Tazewell,
TN (April 20th, 2008) The saying goes,
“the third time is a charm” just not this
time as the seventh time proved to be
a charm for the 3rd Annual Thunder Thaw
50 at Tazewell Speedway on Sunday afternoon.
After six prior attempts to get the event
in the books failed, Mother Nature finally
smiled on Tazewell Speedway Sunday afternoon.
John Gill of Mitchell , Indiana was running
only his second race at the track accurately
dubbed “The Bad Fast Taz” as the pilot
of the #1G Warrior House Car fielded by
Sanford Goddard of Warrior Race Cars based
in nearby Knoxville , TN. Following a
treacherous 50 lapper on a very slick
surface, Gill stated from Victory Lane
“I just want to thank Sanford and Warrior
Race Cars for letting me drive this car.
We had a tough weekend at Charlotte (Colossal
100) and it feels real good to get this
win today. It really helps build your
confidence when you get a win and any
time you can beat The Newport Nightmare
(Jimmy Owens) here at Tazewell you’ve
really done something.”
Jimmy Owens really put on a show Sunday
afternoon piloting his famous #20 Bloomquist
Chassis for Reece Monuments of Tazewell
to a second place finish. After knocking
down the Powermaster Pole Award with a
fast lap of 12:819 seconds he was then
required to draw a pill from a bag that
contained the numbers 0, 1, 2 and 3 to
determine if and how many rows would be
inverted for the two Sunoco Dash Events;
a rule change that was implemented in
the off-season to promote more excitement
for the fans. While a few drivers voiced
their displeasure with the rule, the fans
appeared to really like the change and
it did prove to be an exciting twist to
the event as Owens drew out the number
3 which meant he would start sixth in
his dash among the top six qualifiers.
Mike Weeks of Friendsville was able to
take advantage of the rule. As the sixth
overall qualifier he would start from
the pole in the first dash which he led
wire to wire over Gill, #77 Joe Armes
of Petros, TN, Owens, #3 Steve Smith of
Powell, TN and #1 Vic Hill of Morristown,
TN. Dash number two contained the seventh
through twelfth fastest qualifiers, which
were also inverted based on the pill draw,
enabling the #8 of David Payne of Murphy,
NC to start from the pole after posting
the twelfth fastest time among twenty-seven
entries. Payne would claim the dash win
over #86 Jeff Neubert of Knoxville, TN,
#32W Shane Roberts; Bristol, TN, #10 Chad
Ogle; Sevierville, TN, #201 Billy Ogle
Jr.; Knoxville, TN and #4T Tommy Kerr
of Maryville, TN
The two West Haven Speed Equipment B-Mains
would transfer the top four from each
to the Advance Auto Parts A-Main and were
claimed by #17 Shannon Thornsberry of
Martin, KY and #11B Stacy Boles of Claxton,
TN respectively. The Series points provisionals
(based on ’07 finishing results) were
claimed by #12T Dan Tipton of Kingston,
TN and #00 Richard Smith of Science Hill,
KY while the Fast Time provisionals were
awarded to #7 Marty Calloway of Maynardville,
TN and Rookie Contender #14 April Farmer
of Livingston, TN.
When the twenty-four car field took the
green flag for the fifty lap A-main John
“The Modern Day Cowboy” Gill charged from
the outside pole to take the early lead
over Weeks with Owens getting by Armes
to take third followed by Steve Smith,
Vic Hill and David Payne but the first
of six caution flags flew on lap #2 for
a spin among the back markers. Caution
#2 waved on lap five for Chad Ogle who
slowed to a stop with a flat tire while
Armes spun down the backstretch after
tagging the wall off of turn two ending
his afternoon early. Additional cautions
waved on laps nine and fourteen for Shane
Roberts and Richard Smith respectively.
The red flag waved on lap seventeen when
Shannon Thornsberry and Brian Smith tangled
off of turn four with Smith coming over
the nose of Thornsberry causing Smith
to flip over on his top. He was un-hurt
and the car suffered only moderate damage.
The #25 of Bobby Mayes of Jonesboro ,
TN was also collected in the incident.
Once the race was back underway, Weeks
began to wage a fierce battle to get by
Gill and was able to pull alongside on
several occasions but was never quite
able to make the pass. Meanwhile Owens
was making attempts at Weeks for second
and Hill was trying to get by Owens for
third. This would continue throughout
the event but was intensified on lap twenty-five
when the 00 of Smith spun in front of
the leaders in turn two and nearly took
the leader out after swiping Gills left
side causing heavy body damage.
The final caution waved in the latter
stages of the event following contact
between mid-pack runners #2X Anthony White
of Clinton, TN and #6 Kerry Jones of Bristol,
VA ending both cars efforts early.
Meanwhile, back up front, the battle continued
to wage for the lead with Weeks still
hounding Gill, Owens hounding Weeks and
Hill hounding Owens until the closing
circuits when Owens decided to take a
chance on the rim of the track to get
by Weeks on the outside and it paid off
with a pass on lap forty-eight and by
now he would then charge to the rear of
Gill with the crowd on their feet Owens
was able to pull along side Gill off of
turn two and down the back shoot only
to drift a little too high off of the
exit of turn four and lost ground to Gill
as he took the checkers. Owens settled
for second with Weeks, Hill and Steve
Smith rounding out the top five.
Stacy Boles, after starting fourteenth,
was locked in a fierce battle with David
Payne for much of the event and was able
to take home a sixth place finish. Payne,
Tommy Kerr, Billy Ogle Jr. and Rick Rogers
rounded out the top ten.
TAZEWELL SPEEDWAY OFFICIAL STATS 4-20-08
ADVANCE
AUTO PARTS THUNDER SERIES EVENT #2
3RD ANNUAL THUNDER THAW 50
ENTRIES: 27 Representing five states (TN,
KY, NC, VA, IN)
TIME OF RACE: 41 Minutes - 5:17pm - 5:58pm
YELLOW FLAGS: 6
RED FLAGS: 1 (#7 Brian Smith flips on
top – turn 4)
LAP LEADERS: 1 (#1G John Gill 1-50)
POWERMASTER
FAST TIME: Jimmy Owens #20 (12:819)
PHOENIX CONVERSIONS HARD CHARGER: #12T
Dan Tipton (21st to 12th)
SUNOCO Dash #1 – #22 Mike Weeks
SUNOCO Dash #2 - #8 David Payne
WEST HAVEN SPEED EQUIPMENT B-MAIN #1 -
#17 Shannon Thornsberry
WEST HAVE SPEED EQUIPMENT B-MAIN #2 -
#11B Stacy Boles
FSR - HANS AWARD: #1G John Gill
RACIN' WITH REX RACER OF THE RACE: #20
Jimmy Owens
TIGER REAR ENDS/ DWB RACE CARS ROOKIE:
#86 Jeff Neubert
HOOSIER TIRE SOUTH MOVE OF THE RACE: Jimmy
Owens (Passes Weeks for 2nd on lap 48
– challenges Gill for lead on lap 49)
Goddard Guttering Gas Give-A-Way Winner:
Matt Taylor of Maynardville , TN
ADVANCE
AUTO PARTS A- MAIN
1.
John Gill #G1
2. Jimmy Owens #20
3. Mike Weeks #22
4. Vic Hill #1
5. Steve Smith #3
6. Stacy Boles #11B
7. David Payne #8
8. Tommy Kerrr #4T
9. Billy Ogle Jr. #201
10. Rick Rogers #44
11. Jeff Neubert #86
12. Dan Tipton #12T
13. Richard Smith #00
14. Chad Ogle #10
15. April Farmer #14
16. Jeff Wolfenbarger #28
17. Anthony White #2X
18. Bobby Mays #25
19. Kerry Jones #6
20. Shannon Thornsberry #17
21. Brian Smith #7
22. Shane Roberts #32W
23. Joe Armes #77
24. Marty Calloway #7
In Modified Street action it was the father
and son team of last week’s winner Tony
Horton and Jody Horton on the front row
of the 20 lap feature. Row number two
was made of Tazewell Speedway veterans,
Larry “Goat Man” Burke and Allen Holt.
At the drop of the green flag it was Jody
Horton taking the lead followed by Tony
Horton, Holt, Burke and Dustin McMurray.
Chris Collinsworth brought out the first
caution on lap number after spinning with
no change in the top five. On lap 16 Larry
Burke dropped out with a lost cylinder
surrendering fourth place to former Modified
Street champion Anthony Morgan. As the
laps were winding down, last week’s winner,
Tony Horton made his charge for the lead
. On lap 18 just as he was making the
pass for the lead, Dustin Harville brought
out the last caution with a spin. From
then on it was Jody “Hot Rod” Horton taking
his first win of the season.
Modified Street Results
1. 56j Jody Horton
2. 56 Tony Horton
3. 24 Allen Holt
4. B8 Anthony Morgan
5. 21 Dustin McMurray
6. 74 Steve Wilder
7. 15 Dustin Harville
8. 54 Larry Burke
9. 45 Tim Mason
10. 7 Dixon Greenwood
11. OZ John Cook
12. 77 Chris Collinsworth
13. 2 Brian Carpenter
14. 4 Clyde Overholt
15. 99 David Lee Smith
16. 24 Charlie Rouse
17. 10M Bradley Llewellyn
18. 00 Rodney Brantley
Travis Fultz and Jason Trammel made up
the front row of the $1000 to win Steel
Head Late Model Feature with Fultz taking
the early lead followed by Trammel, Clyde
Stanton, Steve Smith, and Phillip Nichols.
The first caution flew on lap seven as
Brian Dobbs and Freddie Brock tangled.
On the restart Steve Smith put the pressure
on Trammel for second place when on lap
18 Trammel spun on his own in turn 4.
Taking over second Smith set his sights
on Fultz. On the last lap in between turns
3 and 4 Smith made his move diving under
Fultz only to make contact and spin. In
Victory Lane, Fultz thanked Jimmy Owens
and Mike Reece for their advice and support.
Fultz’s Mopar late model is sponsored
by Harrogate Collision, Fultz Automotive
and Reece Monuments.
Steel Head Late Model Results
1. T0 Travis Fultz
2. 33 Philip Nichols
3. C11 Clyde Stanton
4. 24 Andy Wilder
5. 90J Jason Trammell
6. 7B Mike Bright
7. 22 Steve Smith
8. XXX Josh Chesney
9. 0 Freddie Brock
10. 11 Brian Dobbs
11. 07 Jason Cardwell DNS
12. 97 Keith Chapman DNS
After having a tough 2007 season, Knoxville’s
Brad Hall set fast time and led every
lap of the West Chevrolet Crate Late Model
feature helping Warrior Race Cars get
their second win of the afternoon. West
Chevrolet announced this week that they
will award the points champion of the
Crate Late Model division with a crate
engine valued at over $5,000. Hall’s Warrior
Chassis Monte Carlo is sponsored by Gary
Hall Motors.
West Chevrolet FasTrak Crate Late Model
Results
1. 47 Brad Hall
2. 90 John Llewellyn
3. 90J Jason Trammel
4. 8 David Payne
5. 66 Mark Leach
6. 04 Blake Stewart
7. B00 Josh Henry
8. 9 Justin Duncan
9. 83 David Gamble
10. 2 James England
Pure Street action saw Jason Long taking
the early lead from Jack England with
lots of battling going on throughout the
field. Steve Smith had the fastest car
early in the race and made a charge to
the front after starting sixth. On lap
number seven he passed leader Jack England
only to wreck with England on the following
lap sending both cars to the tail end
of the field. This gave the lead over
to Jordan Horton, the younger brother
of Jody Horton, who was looking for his
first feature win. After a caution involving
three cars on lap number ten, the younger
Horton never looked back celebrating his
first ever with a dance on the roof of
his car and a cold water shower courtesy
of big brother Jody. Steve Smith battled
back to finish second.
Pure Street Results
1. 92H Jordan Horton
2. 2 Steve Smith
3. 15 Jason Long
4. 55 Jack England
5. 10 Daniel Carpenter
6. 3 Michael Boyd
7. 27 Gary Harville
8. 39 Johnny Miller
9. 24 Gary Stacy
10. 18 Jr. Cody
11. 97 Aaron Guinn
12. 12 Michael Daniels
13. M35 Matt Tharp
14. 59 Brian McDaniel
15. 94 Dustin Eldridge
16. 10 Charles Barnett
17. 17 Tim Stevens
18. 12X Jerry Green
19. 40 Donnie Brown
20. 28 Buster Cupp
21. 17 Josh Brock
Next Saturday night, April 26th, we will
be back to regular racing action featuring
our Steel Head Late Models, West Chevrolet
Crate Late Models, Modified Street, Pure
Street and 4 Cylinder divisions. Pit gates
open at 4:00 p.m. and main grandstand
open at 5:00.
