HURLBURT, SLADE AND CORNELL CAPTURE AFTON WINS!
Afton, NY… Otego native J.R. Hurlburt made his second visit to Afton Speedway's victory lane Friday night as he picked up the win in the 30 lap DIRT Modified main event.
Arnie Slade, of Guilford, broke his streak of four consecutive second place finishes by picking up the win in the DIRT Sportsman class, while James Cornell and Shaun Walker both made it back to back victories in the Pro Stock and Pure Stock classes.
Jim Witko Sr, of German, PA, took the early race lead at the start of the Modified feature from his pole starting position. Hurlburt, who started fifth in the field, wasted no time making his way up front, as he took over the second spot from Mike Clapperton, of Sidney Center, on the third lap.
Hurlburt quickly put the heat on Witko, Sr., and made his move on lap number six to take over the top spot. Witko, Sr. battled with Clapperton for second, with Clapperton taking over the spot as they hit lap ten.
North Norwich's Mitch Gibbs made his way into third by lap eleven, edging out Witko, Sr. for the spot. Gibbs moved into second past Clapperton three laps later, and points leader Jeff Rudalavage, of Olyphant, PA, took over third as they reached the halfway point.
Rudalavage, who started ninth, grabbed the second spot from Gibbs on a lap fifteen restart. Kingston native Mike Ricci, who returned to the speedway after a two week hiatus, came up from his tenth starting position to challenge Gibbs for third as they entered the final ten laps.
With just five laps to go, something gave way on the Rudalavage machine during a caution period, ending his night early. Hurlburt went on to take home the checkers, followed by Gibbs, Ricci, Jim Crawn and Dana Wagner.
Pole sitter Chad O'Hara, of Norwich, lead the way for the first half of the 20 lap DIRT Sportsman feature. Deposit's Chad Cook made his way up to second from his tenth starting spot by lap seven, and began to put the pressure on O'Hara.
Points leader Arnie Slade and Harpursville native Don Hart, Jr. moved up ito the top four to duke it out with O'Hara and Cook as the caution flag fell on lap number eleven.
As the field returned to green flag racing, it was Slade coming out in the number one spot, with Cook riding second and Hart third, as O'Hara got shuffled backwards.
With five laps left to go, Hart took over second from Cook on a restart, but could not mount a serious challenge against Slade. Slade went on for the win, his second of the year, with Hart in second, Cook third, Butch Klinger fourth, and Craig Pritchard in the fifth spot.
Harpursville native James Cornell, in his sophomore year as a driver, picked up his third Afton victory this year in the Pro Stock division. Walton's Jason Schlafer led the early portion of the 20 lap feature from his pole starting position, until losing the spot to Cornell after a lap six restart.
Cornell, who started eleventh in the field, held off challenges from Neil Palladino and Denny Smith until Smith had to pit during lap 15 caution period.
As the green came back out, Binghamton's P.J. Goodwin made the move from fourth to second, and set his sights on Cornell. Goodwin would come up short, as Cornell went on to pick up the win. Gary Roberts, of Ninevah Junction finished a fine third place, followed by Palladino and Afton's John Walker.
Sixteen year old Rookie sensation Shaun Walker, of Masonville, notched a third Afton Speedway Pure Stock feature win in his belt on Friday.
Walker, who started fourth in the 15 lap main eventfound himself riding in second behind Guilford's Buck Mills as the yellow flag flew just short of the half-way mark.
Mills held the lead at the start, but Walker kept the pressure on. With just five laps left to go, Walker got a bid on Mills, and took over the top spot. Brooktondale native James Cornell (no relation to the Pro Stock driver) followed suit and took over second from Mills the next lap.
Mills' night ended early with a broken shock mount retiring him to the pits with two laps left to go. Walker went on for the win, his third at the Speedway, and fourth overall this year. Cornell finished second, with Jerry Darlings, Denny Decker and Rob Loucks completing the top five.
Russell Hendrickson, Jr., of Harpursville, picked up his first win of the season in the 15 lap Four Cylinder Stock feature.
Hendrickson, who started sixth in the fifteen car field, moved up to challenge Norwich's Scott Johnson for the lead on the fourth lap, and took it over on lap number five.
Johnson lost the handle on his ride, bringing out the caution at the halfway point, giving the second spot to Bob Doolittle, of Newfield. Doolittle tried inside and out, but couldn't get by the Hendrickson machine. Doolittle settled for second, followed by Ralph Jennings, Jr., Johnson and Ed Leslie.
Steve Tourje, of Uniondale, PA., picked up his second dwarf car victory of the season, finishing just ahead of Thompson PA's Dan Stone in the twelve lap feature event.
Stone, a top Late Model driver in the area, filled in for Chic Chandler in his #27 machine after Chic was injured in an incident at another track last weekend.
Stone did a great job filling in, but came up shy as Tourje went on for the win. Floyd Clark, Tim O'Neill and Chris Thompson completed the top five.
358 MODIFIED RESULTS: J.R. HURLBURT, Mitch Gibbs, Mike Ricci, Jim Crawn, Dana Wagner, Jim Witko Sr, Steve Walsh, Skip French, Rick Amo, Mike Clapperton, John Siedlecky, Jeff Rudalavage, Rich Scagliotta, George Hoffmier Jr, Jim Witko Jr, Brad Schaffer, Ed Strada, Jeremy Smith (DNS).
SPORTSMAN RESULTS: ARNIE SLADE, Don Hart Jr, Chad Cook, Butch Klinger, Craig Pritchard, Bill Harris, Chad O'Hara, Tim French, Tim Ross, Jessica Zemken, Darren Keyser, Dave Crandall, Bob Conklin, Shawn Mahoney, Billy Price.
PRO STOCK RESULTS: JAMES CORNELL, P.J. Goodwin, Gary Roberts, Neil Palladino, John Walker, Brian Steigerwald, Mike Decker, Denny Smith, Roger Lewis, Pat Nolan, Harold Humphrey, Jason Youngs, Bret Belden, Phil Youngs, Todd Hurlburt, Jason Schlafer, Jason Bartsch, Fred Christ, Terry Mudge, Brad Curry, Jerry Northrup, Frank Chapman, Mark Davis, Russ Card, Wade Decker.
PURE STOCK RESULTS: SHAUN WALKER, James Cornell, Jerry Darlings, Denny Decker, Rob Loucks, Dennis Valentine, Rob White, Buck Mills, Charlie Holcomb, Rodney Tweedie, Bob Stilson, Ron Menard.
FOUR CYLINDER STOCK: RUSSELL HENDRICKSON Jr, Bob Doolittle, Ralph Jennings Jr, Scott Johnson, Ed Leslie, George Crippen, Ralph Cuozzo Jr, Lori Bishop, Rob Coulman, Skip Pickwick, Ron Cummings, Jason Jaindl, Jamie Banta, Paul Harrington.
DWARF CARS: STEVE TOURJE, Dan Stone, Floyd Clark Jr, Tim O'Neill, Chris Thompson, Jerry Roys, Ed Knapp, Duane Knapp, Louie Gordinier (DNS).