Sarge Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 Championship races are heating up at Texas Thunder Speedway! For immediate release Contact Pat Wilson 254-290-6262 pwilson1@hot.rr.com http://www.texasthunder.com By Bill “Sarge” Masom Killeen, Tx In addition to the fantastic regular racing, sponsored by Hertz Rent A Car, the final event of the night was the McGuire Trucking I. M. C. A. Southern SportMods “King of the Hill” The first feature race of the night were five youngsters racing ten laps in the Kwik Kar Oil & Lube Jr Mini Stocks. After the flag fell on the field, it was Joseph Charnock getting the lead on the back stretch from a spinning Clayton Hartzog. He was followed by Nathan Robbins, Colten Monroe, Ryan Ellis and Hartzog. Monroe would move into second on lap one with a move under Robbins in turn one. Ellis would then go side by side with Robbins in turn three. Those two raced hard for third all the way to the back stretch on lap two, before Robbins was able to put the challenge behind him. The positions stayed static after that, with Monroe trying to catch Charnock. But the points leader couldn't get to Charnock's back bumper and Charnock went on to win his sixth win of the year from the fourth starting spot. Monroe's points lead is now only six over Charnock Kwik Kar Oil & Lube Jr Mini Stocks 1.22 Joseph Chamock 2.712 Colton Monroe 3.4r Nathan Robbins 4.14e Ryan Ellis 5.14 Clayton Harzog Up next was the fifteen lap Kwik Kar Oil & Lube Street Stock feature race, contested by seventeen cars. There was only three points separating current points leader Albert Wininger Jr and the defending champion Robert Simmerman going into this race. Simmerman's night was in jeopardy though, as he had to change a flat during the pace laps. He got a new shoe bolted on and joined the back of the pack just in time for the green flag. It was Joe Fuller getting the early lead from Gene Burnett, Scott Wilson, Ryan Anderson and Brian Fuller. On lap one, B. Fuller was making a move high on Anderson on the back stretch. The move worked as B. Fuller got the spot in turn four, taking over fourth. Wilson was getting around Burnett for second at the same time. Burnett was having problems on the high side of the track, and in the scramble to miss his car, several positions in the top five were shuffled. On lap three, Wininger Jr and B. Fuller were side by side for third. Leader J. Fuller pulled off the track and out of the race. Wininger Jr pulled off the track a lap later, and the points lead could change hands with a good run by Simmerman. With all the drop outs and problems in the top five in the first four laps the order was significantly shuffled. On lap five the top five were Wilson up front, Danny Dunn in second, with Tommy Kirkpatrick, B. Fuller and Anderson. On lap seven, Simmerman ended up spinning into the infield, the result of having his right rear wheel fall off in turn two. He would only finish three more laps than his championship rival Wininger Jr. On lap eight, in only his second start at the track, Kirkpatrick got around Dunn in turn one to take over second. The positions stayed static, though the racing was hot and heavy all around the track. As Wilson and Kirkpatrick were racing off of turn four to the white flag, they encountered the lapped car of Don Watson. The two leaders split Watson, with Wilson going high, and Kirkpatrick down low. After getting around Watson, they stayed door handle to door handle all the way around the track. With the crowd on it's feet and cheering for their favorite, it was Wilson just nipping Kirkpatrick at the line for his second win of the year, from the fourth position on the grid, in an all green flag race. The points battle between Wininger Jr and Simmerman closed up, with only one point separating the two protagonists with just two months of racing left. Third in points, Trevor Sparkman, is just eight points out of the lead. Kwik Kar Oil & Lube Street Stocks 1.26 Scott Wilson 2.71 Tommy Kirkpatrick 3.63 Danny Dunn 4.100 Brian Fuller 5.20 Trevor Sparkman 6.05 Ryan Anderson 7.9 Carl Boettcher 8.43 Gene Burnett 9.82 Lee Chasse 10.36c Don Watson 11.27 Tim Fasano 12.19r Dean Silva 13.1 Robert Simmerman 14.40 Albert Wininger, Jr 15.00 Joe Fuller 16.5 Richard Valentine 17.83 Dennis Simmons Ten Hertz Rent A Car I. M. C. A. Southern SportMods took to the track for fifteen laps of racing. Eight points separated points leader Billy White and Kenny ware going into the night. Shad Stevens was just twenty-one points out of the lead in third. It was White getting the lead on the back stretch on the start of the race, followed by K. Ware, the rookie Kevin West, Hardy Henderson and Trace Crawford. On lap one Henderson tried the low line in turn one in an effort to get by West. West though would hold off Henderson and kept his third spot. Lap three would see the fight for the lead heat up, as K. Ware got under the leader White's car coming out of turn two. The raced wheel to wheel to turn four, but K. Ware couldn't get around White. A lap later and Henderson would resume his attack on West, diving under him going into turn one. West would almost spin his ride, and would leave the track. Corey Homan inherited fifth place. On lap six, Stevens and Homan would go wheel to wheel from turn two, all the way around to the same corner on lap seven, where Homan got the advantage and held off Stevens for fifth. But a lap later and Steven would manage to dispatch West, this time diving low in turn four and finally making it stick in turn two. On lap nine K. Ware would again challenge leader White. K. Ware was on the low side and White was high, wide and handsome going into turn one. They battled hard around to turn three where the low line was faster, and K. Ware took the lead. But K. Ware couldn't but any distance between himself and White, and the battle continued. As the two up front were battling, Henderson was reeling them in. On lap twelve he finally caught White on the front stretch. In turn three of the same lap, the former I. M. C. A. Modified track champion Henderson tried getting around White in turn three. But West would hold him off as they raced their way out of turn four. Henderson would then try going low, this time in turn one. That move wouldn't work much better, as White would come out of turn two secure in second place. Meanwhile, the battle between White and Henderson was letting K. Ware to sneak off into the distance. He would go on to win his fourth race of the year by five car lengths. He had started fourth. This was the third flag to flag race of the evening. The battle to be the Hertz Rent A Car I. M. C. A. Southern SportMods track champion has tightened up. White's lead is now only seven over K. Ware, with Stevens just fourteen back in third. Hertz Rent A Car I. M. C. A. Southern SportMods 1.83 Kenny Ware 2.17w Billy White 3.6 Hardy Henderson 4.63c Trace Crawford 5.231 Shad Stevens 6.34 Corey Homan 7.77 Larry Ware 8.27 Robert Carr 9.107 David Goode 10.11w Kevin West The Corbin & Associates, Atty's I. M. C. A. Stock Cars were the next to do battle for fifteen laps. Fifteen cars answered the call. It was wild and woolly as the green flag was dropped. There was so much action that this reporter just simply couldn't write it all down fast enough! It was Wayne Neff that hit the back stretch first, with Robin Rasmussen in second. But Rasmussen's night would go south in a hurry, as she was turned going into turn three. Several cars got a shot at her, as most of the pack as two and three wide behind her. Rasmussen almost ended up on her head, but the car settled down and the racing continued, no yellow was needed. Rasmussen lost many positions. Then it was Neff's turn to have problems up front. The leader came out of turn two, on lap one and spun going down the back stretch. The pack, still two and three wide, scrambled to miss him. Vernon “Buck” Owens, who was running in second, caught a piece of Neff as he was spinning, but Owens would be able to continue, though he lost a couple of spots due to the contact. A yellow flag thrown for debris on the back stretch would briefly settle the field down. The lineup for the restart had Jason Honey in the lead, with Shad Stevens, Owens, Ron Simpson and Benji Kirkpatrick as the top five. Kirkpatrick would pounce on Simpson as the green flag flew, moving himself up to fourth in turn two. But then in turn three, Kirkpatrick spun his ride, ending up in eleventh after he got his car pointed in the right direction. Owens was able to get back into second by getting around Stevens. Eric Jones was now in fifth. The fantastic action continued on lap six, as Simpson would dive under Stevens in turn one, but Simpson couldn't make it stick. Behind that battle, Eric Jones tried the same move, in the same corner, on the same lap, with better results, taking fourth away from Simpson. A lap later and it would turn into third, as Stevens bobbled and slid back through the field. But Stevens got lucky when a yellow was thrown for the spun car of Kirkpatrick in turn two. As scoring reverts to the last completed green flag lap, Stevens would get the third spot back. So, the restart top five were J. Honey, Owens, Stevens, Jones, and Simpson. Stevens, Jones and Simpson would go three wide on the back stretch in a battle for third spot. Jones, on the bottom of the stack took over third, while Simpson and Stevens were still side by side for fourth. They stayed that way fro a complete lap, with Stevens finally regaining the upper hand in turn three. Wayne Neff would again spin on the back stretch, and another caution was thrown. Lap eight restart saw J. Honey still leading, Owens in second, Jones in third, and Stevens and Simpson rounding out the top five. The first try at a single file restart was aborted when Anthony Otkin rolled to a stop in turn two. On the second attempt Simpson swept by Stevens for fourth. Kirkpatrick, who restarted seventh, passed both Gary Norman for sixth, and then Stevens for fifth. With five more laps left, Jones went door handle to door handle with Owens on the front stretch. The raced that way all the way around to turn three, where Kirkpatrick decided to get into the battle by diving under both Owens and Jones. They raced three wide for second all the way around to the back stretch on lap eleven, where Kirkpatrick finally took over second, with Jones and Simpson following Kirkpatrick around Owens. Norman would get by Owens as well before the lap was over. On lap twelve, Simpson and Jones were side by side in turn three for third. Simpson lost grip down low in turn four and almost spun his car, he would lose two spots, letting both Norman and Owens by. With all the fighting going on behind him, J. Honey was trying to run away and hide. But there isn't anywhere to hide when Kirkpatrick in on the hunt, and the battle for the lead was on as they raced under the white flag. Though he tried everything he could Kirkpatrick came up just a car length short. J. Honey, the seventh place starter, pulled into victory lane for the second time this year. Corbin & Associate, Atty's I. M. C. A. Stock Cars 1.4 Jason Honey 2.47 Benji Kirkpatrick 3.84x Eric Jones 4.09 Gary "Storming" Norman 5.8 Vernon "Buck" Owens 6.43 Jessie James Cox Jr 7.23 Shad Stevens 8.44 Ron Simpson 9.517 Ed Keiner 10.51 Donald Lewis 11.318 Scott Bowles 12.3 Robin Rasmussen 13.86 Wayne Neff 14.79x Anthony Otken 15.20c Chris Lanham Twenty Dodge Country I. M. C. A. Modifieds raced for twenty laps in their feature race. It was Gary Simmerman taking the early lead over Johnny Sheets, last weeks winner, Allen Waltimire, Andrew Simmerman and Glen Derks. Sheets would sweep around G. Simmerman in turn four and would lead at the flag stand. On lap two, Waltimire got around G. Simmerman for second in turn two, then G. Simmerman had a tank slapper going down the back stretch and he lost two more spots, falling back to fifth. Jarrod Jennings moved into fourth. On lap three, the first yellow came out for the stopped car of Bryan Simpson on the back stretch. He leave the track. G. Simmerman went to the red-yellow area while the field was under caution. So the top five for the restart were Sheets, Waltimire, A. Simmerman, Jennings and Derks. On the restart, A. Simmerman and Waltimire went wheel to wheel in a battle for second in turn one. They raced that way for a lap and a half, before A. Simmerman took over the spot on lap seven. That lap saw the leader, Sheets, slowed when his drive shaft departed from the rest of this car and ended up laying in tun two. Due to lining up the cars by the last completed green flag lap, Waltimire restarted as the leader, with A. Simmerman in second. The rest of the top five were Jennings, Jason Hoffman, and Rick Green. On the single file restart, Jennings and A. Simmerman were side by side in turn two for second. The position didn't get decided until turn four, where A. Simmerman kept his second spot. Green dispatched Hoffman to move for fourth. On lap ten, PJ Egbert made a bid for fifth, diving under Hoffman in turn four. Egbert would get his pink car around Hoffman's in turn two on lap eleven. On lap twelve Jennings was trying A. Simmerman for second in turn two, but couldn't clear A. Simmerman's car on the back straight. Then Jennings would almost spin in turn four, and would lose three spots, resuming the race in sixth. Green left the racing surface on lap thirteen. On lap fourteen, the top five were Watimire, who was starting to pull away from the field, followed by A. Simmerman, Egbert, Hoffman, Jennings. Jennings and Danny Gribble were side by side for fifth, but Gribble was rebuffed. On lap sixteen a crash involving Ken Old, Derks, Jason Hubbert, and G. Simmerman in turn three slowed the pace once more. The top five was unchanged. Ebert would try to get around A. Simmerman on the restart, using the low line in turn one, but couldn't complete the pass. Egbert tried it again in turn three, but the results were the same as before, A. Simmerman held on to second. Lap sixteen saw Gribble trying to move up to fifth in turn one, but Jennings had a better run out of two and retained his top five place. The battle for second heated up on lap seventeen, as Egbert dove under A. Simmerman in turn one. They raced wheel to wheel all the way around to turn four, where Egbert briefly had his car in second. But A. Simmerman pulled a cross over move in turn four and they raced down the front stretch side by side. But Egbert had a better line through turn one and he inserted himself into second. In battling with A. Simmerman, Egbert did not have enough laps left to chase down Waltimire, who won for the second time in a row, and the second time for the year, from his inside row two starting position. Egbert increased his points lead over Gribble, with Old fading in third. Dodge Country I. M. C. A. Modifieds 1.44 Allen Waltermire 2.707 PJ Egbert 3.15 Andrew Simmerman 4.00 Jason Hoffman 5.98j Jarrod Jennings 6.27 Danny Gribble 7.20x Chuck Bish 8.19 George Lamphere Jr 9.71 Glenn Derks II 10.9 Pat McGuire 11.247 Bill Lecompte 12.82 Rick Green 13.18 Jason Hubbert 14.52 Ken Old 15.35 Wayne Walker 16.420 Shawn O'Bannon 17.39 Paul Mullins 18.24 Gary Simmerman 19.96 Johnny Sheets 20.8 Bryan Simpson Seventeen Budweiser Racing Texas Twister's raced next for fifteen laps. It was Keith Desmarais getting the early lead over Scott Crossley, Robert Embry, Billy White and Nasty Nate Cullifer. As they headed down the back stretch, Elliot got around Embry, dragging Cullifer with him. On lap two, Billy White got around Desmarais for second in turn one. Desmarais fought back in turn three, but couldn't get back around White. On lap three, Crossley went too high in turn one and lost five spots, giving the lead to B. White. In the scramble Howard Twardokus managed to pass a ton of cars and ended up second, with Desmarais third, Cullifer fourth, and Larry Tuerck rounding out the top five. On lap five, Tuerck went deep into turn three under Cullifer in a bid for fourth. The two touched in turn four, and Tuerck was in fourth as they raced by the flag stand. Brian Mendenhall had moved up to fifth. On lap eight, Mendenhall was challenging Cullifer for fourth in turn one. Cullifer would fall back to fifth in turn two as Mendenhall was on a charge to the front. A lap later and Cullifer would fall out of the top ten as Jesse Call passed him turn one. Lap ten saw the battle up get good, as Twardokus pulled his car alongside B. White's in turn one. They rubbed and bumped their way to urn four where B. White took sole possession of the top spot. While the battle up front was going on, Chris Ware managed to get into third, passing both Tuerck and Mendenhall. Tuerck would get back around Ware on lap thirteen, with a move in turn one to get back into third. Mendenhall also got around Ware. With just one circuit left, Mendenhall got around Tuerck for third. Twardokus and B. White continued to battle for the lead. But coming off of turn four, B. White slowed dramatically and turned hard left to avoid crossing the finish line. Twardokus won the race, his second of the season, from the eleventh starting spot. After the race, Billy White was disqualified from the race for pulling up and purposely losing spots so he wouldn't be claimed, and will not be allowed to drive in the Budweiser Racing Texas Twister class anymore. Budweiser Racing Texas Twisters 1.223 Howard Twardokus 2.88 Brian Mendenhall 3.2 Larry Tuerck 4.20 Jesse Call 5.11 Keith Desmarais 6.3 Mike Sadler 7.7 Jared Bouchie 8.1 Gary White 9.37 James Deane 10.00 Chris Ware 11.829 JD Hardcastle 12.9 Victoria Twardokus 13.107.3 Nasty Nate 14.95 Corey Homan 15.171 Robert Embry 16.F16 Steven Crossley DQ'ed 17 Billy White (unsportsmanlike conduct) The Cottman Transmissions Mini Stocks had a celebrity driver in it. At least he thinks he is a celebrity. Track owner and promoter, Pat Wilson, stepped into Joeseph Charnock's Jr Mini to be one of the nine cars starting the fifteen lap feature race. On the dropo of the green flag starting the race, Mike Autrey spun in turn four, making the pack scramble to miss him. No yellow was needed as he got back under way. Julie Kelly Zwiefelhofer lead them to the back stretch, followed by Ronnie Ellis, Daniel Shipler, Eric Robbins, and Joseph Gregoire. Wilson got around Gregoire in turn three for fifth. On lap one, Shipler's race truck broke, and he would pull off and be done for the night. Lap two saw Ellis getting around J. Zwiefelhofer on the back stretch and taking over the point. PJ Egbert was moving up in the pack, from his eighth starting spot, to get around Wilson and getting into fourth. He then passed Robbins on the inside of turn three and hauled himself up to third. On lap four, Egbert and Wilson both got around J. Zwiefelhofer, pushing her back to fourth. Points leader Travis Zwiefelhofer got around his sister, then he and Robbins both swept by Wilson, moving him back to fifth. Lap six saw Wilson getting back around Robbins for fourth. Robbins night would go south on lap seven with a flat right rear tire. Egbert and Ellis were battling for the lead in turn four. Egbert got the lead as they raced by the flag stand to start lap eight. Lap nine and Ellis would almost loop his ride in turn two. He bumped a bit with the lapped car of Autrey, and Autrey would spin in turn three and bring out a yellow as a result of the contact with Ellis. The running order for the restart was Egbert, T. Zwiefelhofer, Wilson, J. Zwiefelhofer, and Gregoire, back into the top five. On the restart, J. Zwiefelhofer was side by side with Wilson as they thundered down the back stretch. Wilson would hold the rookie off in turn three. Ellis was getting back into the top five with a pass of Gregoire in turn three. The rest of the laps wound down with out any positions being changed, though T. Zwiefelhofer tried to track down Egbert. But the current points leader could not catch Egbert, who has now won an astonishing thirteen races in the Cottman Transmissions Mini Stock class. Cottman Transmissions Mini Stocks 1.712 PJ Egbert 2.20 Travis Zwiefelhofer 3.22 Pat Wilson 4.202 Julie "Kelly" Zwiefelhofer 5.14 Ronnie Ellis Jr 6.43 Joseph Gregoire 7.1 Mike Autrey 8.9 Eric Robbins Sr 9.38 Daniel Shipler The only thing left to contest was the McGuire Trucking presents the Hertz Rent A Car I. M. C. A. Southern SportMods “King of the Hill”. Seven of the ten cars on hand made known their intentions of vying for the crown. Round One 83 Kenny Ware defeated a spinning 107 David Goode 231 Shad Stevens defeated by ½ car length 6 Hardy Henderson 63c Trace Crawford defeated 27 Robert Carr Semi Finals 83 Kenny Ware defeated 17w Billy White 63c Trace Crawford defeated 231 Shad Stevens McGuire Trucking “King of the Hill” Final It was Kenny Ware facing off against Trace Crawford. The two were wheel to wheel down the front stretch and into turn one. In turn two, Crawford took over the lead. Ware tried to come back with a dive bomb move in turn three, but he couldn't hold it, and spun. That gave an easy win to the 2006 McGuire Trucking presents the Hertz Rent A Car I. M. C. A. Southern SportMods “King of the Hill” to former I. M. C. A. Stock Car track champion, Trace Crawford. Join us next week as VP Race Fuels sponsors the racing that will include for the second time this year, the Brazos Mini Sprints. If you were with us the first time the Mini Sprints were here, you know how exiting it was. If you weren't here the first time, this is your last chance to see these motorcycle engine powered, winged sprint cars in action. Gates open at 6:00 PM and racing starts at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $10 for Adults, $3 for kids 6-12 and kids under 6 are free. Season passes are available as well. New for fans this year is the ability to purchase their tickets online with a credit card. Just go to the Texas Thunder Speedway web site, and click on the “Buy and Print Tickets” button. Also you can use your Visa or Master Card in the tracks souvenir and concession stands. For all track information, weather, directions, and to purchase your tickets, go to http://www.texasthunder.com. Texas Thunder Speedway is a 1/4 mile semi-banked oval dirt track. Races Every Saturday Night March through September! With Seven SUPER EXCITING classes of cars to entertain the entire family. Featured classes include; Dodge Country IMCA Modifieds, Corbin & Associates, Attys IMCA Stock Cars, Hertz IMCA SportMods, Kwik Kar Oil & Lube Street Stocks, Cottman Transmissions Mini Stocks, Jr Mini Stocks & Budweiser Racing Texas Twisters. Special Events designed especially for the kids as well as Powder Puff Races, Pit Crew Tire Contest and our all time crowd pleaser, the Demolition Derby. Come join the fun, at Texas Thunder Speedway Bill "Sarge" Masom Texas Thunder Speedway PR/Media Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.