East Smethport, PA (August 5, 2021) by Jamie McMillen: Fans and drivers from the tri-state area were greeted with welcoming weather for a change, as a night of ‘Thursday Night Thunder’ was on the card at the McKean County Raceway. Five classes would be on hand for the evening with extra contingency money on the line in several divisions. After eleven heat races were completed and a brief intermission, it was feature time.

First onto the track were the Peterson Refrigeration & A/C RUSH Pro Mods, with two veteran drivers on the front row. Mount Jewett’s Mike Eschrich and long-time standout throughout several divisions, Adam Ashcroft, would lead the field to green. It wouldn’t take long for the action to heat up as Dennis Lunger Jr would charge into fourth, passing CJ Irons on lap 2. Just two laps later, Dalton Bradley would bring out the first caution as he came to a rest on the backstretch. On the ensuing restart, contact between the front group of cars would open the door for Chad Ramsey Jr to claim a top five spot at lap five. Duane Powers, Steve Dixon, and Brett Ritter would get tangled up in turns one and two on the same lap, bringing out the second caution of the event. Ashcroft would continue to lead under green as Critter Hemphill worked his way into second. Top running contender Ramsey Jr would retire to the pits on lap seven. At halfway it was Ashcroft, Hemphill, Lunger, Eschrich, and Al Brewer. Hemphill would charge hard for the top spot with under five laps to go before being pressured by Lunger for second. Ashcroft would go on to lead the remaining laps with the top five remaining the same.

With $500 on the line, the Absolute Powder Coat Pure Stocks were next onto the raceway. The front row was set by Smethport’s own Larry Mitchell and Bruno Mowery’s #48 machine. Another stout competitor, Andy Michael would jump into second going into turn one of the initial start. Mowery’s luck would soon expire as his hood would come up during green flag conditions, and he would head to the pits on lap four. Mitchell would be your leader until lap six when he and top five running Joe Skinner would both retire to the pits. Jake Wilber would inherit the lead with Michael, eighth-starting Dennis Harrison Jr, Cliff Easton, and Davey Lowe. Lap eleven would see Lowe exit the track with Michael taking over the top spot on lap twelve, as Wilber would slow on the front stretch with a flat tire. The caution flag would fly for Brad Curran after contact with the leader. With seven laps remaining, Michael continued to lead over Harrison Jr and Easton. Barry Burritt and Harold Brown rounded out the top five. Burritt and Wilber would make contact, bringing out another yellow. By lap fifteen, Wilber was back into a podium spot with Michael and Harrison Jr out front. The trend of trouble for the leader would continue as Michael would come to a stop just off of the backstretch pit entrance on lap sixteen. Harrison Jr would fire off from the number one spot as Wilber would apply pressure and get to the outside of the 42H with one to go. Harrison Jr would go onto win over Wilber, Easton, Burritt, and Brown.

The 25-lap main event for the RUSH Late Models brought to you by Allen’s Wine and Liquor would headline the evening as the third feature event. Doug Ricotta would start from the pole with Dustin Waters to his outside. The first three laps would be controlled by Ricotta’s 01 before Waters in the 14 would take over on lap four. Steve Dixon would take second, followed by Jeremy Wonderling, Ricotta, and John Waters. The leader would enter lapped traffic on lap nine and a few short laps later, Steve LaBarron would go up in smoke coming out of turn four. With nowhere to go, Jason Dobson and your leader Waters would pile into the slower car of LaBarron. After going back to green, it was Dixon who was the leader with Wonderling, J. Waters, Ricotta, and Chuck LaFleur the top five. Dixon would extend his lead as the battle of the race would be for second between Wonderling and Waters. Dixon would hang onto the win at his home track with Wonderling hanging on for second, Waters, LaFleur, and Ricotta rounding out the remaining top five.

The future of the sport would be on display next as the Field Street Boots Kid’s Mini Stocks pulled onto the speedway for their 12-lap feature event. Due to a heads up invert, heat winner Ridge Cobb would start on the pole with Raven Burkett in the second spot. A three wide battle into turn one on the start between Cobb, Burkett, and Zain Harvey would ensue. Cobb led over Harvey, Burkett, CJ Sherwood, and Kaden Michael until a debris caution would slow the event on lap five. Contact on the ensuing restart would cause another debris caution before the green flag was back out. At halfway, it was a side by side battle for the lead between Cobb and Harvey. Harvey would take over the top spot on lap seven before mechanical troubles would hinder his chances. Cobb would take back over the lead on lap nine and lead the remaining laps to win his second feature of the year over Sherwood, Burkett, Harvey, and Michael.

The night capper of the evening was a 15-lap feature event for the Andrew’s Auto Salvage Mini Stocks, paying $400 to the winner. Andrew Kreamer and Andy Schumaker would lead the field to John Powell’s green flag. Kodey Kincaid would charge from the fourth starting spot to take the lead going into turn one. His lead wouldn’t last as Holden Heineman would eventually lead the first lap. Coming to lap three, previous champion Kurt Babcock would make a charge from sixth to third. Heineman would lead over Kreamer, Babcock, Dylan Strade from his ninth starting spot, and Anthony Schoonover in the fifth spot. Babcock and Kreamer would battle for second through lapped traffic on lap nine, before contact on the very next lap would send four cars up the racing surface. Due to the contact, Babcock retired to the infield with five laps to go. Heineman would go unchallenged, capturing another feature win over Kreamer, Strade, Jacob Tubbs, and Kincaid.

Allen’s Wine and Liquor RUSH Late Models (17 entries)

Heat 1: Doug Ricotta, Austin Houser, Jeremy Wonderling, John Waters, Mark Grigsby, Andy Michael, Bud Watson, DJ Krug, Jason Dobson
Heat 2: Dustin Waters, Steve Dixon, Chuck LaFleur, Ward Schell, Steve LaBarron, Randy Hall, Ron Watson, John Haggerty

Feature: Steve Dixon, Jeremy Wonderling, John Waters, Chuck LaFleur, Doug Ricotta, Randy Hall, Jason Dobson, Andy Michael, Austin Houser, Dusty Waters, Ward Schell, Steve LaBarron, Ron Watson, Bud Watson, John Haggerty, DJ Krug, Paul Grigsby (DNS)

Peterson Refrigeration & A/C RUSH Pro Mods (18 entries)

Heat 1: Dennis Lunger Jr, Adam Ashcroft, Al Brewer, Duane Powers, Tyler Oakes, Ian Degolier
Heat 2: Critter Hemphill, Mike Eschrich, Brett Ritter, Tyler Sutton, Matt Putt, Steve Dixon
Heat 3: Vaughn Nystrom, CJ Irons, Chad Ramsey Jr, Timothy Schram, Derek Peterson, Dalton Bradley

Feature: Adam Ashcroft, Richard Hemphill, Dennis Lunger Jr, Mike Eschrich, Al Brewer, Steve Dixon, Vaughn Nystrom, Timothy Schram, Tyler Oakes, Duane Powers, Tyler Sutton, Ian Degolier, Derek Peterson, Dalton Bradley, Brett Ritter, Chad Ramsey Jr, CJ Irons, Matt Putt (DNS)

Absolute Powder Coating Pure Stocks (13 entries)

Heat 1: Bruno Mowery, Andy Michael, Jake Wilber, Cliff Easton, Mike Parmenter, Harold Brown, Riley Gordon
Heat 2: Larry Mitchell, Davey Lowe, Joe Skinner, Dennis Harrison Jr, Barry Burritt, Brad Curran

Feature: Dennis Harrison Jr, Jake Wilber, Cliff Easton, Barry Burritt, Harold Brown, Brad Curran, Andy Michael, Davey Lowe, Bruno Mowery, Mike Parmenter, Larry Mitchell, Joe Skinner, Riley Gordon (DNS)

Andrew’s Auto Salvage Mini Stocks (20 entries)

Heat 1: Andrew Kreamer, Kodey Kincaid, Jacob Tubbs, Tammy Watson, Gene Kontz, Jason Fries, Tim Burkett
Heat 2: Andy Schumaker, Anthony Schoonover, Dale Yohe, Philip Vaughn, Travis Babcock, Pete Volpe, Chris Shelley
Heat 3: Kurt Babcock, Holden Heineman, Dylan Strade, James Szymanski, Rich Sperry, Merle Shelley

Feature: Holden Heineman, Andrew Kreamer, Dylan Strade, Jacob Tubbs, Kodey Kincaid, James Szymanski, Anthony Schoonover, Chris Shelley, Rich Sperry, Jason Fries, Gene Kontz, Kurt Babcock, Philip Vaughn, Dale Yohe, Tammy Watson, Travis Babcock, Tim Burkett (DNS), Andy Schumaker (DNS), Pete Volpe (DNS), Merle Shelley (DNS)

Field Street Boots Kids Mini Stocks (5 entries)

Heat: Ridge Cobb, Raven Burkett, CJ Sherwood, Zain Harvey, Kaden Michael

Feature: Ridge Cobb, CJ Sherwood, Raven Burkett, Zain Harvey, Kaden Michael

(Photo: Daniel Nelligan // Woah Nellie Productions)