In other action,  a weather delay caused the two long distance events to be cut to 50 laps each. Jim Saylor  took the Semi Late event while journeyman driver Brian Duffy rallied late to score the Pure Stock win.  Jarrod Barclay  ended the night by taking the Finale finale with his first career 4 Cylinder win.

 

    With the heats for the class cancelled  due to the rain delay,  the Limited field was set by the luck of the draw.  Singleton lined up seventh on the start but  using heavy post rain delay  cushion he blasted  to the front.  Curtis Heath was the early leader but Singleton was  up to third by  the end of the first lap.    Singleton blasted his way into the lead on lap three and ran off from the field.  Several cautions for minor incidents closed the field but Singleton ran off each time.

 

    At the finish, it was Singleton over Heath and George Dixon, who was the Friday night runner up.  Ralph Morgan, Yvette Hahn, Matt Emerick, Rance Garlock, Jeremy Zufall, Larry Foor and  late arrival Bill Burns completed the top ten.

 

     The planned 76 lap Semi Late main was cut to 50 laps because of the rain delay. Jamie Kohan was the early leader and he held off George Beclett early. But it was Jim Sayler on the move.   He closed in on the lead pair and worked on Beckett until lap 8 when he got by.    Greg Cornell and Zane Weicht also got by and soon it was a four car battle at the front.  Saylor took over on lap 17 with Weicht in tow.  Cornell joined them three laps later.

 

      Although Weicht made several attempts he could not make the pass on  Sayler.   Lap after lap the three battled at the front until lap 33 when Weicht’s car went up in smoke. The resulting caution put Cornell on Sayler’s bumper along with a crowd, but four of them piled up together on lap 46, eliminatin Tom Warren from the mix.   The field went green on lap 48 with Kohan again in second but he  had his hand full holding off Jamie Swank and Sayler skooted off to score the win.

 

     Kohan held on in a near photo finish with Swank to take second,  ahead of Swank and George Beckett who spun early and came back from the rear. Barry Awtey in a Sayler team car started dead last in the field and took fifth.  Bill Pluta, Dennis Collins, Dave Whetstone, Cody Butterbaugh and Jason Vangilder completed the top ten.,

Sayler and Beckett took the Friday qualifiers.

 

     The Pure Stock event also was cut to 50 laps,  Terry  Norris  was the pole sitter and early leader  but soon Bill Replogle was on the scene.  Before long there were 6 cars in the lead group battling.  Replogle got by for the lead on lap 15 but could not shake the mob.  Ryan Beckett got into second on  lap 35 but Replogle led the way.  A late race caution on lap  47-49  changed everything as it caused the race to go into overtime for the second year.  That was Replogles undoing as  Brian Duffy, driving the Travis Group car, made the move of the night and snuck by on the last lap for the win.  Charlie Walter also got by on the wild last lap and Replogle settled for third after leading 34 laps.  

 

      Mike Ott was fourth at the line, followed by Mike Duck, Norris, Shawn Smith, Jason Bender, Rob Varner and Dave Green.   Replogle, Norris and Beckett won the Friday heats.

 

    Jarrod Barclay  ended the 2012 Thunder Valley season with his first ever TV 4 Cylinder win.  He shot from 5th to first on the first lap and led the duration.  The Plutas and Dave Lambert battled behind him until Andrew suffered a flat tire on lap 13.   After that caution, Barclay  led the last two laps easily for the Finale win.  Robert Pluta, Lambert, Nick Zborovancik  and Mike Lewis completed the top five.  Due to the rain delay there were no 4 cylinder heats.

 

    

LIMITEDS 25 LAPS  1  Rick Singleton,  2  Curtis Heath,  3  George Dixon,  4  Ralph Morgan,  5  Yvette Hahn,  6  Matt Emerick,  7  Rance Garlock,  7  Jeremy Zufall,  9  Larry Foor,  10  Bill Burns,  11  Steve Stitt,  12  Donnie Farlling,  13  Mike Altobelli Jr,  DNS  Doug Hardy, DJ Troutman.

     

SEMI LATE 50 LAP  1  Jim Sayler,  2  Jamie Kohan,  3  Jamie Swank,  4  George Beckett,  5  Barry Awtey,  6  Bill Pluta,  7  Dennis Collins,  8  Dave Whetstone,  9  Cody Buterbaugh,  10  Jason Vangilder,  11  Clair Duppstadt,  12  Bill McClellan,  13  Tom Warren,  14  Greg  Cornell,  Vigi Zucollotto,  16  Taylor Farlling,  17  Zane Weight,  18  James Hampe,  19  Joe Collins.

 

PURE STOCK 52 LAP 1  Brian Duffy,  2  Charlie Walter,  3  Bill Replogle,  4  Mike Ott,  5  Mike Duck,  6  Terry Norris,  7  Shawn Smith,  8  Jason Bender,  9  Rob Varner,  10  Dave Green,  11  Greg Beckett,  12Denny Norris,  13  Ryan Beckett,  14  Mike Shaffer,  15  Dave Beahr,  16Terry Mitchell,  17  Bill Noel,  18  Justin Milburn,  19  Tony Brown,  20  Jarrod Brown,  21  Greg Cornell Sr,  22  Rick Potter,  23  Shawn Stallard,  24  Jeff Brown,  DNS  Tyler Alkire

 

4 CYLINDER  15 LAPS  1  Jarrod Barclay,  2  Robert Pluta,  3  Dave Lambert,  4  Nick Zborovancik,  5  Mike Lewis,  6  Tyler Beckett,  7  Dustin Drake,  8  Keith Deeter, 9  Steve Frederick,  10  Ryan Claycomb,  11  Phil Best,  12  Mike Hagens  13  Jon Gebhart,  14  Kyle Beckett,  15  Andrew Pluta,  16  Ed Plummer,  17  Mike Meck Sr,  18  Josh Datko,  19  Dan Jackson,  20  Ernie Bowser,  21  Sean Fitzsimmons,  22 Bill Burd,  

 

      Matt Parks’ first stroke of luck came in the redraw as he started on the front row of the Late Model 25 lapper.Ad After some first lap jockeying he emerged with the initial lead.  Parks held on through several early cautions as Doug Glessner kept it close. Glessner made several runs at Parks,  whose car showed increasing amount of sparks with each passing lap.  but Parks rebuffed each advance.  At the finish Parks was blessed with  a second stroke of good luck, as a tire let go after he crossed the line and he limped to Victory Lane  on three tires.

 

     Doug Gessner challenged Parks in the mid laps of the race before falling back,  and took second at the line.  He was followed by 2012 track champion Chuck Clise, , Shawn Claar, Justin Kann and Greg Fetters.   Matt Sponaugle, Chris Rhodes, John Myers and Lance Smith completed the top 10.   Glessner and Dan Lee won the heats.

 

     Like Parks, Rick Singleton drew the pole in the Limited event and dominated the feature.  He ran off from George Dixon at the start and was never threatened.  Dixon held on for second at the finish.  DJ Troutman made a late race charge to third at the finish, followed by Yvette Hahn and Mike Altobelli Jr.  Rance Garlock, Bobby Watt, Matt Emerick, Dave Leidy and Donnie Farlling completed the top ten.   Dixon and Singleton won the heats.

 

    Track champion Keith Deeter was the early 4 Cylinder leader  before the Pluta twins arrived.Robert Pluta took over on lap 3 and Andrew Pluta got by Deeter on lap five.  From that point the Plutas battled with Robert holding sway to score the win.  Andrew Pluta was second  ahead of a late closing Dan Jackson, Deeter and Dave Lambert.    Kyle Beckett, Nick Zborovancik, Bill Hassenplug, Phil Best and Jon Gepner completed the top ten.  Robert Pluta and Ernie Bowser won the heats.

 

 

    The Semi latea and Pure Stock ran their qualifying heats only for their big day 2 events.  

 

LATE MODEL 25 LAP  1   Matt Parks,  2  Doug Glessner,  3  Chuck Clise,  4  Shawn Claar,  5  Justin Kann,  6  Greg Fetters,  7  Matt Sponaugle,  8  Chris Rhodes,  9  John Myers,  10  Lance Smith,  11  Dan Lee,  12  Gene Kain,  13  Wayne Johnson,  14  Tyler Dietz,  15  Bill Burns,  16  Chad McClellan,  17  Randy Smithley,

 

LIMITED 20 LAP  1  Rick Singleton,  2  George Dixon,  3  DJ Troutman,  4   Yvette Hahn,  5  Mike Altobelli Jr,  6  Rance Garlock,  7  Bobby Watt,  8  Matt Emerick,  9  Dave Leidy,  10  Donnie Farlling,  11  Curtis Heath,  12  Brian Lessley,  13  Joe Petyak,  15  Ron Bottenfield,  16  Craig Perigo  DNS  Travis Wilson

 

4 CYLINDER  15 LAPS  1   Robert Pluta,  2  Andrew Pluta,  3  Dan Jackson,  4  Keith Deeter,  5  Dave Lambert,  6  Tyler Beckett,  7  Nick Zborovancik,  8  Bill Hassenplug,  9  Phil Best,  10  Jon Gephart,  11  Steve Frederick,  12  Mike Hagans,  13  Kyle Beckett,  14  Mike Meck Sr,  15  Dustin Drake,  16  Ian Will,  17  Ernie Bowser,  18  Josh Datko,  19  Mike Meck Jr,  DNS  Kasey Fleegle

 When good  fortune looks your way you got to be ready to react.  Dan Lee did just that Saturday at Thunder Valley by turning a great break into a convincing win.  It was Lee’s first Thunder Valley win of the season.  Greg Cornell survived a long ordeal to score  the Semi Late win.  It was his  fourth win of the season but  second in the last three weeks.  Mike Ott was all over the Pure Stock leader and thought he had settled for second, but found himself the winner , his first of the season.   Martin Vinosky returned  and scored his first 4 Cylinder win of the season to close the evening.

 

     After a season of broken parts and bad luck,  Dan Lee found himself with a point average which presented him a front row starting position.    He rose to the occasion with a resounding performance,  getting the jump at the start and running off from the field.  In the event which ran caution free, he ran away from the battle for second and never looked back.   Wayne Johnson and Shawn Claar battled in his wake,  and got close several times as Lee weaved through lapped traffic,  But it was all Lee’s night.

 

     Claar challenged Johnson late in the event but settled for third.  Greg Fetters, Chuck Clise, Chris Rhodes, Dan Cornman, Doug Glessner, Lincoln Ritchey and Travis Stickley completed the top ten.  Fetters and Clise won the heats.

 

     The Semi Late race started out rough and didnt get any better, becomming the longest Semi Late race in years.  Levi Duppstadt was the pole sitter  but spun going into the first turn creating chaos at the start.   Jamie Kohan took the initial lead before Greg Cornell took over but it was a long wait to score the win.   Fully 13 cautions slowed the 20 lapper making it a slow slog.   Track point leader Jim Sayler , who was involved in the first lap melee, returned from the pits to race through the field, getting up to second by lap 10,  but then suffered a flat tire.

 

     Saylor again returned to the rear,  only to crash hard into the fist turn wall on that restart, ending his night.  At the finish,  Cornell held on to win the marathon, leading Kohan and Tom Warren across the line.  Warren was in a borrowed car  as he chases Sayler in the  fast ending point race.  Bill Pluta and Dave Whetstone completed the top five.

 

    The Pure Stock event was almost an equal marathon which went on after the race ended.  Brian Shaw was the early leader but Mike Duck got by on lap 6.  Duck led only that lap before he retired to the pits  giving the lead to Russ Hartman.   Hartman held on, fending  off the relentless challenges of Mike Ott for the duration.  Nine caution periods dotted the 18 lapper but Hartman held on.  

 

     At the finish, although Ott wore out his back bumper, Hartman held on for what appeared to be a first career win.  But in Victory lane  Hartman was nowhere to be found as Robert Turquato climbed out of the car.  Since Turquato had jumped into the car without telling any officials and had used Hartman’s starting spot, the win was nullified and Ott was rewarded  belatedly.

 

    The revised finish was Ott the winner, having come from dead last in the field, followed by Greg Cornell Sr, Shaw, Jim Dearmett, and Mike Shaffer.  Mike Duck, Justin Milburn and Ryan Beckett won the heats.

 

     By comparison, the 4 Cylinder event was tame.  Martin Vinosky jumped into the lead at the start and ran to the finish.  Dan Jackson came from deep in the field  to run him down and challenge,  bringing Ray Edwards and Ian Will with him,  but Vinsosky held off the trio to score the win. Jackson, Edwards, Will and Keith Deeter completed the top five.

 

LATE MODELS 25 LAP  1  Dan Lee,  2  Wayne Johnson,  3  Shawn Claar,,  4  Greg Fetters,  5  Chuck Clise,  6  Chris Rhodes,  7  Dan Cornman,  8  Doug Glessner,  9  Lincoln Ritchey,  10  Travis Stickley,  11  Gene Kain,  12  Ron Bottenfield,  13  Bill burns,  14  Matt Eckman,  15  Tom Deccker 16  Greg Tressler  17  Dale Claycomb,  18  Curtis Heath

 

SEMI LATE 20 LAP.. 1  Greg Cornell,  2  Jamie Kohan,  3  Tom Warren,  4  Bill Pluta,  5  Dave Whetstone,  6  Vigi Zucollotto,  7  Joe Collins,  8  Jason Vangilder,  9  Jim sayler,  10  Joe Pluta,  11 Dennis Collins,  12Levi Duppstadt,  DNS  John Whitfield

 

PURE STOCK 18 LAP  1   Mike Ott,  2  Greg Cornell Sr 3  Brian Shaw,  4 Jim Dearmitt,  5  Mike Shaffer  6  Bill Helsel  7  Mark Shaffer    8  Rodney  Mock,  9  John Hollis,  10  Mike Duck  11  Justin Milburn,  12  Terry Mitchell,  13  Jason Bender  14  Jeff Brown,  15  Rob Varner,  16  Ryan Beckett,  17  Mark Field,  DNS   Willy Ling,   Bill Replogle,  Ed Vogel   DQ  Russ Hartman

 

4CYLINDERS  15 LAP  1  Martin Vinosky, 2  Dan Jackson,  3  Ray Edwards,  4  Ian Will,  5  Kieth Deeter,  6  Dustin Drake,  7  Andrew Pluta  8Jack Theys,  9  Robert Pluta,  10  Jeremy Miller  11  Nick Zborovancik 12  Mike Meck,  13  Dustin Tolar,  14 Ray Wright  15   Leroy Booher,  16 Mike Potter,  17  Josh Datko,  18  John Costa,  19  Ernie Bowser  20 Casey Fleegle.

 

 With the Limited making a non regulars start at the track, pill  draw was used to set the field.  Emerick was the big winner when the invert put him on the pole for the Limited 20 lapper.  Emerick blasted away at the start but quickly had Robbie Black on his bumper.  Black was all over Emerick but could not muster a pass as Dave Leidy closed in on them both.   After some frantic action,  Leidy took second and also pressured Emerick.

 

      Emerick held on through several quick cautions as Leidy and Black worried each other as well as the leader.  Leidy’s night ended as a wheel flew off his car on lap 18.  That set up a two lap dash and extra chance for Black.  He was able to get beside Emerick as they crossed the finish line but settled for second at the end.  Daniel Cornman came on for third at the finish, followed by Curtis Heath, Wayne Johnson, George Dixson, Ron Bottenfield, Mike Altobelli Matt Eckman and Travis Wilson.  

 

       Altobelli was up to fifth on the last lap  before blowing a tire and limping across the finish line.  Heath and Leidy won the heats.

 

    Jim Sayler, the leading all time Semi Late winner at the track added yet another to his  resume in that 20 lapper.  He started fifth in the field but  threaded his way through the front pack to run down early leader Jamie Kohan.   He eased by Kohan for the lead  on lap 5 then ran off from the mob as five cars battled Kohan for his spot.   

 

     Jason Vangilder finally got by Kohan on lap 18,  But Sayler was safely ahead at the finish.  Vangilder  finished second, ahead of Greg Cornell, Patrick McDonough,  George Beckett, John Whitfield and Bill Pluta.  Kohan broke  near the end and was credited with ninth.  Vangilder and Sayler won the heats.   Tom Warren broke while leading his heat even and did not start the event,  allowing Sayler to pile up an almost insurmountable point lead  as the season winds down

 

     2012 hard luck driver Russ Hartman was the early Pure Stock  leader and seemed to have the field covered for a long time.   But Ryan Beckett finally arrived from his eighth starting position and challenged Hartman, taking the lead on lap 9. Ed Vogel got by Hartman on lap 13 but Mike Duck got him a lap later and went after Beckett.  He gave Beckett a handful but finished a length behind at the checkered flag, his fifth second place run of the season.   Travis Group and Vogel won the heats.

 

    Ian Will in only his second Thunder Valley start a good one as he wired the 4 Cylinder field.  Dave Lambert was all over Will early, running several laps side by side, before Martin Vinosky moved in.  Vinosky was up along side Will on the last lap but settled for second, followed by Robert Pluta, Lambert, Ray Wright and Jeremy Miller.  Lambert and Dan Jackson won the heats.

 

LIMITED 20 LAPS  1  Matt Emerick,  2  Robby Black,  3  Daniel Cornman,  4  Curtis Heath,  5  Wayne Johnson,  6  George Dixson,  7  Ron Bottenfield,  8  Mike Altobelli Jr,  9  Matt Eckman,  10  Travis Wilson,  11  Dave Leidy,  12  Yvette Hahn,  13  Brian Lessley,  14  Larry Foor,  15  Troy Swindell

 

SEMI LATE 20 LAPS,   1  Jim Sayler,  2  Jason Vangilder,  3  Greg Cornell,  4 Patrick McDonough,  5  George Beckett,  6  John Whitfield,  7  Bill Pluta,  8  Dabe Whetstone,  9  Jamie Kohan,  10  Levi Duppstadt,  11  Tom Wakefield,  12  Ridge Bookwalter,  13  Buddy Fickes,  DNS  Tom Warren

 

PURE STOCK 20 LAP  1  Ryan Beckett,  2 Mike Duck,  3  Chad Gambol  4  Brian Shaw,  5  Derek Graybill,  6  Russ Hartman,  7  Justin  Milburn,  8  Jarrod Brown,  9  Jasopn Bender,  10  Ed Vogel,  11  Travis Group,  12  Chris Lutz,  13  John Michael,  14  Mark Shaffer,  15  terry Mitchell,  16  Mike Shaffer,  17  Brandon Fickes,  18  Pat Spiker

 

  4 CYLINDER 20 LAP  1  Ian Will,  2  Martin Vinosky,  2  Robert Pluta, 4  Dave Lambert,  5  Ray Wright,  6  Jerermy Miller,  7  Dustin Drake,  8  Pat Breahm,  9  Mike Meck,  10  Nick Zborovancik,  11  Kieth Deeter,  12  Steve Frederick,  13  Leroy Booher,  14  Ernie Bowser,  15  Tyler Beckett,  16  Dan Jackson,  DNS  Irv Fleegle..

 

 

               Lincoln Ritchey led the Late model field to the green,  But it was Rhodes blasting by for the lead on lap one.  From that point on, Rhodes ran his best race of the season to lead the distance.  Wayne Johnson moved into second and briefly closed in on Rhodes during the middle stages,  but did not threaten the leader. Shawn Claar moved up to make it three at the point until Doug Glessner arrived late.  When Claar retired on lap 20,  Glessner took on the task of challenging Johnson.   

 

      Over the last 5 laps, the 17s raced for second spot though as Rhodes powered safely ahead.  Johnson snared the spot as Glessner took third, followed by Chuck Clise,Tom Decker, Greg Fetters,  Ritchey and Garrett Krummert, making his first TV start.  Cory Weaver and Gene Kain completed the top 10.  Johnson, Glessner and Rhodes won their heats

 

     Jamie Kohan was the Semi Late pole sitter but Greg Cornell led the first lap.  Cornell never shook Kohan  or the growing mass of chasers as the usual cast moved  up from the pack.  Tom Warren made it to second before spinning on lap 10 thinning the posse by one.Jason Vangilder got by Kohan on lap 15 and Jim Sayler one lap later but neither one got aim on Cornell who raced to the win.  Van Gilder led the challengers which included  Sayler, Kohan,  Bill Pluta,  Jamie Swank, Cody Butterbaugh, Joe Pluta Levi Duppstadt and John Whitfield.  Butterbaugh and Warren won the heats.

 

     Terry Mitchell was the early Pure Stock leader but it was an 8 car mob at the front.  Mike Ott took the first shots at Mitchell but it was Mike Duck whipping around the outside into the lead on lap 4.  Bill Replogle arrived on the scene two laps later and also whipped around the battling pair to get second on lap 7.  Replogle chased down Duck and  the almost weekly battle was on. This time Duck,  who has chased Replogle across the line several times this season,  held him off for the win.

 

      Ryan Beckett ran the pair down late but settled for third, ahead of Mitchell,  Justin Milburn,  Ott,  Jarrod Brown,  Ed Vogel and Rodney Mock.   Replogle and Duck won the heats.

 

    Dave Lambert led the opening 4 Cylinder lap before Andrew Pluta got by.   Robert Pluta got second one lap later and the twins battled at the front.  Nick Zborovancik arrived and got by the battling Plutas on lap 8 and ran to his first career feature win.  Robert Pluta was second, followed by Andrew, Dan Jackson and Ian Will. Andrew Pluta and Jackson won the heats

 

LATE MODEL 25 LAP  1  Chris Rhodes,  2  Wayne Johnson,  3  Doug Glessner,  4  Chuck Clise,  5  Tom Decker,  6  Greg Fetters,  7  Lincoln Ritchey,  8  Garrett Krummert,  9  Cory Weaver,  10  Gene Kain,  11  Dan Lee,  12  Bill Burns,  13  Travis Calhoun 14  Matt Eckman,  15  Dale Claycomb,  16  Travis Wilson,  17  Shawn Claar,  18  Bob Hershman,  19  Mike Steck,  20  Nathan Lasalle,  21  John Britsky,  DNS  Ron Bottenfield.

 

SEMI LATE 20 LAP  1  Greg Cornell,  2  Jason Vangilder,  3  Jim sayler,  4  Jamie Kohan,  5  Mike Duck,  6  Jamie Swank,  7  Cody Butterbaugh,  8  Joe Pluta,  9  Levi Duppstadt,  10  John Whitfield,  11  Tom Warren,  12  Dennis Collins,  13  Dave Whetstone,  14  George Beckett.

 

PURE STOCK 18 LAPS  1  Mike Duck,  2  Bill Replogle,  3  Ryan Beckett,  4  Terry Mitchell,  5  Justin Milburn,  6  Mike Ott,  7  Jarrod Brown,  8  Ed Vogel,  9  Rodney Mock,  10  Brian Shaw,  11  Jason  Bender,  12  Mark Field,  13  Mark Shaffer,  14  Bill Kennell,  15  Brandon Fickes,  18  Mike Shaffer,   DNS  Russ Hartman

 

4 CYLINDER  1  Nick Zborovancik,  2  Robert Pluta,  3  Andrew Pluta,  4  Dan Jackson,  5  Ian Will,  6  Kieth Deeter,  7  Leroy Booher,  8  Pat Breahm.  9  Jeremy Miller,  10  Matt  Diehl,  11  Dustin Drake,  12  Ray Wright,  13  Ernie Bowser,  14  Kyle Beckett,  15  Dave Lambert,  16  Tyler Beckett,  17  Mike Meck,  

 

     Covert  had some luck as well as speed  early in the program as a last lap pass on Greg Satterlee for second  in his heat got him into the dash.  He drew the pole for the dash and ran away from that field to ensure a pole position start for the 35 lap feature.   He used that starting position to zip away from the field at the start and never looked back.

 

     After a few early cautions, when the field settled down,  Covert easily stretched out the distance on second place runner Andy Haus with each lap.  Haus eventually found himself in the clutches of David Williams in a battle that went  almost to the finish.  Williams finally got the spot when Haus retired on lap  27.  Thunder Valley point leader Chuck Clise was up to  fifth until he car broke on lap 12, jeopardizing that position.

 

   But at the front of the field, Covert left no doubt who was in charge as he ran off to the easy win after the 35 laps.  Williams chased him across the line across the line for second, his best ever TV finish.  Greg Fetters , Jeremy Miller and Satterlee completed the top 5.  Doug Glessner,  Ron Delano, Tom Decker, Devin Friese and Chris Rhodes completed the top 10. Justin Kann, Clise and Haus won the heats. Covert won the dash.  Sean Merkle won the B.

 

     In heat race action, two of the winners, Clise and Kann broke at the finish.  Kann was done for the night but jumped into the qualified car of Larry Foor and started the feature,  Clise made repairs but only made  those few laps in the event.  Track all time leading winner Scott Rhodes made a surprise visit in his  familiar 83.  He was  up to fifth when the motor gave way on lap 30 bringing out the last caution.

 

      Whetstone started the semi Late  20 lapper on the pole and had to fight off a herd of challengers for the duration.  Jamie Kohan was all over his bumper before Jim Sayler, Greg Cornell and Tom Warren arrived to make it a 5 car pack.Luckily for Whetstone, the others occupied thei rtime with themselves and whetstone ran off to the win.    After trading positions behind the leader, Kohan snared second,  ahead of Cornell, Sayler and Warren.  Jason Vangilder, Bill Pluta, Dennis Collins,  Levi Duppstadt, and Ryan Beckett  completed the top 10.

 

      Terry Mitchell led the Pure Stock event for the first three laps before Brian Shaw got by.  Shaw held on as Beckett came from eighth place to run him down.  Finally on lap 16, Beckett shot by for he win.  Shaw hung on for second, followed by Mike Duck, Terry Norris and Russ Hartman.  Hartman and  Carl Snare won the heats.

 

    Dan Jackson got by Leroy Booher at the start but had to hold off Robert Pluta for the 4 Cylinder win. Pluta was all over Jackson for the last  5 laps but could not get by.  Andrew Pluta was closing fast on the pair but his wheel came off  while heading for the finish line.  Jarred Barclay snagged the third spot but failed the tech putting Pluta back to third, ahead of Booher and Tyler Beckett.  Jackson and Dustin Drake won the heats.

 

LATE MODEL THREE STATE FLYER 35 LAP  1  Jason Covert,  2  David Williams,  3  Greg Fetters,  4  Jeremy Miller,  5  Greg Satterlee,  6  Doug Glessner,  7  Ron Delano,  8  Tom Decker,  9  Devin Friese,  10  Chris Rhodes,  11  Matt Parks,  12  Shawn Claar,  13  Kyle Merkle,  14 Gene Kain,  15  Bill burns,  16  Scott Rhodes,  17  Andy Haus,  18  Scott Lebarron,  19  Lincoln Ritchey,  20 Sean Merkle,  21  Ron Bottenfield,  22  Chuck Clise,  23  Wayne Johnson,  24  Justin Kann  DNS  Mike Steck,  Rob Marhefka,  Larry Foor,  

 

SEMI LATE  20 LAP  1   Dave Whetstone,  2  Brian Shaw,  3  Greg Cornell,  4  Jim Sayler,  5  Tom Warren,  6  Jason Vangilder,  7  Bill Pluta,  8  Dennis Collins,  9  Levi Duppstadt,  0  Ryan Beckett,  11  Joe Pluta

 

PURE STOCK  18 LAP  1   Ryan Beckett,  2  Brian Shaw,  3  Mike Duck,  4  Terry Norris,  5  Russ Hartman,  6  Terry Mitchell,  7  Jarrod Brown,  8  Justin Milburn,  9  Pat Spiker,  10  Jason Bender,  11  Ed Vogel, 12  Mike Shaffer,  13  Mark Shaffer,  Mike Ott,  15  Bill Replogle,  16  Rob Varner,  17  Carl Snare.  DNS  Jim Dearmitt

 

4 CYLINDER 15 LAP  1  Dan Jackson,  2  Robert Pluta,  3  Andrew Pluta,  4  Leroy Booher,  5  Tyler Beckett,  6  Keith Deeter,  7  Nick Zborovancik,  7  Mike Meck,  9  Jeremy Miller,  10  EJ Johnson,  11   Cale Martin,  12  Dustin Drake,  13  Pat /Brehm  14  Kyle Beckett,  15  Ernie Bowser,  16  Dave Lambert  DQ  Jarred Barclay.  DNS  Ian Will

 What was billed as the annual Thunder Valley 420 program seemed like  the 4ever event Saturday night.

When a nagging drizzle hit the track before warmups, it was never hard enough to cancel but enough to turn the track to soup,   and promoter Joe Padula elected to wait it out and get the show in.  What ensued was three hours of track drying,  in the end aided by many of the racers, and 4 happy feature winners.

 

Rance Garlock took the 20 lap win  for the visiting Limited Late Models,  Jim Sayler took the Semi Late 20 lapper, Ryan Beckett won the Pure Stock 20 and Andrew Pluta rallied late to take the 4 Cylinder  20.

 

     Rance Garlock took instant advantage of a decent starting spot in the Limited event.   He blew by the entire front row on l the first lap to lead it, then showed the field his bumper for the duration.  Curtis Heath ran second late and  held off first Matt Emerick, then Geroge Dixon for the spot.   Mike Altobelli was destined to be in that battle  advancing from 10th to 4th by lap 5 but he  spun and retired on  that lap.   With only one caution flag over the last 10 laps,  Garlock ran off to a dominating win.  Curtis Heath was second, ahead of George Dixon, Steve Bard, Eric Irvin, Ron Bottenfield, Yvete Hahan Tyler Horst, Travis Wilson and Larry Foor

 

     Jim Sayler, the man with more Thunder Valley wins than any other, scored yet again in the Semi Late 20.

 Dave Whetstone was the pole sitter and early leader.  He held on as Saylor closed each lap, then challenged.  After several laps of  trying, Sayler got by on lap 10 and led the distance.  Bill Pluta got close to Whetstone but did not mount a challenge for the duration.   At the finish it was Sayler by a large margin,  Whetstone, Pluta   Jason Vangilder and Greg Cornell.  Tom Warren, Jamie Kohan, Joe Pluta, Dennis Collins and Dave Beahr completed the top ten.

 

      Ryan Beckett left little doubt that he was ready for the Pure Stock  extra distance event.  Her jumped into the lead from his pole position and ran off from the field.   By the time of the evemt’s first caution on lap 11,   he was over a half lap ahead and the field  only got close on the cautions.  Beckett ran off from the field after each subsequent caution to record  his second win of the year.  Terry Norris , after a see saw battle with Dave Riley and Brian Shaw, finally secured second at the finish.  Shaw, Riley  and Jarrod Brown,  who came from dead last in

 the field.

 

     Mike Lauffer was the early 4 Cylinde leader.  He stretched out the field until a few mid race cautions allowed Andrew Pluta to close in.  Pluta  rose to the occasion and the pair went at it hard.    After trading paint for several laps, Pluta emerged with the lead on lap 16 and ran to the win.  Lauffer was second,  followed by Mike Meck, Dustin Drake and Robert Pluta who started last in the field.

 

 

LIMITED 20 LAP  1  Rance Garlock,  2 Curtis Heath,  3  George Dixon, 4 Steve Bard,  5  Eric Irvin,  6  Ron Bottenfield,  7 Yvette Hahn,  8  Tyler Horst,  9  Travis Wilson,  10  Larry Foor,  11  Bill Burns,  Matt Emerick,  13  Mike Altobelli

 

SEMI LATE 20 LAP  1  Jim Sayler,  2  Dave Whetstone,  3  Bill Pluta,  4  Jason Vangilder,  5  Greg Cornell,  6  Tom Warren,  7  Jamie Kohan,  8  Joe Pluta,  9  Dennis Collins,  10  Dave Beahr,  11  Billy McClellan

 

PURE STOCK 20 LAP  1  Ryan Beckett,  2  Terry Norris,  3  Brian Shaw,  4  dave Riley,  5  Jarrod Brown,  6  Justin Milburn,  7  Mike Ott,  8  Russ Hartman,  9  Mike Shaffer,  10  Rodney Mock,  11  Ed Vogel,  12  Mark Shaffer,  13  Jesse Hunt,  14  Mike Duck,  16  Derek Graybill,  17  Denny Norris,  18  Joe Kause,  19  Terry Mitchell,  DNS  Jason Bender

 

4 CYLINDER  20 LAP  1  Andrew Pluta,  2  Mike Lauffer,  3  Mike Meck,  4  Dustin Drake,  5  Robert Pluta,  6  Keith Deeter,  7  Jeremy Miller,  8  Leroy booher,  9  Dave Lambert,  10  Pat Breahm,  11  Ernie Bowser,  12  Travis Fleegle,  13  Nick Zborovancik,  14  Dail Goddard,  Josh Datko,  16  Jon Gephart,  17  dan Jackson,  1

 

    Jason Covert converted  a late heat race pass into a draw for the pole in the Late Model event.   At the drop of the green he got the jump on the field and was never challenged  during the 30 laps.  He opened up huge leads after each of the race’s five caution periods and had almost a half lap lead when the last caution flew on the last lap.   That yellow,  thrown for DJ Myers drifting to a halt on the frontstretch, gave Doug Glessner and the field one last shot at Covert but   he was not to be denied.

 

     At the finish line it was Covert by  several lengths over Glessner and Chuck Clise.  It was a near sweep for Covert of the Padula holiday week events as he had finished a close second Wednesday at Bedford.  DJ Troutman, Justin Kann, Greg Fetters, Mike Altobelli, Shawn Claar Mike Steck and Doug Burkholder completed the top ten.  Clise and Kann won the heats.

 

     Vigi  Zuccolotto led the opening Semi Late lap but Jamie Kohan got by on lap two.  He led and looked like he was set to snag the win.  But Greg Cornell, Jim Sayler and George Becket eventually closed in.  Kohan held off the herd until Cornell slipped by on lap 17.  From that point on Cornell ran to the win, ahead of Kohan , Sayler and Beckett.   After an early race spin out,  Tom Warren rallied to take fifth.

 

     Brian Shaw was the early Pure Stock leader but Mike Duck and Bill Replogle roared into the picture.  The three ran in a pack for  a few laps before Replogle got by the other two and took the lead on lap 7.  Duck got by Shaw on lap 8 and was all over Replogle for the duration but could not get by.  A  last lap move fell short and Replogle  ran off to his fourth WW Will Memorial win.  Duck and Shaw trailed closely, followed by Justin Milburn and Jarrod Brown.   Brown and Shaw won the heats.

 

     Dan Jackson  was the early 4 Cylinder leader but found Dave Lambert closing fast.  After laps of harassment, Lambert slid into the lead on lap13, but Jackson rallied to retake it a lap later.  Lambert retired with a flat tire on the next lap allowing Jackson to run to the finish.  Dustin Drake, Jeremy Miller, Nick Zborovancik and Keith Deeter completed the top five.  Jackson and Steve Frederick won the heats.

 

LATE MODEL WW WILL MEMORIAL 30 LAPS  1  Jason Covert,  2 Doug Glessner,  3 Chuck Clise,  4 DJ Troutman,  5 Justin Kann,  6  Greg Fetters,  7 Mike Altobelli Jr,  8  Shawn Claar,  9 Mike Steck,  10 Doug Burkholder,  11  Wayne Johnson,  12 Gene Kain,  13  DJ Myers,  14  Bill Burns,  15  Larry Foor,  16  Chad Walter,  17  Lincoln Ritchey,  DNS  Chris Rhodes, Ron Bottenfield

 

SEMI LATE 20 LAP  1  Greg Cornell,  2  Jamie Kohan,  3  Jim Sayler,  4 George Beckett,  5  Tom Warren,  6 JJason Vangilder,  7  Dave Whetstone,  8  Bill Pluta,  9  Vigi Zuccolotto,  10  Dennis Collins,  11  Joe Pluta

 

PURE STOCK 18 LAP  1  Bill Replogle,  2 Mike Duck,  3  Brian Shaw,  4 Justin Milburn,  5  Jarrod Brown,  6  Ed Vogel,  7  Russ Hartman,  8  Jim Dearmitt,  9  Mark Shaffer,  10 Terry Mitchell,  11  Mike Shaffer,  12  Mike ott,  13  Ryan Beckett  14  Denny Norris  15  Dave Beahr,  16  Mark Field,  17  Brandon Fickes  DNS  Will y Ling

 

4 CYLINDER  15 LAPS  1  Dan Jackson,  2  Dustin Drake,  3  Jeremy Miller,  4  Nick Zborovancik,  5  Keith Deeter,  6  Tyler Beckett,    7   mike Hegins,  8  Dave Lambert,  9 Mike Meck,  10  Pat Breahm,  11  EJ Johnson  12  Steve Frederick

 Shawn Claar rallied late to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat Saturday night at Thunder Valley.  The win in the Late Model 25 lapper was  his second of the year at the track.    Joining Claar as celebrators in victory was Tom Warren,  who came from last to first in the Semi Late  event, Ryan Beckett who won his first career Pure Stock race,  and Robert Pluta in 4 Cylinder action.

 

     It was a  Lee family front row for the Late Model feature and Dan Lee got the jump on brother Dave for the early lead. It took several laps for Shawn Claar to emerge from the crowd and take second,  but  when he did, he did not threaten Lee up front.  Greg Fetters and Chuck Clise eventually got into third and fourth but it seemed that none could challenge Lee, who got away after each of the early race cautions as well.

 

     After the halfway point Claar began to close on Lee and challenge for the lead. Lee was able to hang on and defend his spot until  the clock struck 12 on lap 20.   Lee hesitated then tangled with the lapped car of Larry Foor, and Claar went for it.  He swept around outside both Lee and Foor  going into turn 3  and took control.  From that point on Claar ran off from the others to score his second win of the season.  Lee held on for second,  followed by Fetters, Clise, Ron Bottenfield, Wayne Johnson, Kirk Baker,  Bill Burns, Tom Decker and Foor.  Lee and Clise won the heats.

 

   Jamie Kohan was the pole sitter and early Semi Late leader but Jason Vangilder was ahead on lap two.   But Tom Warren had knifed through the field from eighth and was all oner Vangilder.  Warren shot by on lap 4 and ran off from the field.   Jim Sayler who had pitted with a flat tire during a first lap caution came from the rear to challenge Vangilder late but fell short.   At the finish it was Warren well ahead of Vangilder, Sayler, Bill Pluta and Billy McClellan.

 

     Jason Bender was the early Pure Stock leader until Ryan Beckett arrived from the pack.  Beckett made the move around Bender on lap three and left the field.  Bender held on in pursuit until Charlie Walter got by on lap 8.  Walter, once in second could not close on Becket until  the first caution flew on lap 13. On the restart he took a run at Beckett but Beckett got away again.  Walter forund himself more worried with the advance of Mike Duck as the laps wound down as Beckett ran off to secure his first win.  At the line it was Beckett, Walter, Duck and Mike Ott.  Brian Shaw, Bender, Jarrod Brown, Mike Shaffer, Terry Mitchell and Justin Milburn completed the top 10.  Duck and Beckett won the heats.

 

      Robert Pluta came from sixth to the lead on the chaotic 4 Cylinder first lap.  He then led  the distance holding off the late race charge of twin brother Andrew for the win.  Andrew made it exciting by going several laps side by side but could not get by, and Robert opened up some distance at the finish.  The twins were followed by Nick Zborovancik,  Dan Lowery, Leroy Booher, Jeremy Miller, and Mike Meck.  The Plutas won the heats.

 

LATE MODEL 25 LAP  1  Shawn  Claar,  2 Dan Lee,  3 Greg Fetters,  4 Chuck Clise,  5 Ron Bottenfield,  6 Wayne Johnson,  7 Kirk Baker,  8  Bill Burns,  9 Tom Decker,  10  Larry Foor,  11 Dave Lee,  12 Steve Gobney  DNS  Gene Kain

 

SEMI LATE 20 LAP  1  Tom Warren,  2 Jason Vangilder,  3 Jim sayler,  4 Bill Pluta,  5 Billy McClellan  6 Vigi Zuccolotto,  7  Jamie Kohan,  8 Joe Pluta,  DNS  Greg Cornell

 

PURE STOCK 18 LAP  1  Ryan Beckett,  2 Charlie Walter,  3 Mike Duck,  4 Mike Ott,  5 Brian Shaw,  6 Jason Bender,  7 Jarrod Brown,  8  Mike Shaffer,  9 Terry Mitchell,  10  Justin Milburn,  11 Russ Hartman,  12  Chad Walter  13  Dave Beahr,  14  Jim Dearmitt,  15  Matt Presock,  16  Mark Field

 

4 CYLINDER  15 lap  1  Robert Pluta,  2 Andrew Pluta,  3 Nick Zborovancik,  4  Dan Lawery,  5  Leroy Booher,  6 Jeremy Miller,  7 Mike Meck,  8  Pat Breahm,  9  Keith Deeter,  10 Mike Hagens,  11 Dan Jackson,  12 Doug Hostettler,  13 Ray Wright,  14  Dustin Drake

 

Chris Rhodes led the Late Model field to the green and grabbed the early lead. Tom Decker challenged and the two made contact at the end of lap two.  Rhodes  hit the wall then careened across the track collecting Greg Fetters in a grinding crash.  That was just the start of the mayhem as 11 cautions flew in the first nine laps of the race,  several for grinding crashes

 

Decker had inherited the lead after the first crash and held on through all the interruptions but Clise was inching forward.  He showed up in third behind Decker and Doug Glessner on lap eight  and was clearly fast.  Clise got by Glessner and was  up to second when the final caution flew on lap 13.  For 5 laps after that, Clise stalked Decker until finally shooting by  with 5 to go.  Clise opened up a wide lead at the finish as Decker fell back into the clutches of Mike Altobelli Jr .

 

At the finish it was Clise for the second time this season,  followed by Decker, Altobelli, Glessner,  Shawn Claar, Ron Bottenfield, Dan Lee,. Gene Kain, Steve Gibney and Bill Burns.  Glessner and Clise won the heats

 

Tom Warren started in the Semi Late pack and had to work past a battling duo in Semi Late action.  Bill Pluta was the early leader and he was hard at it  with Jamie Kohan early on.  Warren finally got between them on lap 7 and got bu Pluta for the lead one lap later.   Jim Sayler followed his path and was in a challenging second place on lap 11.  From that point the two heavyweights went toe to toe, but Warren held off every challenge.  A caution with two to go, the only one in the event, gave Sayler a last look but Warren held on for the win.

 

At the finish it was Warren, Sayler, Pluta, Kohan, Jason Vangilder and Greg Cornell.  There were no heats for the slim car count 

 

It was a big day for the Bill Klinger racing family as Brian Shaw won his first ever Pure Stock event.   After first lap chaos as Terry Mitchell spun on lap one,  the event went off  relatively smooth with Shaw leading the way.   Behind him, Jarrod Brown collected a crowd as Mike Duck,  Bill Replogle and  Ryan Beckett congregated.  Becket finally got by into second on lap 11 and closed on the leader with each passing lap. 

   

A last lap caution gave Beckett a last look at Shaw but Shaw hung on for the win.  Beckett was second, followed by Brown, Replogle, Duck,  Jim Dearmitt, Mike Ott, Justin Milburn, Russ Hartman, and dave Beahr.  Shaw, Milburn and Ott won the heats.

 

Dave Lambert   struck early then dominated the 4 Cylinder event.  While Lambert led  four cars traded second place among them selves.  Dustin Drake, Jeremy Miller, Nick Zborovancik, Jeremy Miller, Ray Wright and Casey Fleegle all held the spot for a while before Wright rallied late to get by Fleegle for the honor.  At the finish it was Lambert, Wright, Fleegle, Miller and Keith Deeter across the line.   Lambert and Deeter won the heats.

 

A happy  Randy Doty scored in the annual visit of the All American outlaws.  He held off repeated challenges of Hunter Hestor who finished second.  Fred Collum, Brook Coleman and Justin Collum were the top 5.  Hunter and Tom Crummit won the heats.

 

LATE MODEL 25 LAP  1   Chuck Clise,  2 Tom Decker,  3 Mike Altobelli Jr,  4 Doug Glessner,  5 Shawn Claar,  6 Ron Bottenfield,  7 Dan Lee,  8 Gene Kain,  9 Steve Gobney,  10 Bill Burns,  11 Tom Decker III,  12  dale Claycomb,  13 Matt sala,  14  Tim Burkholder,  15 Ted Gallaher,  16  Chris Rhodes,  17  Greg Fetters,   DNS  Dave Lee, Derek Sala

 

SEMI LATE 20 LAP  1 Tom Warren,  2 Jim Sayler,  3 Bill Pluta,  4 Jamie Kohan,  5 Jason Vangilder,  6 Greg Cornell,  7 Vigi Zucollotto,  8 Joe Pluta,  9 Dave whetstone

 

PURE STOCK 18 LAP  1  Brian Shaw,  2 Ryan Beckett,  3 Jarrod Brown,  4 Bill Replogle,  5 Mike duck,  6 Jim Dearmitt,  7 Mike Ott,  8 Justin Milburn,  9 Russ Hartman,  10  Dave Beahr,  11 Mark Field,  12 Preston Imler,  13 Jim sacco,  14  Rob  Varner,  15  Jason Bender,  16  Mike Shaffer,  17 Jesse Hunt,  18  Greg Beckett  19 Terry Mitchell,  DNS  Willy Ling

 

 4 CYLINDER 15 LAP 1  Dave Lambert,  2 Ray Wright,  3 Casey Fleegle,  4 Jeremy Miller,  5 Keith Deeter,  6 Pat Brehm  7 Mike Meck,  8  Mike Hagens,  9  Nick Zborovancik,  10  Dustin Drake,  11 Ernie Bowser,  12  Leroy Booher,  13  Mike Custer

 

ALL AMERICAN  20 LAP  1  Randt Doty,  2 Hunter Hestor,  3 Fred Cullum,  4 Brook Coleman,  5 Justin Cullum,  6 Jessie Morrison,  7 Scott Jorda,  8 Al Daniels,  9  dave Egge,  10  Carrie Fryfogle,  11 Brittany Coleman,  12  Denny Gross,  13 Tony Jorda,  14 Tom Crummitt