RPW Exclusive: Conner Sellars Memorial @ Thunder Mountain Recap

RPW Exclusive By: JOE PHILLIPS / RPW – CENTER LISLE, NY – On Saturday evening, the Thunder Mountain Speedway hosted its inaugural Conner Sellars Memorial race. This race was for the 358 Modifieds, and is a tribute race in honor of Sellars, who had passed away earlier on this season.

Many generous sponsors and fans stepped up to sponsor this event. Roughly $2000 were added for lap sponsors, $1200 in special awards, and various gift certificates were up for grabs. All in all, there ended up being over $5500 dollars in cash and prizes that were added on top of the race purse.

Saturday was also New York State Stock Car Association Night at the speedway. NYSSCA added bonus money to the first two NYSSCA members that crossed the finish line that evening.

Before the feature events kicked off, the Southern Tier RC club was on hand for a special competition. Modified and/or Sprint type RC cars competed in a two lap race around the 3/8 mile.

Another event during the evening were the kids power wheel races. The kids stole the show! The races were drag race style, and one young man won his race and kept driving around the track. He was finally corralled coming out of Turn 2. Another youngster took his time driving down the front stretch, waving to the fans in the process.

The main event kicked off, and the 358 Modified feature was led early on by Doug Smith Jr in the 119 car, with Darren Smith in the JSR #12 chasing him down. A tangle in Turn 1 on Lap 8 slowed the pace. Four cars were involved, including Joe Sellars in Conner Sellars #00 car. All involved were able to continue with the exception of the #31 car of Lance Willix.

At Lap 20, the rundown was Doug Smith Jr in the lead, Darren Smith in second, and Jimmy Zacharias in third. On Lap 27, Darren Smith took the lead and very quickly became engulfed in heavy traffic. Smith was able to navigate the traffic and hold on for the win, followed by Smith Jr. in second, and Willy Decker who had worked his way into third.
Decker was a rare outside invader with his 10C machine, as not many took the ride up the Mountain for the event. Since the season still has a couple of weeks to go, the lure of the purse and bonus money available did not outweigh the need to constantly gather home track points for many drivers.

Ajay Potrzebowski II was the open modified feature winner in the #72K machine. Jimmy Zacharias was second in his #71 car, and rounding out the podium was Smith, as he captured his second podium of the evening.

As always, the modified feature had two racing grooves and drivers took advantage of both. While drivers were jockeying for position on the inside, drivers like Darren Smith, Brandon Loucks and others were making high speed runs in the upper groove throughout the night. This certainly made for excitement throughout the entire evening.

Jeff Sheely was able to secure a fourth place finish in his #38 DKM chassis. Before the race, Sheely felt that he could have won last week’s feature if the race had stayed green. Unfortunately, once his tires started too cool under a caution, he struggled to get the speed back.

The Factory Stock feature was won by Jerry Lobdell Jr., and Ivan Forney emerged victorious in the 600cc Sprint feature.
Having a great run tonight in the 600cc feature was Mary Earley in the #25. Earley started in the tenth position, and worked her way up to the fourth position by the end of the race.

The 600cc Modified feature on the evening was won by James Deisz, with Ali Scutt and Jacob Waibel rounding out the podium.

The nightcap feature was the DIRTcar Sportsman. Randy Brokaw was the winner in the B17 car. Eric Winsor and Jordan Millard finished second and third. Attrition was the theme of this race, with 21 cars taking the green and only 11 finishing. Matt Brewer in the #39B machine was able to finish 4th and get some additional padding in the point race.

Next week, Thunder Mountain returns with a Full Program plus IMCA Championship Night plus Classics on Dirt.

The season is quickly winding down, and fans will only have a few more chances to support their drivers and tracks. The weather is hot, but the action on the track is even hotter.

Get out and support your local race track!