Jensen Repeats Victory Dance at Afton

Afton, NY 6/7/97

Paul Jensen of New Berlin NY, became the first repeat winner in the Afton Raceway Modified division in 1997 on Greene Lumber night this past Friday. Jensen outraced rookie MartyBunker to pick up the win . Jim Gabriel Jr of Binghamton, continued his dominance in the Sportsman 20 lap feature as he passed Wink Hinkley of Grand Gorge on lap 15 to claim his fourth victory. Ron Flannery of Harpursville and Arnie Slade of Guilford raced side by side for the entire second half of the 20 lap Street Stock feature with Flannery edging out Slade for his second 97victory. Rich Rought of Afton notched his third 15 lap 4 Cylinder feature and Bill Bunzey of Afton picked up his first ever Pure Stock victory. In Midstate Vintage Stock Car action Jeff Ackerman of Suffield Center was the 50's winner, with Jerry Winn of Bainbridge getting the 60's win and Brian Fish of Horseheads scoring the 70's win.

Paul Jensen started the 30 lap Modified feature in 15th and was able to move through the field to grab the lead from Steve Cummings on a lap 13 restart to score the win. Numerous cautions plagued the event and Jensen was able to move through the field and into the top five by lap 5. He charged to third by lap 6 but Cummings and Marty Bunker put him through his paces from there on. Jensen worked high and low on Bunker finally getting by for second on lap 9 and then he set his sights on Cummings. A lap 13 caution, put Jensen side by side with Cummings for the restart and Jensen was able to out run him to the first turn for the lead. Once Jensen had the lead he was able to open up some breathing room and came home for his second win of 97.Cummings tangled with Joe Donahue Jr lap 24 sending both cars to the rear. Top five at the finish were Jensen 1 st, Bunker 2nd, Mike Clapperton 3rd, Rich Tiffany 4th and Jeremy Smith 5th.

Wink Hinkley grabbed the lead in the 20 lap Sportsman feature on lap 2 and looked to beheaded to his first win of 97. But Jim Gabriel Jr had other ideas as he worked his way through the field. Gabriel started 14th on the field and worked his way into the top five by lap 8. Meanwhile Hinkley and second running Greg Hoke were running away from the field. Gabriel was third bylap 10 and set his sights on the high flying duo. A lap 11 caution aided his quest as this closed him right on to Hoke's rear bumper. Gabriel took two laps to get by Hoke and then went after Hinkley,who again had opened up the lead. A lap 15 caution was all Gabriel needed as he was able to get around Hinkley on the restart. Gabriel then ran home to his fourth win of the 97 campaign. Top five at the finish were Gabriel 1st, Hinkley 2nd, Steve Anderson 3rd, Craig Pritchard 4th, and Aaron Excell 5th.

Skip French grabbed the early lead in the 20 lap Street Stock feature and held it until lap6 when Arnie Slade got by into going into turn three. Slade wasn't able to rest as on lap 9 Ron Flannery got by French for second and really began to pressure Slade. The two ran side by side for many laps with neither getting an advantage. Slade worked the high side and Flannery worked down low as they kept the crowd on their feet. While this battle was going on Denny Smith. Joe Scofield and Butch Klinger had a war going on for third through ff fth. Finally on lap 18Flannery mad a low move coming out of turn two to grab the lead for good and claim his second win of the 97 season. Top five at the finish were Flannery 1st, Slade 2nd, Smith 3rd, Scofield 4thand Klinger 5th.

Rich Rought grabbed the lead on lap 7 of the 15 lap 4 Cylinder feature and then went onto score his third win of the 97 campaign. Jamie Banta grabbed the early lead only to give way to Randy Mertz on lap 3. Mertz would give way to Ralph Jennings Jr on lap 6, but that lead was short lived as Rought got by on lap 7. Jennings would get high in turn

one and drop back to sixth, moving Mertz back into second. At the finish it was Rought 1 st,Mertz 2nd, Dave Burnett 3rd, Jamie Hurlburt 4th and Ken Winn 5th.

Bill Bunzey of Afton held off Paul Miller and Charlie Gilbert to score his first ever 15 lap Pure Stock win. Shawn MacCumber was the early leader but he gave up the lead to Scott Chapman on lap 3. Chapman held the lead until lap 6 when Dave Dickey got by. Dickey would hang on until lap 8 when he and second running Dan Howe got hooked together coming out ofturn two. This would give the lead to Andy Tiffany, but it would be short lived as Bunzey went by in turn two on lap 10. Miller and Gilbert got by Tiffany also and set up a three car race to the checker. Bunzey would hang on to score his first ever win with Miller in 2nd and Gilbert 3rd.Rounding out the top five were Howe and Neil Palladino.

The Midstate Vintage racers were on hand and ran two fifteen lap features. The firstwas the 50's/60's vintage cars and Jeff Ackerman and Jerry Winn hooked up in a good two car battle for the entire distance. When the checker flew they came side by side to the finish withAckerman scoring the win. Ackerman was crowned the 50's class winner and Winn the 60'sclass winner. In the second feature Brian Fish grabbed the lead on lap 2 from Don Kuhn and wasnever headed as he raced to a full straight away win and was crowned the 70's class winner.

This Friday night will be Tracey Road Equipment night at the Afton Raceway with a special Salute to trucker's and to all Father's to celebrate Father's day. There will be a full fivestar card of racing plus one on one pickup truck races. Gates open at 5:00 pm and racing starts at7:30 pm. Then on Saturday the Bainbridge Lions Club stages their annual Truck and Tractor Pull.At 3:00 pm the garden tractors will pull and then at 6:00 pm it will be Modified and Super Stock tractors and Two and Four Wheel drive trucks. Afton Raceway is located on the Afton Fairgrounds exit 7 off route 88 Afton NY. For More information call 607-722-6751 or on raceday607-639-1966.

Official Results:

Modifieds: Paul Jensen, Marty Bunker, Mike Clapperton, Rich Tiffany, Jeremy Smith,

Earl Walrath, Jerry Northrup, Mark Schoonover, Joe Donahue Jr, Ed Hawley, Steve

Cummings, George Lewis, Ray Zemliin, Wayne Ramsey, Hank Goranson III, JR

Hurlburt, Robbie Green, Dan Morden, John Kollar, Mike Jones, Spike Reed, Joel Batzel,

Ron Ford, Mitch Gibbs, Pete Nowicki Jr, Mark Gray

Sportsman: Jim Gabriel Jr, Wink Hinkley, Steve Anderson, Craig Pritchard, Aaron Excell,

Dan Yankowski, Greg Hoke, Cookie Moms. Ron Richardson, Danny Ballard, Mike

Gillette, Bill Walters, Jason Becker, Tony Ross, Tim Mayne, Ed Hauris, Rich Strier, Bill

Deck Smell, Aaron Jacobs, Don Hart Jr, Tim Ross, Rich Ives

Street Stocks: Ron Flannery, Arnie Slade, Denny Smith, Joe Scofield, Butch Klinger, John

Glezen, Henm Slack, Brian Taylor, John Walker, Doug Nelson, Skip French, Rodney

Hart, Don Newell Jr, DNS-Dave Knight

4 Cylinder Stocks: Rich Rought, Randy Mertz, Dave Burnett Jamie Hurlburt, Ken Winn,

Rick Lashway, Ernie Cawley, Bob Dedricli, Rob Coulman, Brian Stigerwald Tim

Tolley, Carl VanBuren, Ralph Jennings Jr, RK Overbaugh, Jason Howard, Jamie Banta,

Kenny Hotaling, Ralph Conzzo, Jay Johnson, Pete Christiansen, DQ'd-Mark Carter

Pure Stocks: Bill Bunzey, Paul Miller, Charlie Gilbert, Dan Howe, Neil Palladino, Rob

Carey, Jeff Witt, Howard Hoke, Andy Tiffany, David Dickey, Bill Cook, Shawn

MacCumber, DQ'd-Scott Chapman

50's/60's Vintage Cars: JeffAckemman(50's Winner), Jerry Winn(60's Winner), Dick

Ackerman Russ Coosuan, Jim Banks, Tim Toomey, Daryl Sherman, Mike Cole, Howard

Witter, Ralph Arrandale, Casey Morden

70's Vintage Cars: Brian Fish, Chris Brougham, Don Kuhn, Tony Doer, Bob Gates, Dan

Cunningham, John Mason, Phil Claussen