JOHN WALKER CAPTURES FIRST EVER PRO STOCK WIN AT AFTON!
Afton, NY - After taking a year off from racing, John Walker returned to Afton Speedway this season in the Pro Stock division.
Although he's often been a top five contender, the number one spot has always managed to elude the Afton native, until this past Friday night that is. Walker started on the pole for the 20 lap feature event, and took the lead at the start. Walker didn't have it easy though as Jason Schlafer, of Walton, was hot on his heels in the second spot, following Walker through from his third starting position.
Schlafer, in his sophomore year in the Pro Stocks, was also looking to try and capture his first ever feature win. Walker seemed to have the event in hand, until the very last corner on the very last lap when he almost lost the handle, allowing Schlafer to just about get by underneath. Walker managed to hang on and pick up the win by half a car length or so, while Schlafer finished with a great second place run. Wade Decker came in for third, followed by Brian Steigerwald and Todd Hurlburt.
In DIRT 358 Modified action, Mitch Gibbs took the lead from Windsor's John Siedlecky on the second lap of the 30 lap Main.
Gibbs, of North Norwich, went on to lead the rest of the way, picking up his second win of the season.
Triangle native Jeremy Smith moved up from his sixth starting position to take over the second spot from Siedlecky on lap thirteen, but could not mount a challenge on Gibbs. Mike Clapperton finished third, followed by J.R. Hurlburt and Jeff Rudalavage.
The win came at a crucial time for current points leader Gibbs, as his lead increases from 2 points to 15 points over Rudalavage.
Cassville's Craig Pritchard took the lead at the start of the 20 lap DIRT Sportsman feature event from his pole starting position.
Harpursville's Don Hart, Jr., quickly took his ride from fourth to second as he gave chase to Pritchard. Pritchard held off numerous challenges from Hart, until losing the top spot to him on the fifth lap. Points leader Arnie Slade, of Guilford, was making his way up through the field from his sixth starting spot, and moved by Pritchard into second on a lap seven restart.
Slade put the pressure on Hart, but was unable to get by, as Hart went on to take home his third win of the year at Afton. Slade finished second, for the ninth time this season, while Chad Cook, Butch Klinger and Tim French completed the top five.
It looked as if rookie driver Butch Green, of Binghamton, was on his way to his first feature win in the Pure Stock division.
Green overpowered Maryland's Charlie Holcomb to take the lead at the start of the fifteen lap event, as another young rookie, Shaun Walker, of Masonville, moved up into second. Green commanded the top spot, holding off Walker and Deposit's Denny Decker, until losing the handle on his machine just after the half way point, ending his bid for a win.
Decker went on for his fourth victory of the season, with Walker in for second. Green made a good come-back in the final go finishing with a solid third spot, followed by Dennis Valentine for fourth and Holcomb for fifth.
The Flying Fossil, Gordie Isham, made it to victory lane for the first time this season in the Dwarf Car division. Isham, of Windsor, lead from wire to wire, holding off Uniondale, PA's Steve Tourje and Sherburne's Duane Knapp en route to the win.
Knapp and Chris Thompson shuffled Tourje back to fourth on the final lap. Alan Barker completed the top five. The Four Cylinder Stock feature event had quite an unusual ending to cap the night off with.
Unadilla's Ralph Cuozzo, Jr., took the early race lead from the fourth starting position, with Harpursville native Russ Hendrickson, Jr., ran in second. The two ran side by side, as the race's pace slowed to one caution per each green flag lap for the first four laps. The fifth circuit saw Cuozzo losing the handle, bringing out the fifth caution period. Hendrickson kept the lead as they returned to green flag racing, with Bainbridge;s Skip Pickwick riding second.
Pickwick briefly grabbed the lead on lap nine, but his run came to a quick end as he lost the handle on his machine bringing out another caution on lap ten. Cuozzo made it back up to second as they returned to racing action, and as the cautions fell again on lap 12, it was Hendrickson running first with Cuozzo in second.
After the restart, both front runners got out of shape and climbed the front stretch wall, with Hendrickson's car coming to a rest on top of the wall, knocking out several lights and downing a few power lines, immediately bringing out a yellow/red condition before another lap was completed.
Due to the tracks unsafe condition, the race was called complete as of the last lap scored, lap twelve, giving the win to Hendrickson, with Cuozzo in second, Scott Johnson third, Shawn Mills fourth and George Crippen in fifth.
358 MODIFIED RESULTS: MITCH GIBBS, Jeremy Smith, Mike Clapperton, J.R. Hurlburt, Jeff Rudalavage, George Hoffmier Jr, John Siedlecky, Allen Shiffler, Skip French, Steve Walsh, Jim Witko Sr, Pete Nowicki Jr, Shawn Ellsworth, Brad Shaffer.
SPORTSMAN RESULTS: DON HART JR, Arnie Slade, Chad Cook, Butch Klinger, Tim French, Joe Rando, Chad O'Hara, Chris Ostrowsky, Dave Crandall, Jessica Zemken, Ray Zemken, Bob Conklin, Craig Pope, Craig Pritchard.
PRO STOCK RESULTS: JOHN WALKER, Jason Schlafer, Wade Decker, Brian Steigerwald, Todd Hurlburt, James Cornell, Harold Humphrey, Jason Youngs, Dan Howe, Jason Bartsch, Roger Lewis, Neil Palladino, Pat Nolan, Winnie Winchester, Russ Card.
PURE STOCK RESULTS: DENNY DECKER, Shaun Walker, Butch Green, Dennis Valentine, Charlie Holcomb, Rob White, Craig Hawley, Rob Loucks, Rodney Tweedie.
FOUR CYLINDER STOCK: RUSS HENDRICKSON JR, Ralph Cuozzo Jr, Scott Johnson, Shawn Mills, George Crippen, Rob Coulman, Tim Clapper, Ron Cummings, Ken Hotaling, Skip Pickwick, Joe Bunt, Ralph Jennings Jr, Jason Jaindl, Chris Koren, Danielle Smith, Ed Leslie (DNS).
DWARF CAR RESULTS: GORDIE ISHAM, Duane Knapp, Chris Thompson, Steve Tourje, Alan Barker, Tim O'Neill, Ed Knapp, Floyd Clark Jr, Ray Vosburgh.