GIBBS MAKES IT TWO IN A ROW AT AFTON

Afton, NY… Mitch Gibbs took home the top honors for the second week in a row in the Pineline Auto Sales 30 lap DIRT 358 Modified Main Event Friday night at Afton Speedway.

Berkshire native George Hoffmier, Jr., took the early race lead from the outside pole, with Windsor's John Siedlecky riding in second.

Gibbs, of North Norwich, started in the sixth position and made quick work of getting to the front as he took over the number two spot from Siedlecky on lap three, and set his sights on Hoffmier for the lead.

After a pair of cautions on laps four and five, Gibbs took the lead on the restart, and started to open up a small lead on the pack.

Jeff Rudalavage, of Olyphant, PA, seemed to have the fastest car on the track, as he was making his way up through traffic from his seventh starting position. Rudalavage took his Parts Plus, Pineline Auto Sales machine past Hoffmier into second on the eleventh circuit, and set his sights on Gibbs.

In a few short laps, Rudalavage caught Gibbs, and the two ran wheel to wheel inside and out for several laps. With the two of them dicing it our, Hoffmier moved up to make it a three-way battle.

With just five laps left to go, Jim Witko, Sr., of Lake Ariel, PA, broke a hub and looped his ride in turn four, just as the lead pack was coming around, and collected Rudalavage, who had nowhere to go, ending a great run for him.

Gibbs went on to capture his third Afton victory of the season, followed by Hoffmier, J.R. Hurlburt, Mike Clapperton and Dave Rosa.

Deposit's Chad Cook picked up the win in the 20 lap DIRT Sportsman Feature Event.

Cook started eighth in the field, and wasted no time taking his machine to the front as he cruised past Chad O'Hara, of Norwich, to take over the lead on lap four.

Cook didn't have it easy though, as points leader Arnie Slade, of Guilford, was also on the move from his seventh starting position. Slade took over second from Rockdale's Tim French seven laps into the event, and set his sights on Cook for the number one spot.

Slade tried inside and out, but didn't quite have enough to get by the Cook machine. Cook went on for the win, his sixth of the season, with Slade in for second, French, Don Hart, Jr., and Ladd Yeomans completed the top five.

In Pro Stock action, Norwich's Harold Humphrey took off into the lead at the start of the 20 lap Main Event, and led from wire to wire to capture the win.

Guilford's Neil Palladino, who started on the pole, and fourth place starter Winnie Winchester, of Unadilla, diced it out for second, exchanging the spot a handful of times throughout the race.

Winchester won out at the end, coming home for the second spot as Humphrey picked up his fourth Afton win of the season. Palladino finished third, followed by Brian Steigerwald and Jason Schlafer.

For the second week in a row, Deposit's Denny Decker hit the checkers first in the Pure Stock division.

Decker started third in the 15 lap Feature event, and took over the lead from Morris's Dennis Valentine on a lap three re-start.

Young hot-shoe Shaun Walker, of Masonville, gave chase, but had to settle for second as he could not mount a challenge against Decker.

Jeff Cleveland finished third, followed by Rob Loucks and Valentine.

Shawn Mills has been on a hot streak ever since he brought out his new Four Cylinder Stock machine. In just three starts he has two feature wins as he picked up the win at Afton Friday night, and won the previous Saturday night at Thunder Mountain Speedway.

Mills started tenth in the 15 lap event, and moved past Ed Leslie just shy of the half-way point.

Harpursville's Russ Hendrickson, Jr., took over second from Leslie on the eighth lap, but couldn't make a run against Mills, as Mills went on for about a three car length victory.

Skip Pickwick came in for third, with Scott Johnson and Ralph Cuozzo, Jr., completing the top five.

In the Dwarf Car division, Gordie Isham, the 'Flying Fossil', had his Modified Lyte style car hooked up.

Isham started fifth in the field, and moved into second by the end of lap one. Isham flew by Uniondale, PA's Steve Tourje into the lead on lap three, and never looked back as he went on for a straighaway length win over the field.

Duane Knapp finished second, followed by Tourje, Tim O'Neill and Ed Knapp.

This coming Friday is the Summer Championship at Afton Speedway. Gates open at 5pm, with racing set to start at 7:30pm sharp.

358 MODIFIED RESULTS: MITCH GIBBS, George Hoffmier Jr, J.R. Hurlburt, Mike Clapperton, Dave Rosa, John Siedlecky, Allen Shiffler, Steve Walsh, Steve Cummings, Brad Shaffer, Shawn Ellsworth, Jeff Rudalavage, Jim Witko Sr, Link Pettit.

SPORTSMAN RESULTS: CHAD COOK, Arnie Slade, Tim French, Don Hart Jr, Ladd Yeomans, Butch Klinger, Bob Conklin, Chad O'Hara, Billy Price, Dustin Harris, Dave Crandall, Jessica Zemken, Craig Pope.

PRO STOCK RESULTS: HAROLD HUMPHREY, Winnie Winchester, Neil Palladino, Brian Steigerwald, Jason Schlafer, Denny Smith, John Walker, James Cornell, Wade Decker, Jason Youngs, Pat Nolan, Jason Bartsch, Russ Card, Todd Hurlburt, James Christ, Fred Christ.

PURE STOCK RESULTS: DENNY DECKER, Shaun Walker, Jeff Cleveland, Rob Loucks, Dennis Valentine, Charlie Holcomb, Rodney Tweedie, Ron Menard.

FOUR CYLINDER STOCK: SHAWN MILLS, Russ Hendrickson, Skip Pickwick, Scott Johnson, Ralph Cuozzo Jr, Ralph Jennings Jr, George Crippen, Rich Talada, Chris Koren, Danielle Smith, Tim Clapper, Ed Leslie, Todd Smith, Ron Cummings, Pete Christiansen, Ken Hotaling.

DWARF CAR RESULTS: GORDIE ISHAM, Duane Knapp, Steve Tourje, Tim O'Neill, Ed Knapp, Chris Thompson, Erik Knudson, Ray Vosburgh, Dominick Commesso, Alan Barker (DQ).