Worthing Takes Number Three At Thunder Mountain
Center Lisle, New York - ..Doug Worthing made it three wins for the season as he powered by Jeff Bronson on lap thirteen and led the rest of the way to head the pack in Modified feature wins at Thunder Mountain Speedway last Saturday night on Owego Wood Recyclers night. Other winners included first time Charlie Fulton in the Street Stocks, Larry Hillis took home the Pure Stock win, Nathan Stevens grabbed the Four Cylinder Stocks, Lee Dewitt in the Four Cylinder Mods and Don Harvey took number ten in the Mini Sprints.
Worthing, who started eleventh, made an inside move coming out turn four on lap thirteen to take the lead from Jeff Bronson who had led since the outset. Once in front, Worthing had to contend with the Ford powered machine of another two time winner, Mike Colsten who had also gotten by Bronson. As the race wound to it s conclusion, Worthing was able to hold off Colsten as another feature winner, Tom McGurrin came back from an early race incident to challenge Colsten for the second spot.
McGurrin made an inside move work with three laps to go but couldn t get close to Worthing as the extremely popular Owego, New York Chauffer came home first under the checkers. McGurrin was a strong second followed by Colsten, point leader George Kostelansky and Bronson in the top five finishing spots.
Tracy Gregory was the early leader of the twenty lap Street Stock feature before the popular Charlie Fulton took over the top spot. Once in front, Fulton was a extremely tough time staying there in this relatively caution free event. While Fulton was on the point, Jamie Shea was working him over, soon to be joined by a very fast P. J. Goodwin. As Fulton continued in front, Goodwin gained ground on Shea and on the final lap pulled even as the pair exited turn four. At the drop of the checkered flag, Fulton came with his first ever feature win followed by Goodwin in a photo finish over Shea for second. Fourth went to Gary Roberts while point leader Scott Conover came back from a early race demotion to round out the top five.
Rick Phillips led the first five laps of the Four Cylinder Stock feature from his outside pole starting spot before young Nathan Stevens took over going into turn one on lap six. Once in front and with no yellows to slow the pace Stevens was able to put some distance between himself and point leader Harold Humphrey. As the laps clicked off toward the finish, Humphrey was able to close a little distance but came up a little short as Stevens posted his third win of the season. Humphrey was second followed by Philips in third, Jeff McKinney in fourth and the consistent Jerry Wilcox in fifth.
Lance O dell gave it his best shot but came up short in dethroning Don Harvey s feature win streak in the fifteen lap wire to wire Mini Sprint feature. O dell got to the front first and led the first eight laps before Harvey caught him and went by going into turn three of lap nine. Once in front Harvey really couldn t shake O Dell s tire tracks but didn t lose any ground either and came home with his tenth win in twelve attempts for the 2000 season. O dell was a strong second after a week off waiting for motor parts while Steve Boyd was a solid third followed by Frank Rummenknapp in fourth and hometown hero Steve Klock rounding out the top five.
&= nbsp; Buzz Barton, coming off a couple weeks of bad luck led the first seven laps of the twenty lap Four Cylinder Modified feature before point leader Lee Dewitt caught and passed him in turn three of lap eight. Once in front Dewitt bobbed and weaved through lapped traffic while a strong running Mike Payne was gaining ground each and every lap. With the white flag displayed, Payne was within a car length and Dewitt had all he could do to hold off the determined Payne at the checkers by less than a car length. Barton came home third with his best finish in a while the ageless veterans Bruce Detro and Dick Case completed the top five finishers.
Toby Baker led the first three circuits of the fifteen lap Pure Stock feature before last Sunday s winner Chris Stull took over. Stull stint on top only lasted two laps before point leader John Payne took over. Stull retook the lead on the next lap as the leaders swapped the top spot back and forth with Larry Hillis now coming into play on lap eight. A scramble on lap eight had Hillis taking over the lead with Payne dropping back to fourth. With the race not seeing any more yellows no more positions changed and Hillis had another feature win. Stull came home second in the double point event followed by Bill Morse in third, Payne in fourth and Doug Stack in fifth.
Next week will be a regular show featuring the Modifieds, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, Four Cylinder Stocks, Four Cylinder Modifieds and Mini Sprints as Don Harvey heads toward the track feature win record. Gates open at 4:00 with race time scheduled for 6:30.Thunder Mountain Speedway is located just off New York State Route 79 at Center Lisle. Turn right by the church and follow the signs.
MODIFIED FINISH: Doug Worthing, Tom McGurrin, Mike Colsten, George Kostelansky, Jeff Bronson, J. R. Hurlburt, Dave Jenkins, Rick Wilk, Mike Nagel, Carl Nagel, Paul Jensen, Mike Clapperton, Dave Zona, Chris Weaver, Dick Sundgren, Brian Payne, Mike Frost, George Lewis III, Larry Dilello, Rod Hunsinger, Jimmy Wrench.
STREET STOCK FINISH: Charlie Fulton, P. J. Goodwin, Jamie Shea, Gary Roberts, Scott Conover, Tracy Gregory, Harold Humphrey, Chris Piasecki, John Morse, Bill Rampe, Bill Spoonhower, Mike Wilbur, Max Moshier Jr., George Lynch Sr., Barry Stephens.
PURE STOCK FINISH: Larry Hillis, Chris Stull, Bill Morse, John Payne, Doug Stack, Darl Ellis, Chad Parks, Don Moshier, Mike Wilbur, Sean Olenski, Toby Baker, Earl Slack, Bob Mills, Mike Austin.
FOUR CYLINDER STOCK FINISH: Nathan Stevens, Harold Humphrey, Rick Phillips, Jeff McKinney, Jerry Wilcox, Jeff Wilcox, Jay Hayward, Jeff Wilcox Jr., John Wilcox, Eric Van Eaton, Jeff Lee, Joe Bush, Dick Dyson, Fred Newton, Tim Rudolph
FOUR CYLINDER MODIFIED FINISH: Lee Dewitt, Mike Payne, Buzz Barton, Bruce Detro, Dick Case, Alan Bush, George Howe, Curt Pierce, Cliff Pierce, Kala Bush, Calvin Pierce, Roger Dewitt, Steven Bump, Ick Pierce, Scott Allen, Chris Burke.
MINI SPRINT FEATURE: Don Harvey, Lance O dell, Steve Boyd, Frank Rumenknapp, Steve Klock, Blas=E9 Regina, James Brush, Garry Moore, Ed Warren, Ryan Lund, Jimmy Lawler, Bruce Gould, Aric Copeland, Jeremy Vunk.