FIELDS, MCMILLEN, GASTON, BAINEY ALL RETURN TO VICTORY LANE; HILL PICKS UP FIRST OF 2008 AT THUNDER MOUNTAIN SPEEDWAY
Knoxdale, PA
May 30, 2008
With the cold air finally exiting the east coast, Thunder Mountain Speedway was blessed with warmer (not to mention dry) weather as the cars and fans came out in mass to put on and witness an exciting show once again. Fuzzy Fields captured his 3rd Super Stock win of the season as “Wild” Bill McMillen likewise claimed his 3rd RWD 4 Cylinder main. Matt Gaston found Late Model victory lane for the 2nd time while Jason Bainey returned to take his 3rd Pure Stock feature win in 3 starts. Aaron Hill was the latest driver to stake an Enduro feature win in a division with no repeat winners thus far. Back stretch flagman Bob Beck, who was injured the previous week in an on track accident was in attendance to a round of applause from the fans. Beck underwent surgery to have a steel rod implanted in his leg and had the pleasure of taking in the action from the “other side of the fence”.
Fuzzy Fields and Rusty Martz have dominated the Super Stock racing since the start of the season and week #5 was no different with Fields taking the win over Martz. “The car is a little hot, we’re not used to this many green flag laps” joked Fields next to his VSI #28F in victory lane. “We had a lot of work to do this week since the car got tore up pretty bad last weekend. Thanks to Frank at VSI for all his help and hard work.”
Mike Desch and Fields made up the front row of the 14 car field as Desch took the lead into turn 1 ahead of Fields and 6th starter Steve Cook in pursuit. Desch went way high in turn 3 allowing Fields to get alongside at the line as a caution flew for a Johnny Lindenpitz spin wiped out the lap resulting in a complete restart. Fields used the restart to his advantage and took the lead at the wave of the green ahead of Desch. 4th starting Gary Little vaulted his #2 up to 2nd at the completion of lap 1 as Desch lost 3rd to Jamie Barber. Cook looped his #27 in turn 2 collecting Chad Obrien and Jim Handyside Jr resulting in the 2nd and final caution of the race.
With 2 laps in the books, Fields commanded the restart with Little, Barber and Desch in tow. 12th starter Rusty Martz restarted 5th, but quickly took 4th from Desch as Fields was pulling away from the field on lap 3. Two laps later, Martz was sitting in 3rd and pressuring Little for 2nd. Martz pulled beside Little at the line for lap 6, but Little had a strong run in turn 1 maintaining his position. Martz regrouped and made another bid for 2nd which he finally completed on lap 8. While Martz and Little were battling for 2nd, race leader Fields was all alone well in front of the pack.
As Martz worked on trying to reel in Fields, Little was running a comfortable 3rd as Barber, Desch, and Cook had a furious battle for 4th brewing. At the halfway mark, Cook went from 6th to 4th in one turn as Martz was slowly making up ground on Fields out front. The field began to string itself out with very little lapped traffic in front of the leaders. With a clean track ahead, Fields went back to putting distance between himself and Martz as Cook headed for the pits on lap 14, moving Desch to 4th with Barber in 5th.
With 2 laps to go, Brockport, PA’s Fields was motoring on out front as Martz had plenty of breathing room ahead of Little. The battle for 4th with Desch and Barber continued ten car lengths behind 3rd running Little as Fields took the white flag. The final lap clicked off as Fields finally was able to let off the gas as he crossed the checkered flag well ahead of Martz. Little finished his solid run for 3rd with Desch holding on to 4th ahead of Barber who was 5th. Mike Dempsey, Lindenpitz, Handyside Jr., Obrien, and Cook rounded out the top 10. Martz and Fields won heat races. After 5 weeks, Fields and Martz are tied for the point lead. Fields owns 3 feature wins to Martz’s 2, but Martz is a perfect 5 for 5 in heat wins with Fields owning 3 preliminary wins.
“Wild” Bill McMillen grabbed his 3rd win in the new RWD 4 Cylinder division which saw a season high count of 9 cars. “I’ll tell you what, that was a race. A great race.” exclaimed McMillen beside his #51 in victory lane. “I heard (Don) Henry back there, but he raced me fair like he always does. That’s what the fans come to see, good clean racing and that’s what we love to do for them.” continued McMillen. The St. Mary’s, PA veteran has tallied 92 feature wins in his career and added “I’m self employed, I started a new business called McMillen’s Reclaimed Lumber. I buy old lumber and refinish it to sell, that’s what I do to get money to race. I’m my own boss, I make my own hours so I can race.”
Newcomer Paul Metz Jr and McMillen lead the field to green with immediately taking the lead. Randy Reed, running a potent front wheel drive Neon entered the RWD division and came from 4th to 2nd in turn 2. Adam Nixon made his first start of the season in 3rd with Metz Jr falling to 4th. 9th starter Don Henry was up to 5th on lap 2. Henry took 4th from Metz on lap 4, then Metz spun on lap 5 bringing out the lone caution of the event.
McMillen maintained his lead after the restart which saw Nixon looking under Reed for 2nd. Reed held off the attempt by Nixon, but Henry drove around both cars to take 2nd at lap 6. While Henry tried to close on leader McMillen, Reed and Nixon resumed their battle, this time for 3rd. With Reed running high as Nixon tried low, the 2 cars were losing ground to Henry who was chased down McMillen and was beside the leader at the line completing lap 9. Henry stuck to the passenger side door of McMillen through turns 1 & 2 and down the back stretch into turn 3. Henry went wide in turn 4 allowing McMillen to put some breathing room between himself and Henry. Henry made up the lost distance and looked under McMillen with 2 laps to go. McMillen had a great run out of turn 2 which put him safely in front of Henry coming to the white flag. McMillen was unchallenged the final lap as he went on to win ahead of Henry. Reed held on for 3rd with Nixon 4th. Joe Malobicky Jr finished 5th. The balance of the field were Brandon Weidow, Jason Young, Metz, and Bob Rawlston Jr. McMillen and Henry picked up the heat race wins. Both drivers have 3 heat wins under their belts, but McMillen’s 3-2 edge in feature wins and an impressive average finish of 1.40 gives him a 10 point lead over Henry in the season standings.
Punxsutawney, PA’s Matt Gaston parked his #47 steel black late model in victory lane for the 2nd time this season. “The more I run this car, the more I like it” stated Gaston. “I don’t usually dedicate wins, but I have to dedicate this one to my cousin who has been in the hospital. He doesn’t like to miss a race for anything, but he’s home tonight recovering. So this win’s for him.”
Rick Maxim and Gaston made up the front row of the 15 car line up as Gaston used the outside line to snare the lead in turn 2. 3rd and 4th starters Luke Hoffner and John Chesnalavich Jr held their spots at the start with Dwayne Tanneyhill and 8th starter Jason Witherite closely behind. Tanneyhill got into the back of Chesnalavich, loosening the #812 enough for Tanneyhill and Witherite to move past. Out front, Gaston was charging to a half straight lead over Maxim that was wiped out due to a lap 3, turn 3 caution for Chesnalavich and Cory Ruffo making his first ever Thunder Mountain start.
The first attempt for a restart was negated due to Josh Watt tagging the wall in turn 4 bringing out a yellow. The second try was more successful as Gaston went back to work distancing himself from Maxim as Witherite moved into 4th. On lap 5, Tanneyhill spun in turn 3 collecting Brian Smith. Tanneyhill raced on, but Smith stopped on the track resulting in a caution.
Gaston was strong once again on the ensuing restart ahead of maxim, who had his hands full with a Luke Hoffner challenge. Hoffner made a pass for 2nd on lap 6, but Maxim reclaimed the spot in turn 1. The two raced side by side as Witherite watched from behind in 4th. At the halfway mark, Gaston had a sizeable lead over the battle for 2nd. Maxim pulled slightly ahead of Hoffner, but was losing ground each lap to leader Gaston who made short work of lapped traffic. Once Maxim and Hoffner caught the lapped cars, Hoffner tried to move into 2nd but got pinned behind a slower car, allowing Maxim to pull ahead. Witherite also had trouble with the slow car which resulted in the #24M losing 4 spots. Witherite quickly regained 7th from Chuck Kennedy before spinning off the backstretch on lap 18, bringing out the final yellow of the race. Witherite’s night ended as he drove his mount to the pits.
Gaston was strong once again as he opened another half straight lead on Maxim at the restart. Hoffner resumed his challenge for 2nd and drove under Maxim who moved to the high groove. Maxim used his momentum to hold off the initial charge from Hoffner as Tanneyhill had his hands full from a challenge for 4th from Jerry Redden. With 2 laps to go, Gaston was still running his own race out front as Redden took 4th from Tanneyhill. With the white banner waving, Hoffner got beside Maxim and tried the outside line in turn 1. Maxim held on as Hoffner then went low in 3. Hoffner made the pass stick in turn 4 as Gaston crossed the line ahead of Hoffner, Maxim, Redden, and Tanneyhill. Sixth through tenth were Kennedy, Bruce Raybuck, Larry Wingard, Smith, and Witherite. Kennedy and Gaston took heat race wins. After the feature win, Gaston took a 2 point lead over Hoffner in the standings. While both drivers have 2 heat wins, Gaston’s edge comes from his two feature wins to Hoffner’s one.
After a two week absence from the track, Clearfield, PA’s Jason Bainey returned to competition and kept his Pure Stock unbeaten streak alive while snapping Brian Rhed’s run of 2 consecutive wins in the process. Bainey explained his hiatus , “My wife and I had a baby last Saturday. I’ve had the flu and we weren’t going to come tonight, but my older son talked me into it. I said ‘ok, let’s go buddy’”.
Bainey lead the first 11 laps from his 2nd place starting position before losing the spot to Rhed. Bainey fought back after Rhed led 2 laps as the two made slight contact in turn 4. Although Bainey let off the throttle to prevent spinning the leader, Rhed’s machine suffered a flat tire in the process. “I knew Brian was coming. He got by and I tried to straighten it out so we both didn’t spin, I hated to see that happen. We always race each other clean, we have for years. I’ll go talk to him and explain I didn’t try to do it” commented Bainey next to his #22.
Bainey took the win over Alan Trunzo and Adam Brink. Rhed was credited with 4th as Nathan Yeaney was 5th at the pay window. Chuck Rittenhouse, Steve Barnes, Henry Wilfong, Cory Roman, and Kyle Shannon rounded out the field. Bainey and Rhed were heat race victors. With 2 heat and 2 feature wins, Rhed has a 27 point lead over Barnes. Bainey has 2 heat wins to go with his 3 feature wins and sits in 4th place in the standings., 20 points behind Rittenhouse.
Aaron Hill held of fellow Brookville, PA resident Jason Joiner for his first feature Enduro win of the season in his #20 machine. “I’ve had a lot of bad luck this year, broke a bunch of stupid little things. It’s been a while since I won, nice to be back here” commented Hill.
Hill and Joiner made up the front row of the 26 car feature with Joiner taking the lead at the start. Hill watched Joiner for 1 lap before taking the lead on lap 2. Hill was never able to shake the #1B of Joiner despite only 3 cautions slowing the event. The lead pair distanced itself from 12th starter Chad Greeley who moved to 3rd on lap 5. A lap 7 caution bunched the field once again, but Hill was up to the challenge as he held off Joiner the remaining 5 laps for the win. Joiner was a close 2nd with Greeley losing 3rd to Chris Woodel at the line. Todd English was 5th. The balance of the top ten were John Macormac Jr, Jamey Lee, Shawn Lindemuth, Mike Guthrie, and Brent Lee. Greeley, Joiner, and Hill took home heat race wins. With no repeat winners in the first 5 weeks, consistency has been the key for Chad Greeley as he holds a 59 point lead over Brent Lee. Greeley’s 1 win combined with his average finish of 2.40 bests the 39 cars who have scored points.
Next on tap for Thunder Mountain Speedway will be a 5 division regular show consisting of Steel Block Late Models, Super Stocks, Pure Stocks, RWD 4 Cylinders, and Enduros. Gates open at 5:30 with heat races commencing at 7:30.
The Mike Eberl Memorial has been officially rescheduled for June 27th. Visit the track’s web site at www.thundermountainspeedway.net as details are announced.
COMPLETE RESULTS:
Steel Block Late Models :
1) 47 Matt Gaston
2) 15 Luke Hoffner
3) 102 Richard Maxim
4) 5R Jerry Redden
5) 81 Dwayne Tanneyhill
6) 51 Chuck Kennedy
7) 10J Bruce Raybuck
8) 8W Larry Wingard
9) 22S Brian Smith
10) 24M Jason Witherite
11) 812 John Chesnalavich Jr
12) 10k Cory Wilson
13) 38r Corey Ruffo
14) 26 Josh Watt
15) 49 Jeremy Newcome
Super Stocks :
1) 28F Fuzzy Fields
2) 16M Rusty Martz
3) 2 Gary Little
4) 59 Mike Desch
5) 13 Jamie Barber
6) 95 Mike Dempsey
7) 29L Johnny Lindenpitz
8) 366 Jim Handyside Jr
9) 77 Chad Obrien
10) 27 Steve Cook
11) 94R Chad Rougeux
12) 1B Tim Bish
13) 11Y Dale Yeaney
14) 67 Thomas Greeley
Pure Stocks :
1) 22 Jason Bainey
2) 27T Alan Trunzo
3) 3b1 Adam Brink
4) 69R Brian Rhed
5) 21 Nathan Yeaney
6) 83 Chuck Rittenhouse
7) 5b Steve Barnes
8) 10 Henry Wilfong
9) 08 Cory Roman
10) 97 Kyle Shannon
Enduros :
1) 20 Aaron Hill
2) 1B Jason Joiner
3) 8bal Chris Woodel
4) 27 Chad Greeley
5) 711 Todd English
6) 7 John Macormac Jr
7) 44J Jamey Lee
8) 54 Shawn Lindemuth
9) 17 Mike Guthrie
10) 16B Brent Lee
11) 17s Steve Cook
12) 81 Ryan Kemmer
13) 73D Shawn Dinger
14) 04M Barry Myers
15) 2b Henry Himes
16) 25 George Frondek Sr
17) 8 Cory Silvis
18) 25 Mike Calhoun
19) P1 Sam Orf Jr
20) 422 Randy Holliday
21) 207 Wayne Terwillinger
22) 12 Scott Brocious
23) 455 Richie Snell
24) 7R Randy Rickard
25) 88 Devin Dempsey
26) 51 Rusty Murray
RWD 4 Cylinders :
1) 51 Bill McMillen
2) 68 Don Henry
3) 94 Randy Reed
4) 47 Adam Nixon
5) 34 Joe Malobicky Jr
6) 55 Brandon Weidow
7) 7 Jason Young
8) 14 Paul Metz Jr
9) 77r Bob Rawlston Jr
