Mitch Gibbs Wins At Afton!!

Afton, NY

Mitch Gibbs of Norwich NY, scored the win in the 50 Lap Modified portion of the Southern Tier 150 at the Afton Raceway this past Friday, and in doing so claimed a guaranteed starting spot in this years "Victoria 200" to be held the weekend of October 3rd, 4th, and 5th at the Fulton Speedway. Three other spots were up for grabs as part of the Southern Tier 150, with Butch Klinger of Walton NY, claiming the Street Stock spot by virtue of his win in the 25 Lap Street Stock feature, Ralph Jennings Jr of Nineveh NY, scored the 25 Lap 4 Cylinder win, claiming the Fulton spot, and Bill Cook of Harpursville NY, got the Pure Stock spot by winning the 20 Lap Pure Stock feature. Dan Yankowski of New Berlin NY scored the win in the 30 Lap Sportsman portion of the Southern Tier 150.

Invader Tim Olenski grabbed the early lead in the 50 Lap Modified feature and looked to open up the lead at will, but early cautions would play against Olenski, allowing the field to stay tight on his rear bumper. Mitch Gibbs moved into contention, grabbing second on lap 5 and putting the pressure on Olenski. At the 10 lap mark the top five were Olenski, Gibbs, Steve Cummings, Pat Ward and Donnie Wetmore. The top five remained the same until lap 12 when Ward and Wetmore both got past Cummings to move into third and fourth. Cummings continued to slide back as Co Track Champion Paul Jensen moved into the top five on lap 14. Gibbs was finally able to grab the lead from Olenski on a lap 18 restart, and at lap 20 the top five were Gibbs, Olenski, Jensen, Ward and Roger Phelps. Once in the lead Gibbs opened up the lead to a full straight-away, with the real battle on for second between Olenski and Jensen. Jensen got the spot on lap 27, only to suffer a flat left rear on lap 30, forcing him to the pits. On the restart the top five were Gibbs, Olenski, Ward, Phelps and Tony Peppicelli. Gibbs immediately opened up the lead, but the real show over the last 20 laps was Jensen's charge from the rear. Jensen moved through the top ten and claimed the fifth spot by lap 39, with no cautions to help and the filed spread out Jensen climbed to fourth by lap 43, but could get no higher as his car began to smoke heavily over the final laps. Gibbs took the checker by a full straight-away over second place Olenski to claim the Victoria starting spot. Rounding out the top five were Olenski second, Ward third, Jensen fourth, and Phelps fifth. Co Track Champion Robbie Green did not start the event after breaking the rear end in a hot lap session prior to the feature and slamming hard into the third turn guardrail. Green was uninjured, but the car was done for the night.

Don Hart Jr grabbed the early lead in the 30 Lap Sportsman feature and lead a side by aide duel with Track Champion Dan Yankowski, that got too close on occasion. Hart was penalized for rough riding on a lap 8 restart, giving the lead to Yankowski. At the ten lap mark the top five were Yankowski, Steve Anderson, Aaron Excell, Scott Ubner and Jeff Carner. Yankowski was able to open up the lead at will and had a half straight-away lead by the half way mark. Excell got by Anderson for second on lap 15 with Ubner and Tim Ross now completing the top five. The top five remained the same until lap 23 when Anderson slid all the way back to sixth, moving Craig Pritchard into the top five. Pritchard would move to fourth on lap 25 getting by Ubner. Yankowski took the checker by two thirds of a straight-away to claim the win, with Excell second, Ross third, Pritchard fourth and Ubner fifth.

Butch Klinger grabbed the early lead in the 25 lap Street Stock feature , and fought side by side with Arnie Slade, until lap 8 when Slade grabbed the lead. These two continued to fight for the lead with Herm Slack sitting right there in third waiting to se what would happen. At the lap 10 mark the top five were Slade, Klinger, Slack, Skip French, and Joe Palmer. The top three broke away from the field with Slade and Klinger still fighting for the lead and Slack right behind them. Klinger grabbed the lead back on lap 17 and the survived a lap 19 restart to maintain the lead. At the 20 lap mark the top five were, Klinger, Slade, Slack, French and John Walker. Klinger and Slade fought it out over the final five laps with Klinger claiming the win and Fulton starting spot by a car length. Rounding out the top five were Slade second, Slack third, French fourth and Walker fifth.

Ralph Cuozzo grabbed the early lead in the 25 Lap 4 Cylinder feature, but could only hold it for one lap, as Ralph Jennings Jr grabbed the lead on lap 2. Cuozzo would hang on to second until lap 5 when Randy Mertz took over and set sail for Jennings. By lap 10 a five car battle for the lead was on between Jennings, Mertz, Harold Humphrey, Gene Brainard and Track Champion Rich Rought. Jennings would continue to lead, but the man on the move was Rought, as he came to fourth by lap 13, third by lap 14 and second by lap 17. This set up a two car race for the lead with Rought trying every groove possible to get by Jennings, but to no avail. At the 20 lap mark the top five were Jennings, Rought, Mertz, Brainard and Humphrey. Jennings would lead the final five laps and claim the win and the Fulton spot by half a car length. Rounding out the top five were Rought second, Brainard third, Mertz fourth and Humphrey fifth.

Shawn MacCumber got the early lead in the 20 lap Pure Stock feature and led through lap 6. Bill Cook was running third on lap 6, but made a move past both second place Andy Clement and first place MacCumber to take the lead on lap 7. MacCumber held on to second until having to pit with a flat tire on lap 8. At the half way mark the top five were Cook, Dan Howe, Clement, Glenn Winsor and Scott Chapman. As had been the scenario all season Cook and Howe hooked up in a two car duel and fought for the lead over the second half of the race with Cook hanging on for the win and the Fulton starting spot. Rounding out the top five at the checker were Howe second, Clement third, Winsor fourth and Chapman fifth.

The Southern Tier 150 rounded out the on track action at Afton Raceway for the 1997 season. The only event left on the card for 97 will be the annual Afton Raceway Awards banquet to be held November 15th at the River Club in Afton. Watch this publication for ticket in formation and join us in November. Until 1998 have a safe and pleasant off season and watch for more information about Afton Raceway right here.

Official Results:

50 Lap Modified Feature: Mitch Gibbs, Tim Olenski, Pat Ward, Paul Jensen, Roger Phelps, Donnie Wetmore, Tony Peppicelli, Rich Tiffany, John Guernsey, John Sidlecky, Earl Walrath, Jerry Northrup, Mike Colsten, Mike Jones, Jeff Walton, Ron Ford, JR Hurlburt, Mike Clapperton, Joel Batzel, Steve Cummings, Mark Schoonover, Tim French, Jeremy Smith, Jeff Bronson, Brian Weaver, Mike Nagel, DNS-Robbie Green

30 Lap Sportsman Feature: Dan Yankowski, Aaron Excell, Tim Ross, Craig Pritchard, Scott Ubner, Steve Anderson, Dan Ballard, Rich Ives, Jeff Carner, Russ Flint, Tim Mayne, Bill Walters, Don Hart Jr

25 Lap Street Stock Feature: Butch Klinger, Arnie Slade, Herm Slack, Skip French, John Walker, Don Newell Jr, Paul Miller, Joe Palmer, Bill Harris, Fred Velez, Sean Collins, Terry Mudge

25 Lap 4 Cylinder Feature: Ralph Jennings Jr, Rich Rought, Gene Brainard, Randy Mertz, Harold Humphrey, Bob Dedrick, Rob Coulman, Randy Hartz, Rich Watson, Al Barrett, Jamie Banta, Jim Potts, Ralph Cuozzo, Pete Christiansen, Dennis Vroman, Ken Hotaling, Dave Burnett, DNS-Ernie Cawley, Jamie Proctor

20 Lap Pure Stock Feature: Bill Cook, Dan Howe, Andy Clement, Glenn Winsor, Scott Chapman, Shawn MacCumber, Bob Falciani, Joe Bona, Matt Schloss