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BILLY DECKER MAKES MOST OF THUNDER MOUNTAIN VISIT, DOMINATES THE
MODIFIED
FIELD
By: Nick Stark
Tuesday, August 14th
CENTER LISLE, NY --- In what started out as a sour beginning for DIRT
veteran, Billy Decker, the night got a whole lot sweeter, as Decker
collected the $2000 pay day in the Short Track Super Nationals
Qualifying
event. “Fast” Eddie White made it 2 straight wins, driving the Gary
Card
Sr. owned #78 to Thunder Mountain gold. Kevin Boynton collected his
1st
ever Thunder Mountain victory, and locked up a “Hurricane” Qualifying
spot
to go with his $500 pay day in the Hurricane Street Stocks. Steve
Simpson
chalked up the win in the Road Warriors, while “Superman” Joel Austin
overpowered the field in the Road Bandits. All the racing action being
brought to fans by Hart’s Logging and Barrett Family Dentistry.
Fans were buzzing with excitement over the imminent arrival of “The
Franklin
Flyer” Billy Decker in his Gypsum Wholesalers #91. Much like he would
later
in the evening, Decker came through and delivered, gracing Thunder
Mountain
fans with the pleasure to watch the dirt superstar. Bobby Varin was
also in
attendance with his Magsaurus Ignitions #93 machine to tackle the super
fast
3/8 oval of Thunder Mountain. These heavy hitters along with a mixture
of
local superstars, such as Brian Weaver and Paul Jensen, set up the
evening
with a good old fashioned slugfest. Decker opened up the night on an
off
note, rolling his #91 in turn three in qualifying heat #1 for the
Modifieds.
Fans stood silent and waited to see the status of Decker. He climbed
out
of the car, checked on the car condition, crews righted the car, and he
strapped back in, ready to continue. Decker would put on a great show
coming from the back towards the front, but it was Chad Cook of
Deposit, NY
who would bring home the heat win. Decker would however qualify for
the
redraw, as well as turn in the fastest lap of the evening. The other
heat
races ran through one after the other, providing fans with phenomenal
side
by side racing. With the qualifying heats taking place, the redraw
spots
drawn, and the lineup set. The mighty Modifieds took to the tacky
surface.
Polesitter, Don Hart Jr., would pace the powerful field to the green
flag,
chalking himself up as the leader of lap 1. That would be the last he
saw
of the lead, with Decker coming from his outside pole starting spot,
flying
to the lead via the high side. Class was in session with Decker as the
teacher, putting on a clinic for all competitors behind him. He would
lead
the remaining 39 laps en route to the win. Paul Jensen, 2007 track
champion, gave it the old college try, but just never had enough for
the
potent #91 of Decker. Jensen came home 2nd, with Bobby Varin posting
an
impressive 3rd. Brian “The Dream” Weaver drove a great race in his
#9R,
crossing the line in 4th, with Chad Cook, last car on the lead lap,
coming
home in 5th.
With the Modified feature in the books already, the Sportsman division
had
the tough task of filling the entertaining shoes the Mods left before
them.
All that can really be said is “Shoes filled.” What a show put on by
the 20
starters in the Autoworks of Ithaca Sportsman event. Mike Dimorier,
winner
of the inaugural Sportsman event at the 2006 STSN, jumped out to the
early
advantage in his #6L. Danny Varin fell right in tow of the #6L, biding
his
time and waiting for the opportunity to strike. The opportunity came
on a
lap 3 restart, and Varin certainly struck, taking over the race lead in
his
Charles Tibbits Masonry #18. Varin would lead all of 2 laps before
Dimorier
came right back on the low side to regain the lead. One little mistake
would push Varin backwards in a hurry, with Shawn Mills, Chris Stull,
Brian
White, and Eddie White all charging past. Yellow fever struck again on
lap
9, realigning the field for the double-file restart. Dimorier was up
to the
task yet again, charging out to the lead in the Upstate Auto Center
sponsored ride. Mills held steady to the runner-up spot with Eddie
White
now working his way up to 3rd. By lap 17, White was turning the
fastest
laps on the speedway, using every inch of the high groove to power his
way
to the front. Dimorier was doing a stellar job holding off the charge,
but
with 2 laps to go Dimorier bobbled a tad, presenting White with the
golden
ticket to the front. That would put the icing on the cake, and the
trophy
in White’s hand, with White bringing it home for the win over the
remaining
two circuits. Dimorier managed to hold onto 2nd with Mills in 3rd.
Kevin
Jordan put forth an impressive late race charge to snag the 4th spot,
with
Chris Stull rounding out the top 5.
By virtue of a redraw, Kevin Boynton was the beholder of the poker chip
bearing the #1, meaning he would lead the star studded field of
Hurricane
Street Stocks to the green flag. All race long, Boynton drove the
former
track championship car of Dick Stark and Gary Stage, out to a huge
advantage. However, caution flags would plague the event, rebunching
the
field time and time again, never allowing Boynton to really open up a
commanding lead over the field. On lap 18, another caution flag would
hang
over the field, but this one had a tad more importance. This would be
Boynton’s undoing, temporarily, that is. Boynton would bobble off the
restart as they headed into turn 1, handing the race lead over to Rich
Talada. Talada, as is often the case, is very hard to beat once he is
out
front. Boynton didn’t seem to really care though, coming right back
two
laps later, to recapture the race lead on his way to victory. Over the
remaining five laps, Steven Deinhart would make a last ditch effort to
dethrone Boynton, but would fall just short, coming home in 2nd and
locking
up a qualifying spot for the Fulton “Victoria”. Butch Green crossed
the
stand in 3rd and brought home a solid paycheck, along with the STSN
qualifying spot for the Woodhull Raceway. Randy Marsh was 4th in his
Owego
Bowl #17, while Daryl Krebs rounded out the top 5.
Earl Zimmer and Steve Simpson raced side by side, door to door, and
fender
to fender all race long in the 20 lap Road Warrior feature. Zimmer ran
the
low side, while Simpson was hooked on the top zip line of the speedway.
Simpson would zip right on to the victory, with Zimmer right in tow for
2nd.
Rick Frisco was 3rd, with Mike Pratschler and Pat Parker rounding out
the
top 5.
“Superman” Joel Austin mentioned earlier in the evening that he would
like
to win for his sponsor, Matisi Auto Sales in Endicott, NY. Much like
UPS,
Austin delivered and brought home the win in his #735 machine. John
Hoover
was right there at the line, narrowly finishing in the runner-up spot.
Nick
Greist came home 3rd, with Dan Wood 4th, and Danny Button rounding out
the
top 5.
Thunder Mountain Speedway is home of the 5th Annual Hurricane Harry A.
Uhl
Street Stock Memorial (September 22nd) and hosts racing every Saturday
night
from April through October. The Speedway is located off exit 8 of
Interstate
81. From there follow route 79 west for five miles and turn right in
Center
Lisle and follow the signs. For more information about the upcoming
events
at Thunder Mountain call the speedway office at (607) 849 - 7889 or
checkout
our website at http://www.thunderracetrack.com
Modifieds: BILLY DECKER, Paul Jensen, Bobby Varin, Brian Weaver, Chad
Cook,
Mike Colsten, Brent Wilcox, JR Hurlburt, Jeremy Smith, Wade Decker,
Jeff
Sheely, Tim Votra, Darwin Greene, Bob Hamm, Scott Brady, Tim Mayne,
Ricky
Yetter, Don Hart Jr., Bob Henry, Brian Decker, DNS – Jared Keeney,
Pierre
Lagrange
Sportsman: EDDIE WHITE, Mike Dimorier, Shawn Mills, Kevin Jordan, Chris
Stull, Danny Varin, Joey Colsten, Ryan Olsommer, Gary Card Jr., Mike
Austin,
Dan Clark, Tommy Collins Jr., Bret Welch, Jason Tuttle, PJ Goodwin,
Mike
Wilbur Sr., Larry Hillis, Brian White, Mike Lartz, Rodney Hart
Hurricane Street Stocks: KEVIN BOYNTON (Hurricane Qualifier), Steven
Deinhart (Fulton “Victoria” Qualifier), Butch Green (STSN Qualifier),
Randy
Marsh, Daryl Krebs, Jerry Lobdell Jr., Bobby Boynton, Rich Talada,
Michael
Morse, Kurt Decker, Leif Birdsall, Paul Harrington, Mike Wilbur Jr.,
Denny
Decker, Darl Ellis, John Cooper Jr., Donnie Russell Jr., Jamie Batzel,
Mike
Wilbur Sr., Ricky Marsh, Wayne Teeter, Richie Hillis, DNS – Billy
Marvin
Road Warriors: STEVE SIMPSON, Earl Zimmer, Rick Frisco, Mike
Pratschler, Pat
Parker, Jake Bennett, Adam Hoskins, Paul Lockwood, DJ Pendor, Joe
Fuller
Road Bandits: JOEL AUSTIN, John Hoover, Nick Greist, Dan Wood, Danny
Button,
Don Greist Jr., Andrew Harvey, Ray Oakley, Austin Welch, Ed White, Dave
Jenkins, Kenny Underwood, Kimberley Spicer, Gary Kinne, Josh Mudge
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