Racing is back and so is Thursday Thunder

Ok, that’s a bit later to say than I will admit.

Granted, NASCAR already came through the humble Hampton town to a mummed silence where the pageantry was set aside due to COVID-19 fears. A NASCAR race where the stars of the sport announced their intent to change their stereotype.

Bubba Wallace stood on pit road in a black shirt with large white letters saying, “I can’t breathe. Black Lives Matter.”

But that was June 7th.

Atlanta Motor Speedway was alive again with action. Still without fans but busy nonetheless. The Thursday Thunder series was back in action on the quarter-mile oval and the action was as fast as it was furious.

A form of racing that has grown over the years found over 72 total drivers hit the track.

The Wednesday night show began with the Rookie Bandoleros. It was Beckham Malone winning the first race of the season and Carson Brown along with Kayli Kade rounding out the top three.

It was relatively action-packed. And the efforts to socially distance was obvious.

Teams were in the parking lots of the Marcy Scott Media Center with some of them also far off in the NASCAR cup garages. As night began to fall, the races began to get heated.

Throughout the entire program, the one thing missing was fans who would’ve been cheering on the drivers. But it was capped off with the best of the garage ripping up asphalt in the 25 lap feature.

Jensen Jorgensen had his work cut out for him in the series as Caleb Heady worked over his rear end throughout the entire race. Until lap 20 where the bumping and banging between two of the top stars in Thursday Thunder finally traded enough blows.

Heady worked over Jorgensen and set sail for the race win beating his foe by 1.416 seconds. Cale Hall took third on the night to round out the final race but it was a great day to be at the race track.

Final Results*

Bandits

Pos	Start	Driver	Hometown	Car
1	1	Tristan McKee	Williamsburg, VA	7
2	3	Aiden Garcia	Easley, SC	43
3	2	Garrett Gumm	Brooks, GA	5
4	4	George Phillips	Charlotte, NC	55
5	9	Garrett Erwin	Covington, GA	9
6	5	Bryce Sanders	Ola, GA	15B
7	6	Baylor O’Neil	Grantville, GA	99
8	–	Mitchell Flater	Conyers, GA	4
9	–	Nicolas Denton	Pascagoula, MS	46
10	7	Lee Brown	Acworth, GA	15
11	8	Nathaniel Harry	Concord, NC	13

Masters

Pos	Start	Driver	Hometown	Car
1	1	Bill Plemons Jr	Locust Grove, GA	15
2	2	Ronnie Wehunt	Canton, GA	5R
3	3	Mark Swan	Athens, GA	14
4	4	Phillip Young	Dallas, GA	37
5	6	James Meredith	Locust Grove, GA	47
6	8	Barry Bowen	Jackson Lake, GA	5

Outlaws

Pos	Start	Driver	Hometown	Car
1	1	Donovan Strauss	Marietta, GA	51
2	3	Bailey North	Hampton, GA	29
3	5	Kyle Bacon	Buchanan, GA	48
4	8	Brianna Freeman		22
5	7	Bailey Buchanan	Senoia, GA	23
6	2	Clay Hocutt	Mobile, AL	08
7	6	Ryan Younginer	Locust Grove, GA	17
8	4	Kelley Puckett	McDonough, GA

Chargers

Pos Start Driver Hometown Car
1 2 Chance Frank Griffin, GA 11
2 1 Amanda Woodall Canton, GA 75
3 3 Cole Nelson Jefferson, GA 8
4 4 Lisa Scott Dallas, GA 7
5 5 Meredith Kepley Falls Church, VA 10

Semi-Pro Legends

Pos	Start	Driver	Hometown	Car
1	5	Kenny Brady	Marietta, GA	54
2	1	Ashton Whitener	Monticello, GA	21
3	4	Ricky Springer	McDonough, GA	51
4	7	Brandon Brock	Hampton, GA	18
5	2	Jason Treschl	Lagrange, GA	31T
6	8	Connor Younginer	Stockbridge, GA	17
7	15	Thomas Everson	Ulton, NH	4N
8	14	Graham Campbell	Braselton, GA	1
9	10	Trey Tadrzak	Stockbridge, GA	30
10	11	Jonathan Taylor	Roswell, GA	7
11	17	Blaze Crawford	Fayetteville, GA	4
12	13	Max Brady	Marietta, GA	57
13	3	Taylor Hull	Senoia, GA	82
14	12	Ian Hampton	Stockbridge, GA	73
15	16	Tyler Garrison	Muscatine, IA	99G
16	6	Jadyn Daniels	Harrisburg, NC	24
17	9	Landen Lewis	Ocean Isle Beach, NC	99

Missing Title*

Pos	Start	Driver	Hometown	Car
1	2	Beckham Malone	Rock Hill, SC	23
2	1	Carson Brown	Moseley, VA	28
3	8	Kayli Kade	Hampton, GA	27
4	5	Makenna Kendrew	Senoia, GA	7
5	4	Katelyn Hicks	Senoia, GA	00
6	7	Sebastain Asztalos	Temple, GA	71
7	3	Emma Britt	McDonough, GA	38
8	6	Julia Buchanan	Senoia, GA	13
9	9	Conner Butler	Forsyth, GA	28C
10	10	Bo Powers	Atlanta, GA	26

Young Lions Legends

Pos	Start	Driver	Hometown	Car
1	1	Isaac Bevin	Louisville, KY	27
2	2	Gavin Graham	Lakeland, FL	00G
3	3	Mason Maggio	Palm Beach Gardens, FL	64
4	7	Michael Gannon	Canton, GA	41
5	6	Preston Tatro	Brasleton, GA	28
6	5	Tony Yawn III	Roanoke, AL	4
7	4	Nathan Jackson	McDonough, GA	00
8	11	Keaton Hendrix	Homerville, GA	77
9	9	Matthew Kade	Hampton, GA	7K
10	10	Jackson Reynolds	Marietta, GA	9
11	8	Justin Campbell	Griffin, GA	18

*Unofficial results as of 9:50 p.m.