BROWN WINS FIRST OF SEASON; NICHOLS, STOCK, STICH SCORE AT THUNDER HILL

Thunder Hill Speedway closed out August on a hot, dry, and dusty night.  As it turned out, two drivers lost wins in technical inspection, the biggest Stock Car field of the year took to the track, and Scott Brown was able to claim his first IMCA Modified victory of 2010.  Joining Brown in Victory Lane were Mike Nichols (IMCA Stock Cars), Devin Stock (IMCA Northern SportMods), and Brian Stich (IMCA Hobby Stocks).

Meriden, KS driver Scott Brown has been a regular IMCA Modified competitor at Thunder Hill, and has enjoyed good seasons and challenging ones on the high banks.  This one had been somewhere in the middle, but when Saturday night’s action was over, it was Brown standing in Victory Lane.  When the checkered flag flew, it appeared that Steven Bowers Jr. had claimed the feature win, but Bowers was disqualified in the tech lane when an illegal rear suspension part was discovered.  This handed the checkers to Brown, who had motored into second behind Bowers.  The DQ moved Tom Charles up to second, Jeff Herbers into third, Brent Alverson to fourth, and Travis Patch into fifth.  Herbers’ point lead over Charles was narrowed to 12 points, while Alverson is in third, 28 points back.  Mat Stallbaumer holds down fourth and Patch is fifth in points.

Also gaining the win in the tech lane was Devin Stock in the IMCA Northern SportMod division.  Rich Boyden was able to fight through the pack from his 9th starting spot to take the win at the checkers, but lost the win in the tech lane due to an unapproved carburetor spacer.  Stock was the beneficiary, with Curtis Dreasher in second, Brian Neiberger in third, point leader Eddie Schwope Jr. in fourth, and Dustin Crist in fifth.  Schwope’s point lead now stands at 61 markers over Kyle Olberding and Mike Taylor (tied for second), Rodney Klinkner in fourth, and Boyden in fifth.

The IMCA Stock Cars put their largest field of the year on the track for a special 20-lap chase.  Boosting the field were the Weyer twins, who in addition to their own cars, cleaned out the garage to field additional cars for Dave Samuels, Larry Lowrey Jr., and Kyle Olberding.  As it turned out, the largest field ended up following a very familiar storyline, with Mike Nichols taking the win. Behind Nichols, a group of several drivers waged a tremendous battle for spots 2-6, sometimes going three-wide.    At the finish, it was last week’s winner Marvin Griffith Jr. taking the second spot, with Matt Haid in third, Tim Lange in fourth, and Pat Neely rounding out the top five.  None of the Weyer cars cracked the top five this week, with Samuels finishing sixth, Lowrey seventh, Eric Weyer eighth, Olberding ninth, and Leif Weyer 11th.  The week tightened the points chase, as a mere 1 point separates leader Eric Weyer from second place Marvin Griffith Jr.  Matt Haid holds down third, with Lange fourth and Greg Deters fifth.

Despite leading the IMCA Hobby Stock points for nearly the entire year, it had been a few weeks since Brian Stich visited Victory Lane.  Doing so on Saturday night meant that he had to overcome a charging Adam Fleagle, determined to repeat last week’s win.  Fleagle would settle for second, followed by Melissa Bruning in third, Rodney Walker in fourth, and Larry Hunter in fifth.  Stich’s point lead now sits at 50 markers over Walker, with Melissa Bruning third, Waylon Banks fourth, and Jim Streeter fifth.

Next Saturday, September 4, the IMCA Weekly Racing Series continues at Thunder Hill.  Gates open at 4:00 PM, with the driver’s meeting set for 6:30.  Hot laps will hit the track at 7:00, with heat races to follow.  Pit passes will be $25.00.  Grandstand general admission is $10.00, Seniors 65 and up are $8.00 each, kids 6-12 are $5.00, and kids 5 and under are free.  Thunder Hill Speedway is located at 11995 142nd Road in Mayetta, KS (2 miles West of US-75 and 142nd Road).  For more information, please visit http://www.racethunderhillspeedway.com.

Hobby Stock – A Main