After an effort put in by his team to get the car ready in a two week span, Steve Ecker put two impressive features together en route to taking home the igloo as the 2016 Frostoberfest Thunder Car Champion at Flamboro Speedway.
The first heat didn’t go pretty as Kelsey Lamont went for a spin in turn three on Lap 8. Brandon McFerran picked up the win ahead of Trevor Collver, Ken Grubb, Nick Roth, Shawn Hewitt, Coltin Everingham, Jeremy Broom, the 07, Paul Geniole Jr. and Lamont.
The second heat also featured a quick spin virtue of Mike Troback on Lap 1. The first caution then flew on Lap 6 as a result of Keith Temple spinning Jason Praysner in turn two, followed a second caution a lap later for Bobby Mercer driving on top of Jason Legge in turn two. The third caution then flew on Lap 8 for Austin Penney and Troback spinning off of turn two, followed by Chris Howse and Justin Collison getting together in turn three. Steve Ecker picked up the win ahead of Nick Troback, Collison, Jeff Bean, Mercer and Mike Troback.
Vaughn Lawrence won the third heat ahead of Miles Tyson, Brad Collison, Treyten Lapcevich, Glenn Schnurr, Matt Bentley, Dennis Cybalski, Mark Burbridge, Kevin Gallant, Hudson Nagy, the 11 and Shawn Arnott.
Come time for the b-feature, it’d b Dennis Cybalski holding down the early lead ahead of Jeremy Broom as Kevin Gallant and the 07 ran side-by-side for third. Gallant got the spot on Lap 3 ahead of the 97 and Hudson Nagy as Keith Temple pulled into the infield, done for the event. Nagy then got alongside the 97 for fourth on Lap 4, completing the pass a lap later and bringing Chris Howse and Geniole Jr. through with him.
Gallant’s smooth run had a hiccup on Lap 6 as he got outta shape, allowing Nagy to slip by for third. Nagy then got alongside Broom for second, completing the pass on Lap 9. Gallant then followed through two laps later to take the third spot, as Howse continued to run fifth ahead of Geniole Jr., the 07, Kelsey Lamont, the 5 and Brent Wheller.
The race ran smoothly all the way till Lap 13 when the 11 and Arnott got together in turn four. Then on the restart, Cybalski jumped which resulted in Broom and Howse getting together in turn turn.
The second restart went cleanly with Dennis Cybalski getting a clean restart, leading the rest of the way to the checkered flag. Hudson Nagy finished second, followed by Kevin Gallant, Chris Howse and Paul Geniole Jr. Jeremy Broom finished sixth, followed by Wheller, Lamont, the 5, the 98 and the 07.
Come time for the first feature, it’d be Brandon McFerran starting pole ahead of Steve Ecker, Vaughn Lawrence, Trevor Collver, Nick Troback, Miles Tyson, Ken Grubb, Justin Collison, Brad Collison, Nick Roth, Jeff Bean, Treyten Lapcevich, Shawn Hewitt, Bobby Mercer, Glenn Schnurr, Coltin Everingham, Mike Troback, Matt Bentley, Dennis Cybalski, Hudson Nagy, Kevin Gallant, Chris Howse, Paul Geniole Jr. and Jeremy Broom.
Off the drop of the green flag, Brandon McFerran put the No. 57 Peter D. Laird Transport, Meisner Construction, ThringCo. Brandon’s Landscapes, NRD Bi Products and Roadmaster Thunder Car out front ahead of Ecker, Collver and Lawrence as Tyson and Nick Troback ran side-by-side for fifth. Troback got the spot on Lap 4, with Grubb, Brad Collison and Roth following him through. Tyson now ran ninth ahead of Lapcevich, Justin Collison and Hewitt.
Behind Hewitt, Everingham ran side-by-side with Mercer for 13th, with Everingham getting the spot a lap later and bringing Bentley through with him. Schnurr then got alongside Mercer for 15th at Lap 8, as Hewitt got alongside Justin Collison for 11th at Lap 10. The battles continued throughout the field as Lawrence got by Collver for third on Lap 11, bringing Nick Troback, Grubb and Brad Collison through with him.
The 30-lap event didn’t run cleanly as the first caution flew on Lap 13 for Justin Collison spinning courtesy of contact from Everingham, with Everingham spinning due to contact from Schnurr. In the chaos, Gallant was left nowhere to go, making contact with Everingham.
The restart saw Collver run into problems, falling back through the field but everybody was able to get by without issue, allowing the green flag to remain out. McFerran continued to hold the lead ahead of Ecker with Lawrence and Troback side-by-side for third. Troback got the spot on Lap 14 ahead of Lawrence, as Grubb made his way up to fifth. Behind them, Brad Collison ran sixth ahead of Tyson and Roth.
At the front, Ecker showed he had a strong car, running down McFerran for the lead and getting alongside him on Lap 16 for the top spot. He was able to take the top spot two laps later before the second caution flew for Tyson spinning on the backstretch.
Steve Ecker got a good restart to keep the No. 03 Caledonia Auto Supply Super Stock out front as Troback moved into second with Grubb getting alongside McFerran for third. Grubb got the spot on Lap 19, bringing Lawrence, Roth, Bentley, Collison, and Lapcevich through with him to bump McFerran back to ninth.
Bentley then got alongside Roth for fifth, completing the pass on Lap 25 and bringing Brad Collison through with him. Lapcevich then got alongside Roth for seventh at Lap 26, while Bentley got alongside Lawrence for fourth at Lap 28. Bentley was able to complete the pass a lap later, with Brad Collison getting alongside Lawrence for fifth.
At the front of the field, Steve Ecker led the rest of the way en route to scoring the victory ahead of Nick Troback, Ken Grubb, Matt Bentley and Brad Collison. Vaughn Lawrence finished sixth, followed by Treyten Lapcevich, Nick Roth, Brandon McFerran, and Glenn Schnurr. Shawn Hewitt finished 11th, followed by Chris Howse, Dennis Cybalski, Kevin Gallant, Miles Tyson, Hudson Nagy, Bobby Mercer, Paul Geniole Jr., Coltin Everingham and Jeremy Broom.
Come time for the second feature, Coltin Everingham starting pole ahead of Jeremy Bean, Paul Geniole Jr., Bobby Mercer, Hudson Nagy, Miles Tyson, Kevin Gallant, Dennis Cybalski, Chris Howse, Shawn Hewitt, Glenn Schnurr, Brandon McFerran, Nick Roth, Treyten Lapcevich, Vaughn Lawrence, Brad Collison, Matt Bentley, Ken Grubb, Nick Troback, Steve Ecker, Jeremy Broom and Mike Troback.
The feature didn’t start off cleanly as there was a hiccup in the outside line with Hewitt slowing, which caused a slew of contact with the cars directly behind him. The result was both Brandon McFerran and Brad Collison suffering heavy damage which ended their races, while Treyten Lapcevich suffered right front damage but was able to get it repaired and return to the track. Meanwhile, Nagy pulled off under caution with a problem.
The second attempt at starting the event went cleaner with Coltin Everingham putting the No. 48 Castrol Canada, HWY 400 Transmission, Castrol Premium Lube Express, Perly Fullerton, ARA Alcona Rental, Ernie’s Performance, Ryan’s Landscape, Graham and Kyle Connor, Permatex, Eagle Eye Contracting, Cabral Racing Promotions, Dwayne Clugston of Century 21 Realty LTD. & The Smokin Piggy Louisiana BBQ Smokehouse Monte Carlo out front.
Geniole Jr. slipped into second ahead of Tyson and Gallant as Bean and Cybalski ran side-by-side for fifth. Cybalski got the spot on Lap 4, bringing Roth, Bentley, Howse, Troback and Lawrence through with him. Ecker made his way up to 11th on Lap 6 ahead of Schnurr and Grubb as Broom and Mercer ran side-by-side for 14th.
Tyson kept moving forward, passing Geniole for second on Lap 8, and bringing Gallant and Roth through with him a lap later. Tyson’s climb to the front was completed on Lap 11, when he put the No. 49 UXBRIDGE AUTO WRECKERS, JMX DEMOLITION & ENVIRONMENT, TYSON CONTRACTING, WIX FILTERS AND PERMATEX Super Stock out front.
Gallant moved into second on Lap 12, bringing Roth and Bentley through with him to bump Everingham back to fifth. Roth then looked set to challenge Gallant for second a lap later, but contact happened which resulted in both drivers going around in the backstretch grass. At the same time, Howse spun off of turn four, resulting in the second caution. With 17 laps to go, Tyson led Bentley, Everingham, Geniole, Cybalski, Troback, Lawrence, Ecker, Grubb, Schnurr, Lapcevich, Mercer, Broom, Bean and Gallant.
Bentley got a good restart to put the No. 21 GL Manufacturing, ThringCo., Streamline Race Products, Creative Edge and Bentley Motorsports Super Stock out front ahead of Tyson, Geniole and Everingham as Troback ran side-by-side with Ecker for fifth.
Ecker got the spot, getting alongside Everingham for fourth on Lap 16. He completed the pass a lap later, bringing Troback and Lawrence through with him to bump Everingham back to seventh. Everingham then fell back another spot on Lap 19 after being passed by Ken Grubb. Further up the field, Ecker continued his climb forward as he passed Geniole to move into the third spot. Troback continued to run fifth ahead of Lawrence, Grubb and Everingham.
Unfortunately, Lawrence lost a bunch of track position on Lap 23 when he slid through turn two sideways. This allowed Grubb to move up to sixth ahead of Lapcevich, Cybalski, Roth and Everingham. The caution then flew on Lap 26 for Mike Troback stopping in turn four.
With a curfew in place and the track wanting to get the last feature started in time, they made the decision to fly the checkered flag with four laps remaining.
As a result, Matt Bentley picked up the win ahead of Miles Tyson, Steve Ecker, Paul Geniole Jr. and Nick Troback. Ken Grubb finished sixth, followed by Treyten Lapcevich, Dennis Cybalski, Nick Roth and Coltin Everingham. Glenn Schnurr finished 11th, followed by Kevin Gallant, Bobby Mercer, Chris Howse, Jeremy Broom and Jeff Bean.
With a first and a third on the night, Steve Ecker was crowned the overall Frostoberfest Champion for the Thunder Cars.
