RUDALAVAGE BACK IN AFTON SPEEDWAY VICTORY LANE ON LOWE'S SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIP NIGHT
AFTON, NY - Jeff Rudalavage bided his time before grabbing the lead on lap 24 of the 30-lap 358 Modified Summer Championship feature at Afton Speedway Friday night. The Olyphant, Pa. Driver posted his second straight win and third win of the season and help increase his points lead as Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse sponsored the great racing action.
Other Lowe's Summer Championship winners included Rockdale's Tim French in the Sportsman, James Cornell of Harpursville in the Pro Stock, Shaun Walker of Masonville captured the Pure Stock and Deposit's Shawn Mills bested the 4-Cylinder Stock competition. The later three drivers were all repeat winners.
Rudalavage started 11th as the green flag flew while pole sitter George Hoffmier, Jr. set the pace. Hoffmier and Mike Clapperton battled for the lead on the first lap and traded paint the most of the opening lap. Clapperton looked to have the advantage as he entered turn two on the second lap, but the caution flag flew as Hoffmier spun in turn one and caused several cars to stack-up behind him.
Both Hoffmier, for the spin, and Clapperton, for the first lap rough riding as determined by track officials, for in the back of the pack for the lap two restart.
When the green flag flew, Mitch Gibbs grabbed the advantage with Arnie Slade, Donnie Hart and Jeremy Smith in pursuit. Rudalavage and J.R. Hurlburt traded fifth place over the next seven laps until Rudalavage took the spot for good on lap 8. That was the same lap Smith moved around Hart for third place. Gibbs continued to build a slight lead over Slade as Smith closed in and Rudalavage jumped into fourth.
On lap 13, Smith made his move and drove around Slade into the runner-up spot with Rudalavage joining the top three two laps later. Smith closed the gap on Gibbs in lapped traffic, but could not find an opening with Rudalavage closing fast. On lap 22, Rudalvage found an opening on the high side and finally completed the pass on Smith and he set his sights on Gibbs.
A caution flag on lap 25 bunched the field together and Rudalavage made his move on the restart. He powered his way past Gibbs and slowly pulled away with Gibbs, Smith, Hurlburt and Slade in tow. Smith overtook Gibbs on lap 26, but rest of the order never changed.
Rudalavage took the checkered flag by a comfortable margin as Smith, Gibbs, Hurlburt and Slade completed the top five.
French was the only non-repeat winner since the July 12 show and it wasn't until lap 16 of the 20-lap Sportsman main event that he finally powered past leader Butch Klinger with a strong inside move in turns three and four. Klinger had good momentum in the middle of the track, but the Rockdale Rocket got a great bite coming through the turns and completed the pass.
Numerous caution flags hampered the start of the feature, but Klinger was in command early. In that multiple caution segment, Rodney Hart was turned sideways and he began an early casualty as he went to the pits on the hook.
With Klinger and French setting the pace, points leader Chad Cook and Steve Anderson moved into third and fourth to wage their own little battle on lap 3 as Bill Papula claimed fifth place.
Klinger kept up a strong pace, but French stayed close behind as he continually entered turns one and three high and cut low out of turns two and four.
That move finally paid off on lap 16 as French took the point and roared to his fourth victory of the season. Anderson finished a few car-lengths back in second with Cook, Anderson and Papula rounded out the top five.
Neil Palladino grabbed the lead from his pole position to start the 20-lap Pro Stock feature with Pat Nolan, Ralph Finnegan, Cornell and Todd Hurlburt completing lap one in the top five as the caution flag flew for an incident that claimed both Denny Decker and Wade Decker. Wade went to the pits on the hook while Denny was in the pits for several laps before returning to post an 11th place finish.
On the restart, Nolan shot to the point with Cornell second. Palladino, Hurlburt and Brian Steigerwald rounded out the top five before Steigerwald was caught in traffic on lap five. He found himself face-to-face with one of the big tractor tires in turn four and came to halt, which brought out the caution flag.
Cornell powered into the lead from the outside of the front row on this restart as Nolan slid in behind him. Nolan made a couple of early runs on four different restarts over the final 15 circuits, but it was to no avail as Cornell pulled away to his sixth points victory of the season and 18th win overall in 2002. Nolan held off Hurlburt for second with Harold Humphrey and Palladino rounding out the top five.
Dave Cotton brought the Pure Stocks to the green flag for their 15-lap Summer Championship jaunt, but it was Paul Harrington who grabbed the lead by the end of lap one.
Several drivers got excellent starts, including Walker who started tenth, but was in the runner-up spot by the end of lap one. Butch Green powered into third place with Dennis Valentine and Cotton in the top five as well. By the end of lap two, the Mills boys were on the move with Bob in fourth and Buck fifth.
On a lap three restart, Walker outdragged Harrington for the lead and Bob Mills jumped into third place, but the caution quickly flew on lap five as Buck Mills slid to a halt after contact in turn four.
The lap five restart Walker again took command with Bob Mills applying some pressure with Green, Harrington and Ralph Jennings following. Buck Mills made his charge from the back of the pack and retook fifth place on lap seven. The positions remained the same until the caution flag flew on lap 13.
The top three remained the same on the restart with Buck Mills and Jennings moving into fourth and fifth. On final restart allowed Buck Mills to overhaul Green for third place.
At the checkered flag, Walker had the third victory of the 2002 season, Bob Mills was second, Buck Mills third, Green fourth and Harrington edging out Jennings for fifth.
In the 15-lap 4-Cylinder Stock feature, Ken Hotaling grabbed the lead in the first lap as Scott Johnson raced into second place and pole-sitter George Crippen settled into third.
There were restarts on four of the next five laps which allowed Mills, who started ninth, and Dave Jaindl to work themselves into contention.
On the lap four restart, Mills out-hustled Hotaling into turn one for a lead that he would never surrender. By lap five, Jaindl was second and Hotaling slide to third.
That order would not change until a lap 12 restart. With Mills and Jaindl pulling away, Jim Money clawed his way into third place for the remaining circuits and Jamie Banta powered into fourth after getting shuffled towards the back of the pack earlier in the feature.
At the checkered flag, it was lucky win number seven for Mills. Jaindl, Money, Banta and Hotaling rounded out the top five.
Mills, Hotaling and Crippen were heat winners and that brought them into extra competition during the evening as the trio competed in a "hot dog" race after the 358 Modified feature. The three drivers need to down a hot dog and cup of water on the horse track to start the event. Crippen was the first through the fence to the main track where all of their cars were parked. Hotaling was second to his car and Mills trailing the field, but Mills was the quickest to get buckled into his car and he pulled away to begin a three-lap sprint to the checkered flag. As Mills reached the backstretch, Crippen pulled away and Hotaling took off as Mills as leaving turn four. Mills stayed clean the final two circuits to claim the 4-Cylinder Stock Hot Dog Championship.
This Friday night, Five-Star Equipment will sponsor a full card of racing action at Afton Speedway. In addition to the Sportsman, Pro Stock, Pure Stocks and 4-Cylinder Stocks, the 358 Modifieds will run an A-Plus Super DIRT Series Qualifier when the first green flag flies at 7:15 p.m. Jeff Rudalavage won the first A-Plus Afton Qualifier on May 10. The winner of the
Friday's 358 Modified feature will be a guaranteed starter in the 2002 DIRT 358-Modified 75-lap Championship at the NYS Fairgrounds on October 12 at Super DIRT Week.
For more information on any upcoming activities at the speedway, call the track office at 607-639-1966 or log on to the official Afton Speedway website at www.aftonspeedway.50megs.com. Afton Speedway is located on the Afton Fairgrounds, Route 41, off of Exit 7 of Interstate 88.
LOWE'S HOME IMPROVEMENT WAREHOUSE FEATURE RESULTS
358 MODIFIEDS (30 laps): JEFF RUDALAVAGE, Jeremy Smith, Mitch Gibbs, J.R. Hurlburt, Arnie Slade, Don Hart, Jr., George Hoffmier, Jr., Mike Clapperton, Joel Thomas, Adam Smith, Skip French, Pat Dabiere, Steve Walsh, Duane Hilliard, Tom Gervasi, Todd Thomas, Jim Potts, Brent Cross. Heat winners: Slade, Hoffmier, Jr., Clapperton.
SPORTSMAN (20 laps): TIM FRENCH, Butch Klinger, Chad Cook, Steve Anderson, Bill Papula, Olin Renwick, Ed Bennett, Craig Pope, Chad O'Hara, Rodney Hart. Heat winners: Anderson, Klinger.
PRO STOCKS (20 laps): JAMES CORNELL, Pat Nolan, Todd Hurlburt, Harold Humphrey, Neil Palladino, Jason Schlafer, Brian Steigerwald, Chad Hyzer, Ralph Finnegan, Jason Youngs, Denny Decker, Fred Christ, Wade Decker. Heat winners: Humphrey, Denny Decker.
PURE STOCKS (15 laps): SHAUN WALKER, Bob Mills, Buck Mills, Butch Green, Paul Harrington, Ralph Jennings, Dennis Valentine, Charlie Holcomb, Chris White, Robert Krasjovic, Rob White, Joe Barnes, Dave Cotten. DNS-Kurt Decker. Heat winners: Green, Harrington.
4-CYLINDER STOCKS (15 laps): SHAWN MILLS, Dave Jaindl, Jim Money, Jamie Banta, Ken Hotaling, George Crippen, Ralph Cuozzo, Jr., Skip Pickwick, Jack Hill, Ron Cummings, Scott Johnson, Ken Carson, Ken McMullen. DNS-Brandon Clapperton. Heat winners: Hotaling, Crippen.