CENTER LISLE, N.Y. — Thunder Mountain Speedway came back to life after a one-week hiatus with Fan Appreciation Night.
Once racing action got underway for the night, it was defending track champion Darren Smith getting back on track with a win in the Dirt Track Digest TV 35-lap Modified feature.
Jimmy Zacharis grabbed the lead on the opening lap, while Smith moved into second on the opening circuit before a caution came out for a jingle in turn three.
When action resumed, Smith took the top spot. After starting third, Smith went to the outside of turns one and two to drive around Zacharis.
The caution came out on lap nine as a pair of cars came together in turn two. When action resumed, Smith jumped back to the top spot over his brother Matt, with Tommy Collins moving into third.
Darren kept his No. 12 as the laps clicked off, extending his lead over his brother Matt and the rest of the field.
Lapped traffic came into play on lap 19, but Darren was impeded as he worked the inside groove of the speedway to keep the gap consistent between himself and Matt.
Will Shields slowed on lap 22 to bring out the yellow, bunching the field up one more time. When the green came back out, Darren resumed his spot at the front of the field as Matt tried to find a way by.
Darren pulled away in the closing laps as Tommy Collins and Matt began battling for second. Collins went to the top as Matt worked low. Collins took the spot on lap 29.
Collins kept working the outside lane as the laps clicked away, but he couldn’t run down Darren. Collins finished second, with Matt third. Shaun Walker and Cody Higbie made up the rest of the top five.
Brandon Loucks found victory lane in the 30-lap DIRTcar 358 Modified feature. Matt Brewer won the DIRTcar Sportsman 25-lap feature. Mike Morse won the Factory Stocks, while Zach Bobbett was back in victory lane in the 600 Sprints. Tom Donahue won the 600cc Modified 20-lap feature.
