LISLE, NY – A packed grandstand of race fans Sunday night at the Thunder Mountain Speedway celebrated July 4th weekend with a night of exciting racing action. In the 9th Annual Wade Decker Memorial, Cory Costa weaved his way through lap traffic to take the win, his first of the 2022 season. In the 2nd Annual Randy Decker Memorial, Jerry Lobdell Jr.’s patience was rewarded after Shane Wolf Jr.’s rear-end expired, giving Lobdell Jr. his biggest win on the Mountain this year. In B-Walt’s Car Care 600cc Modified action, Chris Jordan grabbed his third win of the year. Peter Dance claimed his first ever CRSA Sprint Tour win in the second night of sprint car action at Thunder Mountain.

Cory Costa and Tommy Collins brought a 27-car Wade Decker Memorial field to the green flag for 51 laps. Jimmy Zacharias, who started third, got around Collins and led by a bumper at the line on lap one over Costa. Zacharias and Costa raced away from the field while a fierce battle roared behind them for third. Collins now faced pressure from Rusty Smith, Shayne Spoonhower, and Darren Smith. Darren Smith got around Spoonhower to move into fourth while Rusty Smith passed Collins to take third. Darren Smith followed suit in passing Collins, moving Smith to fourth.

The race moved into a new phase on lap nine as the leaders found lap traffic for the first time on lap nine. Zacharias and Costa both cleared the first few cars in no time at all, but the gap between the two had started to close. Behind them, ‘The Doctor’ began to expedite his operation. Johnson started ninth, but quickly worked his way past Spoonhower and Collins to move up to fifth. Another Danny, Danny Tyler, also started marching through the field and followed Johnson through to move into sixth. The battle for the race lead heated up after the mid-pack sorted themselves out. Zacharias was unable to pass lap cars Ben Bushaw and Alex Payne, who were side by side. Costa, who had Rusty Smith on his bumper, found some speed on the top side to power around Zacharias and Bushaw to take the race lead and create some buffer between himself and Zacharias. Rusty Smith and Darren Smith saw opportunities to make moves and pounced on the chances, moving Rusty Smith to second, Darren Smith to third, and shuffling Zacharias back to fourth.

The first yellow flag of the race flew for Nick Nye, who came off the pace with mechanical troubles on lap 24. On the restart, Darren Smith pushed way up the hill, allowing Zacharias and Johnson to move up to third and fourth. Behind Johnson, a hornet’s nest of a battle as everyone jockeyed to move forward. Tyler, Collins, Spoonhower, Eric Leet, Alan Barker, and Brandon Walters were all bumper-to-bumper fighting for positions in the top ten. Spoonhower ended up being the driver to get stung, as his car slid to stop on the top-side of turns three and four to bring out another caution on lap 27 with front-end issues. A quick restart saw Costa jump back out to the race lead before another yellow flew on lap 30 for Ron Cartwright Jr., who slowly rolled off the speedway with problems to end his night.

Costa led the field away on the restart and stretched his lead. Behind Costa and Rusty Smith, Alan Barker was starting to make moves. Barker, who has used the top-side late at Thunder Mountain to his advantage in the last two Saturday night Dirt Track Digest TV Modified features used it again on Sunday night. Barker started sixteenth but after cracking the top ten, he only went forward. He first worked past Tyler and Leet, who were having a fierce battle of their own for seventh. Barker than got past Darren Smith to move into the top five. Danny Johnson was the next to fall to the No.77, with Zacharias going down just a lap later on lap 42. In 12 laps, Barker had moved up from eighth to third, and was chasing down the leaders. Neither Smith or Barker had anything for Costa, who motored across the finish line to take home $5,000. Rusty Smith, Barker, Darren Smith, and Jimmy Zacharias completed the top five.

Doug Stack Sr. and Don Russell brought a 29-car field to the green flag for the fifty lap Randy Decker Memorial. Stack Sr. led lap one, but came under pressure from Steven Deinhardt. The two made contact in turn four, allowing Shane Wolf Jr. to slip past Deinhardt for second on lap two. Wolf Jr. then took the lead from Stack Sr. on lap three. Damon Decker made his presence known quickly, moving into second while Deinhardt settled into third. Jerry Lobdell Jr. was running in fourth and starting to challenge the top three after starting in ninth. Wolf Jr. and the leaders quickly hit lap traffic. The first yellow flag flew on lap 12, as Marcus Springer found himself facing the wrong way after contact in turn one in the pack of cars he was racing with.

A no-start sent Chris Woodard into the backstretch uke tires, sending infield officials scattering. No one was harmed, and the field was re-racked to go racing. Wolf Jr. led the field away on the restart, but the yellow flag flew on lap 15 for a sideways Mike Wilbur Sr. in turn four. On lap 16, Damon Decker’s night came to an end as the rear end broke free in Decker’s No.89. Decker drove the wounded and crabbing race car to the pit area, ending his night. Decker’s issues moved Lobdell Jr to second, Russell to third, and Deinhardt to fourth. The yellow flag flew again on the restart, as Lanson Albanese and CJ Guererri got together, knocking Guererri off the pace and flipping Albanese’s hood up. Everyone continued on after a brief visit to the pits. The field completed a lap on the restart before Marcus Springer found himself in the Turn One Tavern uke tires, bringing out another caution. On the restart, seventh-place runner Jakub Ingham got into Doug Stack Sr., sending Ingham sideways in front of everyone. Ray Hyer, Shane Moshier, and Abe Romanik ended up stopped on the track, with Gene Sharpsteen and Steven Deinhardt also making considerable contact. All cars drove away and managed to continue on with some body work damage.

The field completed another lap before a lap 19 pileup brought out a brief red flag. It all started as Mike Wilbur Sr. got turned sideways in front of Justin Neff, with ten cars at least making contact in the fracas. Brian Steigerwald suffered the worst body damage, but continued on for the time being. All cars involved once again drove away. Wolf Jr. led the field away on the restart. Chris Woodard started to come to life near halfway, moving his No.97 up to fourth, passing Stack Sr. and Deinhardt. Michael Roach spun in turn four to bring out a caution on lap 22. As the field charged into turn number one, contact between Donnie Russell and Chris Woodard stacked another eight cars up in turn one. Russell, Hyer, Adam Depuy, Wilbur Sr., Luke Boom, and Steigerwald got the worst of it as they slid into the melee. Most cars were able to drive away from the scene, either to continue or call it a night and head pitside. Shane Moshier and CJ Guererri slowed with mechanical problems to bring out a lap 24 yellow.

The field completed lap 25, but Luke Boom and Ray Hyer got sideways in turn four, collecting Steigerwald. Boom and Hyer continued on, but Steigerwald’s No.H2O could not handle it anymore, needing to be towed off the speedway. Shane Moshier ended up sideways in the racing groove in turn one to bring out another caution on lap 27. On the restart, Trevor Dudley came to life. Dudley got around Stack Sr. and Russell to take third. Luke Boom had a problem in turn four and brought out the caution on lap 37. Boom’s night ended with front end problems on the No.00, needed to be towed off the track.

Lobdell Jr. began pressuring Wolf Jr. on the lap 38 restart. Lobdell could get to the bumper but could not get alongisde Wolf. Dudley pulled a gap on Russell and Stack Sr. and started to close in on the race leaders. Chris Woodard spun in turn two, setting up a two lap shootout to decide the race. Under the caution, Wolf Jr.’s No.77 began to spew smoke out of the rear end. On the first attempted restart, Wolf’s night went up in smoke as the rear end grenaded, spewing a plume of smoke, shrapnel, and fluid.  On the final restart, Lobdell Jr. held off a last-ditch effort by Dudley in turns three and four to take the checkered flag. Dudley, Russell, Stack Sr, and Lanson Albanese completed the top five.

Chris Jordan and Tom Donahue led the B-Walt’s Car Care 600cc Modifieds to the green flag. Jordan took the early race lead. Donahue and third-place starter Will Eastman streaked away from the pack while Jordan built his lead. Jake Waibel and Bumps Scutt battled for fifth behind them. The yellow flag flew on lap 19 for Tyler Paige, who spun in turn one. After a race long battle, Eastman got a good restart and eventually completed a pass on Donahue on lap 23. One lap later, the yellow flew again for a sideways Paige in turn two. In the one lap shootout to decide the winner, Jordan ran away to claim his third win of the year. Eastman, Donahue, Justin LaDue, and Waibel completed the top five.

Join us this Saturday at Thunder Mountain for a double dose of modifieds! The Dirt Track Digest TV Modifieds and the DIRTcar 358 Modifieds highlight a full card of racing action this Saturday. We hope to see you on the Mountain!

Wade Decker Memorial (51L)

CORY COSTA ($5,000), Rusty Smith, Alan Barker, Darren Smith, Jimmy Zacharias, Danny Johnson, Danny Tyler, Jordan McCreadie, Eric Leet, Ajay Potrzebowski, Tommy Collins, Will Shields, Garrett Rushlow, Alex Payne, Nick Nye, Joshua Akshar, Landon Cummings, Ron Cartwright Jr, Bud Phillips, Shayne Spoonhower, Ben Bushaw, Jason Andrews, Mike Decker, Ray Reynolds, Ken Titus. DNS: Kenny Hammond

Last Place: Ken Titus

Halfway Bonus and Winner Bonuses: Cory Costa

Hard Charger: Alan Barker (+13)

Hard Luck: Kenny Hammond (DNS)

Randy Decker Memorial (50L)

JERRY LOBDELL JR ($2,500), Trevor Dudley, Donnie Russel, Doug Stack Sr., Lanson Albanese, Gene Sharpsteen, Jakub Ingham, Adam Depuy, Jared Hill, Abe Romanik, Shane Wolff Jr., Chris Woodard, Marcus Springer, Ray Hyer, Thomas Moon, Luke Boom, Jason Quiqley, Shane Moshier, Brian Steigerwald, CJ Guererri, Steven Deinhardt, Justin Neff, Ely Mangiarelli, Mike Wilbur Sr., Buck Mills Jr., Jimmy Grant, Nick Dandino, Damon Decker, Michael Roach.

Hard Charger: Jared Hill (+9)

Halfway Leader Bonus: Shane Wolff Jr.

Fastest Lap: Jerry Lobdell Jr. (15.668)

Hard Luck Award: CJ Guererri

Dave Ayers Memorial Dash for Street Stocks:

JERRY LOBDELL JR. ($300), Steven Deinhardt, Shane Wolff Jr., Damon Decker, Trevor Dudley, Don Russel, Jakub Ingram

CRSA Sprints

PETER DANCE ($1,000), Dana Wagner, Billy VanInwegen, John Cunningham, Trevor Years, Dalton Herrick, Scott Landers, Jordan Hutton, Ron Greek, John Smith, Aaron Shelton, Thomas Radivoy, Tyler Emmons, Kyle Pierce, Mike VanPelt, Alysha Bay, Ray Preston, Tomy Moreau, Emily VanInwegen, Calvin Wheelock, Cliff Pierce, James Layton, Darryl Ruggles.

B-Walt’s Car Care 600cc Modified

CHRIS JORDAN, Will Eastman, Tom Donahue, Justin LaDue, Jacob Waibel, Bumps Scutt, Chace Scutt, Doug Windhausen, Chuck Lohmeyer, TJ Smith, James Randall, Devon Green, Ali Scutt, Zack Mills, Chelsie Beebe, Robbie Vormwald, Samuel Hubbard, Tyler Paige, Dakota Anderson, Aiden Miller.

DNS: Tommy Paige, Damon Henry