Will Martin Scores Pro Legends Thursday Thunder Victory

Week 8 action in the Thursday Thunder Legends Series presented by Papa John’s Pizza at Atlanta Motor Speedway brought high-intensity racing along with a strong sense of urgency in the final Thursday night of the season, leaving just two Saturday dates – July 29 and Aug. 5 – remaining on the calendar for drivers to hone-in on coveted season championships.

Entering the evening, the overall point standings in each of the divisions were nearly neck-and-neck. An average margin between first and second place across all divisions was just six points, and that left precious little room for error and limited opportunities left to recover from even the slightest mistake.

In the headlining Racing Radios Pro Division, Thursday night marked the first-ever Thursday Thunder playoff race, as 10 championship-eligible drivers squared off in the first of three NASCAR-style chase races, with an even slate at 2000 points apiece. Thursday was also the first of two races to determine the final six drivers who will be eligible for the title in the Aug. 5 championship-night showdown. A win-and-you’re-in system placed a high value on ending the race in first, and the on-track competition didn’t disappoint.

With second-ranked driver Dawson Fletcher out with an injury and four-time winner and division favorite Jensen Jorgensen starting in an unfamiliar eighth position, the opportunity was ripe for an upset, and Will Martin took full advantage of the situation.

After starting on the pole with the fastest qualifying time of the evening, Martin showed it was no fluke and led all 25 laps in dominating fashion to propel himself into contention for the Aug. 5 championship race.

It was Martin’s first victory of the season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. He was a two-time Pro Division winner and had six top-three finishes at this point last season and was far overdue for his first victory in 2017.

“It’s been a tough season,” said Martin in a post-race interview. “We’ve just had some bad luck; things haven’t been going our way, but I’ve got to thank Doug Stevens and everybody at Taylor working on my car. They’ve just been giving me fast cars, and it was hooked up tonight.

“I guess (this year), we’re just going to start winning them when we need to, late in the season. The way this chase system is, it’s pretty much whoever wins the last race, that’s who wins the championship, so that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

Now safely into championship eligibility, Martin acknowledged that wrapping up the season title among five other eligible drivers in a winner-take-all situation won’t be easy.

“I don’t know if you can prepare for it,” he said. “It’s going to be crazy – I can tell you that. We’ll just see what we can do.”

Finishing in second place, Russell Fleeman now leads the way in points among those not yet locked into championship contention, while Corey Heim finished third, Jorgensen came in fourth, and Joshua Hicks rounded out the top-five.

Entering the evening, Harrison Halder held a 13-point lead over second-place D.J. Canipe in the Plemons Young Lions Division standings, but after winning the pole and staying out front for each the first six laps, Canipe made a play to chip away at Halder’s lead by the time the night was over.

But Halder, who per Thursday Thunder rules started in the seventh position as the division leader, wasn’t long for the middle of the pack and was on Canipe’s bumper before the race was halfway through.

Taking advantage of his superior speed, Halder made quick work of Canipe’s lead, passing him on the backstretch on the race’s seventh lap and cruised the rest of the way to the checkered flag for this third win on the season and his first since Week 5.

The victory gives Halder a 19-point lead heading into the final two races of the season and presents an uphill battle for Canipe and the rest of the field if they want to unseat him from the top spot.

In the Plemons Investments Masters Division feature, three-time winner Robbie Woodall started from the pole, and much like Canipe, was on a mission to cut into division leader Scott Moseley’s narrow six-point lead.

With consistent speed and clean air ahead of him, Woodall stayed ahead for much of the race as Moseley picked his way through the field from his seventh-place starting position behind him. But no one had an answer for Moseley’s speed and skillful driving capabilities.

With just five laps to go, Moseley, who had emerged from the field and had been running in second-place since lap 6, wrested the lead from Woodall and held him off through the final five circuits to claim his third win on the year and expand his lead in the standings to nine points over second-place Woodall.

With Mark Swan 42 points back in third place heading into next Saturday, it’s a two-man battle for Masters Division Thunder Ring supremacy between Moseley and Woodall, as the pair squares off in a tight chase for the crown.

Like the two division leaders before him, Joshua Hicks tightened his grip on his lead in the standings by putting together a solid Outlaws Division win Thursday night, his third of the year. After starting from the inside lane of the fourth row, Hicks drove a disciplined race to pass the six drivers ahead of him and nabbed the checkered flag in a time-shortened feature, where he finished first, ahead of runner-up Blaise Maddox and third-place Nathan Jackson.

The victory ballooned Hicks’ lead to 20 points over of second-place Maddox and 39 over last week’s winner, Michael Gannon, who sits in third.

Bailey North notched her second victory of the season in the Wallace Electric Rookie Bandoleros Division. She prevailed ahead of Maddox Langham, Lee Brown and Carter Griffis, each of whome rounded out the field in order.

Langham scored the win in the Week 3 make up race.

In easily the tightest division entering Thursday night action, the top seven drivers in the Semi-Pro Division standings were all within 21 points of leader Rafe Slate, and it was anyone’s race to win with the championship still very undecided.

Stepping up to the challenge was Cody Hall. With 584 points on the season and sitting in eighth place – 33 points off the lead – coming into the evening, Hall led from the green flag all the way to the checkered flag to secure his first victory of the season, firmly inserting himself into the conversation for potential division champions with two races left on the year.

Finishing in second place was Christopher Clanton, while Hudson Halder, Slate and Andrew Dollar of Atlanta rounded out the top-five.

Once the dust was settled, Slate maintained his narrow lead in the standings despite his fourth-place finish and sits precariously just two points ahead of second-ranked Halder, the only two-time winner in the division.
Resting 21, 22, 23 and 24 points off the lead respectively, it’s Brandon Brock, Connor Younginer, Davis Rochester and Hall in the third-through sixth positions heading into the final two races of the year.

Carson Ruark of scored his second victory of the season in the Ricky Sanders Racing, Inc. Bandits Division feature, while Grant Thompson finished second for his seventh top-three of the year. With two runner-up finishes on the day, Thompson enters next Saturday’s Week 9 action a comfortable 36 points up on second-place Kenneth Henderson.

Henderson scored the win in the Week 3 make-up race.

Making his season debut, Austin MacDonald got the win in the Chargers Division feature, as he finished ahead Charles Hampton, who also made his first appearance on the 2017 season.

Thursday Thunder continues with its penultimate evening next Saturday, July 29. For more information, visit AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com.

Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, GA
Thursday Thunder – July 20, 2017

Week Eight Race Results

Pro
1. William Martin – Douglasville, GA
2. Russell Fleeman – Dacula, GA
3. Corey Heim – Marietta, GA
4. Jensen Jorgensen – Stockbridge, GA
5. Joshua Hicks – Senoia, GA
6. Currie Pierce – Griffin, GA
7. Canon Cochran – Ringgold, GA
8. Dylan Murry – Cumming, GA
9. Robbie Johnston – Laurel, MS
10. Mike Weed – Franklin, GA – DNF
11. Jeff Holden – Gainesville, GA – DNF

Young Lions
1. Harrison Halder – Cumming, GA
2. Sammy Smith – Des Moines, IA
3. DJ Canipe – Fallston, NC
4. Clay Thompson – Bowersville, GA
5. Cale Hall – Griffin, GA
6. Carden Cochran – Ringgold, GA
7. Ryan Rackley – Valdosta, GA
8. Hunter Johnson – Hampton, GA
9. Audrie Ruark – Suwanee, GA
10. Annabelle Mohwish – Cumming, GA
11. Ian Hampton – Stockbridge, GA
12. Holt Halder – Cumming, GA
13. Lawson Ingold – Social Circle, GA

Masters
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2. Robbie Woodall – McDonough, GA
3. Mark Swan – Atlanta, GA
4. Tony Armbruster – Covington, GA
5. Wade Brewer – Hampton, GA
6. Dennis Hecht – Hoschton, GA
7. James Meredith – Locust Grove, GA
8. Randy Shubert – Stone Mountain, GA
9. Bill Whatley – Acworth, GA
10. Barry Bowen – Jackson Lake, GA
11. Dale Jackson – Clinton, TN

Outlaws
1. Joshua Hicks – Senoia, GA
2. Blaise Maddox – Locust Grove, GA
3. Nathan Jackson – McDonough, GA
4. Kenny Brady – Marietta, GA
5. Hayden Swank – Woodstock, GA
6. Max Brady – Marietta, GA
7. Shelby Ruark – Suwanee, GA
8. Austin MacDonald – Pictou, NE
9. Ashton Whitener – Monticello, GA
10. Aprilia Holt – Senoia, GA
11. Grayson Dickey – Canton, GA
12. Garrett Jorgensen – Canton, GA
13. Blaze Crawford – Fayetteville, GA
14. Michael Gannon – Canton, GA
15. Gage Roberts – Milledgeville, GA

Rookie Bandoleros
1. Bailey North – McDonough, GA
2. Maddox Langham – Irvington, AL
3. Lee Brown – Acworth, GA
4. Carter Griffis – Homerville, GA – DNF

Semi-Pro
1. Cody Hall – Griffin, GA
2. Christopher Clanton – Brooks, GA
3. Hudson Halder – Cumming, GA
4. Rafe Slate – Eatonton, GA
5. Andrew Dollar – Atlanta, GA
6. Connor Younginer – Stockbridge, GA
7. Brandon Brock – Hampton, GA
8. David Lawrence – Senoia, GA
9. Davis Rochester – Lebanon, TN
10. Trey Tadrzak – Stockbridge, GA
11. Nick Woodall – McDonough, GA
12. Parker Brewer – Hampton, GA
13. Pierce Brewer – Hampton, GA
14. Brandon Collins – Hampton, GA

Bandits
1. Carson Ruark – Suwanee, GA
2. Grant Thompson – Mobile, AL
3. Lucas Ruark – Suwanee, GA
4. Colsen Cochran – Ringgold, GA
5. Keaton Hendrix – Homerville, GA
6. River Allen – Hiram, GA
7. Max Hennebaul – Monroe, GA
8. Wilder Etheredge – Atlanta, GA
9. Justin Campbell – Griffin, GA
10. Tony Yawn
11. Kelley Puckett – McDonough, GA
12. Ryan Younginer – Stockbridge, GA
13. Brody Graham – Flowery Branch, GA
14. Kenneth Henderson – Alto, GA – DNF
15. Ford Childers – Montrose, GA – DNF

Chargers
1. Austin MacDonald – Pictou, Nova Scotia
2. Charles Hampton – Stockbridge, GA

Week 3 Make-Up Races

Bandits
1. Kenneth Henderson – Alto, GA
2. Grant Thompson – Mobile, AL
3. Wilder Etheredge – Atlanta, GA
4. River Allen – Hiram, GA
5. Justin Campbell – Griffin, GA
6. Kelley Puckett – McDonough, GA
7. Keaton Hendrix – Homerville, GA
8. Carson Ruark – Suwanee, GA
9. Ford Childers – Montrose, GA
10. Lucas Ruark – Suwanee, GA
11. Ryan Younginer – Stockbridge, GA
12. Tony Yawn
13. Brody Graham – Flowery Branch, GA
14. Colsen Cochran – Ringgold, GA
15. Max Hennebaul – Monroe, GA

Rookie Bandoleros
1. Maddox Langham – Irvington, AL
2. Bailey North – McDonough, GA
3. Carter Griffis – Homerville, GA
4. Lee Brown – Acworth, GA