HURLBURT, HUMPHREY AND FRENCH CAPTURE AFTON WINS

Afton, NY... J.R. Hurlburt, of Otego, picked up the win in the DIRT 358 Modified Main on Friday night at the Afton Speedway.

Jim Witko, Jr., of Lake Ariel, PA, took the lead at the start of the 30 lap Modified main, with Hainkins native Steve Walsh hot on his heels. Brian Davis, of Mountain Top, PA, brought of the first caution on lap number three, looping his #119 machine in the third turn.

As the field returned to green flag racing, Witko held on to the lead while Walsh battled side by side with Berkshire's George Hoffmier, Jr., for the number two spot. Hoffmier took over the spot as the cautions came out for a trio of incidents on laps seven, eight and nine.

Hoffmier, who started sixth, powered out to the lead as the green flag flew, and Hurlburt followed through into second. Hurlburt put the pressure on Hoffmier, as the two ran hard and clean inside and out for the next 13 laps, until Hurlburt got a good run on the low side on lap 24 to take over the lead.

Hurlburt when on for the win, his fourth this season, followed by Hoffmier, Witko, Davis, and Mitch Gibbs.

In DIRT Sportsman feature action, Rockdale native Tim French took off from his pole starting position to lead the field wire to wire en route to capturing his second win of the season.

Arnie Slade, of Guilford, has been the man to beat this season in the Sportsman division. Slade started ninth in the 20 lap main, and made his way up to second by the fifth lap. Slade pressured French for the lead, but could not get a bid on the lead. This was Slade's seventh runner up finish out of ten Sportsman feature events. What's even more impressive is the other three finishes for Slade are all wins, making his worst finish of the season a second.

Deposit's Chad Cook finished third, with Walton's Butch Klinger and Joe Rando, from Gloversville, completing the top five.

Jason Youngs, of Unadilla, was the early race leader in the 20 lap Pro Stock feature event. Pole sitter Youngs took the lead at the drop of the green as Deposit's Pat Nolan and Guilford's Todd Hurlburt followed through while outside pole starter Roger Lewis fell off the pace for a short bit.

Hurlburt quickly made his way past Nolan into second, and put the heat on Youngs for the top spot. Meanwhile, Harold Humphrey, who has been having quite a whirlwind year, moved up to third from his sixth starting spot and started to pressure Hurlburt for second.

Humphrey took over the number two spot after a lap five restart, and set his sights on the Youngs machine. One lap later Humphrey made the move and took over the lead spot.

Afton's Wade Decker picked his way up through the pack from his ninth starting position, and climbed up into the number two spot ahead of Youngs as they reached the half-way point. Humphrey managed to hold off the hard charging efforts of Decker, and go on to pick up the win, his third of the season. Decker, Youngs, Neil Palladino and Mike Decker completed the top five.

Denny Decker, of Deposit, captured the victory in the 15 lap Pure Stock feature event.

Decker started fifth in the field, and moved by Groton's Sean O'Conner into the lead as the race's first caution came out on lap number four. O'Conner gave chase for the next eight laps, until losing the number two position to rookie driver Shaun Walker, of Masonville, with just two laps left to go.

Decker went on to pick up the win by about a 4 car length margin, with Walker in for second, followed by O'Conner, Binghamton's Butch Green, and Buck Mills, of Guilford.

In the Four Cylinder Stock 15 lap feature event, Norwich's Scott 'Bones' Johnson came out as the top dog at the end of the night, picking up his first feature win of the 2001 season.

16 year old Afton native Jason Jaindl held the point from the start until he was involved in a lap six accident with Unadilla's Jamie Banta and Unadilla's Ralph Cuozzo, Jr.

Russell Hendrickson, Jr., of Harpursville, inherited the lead, as Johnson, who started eighth, moved up into the second spot. Johnson tried high and low to get a run on Hendrickson, and with two laps left to go, he saw opportunity knock as Hendrickson bobbled slightly in turn three. Johnson made the move and grabbed the lead and the victory.

Hendrickson finished second, followed by Skip Pickwick, Dennis Vroman, and George Crippen.

Sherburne's Duane Knapp seemed to have things going his way in the Dwarf Car 12 lap feature event. Knapp took the lead from his pole starting position with the 'Flying Fossil' Gordie Isham, of Windsor, giving chase.

The duo ran first and second, pulling away from the rest of the field, until they tangled in turn three on lap seven, ending a good run for both drivers. Berkshire's Louie Gordinier, driving his new Modified Lite style car, inherited the lead, and went on to pick up the win. Troy Van Allen, Floyd Clark Jr, Tim O'Neill and Alan Barker completed the top five.

358 MODIFIED RESULTS: J.R. HURLBURT, George Hoffmier Jr, Jim Witko Jr, Brian Davis, Mitch Gibbs, Mike Calpperton, Jeff Rudalavage, Ed Strada, Steve Walsh, John Siedlecky, Mike Price, Rich Price, Skip French, Pete Lyon, Brad Schaffer, Pete Nowicki Jr, Jim Witko Sr, Jeremy Smith, Allen Shiffler.

SPORTSMAN RESULTS: TIM FRENCH, Arnie Slade, Chad Cook, Butch Klinger, Joe Rando, Ladd Yeomans, Jessica Zemken, Chris Ostrowsky, Jeff Holt, Don Hart Jr, Dave Crandall, Billy Price, Craig Pritchard, Bob Conklin, Ronnie Centner Jr, Chad O'Hara, Craig Pope, Ken Titus (DNS), Billy Harris (DNS).

PRO STOCK RESULTS: HAROLD HUMPHREY, Wade Decker, Jason Youngs, Neil Palladino, Mike Decker, John Walker, Todd Hurlburt, Jason Schlafer, P.J. Goodwin, James Cornell, Gus Gould, Winnie Winchester, Roger Lewis, Russ Card, Jason Bartsch, Pat Nolan, Jeremy Clark, Brian Steigerwald.

PURE STOCK RESULTS: DENNY DECKER, Shaun Walker, Sean O'Conner, Butch Green, Buck Mills, Bob Stilson, Rob Loucks, Dennis Valentine, Kurt Decker, Charlie Holcomb, Craig Hawley.

FOUR CYLINDER STOCK RESULTS: SCOTT JOHNSON, Russ Hendrickson, Skip Pickwick, Dennis Vroman, George Crippen, Jamie Banta, Ed Leslie, Rob Coulman, Ralph Cuozzo Jr, Todd Smith, Ron Cummings, Ralph Jennings Jr, Jason Jaindl, Danielle Smith, Paul Harrington.

DWARF CAR RESULTS: LOUIE GORDINIER, Troy Van Allen, Floyd Clark Jr, Tim O'Neill, Alan Barker, Ed Knapp, Duane Knapp, Chris Thompson, Gordie Isham, Terry Gordinier, Steve Tourje, Tim Ross (DNS).