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P.J. Goodwin capitalized on his front row starting position to take home the winner's share of the AutoWorks of Ithaca Sportsmen purse at Thunder Mountain Speedway. Larry Hillis took the lead at the drop of the green in the 25 lap main event with Goodwin in tow. Hillis looked strong throughout the early portion of the race until Goodwin slipped by on the 15th circuit. At the checkers it was Goodwin collected his first career Sportsmen feature win, Hillis was able to hold off a late race charge from Eddie White to take second with White crossing the line third. Brian White finished fourth with Scott Conover finishing in fifth.
Brad Weaver slipped in to the early lead in the Hunt's Auto Service IMCA Modified feature. His lead wouldn't last long as Tom Eiklor moved past Weaver and into the lead on the third lap. With Eiklor at the point the race became for second with Weaver, K.C. Cole, Jerry Lobdell and Dave Barrows all in tight pack followed closely by 4 time feature winner Sean Lias.
On the thirteenth lap Lobdell moved into second with Weaver third, Lias fourth and Cole running fifth. That's how the top 4 finished with Gary Roberts putting on a late race charge to finish fifth. In victory lane Eiklor thanked Sean Lias for some post heat race suggestions that improved his car for the feature.
The bounty hunters were out in the Hunt's Auto Service Hurricane Street Stock division as 21 cars took the green flag, 20 of them looking to pick up the bounty on Steven Deinhardt. Mike Morse and Derek Birdsall led the field to the green lag with Morse taking charge early. By lap 4 Deinhardt had taken over the lead with Morse holding on to second. Kurt Decker was on the move from his eleventh place starting spot and had moved into third place right behind Jason Rhodes. Decker got past Rhodes on lap ten setting up the battle for the win. At one point late in the race Decker was able to drive by Deinhardt but a caution cancelled the pass when the field was reverted back to the last completed lap.
Steven Deinhardt was able to hold off Decker's final charge and captured his fourth feature win in five events. Decker came up just short finishing second. Jason Rhodes crossed the line third with Mike Morse fourth and Mike Wilbur fifth.
In the return of the 4 Cylinder Stock class to the speedway. Daron Hurlburt led flag to flag in the 13 lap event. He was followed across the line by Mitch Hurlburt,. Jim Money, Jason Beebe and Wendell Washington.
Jake Fowlston picked up his second win in the Road Warrior feature event. Fowlston and Rick Frisco swapped the lead through the first three laps before Frisco settle into the top spot with Fowlston running a tight second. On lap 9 Fowlston regained the lead and held on for the win. Frisco finished second with Paul Lockwood third, Ed White fourth and Stan Wayman fifth.
Scott Bowen took the lead at the drop of the green in the Road Bandit main event. Austin Welch stuck to the inside of the speedway running in second with Jeremie Hale Sr, and Bobby Edwards trying to find a way around the leaders.
By lap 4 three time feature winner Nick Griest had entered the fray running in fourth spot. With Hale taking his preferred top line, Griest staying down on the bottom and Bobby Edwards searching for a way around the two Bowen maintained a slim margin at the front of the pack.
On lap 11 Griest slipped by Welch for second place as the leaders entered lapped traffic. During a caution period on lap 14 Bowen had to pull off the speedway to have safety crews check the car for fire. This put Griest in front with Edwards in second. On the restart Edwards drove under Griest through turn two and came away with the lead, but the caution was out and the field relined with Edwards back in second. On the next restart Edwards again pulled along Griest and drove past him on the backstretch. This time there was no caution and Edwards picked up his second win of the season. Griest finished second with Welch third, Hale fourth and Jarod O'Neil fifth.
Track Notes: A nice crowd was on hand for the kick off of the Memorial Day racing weekend. A shower developed after the kiddie rides during intermission and the driver's were very cooperative in helping keep the track in race condition. Jack-of-all-trades promoter/ track owner Dick Stark gave the invocation, sang the national anthem and conducted a couple of victory lane interviews, in addition to announcing some of the heat races. John Cooper Jr.s 4 Roses racing team donated DARE T-shirts which were given away during the nights events.
AutoWorks of Ithaca Sportsmen Finish: P.J. Goodwin, Larry Hillis, Eddie White, Brian White, Scott Conover, Gary Card Jr., Chris Stull, Ken Hammond, Bret Welch, Ben Bushaw, Pat Votra
Hunt's Auto Service IMCA Modified Finish: Tom Eiklor, Jerry Lobdell, Brad Weaver, Sean Lias, Gary Roberts, Dave Barrows, K.C. Cole, Mike Stoddard, Tyler Stoddard, Joe Miles, Mike Stolarcyk III, Chris Fleming, Randy Ganoung, Joe Cole, DNS-Pete Neff
Hunt's Auto Service Hurricane Street Stock Finish: Steven Deinhardt, Kurt Decker, Jason Rhodes, Mike Morse, Mike Wilbur, Charlie Gilbert, John Cooper JR., Randy Marsh, Jerry Lobdell, Gil Sharpsteen, Gene Sharpsteen, Ricky Marsh, Roger Walburn, Justin Kaeckmeister, T.J. Anderson, Mike Wilbur Jr., K.J. Yager, Rich Green, Derek Birdsall, Scott Edwards, Bill Rampe
4 Cylinder Stocks Finish: Deron Hurlburt, Mitch Hurlburt, Jim Money, Jim Money, Jason Beebe, Wendell Washington, John Carter
Road Warriors Finish: Jake Fowlston, Rick Frisco, Paul Lockwood, Ed White, Stan Wayman, Mark Cardew, 01, Harold Walburn, Brian Hartman, Steven Dejew,. Mark Andrus, Alan Meachem, DNS Royce Currie
Road Bandits Finish: Bobby Edwards, Nicke Griest, Austin Welch, Jeremie Hale Sr., Jarod O'Neil, Scott Bowen, Ray Oakley, Dennis McKinney, Nick Alexander, Darrell Fiene, Dave Jenkins, Jeff Weaver, Phil Clapper, Richard Wagner, Travis Block, Jerry Dashnau.
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