J.R Hurlburt, Jim Gabriel, Jr. Win at Afton Raceway
Results 5/18/97 - Afton, NY
Mother Nature tried to intervene, but Quickway Stores night was completed Friday night at the Afton Raceway. JR Hurlburt of Otego, picked up his first ever Afton Modified feature win with an impressive showing in the 30 Lap feature. Jim Gabriel Jr made it two in a row in the 20 Lap Sportsman feature, while Butch Klinger of Walton grabbed the 20 Lap Street Stock feature. Rich Rought of Afton claimed his second 15 Lap 4 Cylinder feature of the season, while Bill Cook of Harpursville made it two in a row in the 15 Lap Pure Stock feature.
Marty Bunker grabbed the early lead in the 30 Lap Modified feature from the outside pole position and opened up a healthy lead. Bunker held the lead until a lap 6 caution bunched the field and put Steve Cummings and JR Hurlburt on his tail. On the restart Hurlburt used an inside move in turn 2 to grab the lead. By lap 8, Robbie Green was in second and challenging Hurlburt for the lead. These two would fight it out until Brian Weaver broke through traffic and made it a three car race on lap 14. On lap 16 Mitch Gibbs made it a four car fight for the lead with Hurlburt still holding off all comers. Weaver would stay in the hunt until losing a left rear tire on lap 25, but Mike Clapperton came up to take his place in the fight for the lead. Hurlburt looked to have the best of the fight as he fought off all comers to claim the win. This was JR's first ever Afton win and as he said in victory lane it was a long time coming. Top five at the finish were Hurlburt lst, Green 2nd, Clapperton 3rd, Gibbs 4th and Bunker 5th.
In the 20 Lap Sportsman feature Greg Hoke and Wink Hinkley waged a two car battle until lap 9 when they both tried to go around a lap car at the same time in turn three and wound up going over the bank together. This handed Tony Ross the lead, but he had Jim Gabriel Jr and Craig Pritchard right on his tail. Gabriel and Ross would open up a little ground on Pritchard and make it a two car race. Gabriel was trying every groove to get by, but Ross was able to hold him off until he slipped just a bit coming out of turn 4 and Gabriel was able to get by on the inside on lap 15. Gabriel would then hold off Ross to claim his second straight win. Top five at the finish were, Gabriel 1st, Ross 2nd, Pritchard 3rd, Steve Anderson 4th and Dan Yankowski 5th.
Butch Klinger grabbed the lead from the outside pole in the 20 lap Street Stock feature and would never give it up as he scored his first win of 97. Behind the high flying Klinger a good fight was on for second between Skip French and Ron Flanne . These two fought for the entire distance and with only one caution, it had the crowd on their feet. Arnie Slade made it a three car fight for second but, Klinger opened up the lead and made sure it was only a fight for second. The only caution of the event flew on lap 16 when Frank Bonham lost power in turn two. This bunched the pack, but Klinger had their number as he flew to the win. Top five at the finish were ,Klinger lst, Flanne 2nd, French 3rd, Slade 4th and Joe Scofield 5th.
Ralph Jennings Jr grabbed the early lead in the 15 lap 4 Cylinder feature and looked to run away and hide. A caution on lap 9 would put the filed on his bumper and this would prove to be the turning point of the race. Rich Rought was now running second and on the restart was able to grab the lead going into turn 3. Rought would hold the lead to the checker despite late pressure from Gary Smith and Jay Johnson. This was Rought’s second win of the year as he got the opening night win. Top five at the finish were Rought 1st, Smith 2nd, Johnson 3rd, Jennings 4th and Gene Brainard 5th.
Bill Cook would grab the lead at the start of the 15 lap Pure Stock feature and would run off to the win. The battle for second was a fight three car battle as Bill Bunzey, Dave Dickey and Dan Howe would wage war to the finish. While these three fought amongst themselves, Cook opened up the lead and cruised to his second straight win. The battle behind him would go to the checker with Bunzey hanging on for second. Top five at the finish were, Cook 1st, Bunzey 2nd, Dickey 3rd, Howe 4th and Brett Spoor 5th.
The cool temperatures were offset by the hot action and the fans were treated to a rapid show that was done in just 3 hours and 15 minutes. This Friday night will see the first ever Sprint Car event in the history of the Afton Raceway. The ELS Sprints will be on hand along wit the Modifieds, Sportsman, Street Stocks and 4 Cylinder Stocks. There will be no Pure Stocks action this week. Gates will open at 5:OOPm and the action will start at 7:30PM. Afton Raceway is located on the Afton Fairgrounds, exit 7 off Route 88 Afton, NY. For more information you can call the information line at 607-722-6751 or on raceday you can call the track at 607-639-1966. These are the only numbers for track information.
May 16 results:
Modifieds: JR Hurlburt, Robbie Green, Mike Clapperton, Mitch Gibbs, Marty Bunker, Jeremy Smith, John Kollar, Kirk Horton, Je Northrup, Rich Ricci, Brian Weaver, George Kostalansky, Mike Tambone, Dan Morden, John Seditecky, Earl Watrath, Mark Schoonover, Ray Zemkin, Steve Cummings, Ed Hawley, Joel Batzel, Paul Jenson, Rich Tiffany
Sportsman: Jim Gabriel Jr, Tony Ross, Craig Pritchard, Steve derson, Dan Yankowski, Bill Walters, Tim Mayne, Dan Ballard, Cookie Morris, Wink Hinkley, Don Hart Jr, Greg Hoke, Ed Harris, Rich Ives, Scott LJbner, Jason Becker, Rich Strier, Bob Vedder, Tim Ross, Aaron Cross, DNS Steve Hulsizer
Street Stocks: Butch Klinger, Ron Flanne , Skip French, ie Slade, Joe Scofield, John Walker, Rodney Hart, Gary Roberts, Denny Smith, Mark Aldrich, Frank Bonham, Bill Harris
4 Cylinder Stocks: Rich Rought, Gary Smith, Jay Johnson, Ralph Jennings Jr, Gene Brainard, Scott Jones, Dave Bumett, Earl om, Rick Lashway, Jamie Banta, Dan Mitchill, Larry Williams, Ralph Cuozzo, Bob Dedrick, Pete Christiansen, Brian Stiegerwald, Randy Mertz, DNS Jesse Howe, Rob Coulman
Pure Stocks: Bill Cook, Bill Bunzey, David Dickey, Dan Howe, Brett Spoor, Tiffany, Rob Carey, Neil Palladino, Scott Chapman, Mike Tessitore, Shawn McCumber