RUDALAVAGE, HART AND CORNELL CAPTURE AFTON WINS
Afton, NY... Jeff Rudalavage, of Olyphant, PA, was a man on a mission Friday night at the Afton Speedway, moving up from his 7th place starting spot to pick up the win in the 30 lap DIRT 358 Modified Main event.
Windsor's John Siedlecky was the early race leader, taking the point from his outside pole starting position, with fourth place starter Mike Clapperton, of Sidney Center, moving into second. North Norwich native Mitch Gibbs and Berkshire's George Hoffmier, Jr. hooked up in a battle for the third position.
Hubbardsville's Aaron Excell came up quickly from the tenth starting spot, making his way into the top 5 by lap six, along with Rudalavage. Rudalavage moved into fourth behind Gibbs as the caution flag flew on lap number seven.
Rudalavage got a good start, and made it from fourth to first by the time the field made it to turn four. Siedlecky ran second until losing the spot to Clapperton on lap twelve.
Gibbs moved into third ahead of Siedlecky after a lap 13 re-start, but Rudalavage couldn't be touched as he pulled away from Clapperton and Gibbs every re-start.
Rudalavage went on for the win, his fourth of the season, followed by Clapperton, Hoffmier, and Gibbs.
Action in the 20 lap DIRT Sportsman feature saw Harpursville's Don Hart, Jr. take the lead at the start and lead flag to flag en route to picking up his second Afton Sportsman win of the year.
15 year old rookie Sensation Jessica Zemken, of Canajoharie, ran in the number two position until Guilford's Arnie Slade took over the spot on lap seven. Zemken, who started fourth, maintained the third spot until her good run came to an early end after getting involved in a late race jingle with 6 laps left to go.
Hart picked up the win, with Slade in for second, keeping his hot streak alive and well. Out of 11 Sportsman feature events this year, Slade has three wins and eight runner-up finishes, which also sits him at the top of the points battle. Tim French came in for third, with Chad Cook and Butch Klinger completing the top five.
James Cornell watched what Hart did in the Sportsman feature, and decided to follow suit in the Pro Stock 20 lap main event, as he took the lead at the start and led the way until the checkers flew.
Guilford's Todd Hurlburt and Brian Steigerwald, along with Afton's Roger Lewis battled for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots unable to make a run on Cornell. Unadilla's Winnie Winchester, who had started in the 12th position, moved into second at the half-way point, as Hurlburt retired to the pits with Mechanical problems.
Cornell, from Harpursville, came home for the win, his fourth of the season, in his second year as a Pro Stock driver. Winchester, Steigerwald, Wade Decker and Jason Schlafer completed the top five.
Rookie driver Shaun Walker, of Masonville, must've been watching the Sportsman and Pro Stock features, as he decided to take the lead at the start of the 15 lap Pure Stock main, and lead green to checker to take home the victory.
Walker held off challenge's from veteran Pure Stock drivers Denny Decker and Buck Mills on the way to his fourth feature win at Afton. With four feature wins at Afton, and a few at other area tracks, 16 year old Walker is defiantly turning some heads. Mills finished second, followed by Dennis Valentine, Kurt Decker, and Rob Loucks.
Another young rookie driver in the 4 Cylinder Stock ranks was taking notes during the other classes. 16 Year old driver Jason Jaindl, of Afton, took off from his outside pole starting spot to grab the lead in the 15 lap feature.
Jaindl was credited with leading every lap en route to his second feature win of the season. Unadilla's Ralph Cuozzo, Jr., did slip by Jaindl on coming out of turn two around the 10th lap, but his lead was kept to one straight-away's as Jaindl took back the lead in turns three and four. Russ Hendrickson finished second, with Scott Johnson, Cuozzo Jr, and Skip Pickwick in for the top five.
Chris Thompson, a rookie driver from Port Crane in the Dwarf Car division tried to make it a three rookie win night as he too too the early race lead from the outside pole position.
Sherburne's Duane Knapp put the kibosh on that idea as he took over the top spot on lap number four. Knapp, who started third, went on to pick up the win, his second of the season, with Thompson in for an impressive second place run. Alan Barker, Ed Knapp and Floyd Clark completed the top five.
Afton is a DIRT Sanctioned Speedway, racing weekly on Friday nights in Afton, NY. Gates open at 5pm, with racing starting at 7:30pm sharp. The Speedway is located at the Afton Fairgrounds on on route 41, exit 7 off of Interstate 88 (just east of Binghamton, NY.)
358 MODIFIED RESULTS: JEFF RUDALAVAGE, Mike Clapperton, George Hoffmier Jr, Mitch Gibbs, Jim Witko Sr, Skip French, Aaron Excell, Pat Jordan, Pete Nowicki Jr, Steve Walsh, Allen Shiffler, John Siedlecky, Aaron Cross, Jim Witko Jr, Pete Lyon, Brad Shaffer, Wayne Reutimann Jr, Alan Gould, J.R. Hurlburt (DQ).
SPORTSMAN RESULTS: DON HART JR, Arnie Slade, Tim French, Chad Cook, Butch Klinger, Dave Crabdall, Craig Pritchard, Chad O'Hara, Bob Conklin, Chris Ostrowsky, Joe Rando, Jessica Zemken, Pat O'Hanlon, Craig Pope, Ronnie Center Jr, Ladd Yeomans.
PRO STOCK RESULTS: JAMES CORNELL, Winnie Winchester, Brian Steigerwald, Wade Decker, Jason Schlafer, Neil Palladino, Harold Humphrey, Jason Youngs, Pat Nolan, Dave Bruno, Russ Card, Jason Bartsch, Todd Hurlburt, Mike Decker, Roger Lewis, John Walker, Bob Zimmerman Sr, Bob Zimmerman Jr (DNS), Gus Gould (DNS).
PURE STOCK RESULTS: SHAUN WALKER, Buck Mills, Dennis Valentine, Kurt Decker, Rob Loucks, Denny Decker, Charlie Holcomb, Rob White, Bob Stilson, Jim Laubmeier, Butch Green.
FOUR CYLINDER STOCK: JASON JAINDL, Russ Hendrickson, Scott Johnson, Ralph Cuozzo, Skip Pickwick, Ralph Jennings Jr, Jamie Banta, Ed Leslie, George Crippen, Danielle Smith, Rob Coulman, Joe Bunt, Paul Harrington, Duane Hotaling.
DWARF CAR RESULTS: DUANE KNAPP, Chris Thompson, Alan Barker, Ed Knapp, Floyd Clark, Steve Tourje, Gordie Isham, Tim O'Neill, Erik Knudson.