JEREMY SMITH PICKS UP POPULAR 358 MODIFIED WIN AT AFTON
AFTON - Jeremy Smith continued his winning ways Friday as the Whitney Point drier followed up a June 22 win at Fulton Speedway with his third 358 Modified win of the season at Afton Speedway on Parts Plus Night.
Rockdale’s Tim French won his second straight Sportsman feature while James Cornell of Harpursville also notched his second straight Pro Stock checkered flag. Brothers Bob Mills (Norwich) and Buck Mills (Willet) each won Pure Stock features and Afton’s Dave Jaindl was the 4-Cylinder Stock winner.
Mitch Gibbs started the 30-lap 358 Modified feature on the outside pole and quickly grabbed the lead. Gibbs looked in control as Smith, Arnie Slade and Aaron Excell were in pursuit. Unfortunately for Gibbs, success was short-lived as his Ed Wilson-owned mount lost power coming out of turn four before the completion of lap three and he coasted to a stop inside Turn 2.
On the lap 3 restart, Smith jumped to the point with Slade, Excell, J.R. Hurlburt, Mike Clapperton and Jeff Rudalavage giving chase. Smith would not surrender the lead for the remainder of the feature with only an occasional caution flag allowed the field to get close.
By lap 6, Excell moved into the second spot and Rudalavage had moved into fourth. Rudalavage climbed to third on lap 11 and Clapperton took over fourth on lap 13 as Slade began to slip back. Hurlburt reclaimed the fifth spot on lap 16.
The top five remained the same until the white flag flew. Smith had built a one-half lap lead starting the final lap and as he was powering through turn four for the final time, Excell tapped Rudalavage as he tried to pass bewteen turns one and two. Rudalavage spun and collected Clapperton. Smith took the caution and checkered flag to complete the race as Excell, Hurlburt, Tony Pepicelli and Slade came across the line.
In the post-race trip across the scales, Excell’s mount was too light and he was disqualified. Hurlburt, Pepicelli and Slade were now joined by Skip French in the top five as Joel Thomas, Jim Potts, Pete Lyon, Steve Walsh and Pat Dabiere rounded out the top ten.
Smith’s win, combined with Rudalavage taking 14th, leaves the two tied atop the points standings with 554 points while Clapperton holds on to third with 502 points.
In the 20-lap Sportsman feature, Chad O’Hara put his part Plus-sponsored mount in front for the first two laps and he remained in the top five until lap nine before posting an eighth place finish.
French charged from his sixth starting spot into second place on lap two before putting the Rockdale Rocket at the point on lap four as Steve Anderson, Butch Klinger, O’Hara and Chad Cook gave chase.
As French pulled away, Cook moved into third place, but he spun in turns three and four on lap seven and fell to the back of the pack. French pulled away again with Anderson, Klinger, Rodney Hart and Pat O’Hanlon now in the top five. On lap 14, Klinger moved past Anderson for third and Cook was back into fifth.
French and Klinger remained 1-2 for the rest of the feature as Anderson, Cook and Hart swapped spots each lap before finishing in this sequence. The win was the third for French at Afton Speedway in 2002.
Steve Cummings led the Pro Stock to the green flag to start their 20-lap main event and he held the top spot for the first four circuits as Jason Schlafer, Neil Palladino, Wade Decker and Denny Decker fell into position.
Schlafer took over the top spot of a lap five restart, but his advantage lasted only one lap as Cummings retook the point with Cornell charging into third ahead of Denny Decker and Wade Decker.
Cornell made his move on lap nine and powered past Cummings with the Deckers in tow as Schlafer rode fifth. Wade and Denny Decker swapped places on lap 12 as Pat Nolan completed the pass on Schlafer for fifth.
With Cornell sailing to his fourth win of the season (fifth including the North-South stop), Denny Decker finally moved into the runner-up spot on lap 18 and Wade Decker climbed into third as the checkered flag flew. Cummings and Nolan rounded out the top five. The win moved the defending track champion into first place in the points standings as Cornell holds a 562-560 edge over Harold Humphrey.
After having great success in the heat races, but bad luck in the features, Bob Mills finally had everything fall into place in the held-over June 21 15-lap Pure Stock feature which kicked off the evening‘s program. Mills started on the pole and led from flag-to-flag to record his first win of the season. Mill also got the $50 bonus from NYSSCA for his victory.
Buck Mills and Shaun Walker waged and great battle for second as did Butch Greene until he dropped back late in the race. Mills and Walker would be followed by Ralph Jennings and Paul Harrington as the checkered flag fell.
In the regular 15-lap feature, Greene had the lead for the first lap from his pole position. Buck Mills started ninth, but a big tangle in turns three and four halted action on lap two. Bob Mills, Paul Harrington and Dennis Valentine were all damaged in the incident.
On the lap two restart, Buck Mills grabbed the lead and checked out on the field. Greene ran second with Ralph Jennings, Kurt Decker and Shaun Walker in tow. By lap 11, Decker moved into the second spot with Walker, Jennings and Greene close behind.
The order remained at the checkered flag except that Greene overtook Jennings for fourth.
Jamie Banta started on the pole for the 15-lap 4-Cylinder Stock feature and the Unadilla driver put together one of his best runs of the season as he led the first four laps with Jaindl racing into second place as Skip Pickwick, Ralph Cuozzo, Jr. and Shawn Mills gave chase.
Jaindl slid past Banta on lap 5 and would hold off all challengers for the remainder of the feature. The biggest challenge was from five-time feature winner Mills, who moved into second place on lap 7. Mills tried to pass Janidl on lap 11 , but his bump-and-run move was unsuccessful. Mills made the bump, but his car then slowed and he fell back towards the rear of the field.
Jaindl continued to hold a comfortable advantage as Jim Money moved around Banta on the final lap to grab the runner-up spot. Banta was third, Mills came back to finish fourth and Pickwick was fifth. Jaindl won a $50 NYSSCA bonus while Cuozzo, Jr. was the NYSSCA wild-card award winner of $25.
Afton Speedway will again have a double feature on tap this Friday night as the 4-Cylinder Stocks will run their held-over June 21 feature to open the racing program at 7:15 p.m. It will then be a full slate of 358 Modified, Sportsman, Pro Stock, Pure Stock and 4-Cyinder Stock action.
Afton Speedway is located off exit 7 of Interstate 88 on the Afton Fairgrounds. For more information, contact the speedway office at 607-639-1966 or check out the Afton Speedway website at www.aftonspeedway.50megs.com.
PARTS PLUS 358 MODIFIED FEATURE RESULTS (30 laps): JEREMY SMITH, J.R. Hurlburt, Tony Pepicelli, Arnie Slade, Skip French, Joel Thomas, Jim Potts, Pete Lyon, Steve Walsh, Pat Dabiere, Adam Smith, George Hoffmier, Jr., Duane Hilliard, Jeff Rudalavage, Mike Clapperton, Todd Thomas, Don Hart, Jr., Shawn Ellsworth, Mitch Gibbs. DQ- Aaron Excell.
PARTS PLUS SPORTSMAN FEATURE RESULTS (20 laps): TIM FRENCH, Butch Klinger, Steve Anderson, Chad Cook, Rodney Hart, Pat O’Hanlon, Joe Rando, Chad O’Hara, Olin Renwick, Rob Carey.
PARTS PLUS PRO STOCK FEATURE RESULTS (20 laps): JAMES CORNELL, Denny Decker, Wade Decker, Steve Cummings, Pat Nolan, Harold Humphrey, Jason Schlafer, Todd Hurlburt, Neil Palladino, Jason Youngs, Ralph Finnegan, Chad Hyzer.
SNAP-ON TOOLS PURE STOCK FEATURE RESULTS From June 21 (15 laps): BOB MILLS, Buck Mills, Shaun Walker, Ralph Jennings, Paul Harrington, Rob White, Chris White, Dennis Valentine, Dan Janus, Butch Greene, Bill Rampe, Kurt Decker, Charlie Holcomb, Robert Krascovic. DNS-Jody Proper.
PARTS PLUS PURE STOCK FEATURE RESULTS (15 laps): BUCK MILLS, Kurt Decker, Shaun Walker, Butch Greene, Ralph Jennings, Jr., Charlie Holcomb, Rob White, Chris White, Dan Janus, Jeremy Shaw, Dave Cotten, Robert Kreascovic, Jason Bond, Bob Mills, Dennis Valentine, Paul Harrington. DNS-Bill Rampe.
PARTS PLUS 4-CYLINDER STOCK FEATURE RESULTS (15 laps): DAVE JAINDL, Jim Money, Jamie Banta, Shawn Mills, Skip Pickwick, Ralph Cuozzo, Jr., Ron Cummings, Scott Johnson, Ken Hotaling, George Crippen, Joe Bunt, Ken Carson.