RPW Exclusive: Thunder Mountain Speedway Hosts Memorable July 4th Weekend That Featured Plenty Of Action

Column By: JOSEPH PHILLIPS / RPW – CENTER ISLE, NY – The New York Penn IMCA Modified series made the climb to Thunder Mountain Speedway for its annual Billy Ward Memorial race on July 5th. 

Twenty six IMCA mods were on hand for the race held in honor of Billy Ward. Ward was a Cobleskill NY native who passed on December 4, 2022 after a brief illness. Ward was a long time IMCA driver and also owned WDW Trucking LLC, for several years.

Open Modified driver Tom Eiklor said “ Billy was a great guy, he would give you the shirt off his back.

Eiklor continued “ If someone need a few bucks to get by, Billy was always there to help them out.”

Keith Lamphere prevailed in the 25 lap IMCA feature. Starting ninth, Lamphere slowly worked his way up front during the numerous cautions. Also, Lamphere had a serious tangle in the dash for cash. After the cash, his crew had to replace the radiator and an upper control arm on the car. The crews hard work paid off with the 98K in victory lane.

Darren Smith in the Smith Racing number 12 was the Open Modified winner. Smith started 7th and used the high outside to steadily work his way through the field. In victory lane, Track Announcer Ric Ryder said that Smith “Seems to favor the outside to pass, nut once he gets in the lead, he locks down on bottom to protect the lead”

Smith echoed that statement , and stated “well, I have to go where the cars aren’t, so that is the top. “

Byron Worthing started up front and had was looking good, but he didnt have enough to fend off the hard charging Darren Smith. Worthing admits he has struggled this year, and “would really just like some good top five finishes!”

Cody Jackson bought out a new Bicknell chassis number 99 Velocita sponsored ride. This car was black and gold, which is a change from his normal white and red. Before the race, Jackson stated that he had a run of bad luck going and decided to bring out the new car.

Jackson’s luck turned around as he dominated the feature to secure his first win this year. 

Matt Brewer in the 39B started 9th and slowly worked his way up to 2nd. Brewer won the last two events at Thunder, and may have gotten his third if he had a few more laps. 

Before the hot laps, Jackson talked about how chassis builders have standardized the roll cages on the cars. Jackson feels that standardizing the roll cage is good because all chassis builders will all provide the same excellent protection for drivers. This was proven during the first sportsman heat when Josh Askshar caught the tail end of a wreck coming out of turn 2. Askhar rolled his sportsman mod a couple of times. The car was heavily damaged, but Askhar ,thankfully, was unharmed. 

Doug Windhausen started the 600cc Modified feature in 9th and worked his way up to take the feature win. This is Windhausen’s first win this year. Tyler Talada started 14 and bought his Heifer cow look alike car number 80 home to 2nd place. Talada was followed by Tom Donahue who started 12th and grabbed the last podium spot.

Fans may have noticed a newer 600cc Modified racing that looks like the Mystery Machine. Yes, The Mystery Machine, that Fred drove with his friends while solving mysteries. Well, that is the car of 11 year old Bentley Kashuba. Bentley’s Dad Josh, known as Scooby, works as a fabricator and also builds bodies for the 600cc Mods. Bentley is a relatively new driver who also dabbles in playing soccer at school. Kashuba is learning the ropes of dirt track racing and is looking pretty consistent on the track. Kashuba will be a young man to keep the old eyes on. That meddling kid!

Factory stocks had repeat winner Jerry Lobdell taking the win. Rich Sharpsteen and Lukas Mills rounded out the podium. 

600cc Sprint cars feature was won by Zach Bobbett, with Ivan Forney in 2nd and Thomas Paige in 3rd.

Independence weekend had beautiful weather, lots of cars in the pits and fans in the stands. It was hot, with brilliant sunshine. As a result, the track slicked over during the heats. Even with a dry slick track, cars were coming from deep within the field, passing cars at will. There were a few bad wrecks, with heavily damaged cars but all drivers walked away. That is the important part. Once the roar of engines finally died down, fireworks lit up the Center Lisle sky. 

Happy 249th Birthday, USA!