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June 12th, 2009
Flyin' Brian White victorious at Thunder Mountain Speedway
The weather in Center Lisle was clear and sunny , and the racing action on this evening was blistering hot. Several teams converged on the high banks of Thunder Mountain Speedway ready to battle for the trophy hardware in the 5 divisions that were scheduled for racing action. The Hunt's Auto Service Modified Sportsman were the first division scheduled on the feature board. Fourteen cars came to the green flag waved by head starter Brandon Clapperton, as second generation driver Richie Hillis seized the lead into turn one. The young driver looked to be the man to beat as he controlled the tempo of the race lap after lap as he seemed to settle into a good groove as the race progressed. Continueous attempts by second place driver Brian White to rattle the leader were unsuccessful as Hillis hugged the bottom groove blasting back to a 2-3 car length lead down the straightaways. The 23rd lap provided the opportunity White was looking for as Hillis was unable to keep his machine low enough in turn one to prevent the #56 from slipping up under him, and the Garth Fabricating & Trucking Bicknell car slid up into the top spot coming off of turn two. The cars touched momentarily, but White was able to continue into the lead as Hillis was also passed by Jim Larock for second, and was finally able to settle into third. The order would stay that way to the finish with Larry Hillis coming home 4th, and P.J. Goodwin finishing in the 5th spot. Spots sixth through tenth were Eddie White, Ryan Olsommer, Brett Welch, Gary Card Jr., and Bob Mills.
The National Parts Peddler 600 Micro Sprints dashed out onto the track for their twenty lap event next with Timex Morgan, and Nick Cooper occupying the front row. As the green flag waved Morgan jumped into the lead on lap one. His lead would be short lived as Daryl Ruggles in the Ruggles Auto Body World entry blasted by on lap two into the top spot. Ruggles set a torrid pace as the laps clicked by, and opened a sizeable lead on the rest of the field until caution waved on lap 7 as Morgan's After Hours Imaging entry developed mechanical issues resulting in the race stoppage. The #48 Jr. machine proved too tough to tame as Ruggles continued to the checkered flag honors with his second win at Thunder in as many tries. The Honoeye Auto Parts #35N of Cooper finished second with Allysha Ruggles in third, Dryden's Amy Scott fourth, and Colten Wilson a solid fifth.
The Doug's Trash Removal Hurricane Street Stocks brought 19 starters to the green flag as pole sitter Darl Ellis Sr. in the Gold and Silver Expressions #5X jumped into the lead for the first six laps, until Battlin' Butch Green stole the top spot as the leaders flashed across the start/finish line on lap #7. Green already a three time winner at Thunder Mountain in 2009 was on a tear as the #39 Hill's Automotive entry was the class of the field. He survived a lap #17 caution to bring home the victory with Chemung, N.Y. driver Rich Talada finishing a close 2nd, Darl Ellis with his best finish of the year at Thunder in 3rd, Rich Green 4th, and Donnie Russell Jr. 5th. The # 28 of Chargin' Charlie Gilbert finished 6th, Gene Sharpsteen 7th, Jason Rhoads 8th, Marshall Balzer, and Rick Frisco 9th and 10th respectively.
The Road Warriors had a healthy field of sixteen starters as the #1K of Kenn Winn lead lap one giving up the top spot to Gary Brown on lap two. Brown's lead lasted only one lap as Royce Currie seized the lead on lap three and set sail for another big win for the Genoa, N.Y. driver. Currie was unstoppable as he crossed the finish line first with Gary Brown 2nd, Matt Lipka 3rd, Brandon Nielson 4th, and Jason Bond 5th. A post race inspection would disqualify the efforts of both Lipka, and Nielson, and move Jason Bond to 3rd, Don Swansborough to 4th, with Jesse Velez 5th.
The Road Bandits had a new winner in victory lane as Ray Oakley in the #31R Team Jenkins mount bested the field with a green to checker race. Team mate Smokin' Dave Jenkins was 2nd, Bobby Edwards 3rd, Dennis McKinney 4th, and Mike Taylor 5th.
Next week Thunder Mountain will not be racing on Friday night as the NIKSTOCK
Rock Music Festival will be occupying the facility with a two day event on Friday and Saturday. Action will return on June 26th with a full six divisions in action on Hawaiin Night. The 270 Micro Sprints will be introduced into the 6oo Micro Sprint division with the hopes of obtaining a full field of entries.
Thunder notes;
The car counts in the divisions continue to stabilize with 14 Modified Sportsman, 19 Street Stocks, 20 Road Bandits, 16 Warriors, and 9 Micro Sprints. The track was ultra smooth again with a very small patch of choppiness area just out of turn four. Thunder Mountain Speedway has added 2 new dates to its' racing schedule with events on Tuesday July 14th, and Tuesday August 4th. For info on these events go to www.thunderracetrack.com
Thunder Mountain Speedway is located off Interstate 81 exit 8 (Whitney Point), then rt. 79 west for 5 miles to Hunts Corners Rd. then follow road 1/4 mile to speedway. Any information can be obtained at (607)227-9602 during the week or (607)849-7889 on race day.
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