JEREMY SMITH, BUTCH KLINGER, PETE GULICK & DICK STARK CLAIM
98.1 THE HAWK OPENING NIGHT WINS AT THE NEW AFTON SPEEDWAY
AFTON, NY — Under bright sunny skies, a large crowd turned out for 98.1 “The HAWK” Opening
Night at The New Afton Speedway. The fans were not disappointed as a great night of racing action saw
Jeremy Smith of Triangle open defense of his 2003 track championship with a win in the DIRT 358
Modified 30-lap feature; Walton’s Butch Klinger took the checkered flag in the 20-lap DIRT Sportsman
main event; Pete Gulick of Binghamton won the 20-lap DIRT Pro Stock feature and Dick Stark from
Lansing claimed the 15-lap Pure Stock victory. In the first 4-Cylinder Stock Enduro, it was Sean
Gardiner of Endicott besting the field of this new class.
Smith brought the full field of 358 Modifieds to the green flag, but it was The New Afton Speedway’
s All-Time Modified Feature winner Mitch Gibbs grabbing the lead from his outside pole position on the
heads-up start. The driver of the Nice-n-Easy Grocery Shoppe 2G opened a comfortable margin over the
#46 Quickway Food Stores of Smith with Dan Vauter, Tony Ross and defending Sportsman track
champion Jamie Christian in fifth. By lap 3, Ross had moved into third place with Chris Ostrowsky in
tow as Vauter remained a strong fifth.
After the two quick cautions in the first two laps, the action was fast-paced until lap 13 when Ed
Harris came to a halt in Turn 3. As the field readied for the restart, Gibbs chose the inside position for the
double-wide restart. As the green flag flew, Smith put the hammer down and gambled on a strong
outside pass. The move worked and Smith moved to the point with Gibbs close behind. Vauter moved
back into third place one lap later with Ross and Ostrowsky completing the top five.
The race slowed three more times under caution with Smith maintaining a slight advantage over
Gibbs. The best chance Gibbs had at retaking the lead came on lap 24 when he stuck the nose of his
mount under Smith coming out of Turn 4, but he could not complete the pass. Smith would slowly pull
away to a four car-length victory over Gibbs with Vauter, the hard-charging Jeff Rudalavage and Ross
rounding out the top five as Sam Rogers waved the checkered flag.
Rudalavage struggled in his heat and the consolation race, but the 2002 track champion had the #112
dialed in for the feature and made a strong run from his 17th starting position.
In DIRT Sportsman feature had its own twist before the green flag even flew as outside polesitter
Tim French need a push-start before the #20 even reached the racing surface, which meant he had to
drop to the pack of the field for the start. That allowed Loren Lincoln to move to the outside of polesitter
Russ Hefti as the green flag flew. Hefti and Lincoln set the pace for the first three laps as Steve
Anderson, Jessica Zemken and Klinger held the remaining top five spots. Hefti’s night came to an end on
lap four and his mount came to a halt in Turn 2 and brought out the first of three caution flags in the
event.
On the restart, Anderson took over the top spot as Klinger charged into the runner-up spot with
Lincoln, Zemken and Brad Alger giving chase. Anderson would hold the lead until a lap seven restart
when Klinger worked his Klinger Kawasaki-sponsored #9 around Anderson and never surrendered the
lead in the battle of veteran drivers.
Anderson’s best chance to retake the top spot came on the lap 11 restart, but Klinger held off the
challenge and pulled away to a five car-length win over the remaining circuits. Anderson settled for
second place with Zemken, Lincoln and Adam Smith rounding out the top five.
Gulick started his Rhino Linings # 3 on the pole position in the DIRT Pro Stock feature with Jeremy
Clark to his outside. Gulick won the dash into the first two turns with Bob Mills coming out in second
place with Clark third and veterans Billy Trego and Denny Smith rounding out the top five.
The race was slowed only once by the caution flag on lap 14. Gulick took off on the restart as Clark
moved into the runner-up spot with Mills, Smith and Trego still close behind. Gulick did a solid job off
holding Clark off for the remaining laps as the running order only changed when Trego suffered a flat
tire and limped into the pits on lap 16.
At the checkered flag, Gulick won by several car-lengths with Clark, Mills, Smith and James Henry
rounding out the top five.
Jeremy Shaw started the 15-lap Pure Stock main event on the pole, but it was front-row mate Stark
who grabbed the lead with two-time track champion Buck Mills following him from the fourth starting
spot with Shaw, Paul Harrington and Frank Mills falling into the remaining spots for the top five.
It was looking like a great battle between these two veterans would take place, but fate had other
ideas. Stark’s Autoworks-Nextel-sponsored #455 caught a rut coming out of Turn Two and shot
towards the outside wall. Unfortunately, Mills was attempting a pass on the outside and contact between
the two cars sent Mills’ #15 hard into the wall while straightening out Stark’s mount for a run down the
backstretch. The hard contact ripped the rear tire and axle loose, ending Mills’ night.
On the lap three restart, Stark pulled away as Wilbur and Harrington gave chase, but no one would
catch Stark. At the checkered flag, the top five was Stark, Harrington, Wilbur, Shaw and Chris White.
This Friday will be Giveaway Bonanza Night with many great items to be claimed by lucky fans
along with another great card of DIRT 358 Modified, DIRT Sportsman, DIRT Pro Stock, Pure Stock
and 4-Cylinder Stock Enduro action. The gates will open a 5 p.m. with the first green flag to fly at 7:30.
Magician Tony Liberati will also be on hand to entertain fans from 6:30 until 7:30 p.m.
If you have any questions, you may call the speedway office at 607-657-8018; the track at 607-639-
1966 or you may log on to The New Afton Speedway website at www.thenewaftonspeedway.com. The
New Afton Speedway, Friday’s Best Family Entertainment Value, is located on the Afton Fairgrounds off
of Interstate 88, Exit 7, on Route 41.