FAMILIAR FACES VISIT THE NEW AFTON SPEEDWAY VICTORY LANE
AFTON, NY - The skies cleared and the sun shone brightly as some very familiar faces drove into The Hawkins Homes-Delaware Sports Center Victory Lane at The New Afton Speedway Friday night. Mitch Gibbs of North Norwich won his third DIRT 358-Modified feature of the season; West Edmeston's Steve Anderson shook off the bad luck that has plagued his season and drove to the DIRT Sportsman checkered flag; Todd Hurlburt of Guilford picked up his first Pro Stock feature win of 2003; Buck Mills from Willet held off a late race challenge in the Pure Stocks and Ken Hotaling won his fifth straight 4-Cylinder Stock main event.
Dan Vauter brought the 27-car field to the green flag for the 30-lap 358-Modified feature and the rising star led the first five circuits before surrendering the lead to Aaron Excell on a lap six restart. Excell began to pull away with Vauter in tow as Gibbs made his made into third place by lap 11 from his 13th starting spot. Jeremy Smith ahd And Bob Hamm, Jr. rounded out the top five.
Gibbs powered around Vauter on lap 17 and began closing in on Excell as the duo approached lapped traffic. On lap 20, Excell slid high in Turn 4 and opened the door for Gibbs, who went low and took the point coming out of the turn. Gibbs was in front and Excell had to follow the Nice-n-Easy 2G down the front stretch as the two cars dodged Colin Jackson, who stayed close to the outside wall.
Over the remaining laps, Gibbs opened up his advantage and cruised to his second straight win. Excell and Vauter completed great runs in second and fourth respectively. Jeff Rudalavage charged to a third place finish and Jeremy Smith fifth. Smith is still the points leader and has not finished outside the top-five this season at The New Afton Speedway. Anderson was slated to start third in the 20-lap Sportsman feature, but polesitter Craig Pope opted to start at the back of the pack so Anderson joined Butch Klinger on the front row for the green flag. Anderson got the bite he need a charged into the lead out of turn Two and led flag-to-flag for a very solid win. Klinger ran second until he was overtaken by Jessica Zemkn on a lap six restart. Zemken was able to pull up to Anderson thanks to a couple of restarts, but the young lady would not be able to deny Anderson his moment and finished 10 car-lengths back. Tom Perrego overtook Klinger for third on lap 15 with Darren Keyser coming home fifth.
Tim French and Jamie Christian were both eliminated on lap six. Jeremy Shaw was hugging the wall and slowed coming out of Turn Two. As he tried to get to the infield, he pulled down without seeing French, who plowed into the rear of Shaw's machine and heavily damaged his Rockdale Rocket. Christian saw what was happening and tried to swing to the outside, but he clipped French's front tire and came to rest against the backstretch wall. All three cars went off on the hook.
Hurlburt started fifth for the Pro Stock 20-lap main event and quickly grabbed the lead headed down the backstretch on the opening lap. Polesitter Aaron Hacker settled into the second spot with Pete Gulick, Pat Nolan and Denny Smith close behind. Gulick moved into second spot on lap two and he took the lap briefly on a lap three restart, but his mount lost powered and stopped on the backstretch on lap five. Gulick's night was over.
Hurlburt was back in front on the restart and Smith challenged a couple of times over the remaining 15 laps, but Hurlburt had the right set-up and pulled away for a big win. Smith would settle for runner-up honors. Bob Mills completed his best run of the season in third place while A.J. Digsby and Chad Hyzer rounded out the top five.
With his strong run, Smith takes over the point lead (372-366) over Gulick with Ken Hammond third in points with 362.
Due to his recent string of bad luck at Afton, Buck Mills started on the outside pole for the 15-lap Pure Stock feature. Mills grabbed the lead immediately and led all 15 caution-free laps.
Mills' younger brother, Frank, was the runner-up until Paul Harrrington finally got by on lap 11, but Harrington was 10 car-lengths back. The Sidney Center hotshoe began his pursuit of Buck Mills, but ran out of laps.
Buck Mills posted a three car-length win over Harrington with Frank Mills, Charlie Holcomb and Brother Bob Stilson rounding out the top five. With his fourth win of the season, Mills moved back into first place in the points standings and he holds a 372-362 edge over Stilson.
Outside polesitter Skip Pickwick grabbed the lead at the start of the 15-lap 4-Cylinder Stock and led the first four circuits while Hotaling worked his way to the front from his seventh starting spot.
Hotaling was third on lap two before passing Jamie Banta for the runner-up spot one lap later. The "Cooperstown Comet" took the lead on lap five and never looked back as the race was slowed just once on a quick caution during lap 11.
Hotaling pulled away over the final circuits as Banta and Bob Doolittle battled for second place. Banta took the runner-up spot as Doolittle, Skip Pickwick and Ken Carson III. completed the top five.
The bounty will increase to $75 this Friday night on Hotaling and, if no one beat him, Hotaling will claim his own bounty.
This Friday will be Mid-Season Championship night for the DIRT 358-Modifieds with Twin-25's and added money for the drivers. There will also be a regular show for the DIRT Sportsman, Pro Stocks and 4-Cylinder Stocks. It will also be Fan Appreciation Night as the fans will be given a chance to meet all their favorite drivers before the racing action gets underway at 7 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 is located on the Afton Fairgrounds off of Interstate 88, Exit 7, on Route 41.
FEATURE RESULTS FROM JUNE 27, 2003
DIRT 358 MODIFIEDS (30 laps): 1. MITCH GIBBS; 2. Aaron Excell; 3. Jeff Rudalavage; 4. Dan Vauter; 5. Jeremy Smith; 6. Bob Hamm, Jr.; 7. Wayne Jelley; 8. Kevin Jordan; 9. Colin Jackson; 10. Chris Ostrowsky; 11. Rich Price; 12. J.R. Hurlburt; 13. Rich Keehle; 14. Jim Potts; 15. Dustin Purdy; 16. Steve Walsh; 17. Dave Barrows; 18. Ben Bushaw; 19. Willy Decker; 20. Paul Kinney; 21. Jeff Bronson; 22. Marc Johnson; 23. Pat Dabiere; 24. Jim Rothwell; 25. Tony Ross. DNS-Chris Van Buren, Aaron Cross. Heat winners: Vauter, Rudalavage, Decker, Jelley.
DIRT SPORTSMAN (20 laps): 1. STEVE ANDERSON; 2. Jessica Zemken; 3. Tom Perrego; 4. Butch Klinger; 5. Darren Keyser; 6. Rick Amo; 7. Arnie Slade; 8. Olin Renwick; 9. Craig Pope; 10. Brent Cross; 11. Tim French; 12. Jamie Christian; 13. Jeremy Shaw. Heat winners: French, Zemken.
PRO STOCKS (20 laps): 1. TODD HURLBURT; 2. Denny Smith; 3. Bob Mills; 4. A.J. Digsby; 5. Chad Hyzer; 6. Kenny Hammond; 7. Randy Newell; 8. Aaron Hacker; 9. Pete Gulick; 10. Harold Humphrey; 11. Bret Belden; 12. Pat Nolan; 13. Scott Chapman. DNS-Jason Humphrey, Chris Palmer Heat winners: Smith, Hurlburt.
PURE STOCKS (15 laps): 1. BUCK MILLS; 2. Paul Harrington; 3. Frank Mills; 4. Charlie Holcomb; 5. Brother Bob Stilson; 6. Barney Fuller; 7. Jondale Howey; 8. Robert Krajcovic. DNS-Brandon Clapperton.
4-CYLINDER STOCKS (15 laps): 1. KEN HOTALING; 2. Jamie Banta; 3. Bob Doolittle; 4. Skip Pickwick; 5. Ken Carson, III; 6. Jeff Leslie; 7. Jim Hotaling; 8. Tim Clapper; 9. Jack Hill; 10. Mitch Hurlburt; 11. Harold Humphrey.