Thunder Mountain Speedway Concludes 2014 Season with Festive Awards Banquet

Thunder Mountain Speedway Concludes Resurgent 2014 Season With Awards Banquet At Marathon Civic Center; 225 Look On As Coar-Clark Racing Team Steals The Headlines With Brent Wilcox-Brian Malcolm One-Two Modified Sweep

MARATHON, NY – The 2014 Thunder Mountain Speedway season officially concluded on Saturday night (Nov. 22) with the Tom Coar and Chris Clark race team in the spotlight.

Brent Wilcox and teammate Brian Malcolm led the honorees at the track’s year-end Awards Banquet held at the Marathon Civic Center as the one-two finishers in the speedway’s big-block/small-block Modified standings.

More than 225 attendees took part in the festive evening, which wrapped up the return to track operation for Karl Spoonhower at Thunder Mountain. Spoonhower constructed the speedway in the early 1990s. He operated Thunder Mountain through 2006 before exiting the sport, only to return for the ’14 campaign.

Speedway announcer Leon Andrus and Brett Deyo of BD Motorsports Media LLC handled the microphone duties for the night. $20,000-plus in point-fund cash and plentiful hardware was distributed. Champions received American Racer embroidered jackets and custom photo posters thanks to track photographer Scott Seward.

Spoonhower’s return prompted the return of the Modifieds to weekly Saturday competition. No one was more appreciative than champion Brent Wilcox, the Binghamton, N.Y., driver who earned his second career title at the three-eighths-mile track. His first came in ’06.

Wilcox won the track’s $1,992-to-win Season Opener on May 10 and returned to Victory Lane the following week. In an ultra-consistent season, Wilcox won a total of three features, earned 13 top-five finishes and never finished worse than seventh in a points-paying race.

Wilcox outdistanced runner-up Brian Malcolm by 109 points for the crown. He received $5,000 from the speedway’s point fund for his efforts.

“Thunder Mountain has always been good to me,” Wilcox said. “When I heard Karl was back and the Modifieds would be there, I knew where I wanted to be. At that point, I didn’t have a ride. We got this team together thanks to Tom (Coar), won the opener and had about the perfect year.”

Both Wilcox and Malcolm drove for car owner Tom Coar with assistance from Chris Clark.

Coar was honored at the Awards Banquet as the Car Owner of the Year, while Clark received Crew Chief of the Year honors.

Malcolm, of Lake Ariel, Pa., won his first-career Thunder Mountain feature during the season among nine top-five finishes to earn the runner-up position in the standings. Malcolm raced regularly at Thunder Mountain for the first time in his career.

Mike Clapperton of Sidney, N.Y., finished third in the point standings as a two-time feature winner, including the Spring Championship event. Chad Cook of Deposit, N.Y., finished fourth driving for Mike Costello (two wins) and Mike Mahaney of King Ferry, N.Y., completed the front five. Mahaney won four feature events, topped by the $1,776-to-win ‘Red White & Blue Special’ with the Charlie Davis No. 21.

American Racer/Lias Tire rewarded the top-five finishers with tire certificates: Wilcox (four tires), Malcolm (two tires), Clapperton (one tire), Cook ($85 off the purchase of a tire) and Mahaney ($50 off the purchase of a tire).

Completing the top-10 in the point standings were Ken Titus of Kirkwood, N.Y., with the Don Stark No. 9s; two-time winner Billy Spoonhower of Berkshire, N.Y.; Steve Cummings of Rockdale, N.Y.; first-time winner and second-generation driver Byron Worthing of Owego, N.Y.; and first-year Modified driver Ryan Jordan of Speedsville, N.Y.

Jordan was declared the overall Rookie of the Year for his freshman effort in the Modified ranks that included strong performances at Thunder Mountain and a win at N.Y.’s I-88 Speedway.

The personable Titus, meanwhile, was recognized with the speedway’s Sportsmanship Award.

Billy Spoonhower bested his younger brother Chance in the battle for the Sportsman championship. Billy Spoonhower won three features during the season and recorded 13 top-five finishes to hold an advantage of 107 points at year-end.

Chance Spoonhower, like his brother, won three features including Opening Night, and finished inside the top-five on nine occasions.

Larry Hillis of Vestal, N.Y., won two features and placed third in the point standings. Chris Jordan was a feature winner for the first time and finished fourth, ahead of Butch Green. Completing the top-10 were Colton Wilson (two wins), Eric Leet (two wins), Kevin Jordan (non-points ‘Lightning on the Mountain’ victor), one-time winner Marshall Balzer and rookie Geordie Decker.

Chris Jordan’s season of disappointment, including a flat right-front tire on the final lap of a feature costing him a win, and involvement in melees not of his own making, led to officials voting Jordan as the Hard Luck Award recipient.

Shayne Spoonhower of Berkshire, N.Y., utilized 10 victories to earn the Rookie Sportsman championship. He finished 336 points in front of his closest rival Cole Price.

A dominant season for Steven Deinhardt resulted in the Street Stock championship. Deinhardt, of Deposit, N.Y., won on eight occasions plus the rich year-end Wade Decker Memorial and held a margin of 138 points on second-place Earl Zimmer at the season finale.

Daryl Krebs, unable to capture a win but bolstered by 12 top-five finishes, finished third, ahead of Rich Sharpsteen and Jason Beebe. Placing sixth through 10th, respectively, were Ricky Davis Sr., Jonathan Carpenter, Dan Force, Brenton Miller and Tom Savercool.

Jason Tuttle of Newark Valley, N.Y., earned a single win and posted nine top-five finishes en route to the IMCA-style Modified championship. Tuttle’s winning margin was just 13 markers over Craig Ward.

Michael Morse of Newark Valley, N.Y., was the Pure Stock division champion with seven wins and 14 top-five finishes. Morse won by 154 points over Bubba Peters, who was a four-time feature winner.

Brandon Clapperton of Sidney, N.Y., earned just a single Empire Sport Truck win but that was enough for the championship, the first of his career. Bob Crandall, a two-time winner, placed second, 18 points back.

Teenager Isaiah Forward of Bouckville, N.Y., was the dominant force in the Four Cylinder division. He won 11 feature events and finished inside the top-five on 15 occasions. Mark Wheeler finished 115 points back in second.

Jim Clapper was on hand to honor the top performers in his traveling SRP Micro-Sprint Series. Bill Nichols of Binghamton, N.Y., was the series’ first-ever champion over the son-and-father team of Kyle and Cliff Pierce, Dakota Anderson and Alan Lockwood.

Jordan Jaindl received the Hard Luck Award. Mike McGowan and Sandy Nichols were presented with the Season Help Awards for their contributions to the series.

Best Appearing Car Awards for the ’14 season were presented to Brent Wilcox (Modified), Eric Leet (Sportsman), Scott George (Rookie Sportsman), Harry Ely (IMCA-style Modified), Ricky Davis Sr. (Street Stock), Bubba Peters (Pure Stock), Trevor Dudley (Four Cylinder) and Pat Votra (Empire Sport Truck).

Mijo’s Bar & Grill handled the catering of the event, while DJ Moonwalk Entertainment provided the music for dancing after the conclusion of awards.

BANQUET NOTES: Speedway owner Karl Spoonhower spoke at the outset of the awards ceremony and thanked all those in attendance for their support during the season….

Deyo outlined some information for ’15 season including the April 18 practice date with April 25 scheduled for the opener. The Tobias SpeedSTRs will make two appearances at the track this season. The Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints (ESS) will headline a ‘Sprint Car Saturday’ special on Labor Day weekend for the second consecutive year. The Short Track Super Series Fueled By Hi-Tek Modifieds will be on the schedule for two events….

A Thunder Mountain fact from ’14: the season’s largest Modified car count at any event was recorded at the track in May during the ‘Lightning on the Mountain’ special….

The top-two drivers in the Sportsman division – Billy and Chance Spoonhower – announced they would focus on Modified racing at the track in ’15….

Four Cylinder champion Isaiah Forward said he hopes to compete in the Crate 602 Sportsman ranks next year….

American Racer, VP Racing Fuels and parts supplier Trackside Products were recognized for their contributions to the speedway’s point fund….

For Thunder Mountain Speedway general information and a complete schedule, visit www.thundermtnspeedway.com. The speedway office number is 607.657.8202. On race day, call 607.849.7899. The speedway e-mail is thundermtnspeedway@gmail.com. “Like” Thunder Mountain Speedway on Facebook or follow @thundermtnspeed on Twitter.

Thunder Mountain Speedway is located at 91 Hunts Corners Road Center Lisle, NY 13797, approximately 25 miles north of Binghamton. The three-eighths-mile clay oval features hillside concrete seating, free parking and camping, a variety of concession items and novelties, a family environment and more.