Mike Colsten Snares Thunder Mountain Victory
Center Lisle, New York.....For the seventh time in nine weeks there was a different winner in the Modified feature. Mike Colsten passed Tom McGurrin just past the halfway point of the race and went on to hold off George Hoffmier Jr. for his first win of the 2000 season at the Thunder Mountain Speedway last Saturday night.
McGurrin who started in the front row was quick to assert himself during the early portions of the race as Colsten was working his way to the front. Five yellows dotted the first fifteen laps as Colsten moved to the top spot. McGurrin tried in vain to hold the Fordpowered mount of Colsten off but it was to no avail as Colsten muscled by s the crossed flags were displayed.
Once in front Colsten opened up an advantage over the rest of the field leaving McGurrin to do battle with Hoffmier. Batle they did before Hoffmier got by as the laps were winding down. Once by, Hoffmier started to close on Colsten but the laps ran out and he had to settle for second. McGurrin wound up third followed by the steady J. R. Hurlburt and point leader George Kostelansky in the top five spots.
Tracy Gregory led the first two circuits in the twenty-lap Street Stock feature before Charlie Fulton took over on lap three. Fulton stayed there for the next seven laps despite heavy pressure from P. J. Goodwin, Scott Conover, Billy Spoonhower and Gary Roberts. As the halfway point came Fulton had all he could do to stay at the point as he made contact with Conover on the inside while Roberts went high for the lead. Roberts stayed in front for the next nine laps while the battle raged on for the runner-up spot. At the checkers it was Roberts by a comfortable margin over Goodwin in second, Spoonhower in third, Conover in fourth and Chris Piasecki completing the top five.
Mike Wilbur led the first six laps from his poleposition in the fifteen lap Pure Stock feature. Two time winner Larry Haiils worked his way through the pack into a challenging spots as the laps clicked toward the halfway mark. Hillis ducked under Wilbur coming off turn four on lap seven and the rest was history. With no more yellows toslow the pace, Hillis cruised comfortably home with his third consecutive victory. Wilbur stayed comfortably in second followed by point leader John Payne in third, Chris Stull in fourth and Bill Morse in fifth.
Billy Spoonhower led the first four laps of the fifteen lap Four Cylinder Stock event before a strong Rick Phillips took over. Spoonhower didn't give up however as he retook the top spot after two more laps. Phillips was not to be denied however as he went to the front again on the next lap and for all intents looked like he could win. It wasn't his destiny however with the white flag in sight, Phillips machine broke and he gave the lead to point leader Harold Humphrey. He led the fourteenth lap before contact with second place Jeff McKinney caused him to spin. McKinney went to the rear for his part in the incident which gave the lead back to Spoonhower who held off Joe Bush on the final lap for his first win of the year in the class. Bush came home second followed by Jeff Lee in third while Jerry Wilcox and Nathan Stevens rounding out the top five.
Alan Bush drove the race of his life in the Four Cylinder Modified feature. Bush, who started on the pole, led the first nine laps before five time winner Lee Dewitt went by for the lead. Bush hung tough for second while George Howe came back from a big lap two pile up to grab off third while Dick Case and Bruce Detro completed the top five spots.
Ho-Hum Don Harvey took the lead on lap two of the fifteen lap Mini-Sprint and went on to win the feature event by a comfortable margin over Lance O'dell. The race was only slowed once and that was by a fence busting incident by Rick Christopher. New Jerseyite Doug Smith came home third followed by Steve Boyle in fourth and James Brush was fifth.
Next week end will be the biggest of the season so far. On Saturday it will be a regular show sponsored by Greene's Do It Center in Maine New York along with a big fireworks extravaganza. Sunday the ELS Sprint Cars will make their first ever appeanance on the fast 3/8 high banked oval. They will be joined by the Ceb\ntral New York Mini Sprint tour. Also on the card will be the Street Stocks, Pure Stocks and the Four Cylinder Stocks. Gates open at 4:00 for both shows while racing is scheduled to go at 6:30. If you want to camp at the track it's free. Come join us for a full weekend of racing at Thunder Mountain Speedway.
MODIFIED FINISH: Mike Colsten, George Hoffmier Jr., Tom McGurrin, J. R. Hurlburt, George Kostelansky, Dave Jenkins, Rick Wilk, Rick Whitney, Paul Jensen, Dave Zona, Dick Sundgren, Carl Nagel, Rod Hunsinger, Larry Dilello, Randy Decker, Jeff Bronson, Jimmy Wrench, Mike Frost, Mike Nagel, Tom Sienko, Doug Worthing, Brian Weaver, George Lewis III.
STREET STOCK FINISH: Gary Roberts, P. J. Goodwin, Billy Spoonhower, Scott Conover, Chris Piasecki, Harold Humphrey, Barry Stephens, Bill Rampe, Max Moshier Jr., Brian Decker, John Morse, Mike Decker, Tracy Gregory, Mike Wilbur, Charlie Fulton, Jamie Shea.
PURE STOCK FINISH: Larry Hillis, Mike Wilbur, John Payne, Chris Stull, Bill Morse, John Dale Howey, Mike Austin, Don Moshier, Darl Ellis, Chris Wolfe, Norm Whittemore, Chad Parks, Don Russell Jr., Tony Kelley, Bob Mills, Doug Stack, Toby Baker.
FOUR CYLINDER STOCK FINISH: Billy Spoonhower, Joe Bush, Jeff Lee, Jerry Wilcox, Nathan Stevens, Jeff Wilcox, Jeff Wilcox Jr., Harold Humphrey, Jeff McKinney, Randy Gardner, Fred Newton, John Wilcox, Larry Rowley, Rick Phillips, Steve Green, Rich Powell..
FOUR CYLINDER MODIFIED FINISH: Lee Dewitt, Alan Bush, George Howe, Dick Case, Bruce Detro, Mike Payne, Bruce Knaak, Scott Allen, Curt Pierce, Karen Dewitt, Chet Carr, Ick Pierce, Calvin Pierce, Kala Bush, Steve Bump, Buzz Barton Jr., Greg Martindale, Cliff Pierce.
MINI SPRINT FINISH:Don Harvey, Lance O'dell, Doug Smith, Steve Boyle, James Brush, Garry Moore, Bruce Gould, Frank Rummenknapp, Ryan Lund, Jeremy Vunk, Steve Diffendorf, Rick Christopher.