THR race recap, 9/4/04

[NickHolt]

THUNDER HILL BOUNCES BACK AFTER RAINOUT

 

By Jon Sagester

 

KYLE--Despite threatening skies and the fact the races were rained out the week before, there was a full night of racing at Thundeer Hill Raceway Saturday night (Sept. 4) with hard, tight racing and a little bad luck.

 

Hardest hit by the gruesome gremlin that stalks stock car racers was San Marcos’ Stapp Racing Team. Cary Stapp and crew lost an engine on the 10th lap of the A-Line Auto Parts Street Stock feature race. Sitting in second place, just 79 points behind leader Bobby Teer, Jr., Stapp had moved up five places in the 20-car field when he blew his third engine of the year. With just two races left in the regular season, Stapp - the defending Street Stock Champion - retained his second-place position in the points race, but he fell to 147 points behind Teer.

 

Teer, Jr. leads with 1,647 points; Stapp has 1,500 and Jim Teague follows in third place with 1,472. Exhibiting real determination with 7 top-five finishes this year (but with no wins before Saturday night), Pflugerville's Doug Ayers rapidly moved up from a ninth-place start to take over the lead halfway through the 30-lap Street Stock race. He held on to take his first checkered flag this year. Bruce Hinson finished second with Bobby Teer, Jr. coming in third.

 

The Tschoerner family again exhibited their generosity when Joe and Tracy Tschoerner loaned their Hobby Stock cars to Duane Toyne and Chris Birmingham (both of Leander) so the two Leander residents could run the Street Stock feature and maintain their point positions. Both Toyne and Birmingham had mechanical problems that prevented them from entering their own cars.

 

In the THR Late Model feature it seemed Jamie Fuller (Converse) had the 35-lap race under control by starting on the pole and leading most of the laps. It wasn’t to be, however, when he went wide coming out of Turn 4 on a restart. That allowed Leland Waddell to move under him to take the lead on lap 24. Waddell finished ahead of Fuller and David Snokhous for his third win of the season. Besides his three trips to Victory Lane, Waddell also has four seconds in the last seven races, making him an exciting contender for the Late Models Championship. Waddell is in second place and sits just 26 points behind Buda’s James Reeder with only one race to go. Reeder leads the points race with 1,141 and Waddell has 1,115 while rookie Marc Currey holds third with 1,036 points.

 

The Late Model feature was another race that had a mixture of vehicles as Robert Stewart borrowed Terry Tschoerner’s Street Stock car and Todd McLemore drove his AllStar Race Truck, so the two of them could pick up points while their own cars were not ready to race. The Late Models also welcomed two talented, experienced female racers back to Thunder Hill. Teresa Gural, who has missed most of the season while having a baby girl in May, returned to compete along with her husband, Tommy. Charlie Turner Jansky, who came in fifth in the points race in 2002 at Thunder Hill, also has returned to run at THR. Since her marriage, Turner is currently living in Hallettsville and races at Houston Motor Park, where she is in second place in the Late Model points race. That makes five ladies who race at Thunder Hill.

 

Eric Batch seemed to have things well in control in the Capital City Trade and Technical School Hobby Stock feature after starting on the pole and leading through 16 laps. He spun out in turn two and had to restart at the back of the pack. That gave Tommy Darity the opportunity to move up from his second place position until he became entangled with Jay Gordon, also in Turn 2 on lap 19. Although he tried to miss him, Joe Tschoerner also hit Darity. Gordon was sent to the rear of the field, Darity was towed to the pits, but Tschoerner was allowed to retain his position because of a recent change to the “All Involved” rule. Having been in third place, and with Gordon and Darity removed from the lead, Tschoerner took over first place and his second feature win of the season.

 

The real race at the end was between Gary Chancellor and Hobby Stock points leader David Hassinger. They were side-by-side as they came to the finish line, with Chancellor taking second by only a bumper. Kyle’s Hassinger has a strong lead in the points race with 1,844 points. Joe Tschoerner is second with 1,632 and Kevin Bowen is third with 1,615 points.

 

The AllStar Race Trucks (ARTS) was almost a repeat of their last few appearances as Bryan Meredith again started on the pole and led 13 other trucks through 50 laps and the win. It marks Meredith’s fifth straight win in the six times the AllStar Race Trucks have appeared at Thunder Hill Raceway this season. Jimmy Spillar took second with Bill Hamilton coming in third. Meredith leads the ARTS Lone Star Region in points with 2,020, ahead of Keith Patrick who has 1,724, and Spillar with 1,639 points. Meredith also leads the national points race, with Spillar placing seventh, and Jon Garrett 10th.

 

Justin Knowlton has established his dominance in the Mini-Cup Series, picking up his fourth win of the year Saturday night.

 

And in the THR Grand Stocks it was J.D. Dusek muscling in for his first win, with John Smith coming in second, and Jim Bell third. Walter Judkins leads in the Grand Stock points race with 1,235. Marcia Moore is holding second place with 1,075 points, and Jim Bell is in third with 1,040.

 

Thunder Hill Raceway will honor Patriot’s Day next Saturday with a special ceremony in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11th disaster. State Representative Patrick Rose is slated to be the Grand Marshall for the event, which is expected to draw some soldiers from Fort Hood as well.

 

Joining the on-track racing will be the Allison Legacy Cars, along with the final race of the season for the THR Late Models. The A-Line Auto Parts Street Stocks, the Capital City Trade & Technical Hobby Stocks and THR Grand Stocks have two more races scheduled for the regular season.

 

Plans are also being completed for the 8th Annual Stock Car Spectacular on Sept. 25th, featuring the ROMCO Super Late Models, Texas Asphalt Modifieds, Texas Pro Sedans, AllStar Race Trucks, and Texas Dwarf Cars. Following that will be the A-Line Auto Parts Night At The Races on Oct. 2nd, featuring a 200-lap Enduro race, 75-lap Street Stock race, and 50-lap Hobby Stock race.

 

Racing is nearing the finish line for the season, but it’s certainly not slowing down.