HAMPTON, Ga. (June 16, 2023) – Drivers were put to the test with double features in rounds three and four of Thursday Thunder at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Thursday night.
Weather washed out Wednesday’s scheduled round three action, forcing drivers to do double duty the following day on the quarter-mile Thunder Ring.
Some of the most competitive racing came in the Semi-Pro Legends division, with 19 cars competing in each feature. Mason Lastra of Tampa, Fla., outdueled polesitter Jason Treschl in the opening laps of the first feature and pulled away in the final laps to secure the victory.
“It took a really good, fast car from Nahrstedt race cars,” said Lastra in victory lane when asked what got him past Treschl. He added, “I love it here.”
In the second Semi-Pro feature of the night, Jackson Reynolds, from Marietta, Ga., took advantage of green-white-checkered at the end of the race to storm past the front row of drivers, including Lastra, to snag his first win of the season.
Meanwhile Jensen Jorgensen made a statement in the WJP Investments Pro Series championship battle, sweeping the night’s action with a pair of wins. The driver from Stockbridge, Ga., nabbed the lead midway through the first race despite challenges from Donovan Strauss and Gianni Esposito and pulled away from the pair en route to the checkered flag.
Starting from the pole in the second feature, Jorgensen held off all challengers once again; contact on a restart with two laps to go helped him clinch his second win of the night and vault him into the division title fight.
Joey Clanton of Brooks, Ga., was three laps away from completing his own sweep of the Masters division features. After earning the victory in the round three feature, Clanton led the first 17 laps of the round four feature as he chased his second win of the night. However Benjamin Jones of Macon, Ga., had other ideas and went door-to-door with Clanton out of turn four coming to three laps to go; the pair battled side-by-side all the way to the finish, and Jones triumphed by a nose at the stripe over Clanton to take the win.
In other action, three divisions had drivers sweep the night, taking the checkered flag in both rounds three and four: Emma Britt of Hampton, Ga., in the Powersports Outlaws division, Emily Arenas of Social Circle, Ga., in the Chargers division and Brielle Rudolph of Griffin, Ga., in the Fr8Auctions Rookie Bandoleros all made repeat trips to victory lane.
Bryce Sanders (Ola, Ga.) and Kyle Bacon (Buchanan, Ga.) split The Associates Group Young Lions features. Lane Christensen and Wyatt Coffey (Waynesboro, Va.) each took home hardware from the night’s Bandits racing.
Round five of Thursday Thunder continues next week, Thursday, June 22, on the Thunder Ring at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Feature Race Results:
Round 3
The Associates Group Young Lions
1. Sanders, Bryce (Ola, GA)
2. Gaul, Cooper (Seminole, FL)
3. Erwin, Garrett (Covington, GA)
4. Bloodworth, Austin (McIntyre, GA)
5. Bacon, Kyle (Buchanan, GA)
6. King, Aiden (Floral City, FL)
7. Denton, Cole (Pascagoula, MS)
8. McKnight, Evan (Orlando, FL)
9. Bongiovanni, Dylan (Cumming, GA)
10. Haire, Will (Savannah, GA)
Semi-Pro
1. Lastra, Mason (Tampa, FL)
2. Treschl, Jason (Hogansville, GA)
3. Yarbrough, Luke (Milton, GA)
4. McElearney, Sean (Babylon, NY)
5. Gannon, Michael (Canton, GA)
6. Dibble, Oliver (Owens Cross Roads, AL)
7. Ryan, Noah (Griffin, GA)
8. Martinez, Jesse (West Palm Beach, FL)
9. Reynolds, Jackson (Marietta, GA)
10. Phillips, George (Charlotte, NC)
11. Hampton, Ian (Stockbridge, GA)
12. Moody, Coleman (Griffin, GA)
13. Taylor, Jonathan (Roswell, GA)
14. North, Bailey (Hampton, GA)
15. White, Cameron (Lakeland, FL)
16. Almond, CJ (Atlanta, GA)
17. Woodall, Amanda (Canton, GA)
18. Tadrzak, Trey (Stockbridge, GA)
19. Bulger, Hudson (Perry, GA)
WJP Investments Pro
1. Jorgensen, Jensen (Stockbridge, GA)
2. Pierce, Currie (Griffin, GA)
3. Gumm, Garrett (Brooks, GA)
4. Woodall, Nick (Canton, GA)
5. Strauss, Donovan (Marietta, GA)
6. Clanton, Christopher (Brooks, GA)
7. Jorgensen, Taylor (Stockbridge, GA)
8. Esposito, Gianni (Dacula, GA)
9. Bollman, Jake (Huntington Beach, CA)
10. Dilbeck, Chris (Concord, NC)
Masters
1. Clanton, Joey (Brooks, GA)
2. Young, Phillip (Dallas, GA)
3. Swan, Mark (Athens, GA)
4. Plemons, Bill Jr (Locust Grove, GA)
5. Jones, Benjamin (Macon, GA)
6. Wehunt, Ronnie (Canton, GA)
7. Turner, Jason (Griffin, GA)
8. Young, Lisa (Dallas, GA)
Bandits
1. Christensen, Lane (Radiator Springs)
2. Coffey, Wyatt (Waynesboro, VA)
3. Lee, Billy (Ruskin, FL)
4. Sherman, Carson (Loganville, GA)
5. Laprade, Matthew (New Smyrna Beach, FL)
Fr8Auctions Rookie Bandoleros
1. Rudolph, Briella (Griffin, GA)
2. Young, Luke (Dallas, GA)
3. Tatum, Kinsley (Cordele, GA)
4. White, Gerald III (Lakeland, FL)
5. Johnson, Alison (Charlotte, NC)
6. Behnke, James (Canton, GA)
7. Pierce, Flynt (Griffin, GA)
8. Almon, Topher (Moreland, GA)
9. Turner, Oliver (Griffin, GA)
10. hooker, grant (Marysville, IN)
Adrenalin Powersports Outlaws
1. Britt, Emma (Hampton, GA)
2. O’Connor, JT (McDonough, GA)
3. Flater, Mitchell (Conyers, GA)
4. King, Addyson (Floral City, FL)
5. Miller, Blaine (Dallas, GA)
6. Soto, Javier (Marietta, GA)
7. Youngblood, Wyatt (Concord, GA)
8. McMann, Killian (Manning, SC)
Chargers
1. Arenas, Emily (Social Circle, GA)
2. O’Neil, Baylor (Grantville, GA)
3. Butler, Conner (Forsyth, GA)
4. Johnson, Abi (Fort Meyers, FL)
5. Kade, Kayli (Hampton, GA)
6. Cosier, Brian (Marietta, GA)
7. Mack, Ben (Louisville, KY)
8. Teal, Emma (Monticello, GA)
9. Hicks, Katelyn (Senoia, GA)
Round 4
The Associates Group Young Lions
1. Bacon, Kyle (Buchanan, GA)
2. Denton, Cole (Pascagoula, MS)
3. Gaul, Cooper (Seminole, FL)
4. King, Aiden (Floral City, FL)
5. McKnight, Evan (Orlando, FL)
6. Sanders, Bryce (Ola, GA)
7. Bloodworth, Austin (McIntyre, GA)
8. Bongiovanni, Dylan (Cumming, GA)
9. Erwin, Garrett (Covington, GA)
10. Haire, Will (Savannah, GA)
Semi-Pro
1. Reynolds, Jackson (Marietta, GA)
2. Gannon, Michael (Canton, GA)
3. Martinez, Jesse (West Palm Beach, FL)
4. Moody, Coleman (Griffin, GA)
5. Yarbrough, Luke (Milton, GA)
6. Ryan, Noah (Griffin, GA)
7. Taylor, Jonathan (Roswell, GA)
8. Almond, CJ (Atlanta, GA)
9. Dibble, Oliver (Owens Cross Roads, AL)
10. White, Cameron (Lakeland, FL)
11. Woodall, Amanda (Canton, GA)
12. Hampton, Ian (Stockbridge, GA)
13. North, Bailey (Hampton, GA)
14. Tadrzak, Trey (Stockbridge, GA)
15. Treschl, Jason (Hogansville, GA)
16. Phillips, George (Charlotte, NC)
17. Lastra, Mason (Tampa, FL)
18. McElearney, Sean (Babylon, NY)
19. Bulger, Hudson (Perry, GA)
WJP Investments Pro
1. Jorgensen, Jensen (Stockbridge, GA)
2. Woodall, Nick (Canton, GA)
3. Pierce, Currie (Griffin, GA)
4. Clanton, Christopher (Brooks, GA)
5. Jorgensen, Taylor (Stoc kbridge, GA)
6. Gumm, Garrett (Brooks, GA)
7. Strauss, Donovan (Marietta, GA)
8. Esposito, Gianni (Dacula, GA)
Masters
1. Jones, Benjamin (Macon, GA)
2. Clanton, Joey (Brooks, GA)
3. Plemons, Bill Jr (Locust Grove, GA)
4. Young, Phillip (Dallas, GA)
5. Swan, Mark (Athens, GA)
6. Turner, Jason (Griffin, GA)
7. Wehunt, Ronnie (Canton, GA)
8. Young, Lisa (Dallas, GA)
Bandits
1. Coffey, Wyatt (Waynesboro, VA)
2. Christensen, Lane (Radiator Springs)
3. Laprade, Matthew (New Smyrna Beach, FL)
4. Sherman, Carson (Loganville, GA)
5. Lee, Billy (Ruskin, FL)
Fr8Auctions Rookie Bandoleros
1. Rudolph, Briella (Griffin, GA)
2. Johnson, Allee (Ft. Myers, FL)
3. White, Gerald III (Lakeland, FL)
4. Almon, Topher (Moreland, GA)
5. Pierce, Flynt (Griffin, GA)
6. Young, Luke (Dallas, GA)
7. Behnke, James (Canton, GA)
8. hooker, grant (Marysville, IN)
9. Tatum, Kinsley (Cordele, GA)
10. Turner, Oliver (Griffin, GA)
Adrenalin Powersports Outlaws
1. Britt, Emma (Hampton, GA)
2. McMann, Killian (Manning, SC)
3. Flater, Mitchell (Conyers, GA)
4. O’Connor, JT (McDonough, GA)
5. Youngblood, Wyatt (Concord, GA)
6. Miller, Blaine (Dallas, GA)
7. King, Addyson (Floral City, FL)
8. Soto, Javier (Marietta, GA)
Chargers
1. Arenas, Emily (Social Circle, GA)
2. Butler, Conner (Forsyth, GA)
3. Cosier, Brian (Marietta, GA)
4. Kade, Kayli (Hampton, GA)
5. Teal, Emma (Monticello, GA)
6. Johnson, Abi (Fort Meyers, FL)
7. Mack, Ben (Louisville, KY)
8. Hicks, Katelyn (Senoia, GA) 9. O’Neil, Baylor (Grantville, GA)
