back bumper. As they entered turn two on lap nine Solliway looped in front on the entire field and Hillis just escaped the spinning Solliway but almost nobody else did. When the dust cleared, Solliway had a flat tire and went to the pits and Hillis cruised home with the win. Chris Stull came back from the accident to come home second followed by Don Moshier for third, Chad Parks was fourth and point leader John Payne was fifth.
Point leader Harold Humphrey resumed his winning was as he copped the fifteen lap Four Cylinder Stock feature event. Humphrey, who started ninth, took the top spot from a fast Rick Phillips on lap ten and never looked back. Humphrey won by a dozen car lengths to pad his point lead over Jeff McKinney who wound up fourth behind Phillips and Joe Bush. Stanley Mathews rounded out the top five spots.
Mini Sprint point leader Don Harvey continues on his quest of the feature win track record as he recorded win number fourteen. Ed Warren led lap one, Steve Klock led two and Harvey led the rest of them as his closest pursuer Lance O dell got a flat tire early in the event and never returned. Harvey put it on cruise the rest of the way for the win. Steve Boyd got a solid second followed by Klock in third while Bruce Brown and Warren completed the top five.
It was Bruce Detro s birthday and it would have been a great present to sit in victory lane at the end of the night s racing activities but it wasn t to be. Detro was the early leader but a rash of early race yellows slowed the pace and allowed the field to stay with the ageless veteran. Detro led until the halfway point when grandson Mike Payne took over Point leader Lee Dewitt got by Detro on lap fourteen and set sail after Payne. As the laps wound won Dewitt caught Payne and on the last lap he passed him for the win. Payne took home second followed by Detro in third. Last week s winner Greg Martindale was fourth and Cliff Pierce rounded out the top five.
Next week it s the big holiday weekend shows. Both Saturday and Sunday night will feature all the classes of racing plus the Central New York Mini Sprints on Sunday along with the fifth installment of the North South All Star Street Stock series. With the season winding down and the point races getting tighter both shows promise top provide much excitement as both shows will count toward the final point tallies with the exception of the Street Stock Sunday show. Gates open on Saturday at 4:00 with racing scheduled to begin at 6:30. Camping will be allowed at the track so come and enjoy the full race weekend at the Thunder Mountain Speedway
MODIFIED FINISH: Mike Colsten, Rick Wilk, J. R. Hurlburt, Brian Davis, Dave Zona, Dave Jenkins, Brian Weaver, Mike Frost, George Kostelansky, Tom McGurrin, Butch Cerullo, Bob Hamm Jr., Jeff Bronson, Dick Sundgren, Paul Jensen, Dan Morden, Brian Payne, Rod Hunsinger, Jimmy Wrench, Mike Nagel, Carl Nagel, Chris Weaver, Mike Decker, Rich Tiffany, Joel Batzel, Doug Worthing.
STREET STOCK FINISH: Gary Roberts, Billy Spoonhower, Ed McKernan, Harold Humphrey, John Morse, Scott Conover, Chris Piasecki, Bill Rampe, Mike Wilbur, Wade Decker, Gary Lamphere, Rich Powell, Jamie Shea, Max Moshier Jr., Charlie Fulton, Tracy Gregory, Mike West, Randy Boyce.
PURE STOCK FINISH: Larry Hillis, Chris Stull, Don Moshier, Chad Parks, John Payne, John Dale Howey, Dan Babcock, William Solliway, Matt Sissenstein, Toby Baker, Jeff Young, Mike Wilbur, Bill Morse, Dave Bellis.
FOUR CYLINDER STOCK FINISH: Harold Humphrey, Rick Phillips, Joe Bush, Jeff McKinney, Stanley Mathews, Jerry Wilcox, Jeff Wilcox, Jeff Wilcox Jr., Lloyd Twarz, John Wilcox, Fred Newton, Jay Hayward, Richard Wolford.
MINI SPRINT FEATURE: Don Harvey, Steve Boyd, Steve Klock, Bruce Brown, Ed Warren, Dale Roloson, Aric Copeland, Steve Diffendorf, Dave Huss, Phil Peworchik, Rick Christopher, Lance O dell, Ed Bennett, Garry Moore.
FOUR CYLINDER MODIFIED FINISH: Lee Dewitt, Mike Payne, Bruce Detro, Greg Martindale, Cliff Pierce, Curt Pierce, Karen Dewitt, George Howe, Buzz Barton, Roger Dewitt, Kala Bush, Andy Carr, Alan Bush, Steve Bump, Dick Case, Chet Carr, Calvin Pierce, Mark Reynolds.