Young Guns Anthony Perrego & Mike Mahaney Call Thunder Mountain Speedway Home For 2014 Season; Modified Field Taking Shape For Saturday Nights; ‘Grand Reopening’ Saturday, May 3 Will Feature $1,992-To-Win Modifieds & $10 Adult Grandstand Admission
CENTER LISLE, NY – Two of the brightest, up-and-coming stars in dirt Modified racing will call Thunder Mountain Speedway home in 2014.
Anthony Perrego and Mike Mahaney – both proven young drivers in the Northeast dirt Mod ranks – have set plans to race regularly at the Center Lisle, N.Y., three-eighths-mile oval on Saturday nights this season. The resurgent campaign for Thunder Mountain, which returns to the ownership of Karl Spoonhower this year, gets underway with a pair of practice sessions on April 19 and 26.
The “Grand Reopening” takes place on May 3 with a $1,992-to-win, 30-lap Modified feature headlining a program of Sportsman, Rookie Sportsman, Street Stocks, Four Cylinders, Empire Sport Trucks and Pure Stocks.
Despite the evening’s added payout, adult grandstand admission for the opener remains just $10. Seniors (65 and over) and Students (ages 10-17) pay $8. Kids nine and under are FREE. Pit admission weekly is $30 with no license required. Gates open for the lid-lifter at 4 p.m. Hot laps begin at 6:30 p.m., with racing at 7 p.m.
Weekly Saturday night racing continues through Sept. 6.
This season, Modifieds at Thunder Mountain will compete for a $5,000 track championship: the most lucrative fund in track history. Weekly events will pay $1,200 to win, $400 for fifth, $200 for 10th and $125 to take the green flag.
American Racer regional distributor Lias Tire of Indiana, Pa., has teamed with the speedway for a lucrative incentive program. Eight tires will be randomly distributed via draws during the season. At year-end, the champion will receive a set of four American Racer tires. Second in the point standings will take home two tires, with one tire reserved for the third-place points finisher. Fourth-place in points ($85 certificate toward the purchase of a tire) and fifth-place ($50 certificate toward the purchase of a tire) will also be rewarded.
Registration for the American Racer incentive program requires a one-time, $30 fee. Forms can be obtained by e-mailing the speedway at thundermtnspeedway@gmail.com.
The Modified drivers will take part in no less than five Saturday events paying $1,500 or more to win during the season, including the opener. There is one Sunday $2,500-to-win event (Aug. 31) and a pair of events paying $5,000 to the winner (Tuesday, May 20 and Sunday, July 13).
Perrego, 20 years old, of Montgomery, N.Y., will make the 140-mile-plus, one-way ride to Thunder Mountain weekly to race his No. 18 Teo-Pro Modified fielded by his father, former Mr. DIRTcar Rookie of the Year, Tom Perrego. A graduate of the Sportsman division, Perrego burst onto the Modified scene last season and enjoyed immediate success, including a $7,732.11 victory at the November ‘Gobbler’ event held at Accord (N.Y.) Speedway.
Already in 2014, he’s shown prowess with a runner-up finish at Volusia (Fla.) Speedway Park to kick off the DIRTcar Nationals. It was his debut in a big-block Modified.
What has drawn Perrego to Thunder Mountain as his Saturday home?
“A lot of reasons,” he said honestly. “There are quite a few high-paying races there, even on Saturday nights during the season. The championship being $5,000 is something to shoot for. And I see all the work they’ve done there. From the way it looks, Thunder Mountain will be a nice place to race.”
Mahaney, the defending I-88 (N.Y.) Speedway champion, like Perrego, eyes the year-end five grand champion’s share. Mahaney, the 24-year-old, second-generation driver from King Ferry, N.Y., will drive Charlie Davis’ Woodside Farms No. 21 Troyer at the Mountain.
“I’ve heard nothing but good about Karl (Spoonhower) and his track prep skills,” Mahaney said. “I know a lot of people who live around the track, and they tell me Karl is known for a track surface that’s smooth, has bite and doesn’t burn tires. I can’t wait to get going this year.
“For us, Saturdays will be a lot nicer this year. Last year, racing at Fonda (N.Y.), we spent a lot of time on the road back-and-forth to the track. It’s a lot closer for us and Charlie (Davis) to run Thunder Mountain on Saturdays.”
Mahaney and Perrego will be part of a growing Modified division at Thunder Mountain in ’14. Byron Worthing of Owego, N.Y., the son of ‘Junkyard Jet’ Doug Worthing, has set his intentions to run regularly at Thunder sporting the family trademark No. 63.
The Whitney Point, N.Y.-based operation of Chris Clark and Tom and Terry Coar will field a pair of potent Modifieds at Thunder Mountain: one driven by Brent Wilcox of Whitney Point, sporting the No. 27, and another piloted by Brian Malcolm of Lake Ariel, Pa., whose car will carry the No. 119.
Clay, N.Y., driver Bob Henry Jr. – the operator of Henry’s Stainless Steel Exhaust – will make the tow down from the Syracuse area to compete at Thunder Mountain in his No. B2. Ken Titus, who has climbed the ranks of Modified racing in the Southern Tier, will drive Don Stark’s No. 9s at Thunder Mountain. Titus will make the haul north to Thunder Mountain from his home in Kirkwood, N.Y.
Nick Rochinski, the Dickson City, Pa., driver, plans to enter the Thunder Mountain fold with his No. 20R owned by his father, Brian Rochinski, and wrenched by his brother, Kyle Rochinski.
The speedway office has been receiving phone calls daily from race teams planning to compete at Thunder Mountain as the ’14 campaign fast approaches.
Practice days are set for April 19 and 26, consecutive Saturdays. Practice begins at 1 p.m. each day. Grandstand admission is free of charge and the pit fee is $20.
Marketing opportunities for the ’14 season are now available. To learn more about billboards, night sponsorships and other advertising, contact Brett Deyo of BD Motorsports Media LLC at 845.728.2781 or e-mail thundermtnspeedway@gmail.com.
For rules, general information and a complete schedule, visit www.thundermtnspeedway.com. A new website is currently in the works from Finish Line Web Design. 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.
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