ANDERSON — Lonny Burton had waited all winter long for Saturday night’s ThunderCar race at Anderson Speedway. The Fortville resident’s first race of the 2008 season turned out to be as gratifying as his 2007 finale was disappointing.

Burton hit the wall while leading the last race of the ’07 campaign. This year, he fought through traffic to pass a fading Tom Tackett on the final lap of the 20-lap feature to win the first ThunderCar race of the ’08 season.

Burton, who started from the fifth qualifying position, said Saturday night’s victory helped to make up for last year’s defeat.

“I’ve forgotten about that one,” Burton said shortly after arriving in the pit area. “It was a very long winter. We put in a lot of hard work and got right where we wanted to be. It’s a family deal.”

The race was the third feature of Anderson Speedway’s five Saturday night for its Spring Championships. Points were doubled in all of the divisions except the ThunderCars, because it was opening night in that division.

Dennis Farver Jr., Alexandria, took second place, while Sam Folson, Anderson, was third. Tackett faded to sixth.

The ThunderCar division didn’t provide the only exciting finish of the evening. Josh Poore, Anderson, won the SuperTrucks feature, but had to hold off repeated surges by veteran driver Joe Beaver, Noblesville, for the title. Poore led all 40 laps, but Beaver didn’t allow him to feel comfortable for any of them.,

“I knew Joe was back there,” Poore said. “If you’re beating him, you’re beating somebody. This means a lot to me. This was a good points day, but there’s still a lot of work to do.”

Rod Phipps, Anderson, took third in the feature.

Katie Jackson, the 2007 street stocks rookie of the year, survived a challenge from Jeff Perry, Pendleton, to win the 30-lap feature. It was her first win of the ’08 season.

Jackson started from the second spot, but passed polesitter Perry on the first turn and was able to hold him off the rest of the way.

“I just had a good start,” Jackson said. “I tried to get off the corners as fast as I could. I would like to get top five in points (this season) and win some more races.”

Jacob McElfresh, an 18-year-old Elwood High School senior, took third in the race.

Trevor Abbott, Greentown, won the front-wheel drive pro feature, followed by Gary Bragg Jr. (Kokomo) and Donnie Ellis Jr. (Anderson). Rob Allman, Anderson, won the figure-8 feature, with Ranny Hinton, Anderson, taking second and Herb Rose, Anderson, taking third.