RPW Exclusive: For The Second Straight Year, The Natural 77 At Thunder Mountain Did Not Disappoint

Column By: JOSEPH PHILLIPS / RPW – CENTER LISLE, NY – Thunder Mountain Speedway was full of fans, cars, and drivers on Memorial Day for the Natural 77, a Super DIRTcar Series race honoring the memory of racing legend Dale Planck.

This was the lone stop for the touring “Beasts Of The Northeast” at the Center Lisle, NY track this season.

A massive car count was in the pit area, including 54 DIRTcar Big Blocks, 26 DIRTcar Sportsman and 25 Factory stocks.  All were vying for a chance to not only compete, but win, on the 3/8-mile clay speedplant.

Due to the high car count, six heat races and two last chance races were needed to fill the line-up for the Big Block Modified feature, all of which took place after time trials.

Group A time trials saw Mike Mahaney on top with a lap time of 13.93 seconds while Brandon Walters led Group B with a time of 14.324. The two-lap sessions showed that the track was fast but started to slow a bit during the sessions.

Heat races were won by Mahaney , Mat Williamson, Jordan McCreadie, Matt Sheppard, Peter Britten, and Brett Tonkin.  The top three transferred to the feature with only the winners earning a coveted spot in the redraw.

With as many cars entered, there were two Last Chance Showdowns with 17 entries taking the green for the first and 16 for the second.  The top three transferred as well from these races and there were some big names in each event.  Erick Rudolph and RDIII, Ronnie Davis III, scored the victories.

Due to so few qualifying spots, people assumed that carnage would result with the stress to make the show.  Fortunately, this was not the case. There were a couple that caused some damage, but for the most port, all of the prelims were run off quickly and safely.

The redraw saw Sheppard and Britten pull the best numbers, taking the front row starting spots.  They were followed by Williamson, Tonkin, Mahaney and McCreadie.

Now time for the feature.  The 77-lap main event saw 29 cars take the green with SuperMatt & Batman getting out ahead of everyone else.  An early caution involving defending race winner, Jimmy Phelps, Tim Sears Jr., and Jamie Kamrowski slowed the action.

On the restart , Sheppard and Britten again jumped out front and stayed up there for a long green flag period.  Lap cars quickly came into play and Sheppard made sure to lap as many as he could to keep Britten at bay.

A caution on lap 56 for Daniel Morgewicz slowed the action, bringing the field back together for what ended up being the final restart.  In the end, though, it ended up being a formality for Sheppard who led every circuit to take the $7,700 top prize.  Britten and Rudolph, who charged from 19th starting spot, completed the podium finish.

“Flat tires, broken shocks, bad Qualifying efforts, we just haven’t been able to put a night together,” Sheppard said. “We had speed at times but never at the right time. Luckily, tonight, we were able to pick up that heat win and that all-important number one draw and then put 77 laps together.”

This was the 99th Super DIRTcar win for Sheppard.  With one more victory, the Savannah, NY driver will become the second driver to hit the century mark for wins on Tour.  The first was Brett Hearn.

Monday’s second place showing was Britten’s first top 5 points finish on tour this year.  His previous finishes were 17th, 28th and 16th so this was a big shot in the arm for the Australian-born driver.

“Knowing how the race went and how my year’s gone, I wasn’t going to be the guy to pull out of line and get freight trained,” Britten said. “If someone has been brave enough to do that, and it worked, good on them. Matt (Sheppard) obviously tried the same approach.”

Britten wasn’t a fan of the final time the yellow flag flew, however.

“I really didn’t want to see that last caution come out,” he said.  “I had to make a decision on what to do on the restart. I felt like the tires had finally gone off and they did feather a little bit on the right rear.  I wasn’t feeling confident to roll the middle so I tried to floor it the best I could.  Matt just got a better jump.”

An interesting fact of the race was how many thought it was a one groove track with no passing.  Don’t tell third place finisher Erick Rudolph, who drove from 19th to bring his no. 25 home in the show position (third).   Other drivers who made moves throughout the race were Alex Payne, who started 12th and finished sixth as well as Felix Roy, another up and coming driver, who fired from 18th and finished seventh.

Passing was definitely possible.

The DIRTcar Sportsman feature saw a strong field of competitors take the green but it was Richard Murtaugh III scoring the 25-lap victory.  He was followed by Tyler Corcoran, and Brian Harber.

Factory Stocks had 25 cars take the green with Doug Stack Jr, Eric Beach and Buck Mills Jr taking the top three spots.

Both classes had strong fields of cars with many outsiders making a visit to Thunder Mountain because they just wanted to race, anywhere, thanks to Mother Nature’s stranglehold on the early 2025 season.  Drivers are certainly restless due to the incessant rain.