RUDALAVAGE, FRENCH AND DECKER VICTORIOUS AT AFTON
Afton, NY… Jeff Rudalavage, of Olyphant, PA took his Parts Plus 112 machine to its sixth DIRT 358 Modified win of the season, breaking a three race winning streak of current modified points leader Mitch Gibbs.
Steve Walsh, of Hainkains, took the early lead from his pole starting position in the 30 lap DIRT 358 Modified feature event, and led the first sixth laps until getting tangled up with Otego's J.R. Hurlburt on the front-stretch.
Hurlburt was able to continue, but Walsh's night was cut short as his ride suffered some extensive damage.
Rudalavage took over the lead from Hurlburt as the green flag fell. Hubbardsville's Aaron Excell got sideways the next lap, bringing out another caution.
During the caution period, promoter George Hoffmier decided to send the entire modified field to the pitsto cool off, stating they were getting a bit out of hand.
The field returned after the running of the Pure Stock main event, and ran the rest of the feature length to its entirety, caution free.
Rudalavage, who had started fourth in the field held on to the number one spot, as Gibbs, of North Norwich, came up through from his tenth starting spot into second.
Gibbs gave chase, but couldn't mount a challenge as Rudalavage went on for the win. Excell finish third, with Jeremy Smith and George Hoffmier, Jr., completing the top five.
In DIRT Sportsman action, it was all Tim French, as he took the lead from Norwich's Chad O'Hara on the second lap and never looked back.
French, of Rockdale, started fourth in the 20 lap event. Walton's Butch Klinger ran second the majority of the way, but could not make a bid on the number one spot.
The win was the second of the season for French. Klinger came in for second, followed by Chad Cook, Arnie Slade, and Ladd Yeomans.
Cook, with his third place finish, cuts Slade's point lead down to three, with just two more point shows on the schedule.
Afton's Wade Decker returned to victory lane in the Pro Stock division after quite a dry spell, his last win coming back on June 15th.
Decker started fourth in the 20 lap Main event, and took the lead from Todd Hurlburt, of Guilford, on lap number three.
Deposit's Pat Nolan moved into second and put the pressure on Decker, as points leader James Cornell, of Harpursville, made his way up from his ninth starting spot.
Cornell took over second from Nolan with just five laps left and challenged Decker for the lead.
Although Cornell seemed to be faster, he couldn't get enough bite to make a pass as Decker went on to capture his second win of the season.
Cornell finished second, with Nolan third, Winnie Winchester fourth, and Neil Palladino in fifth.
Young rookie driver Shaun Walker, of Masonville, notched another win in his belt as he took home the victory in the 15 lap feature Friday night.
Butch Green, of Binghamton, took off from his fourth place starting spot to lead the early way, with Deposit's Denny Decker right on his back bumper.
Decker lost the handle trying to go for the lead on lap four, bringing out the caution. Walker moved into second, and set his sights on Green for the top spot as they returned to green flag racing.
Green, another rookie at the track this season, led until the half-way point, when Walker took the spot over. Meanwhile, Gene Brainard, of Gilboa, was making short work of coming up through the pack after he had to start scratch in the feature.
Brainard took over second from Green on lap nine as Green slid up high, but he could not catch Walker.
Walker picked up the win, followed by Brainard, who had a great run for his first time at the speedway this season. Green came in for third, followed by Decker and Dennis Valentine.
Deposit's Shawn Mills has been on fire since he debuted his new four cylinder stock ride a few weeks ago, and this Friday night was no exception as he took home the win in the 15 lap Feature event.
Mills started 7th in the 17 car field, and took over the lead from Unadilla's Ralph Cuozzo, Jr., at the half-way mark on lap eight.
Cuozzo finished second, with Russ Hendrickson, Skip Pickwick and Ralph Jennings, Jr., completing the top five.
Sherburne's Duane Knapp led all but the first lap in the 12 lap Dwarf Car main en route to his fourth feature win of the season.
Alan Barker put the pressure on from the second spot, but Knapp held on the pick up the win. Barker finished with a solid second.
358 MODIFIED RESULTS: JEFF RUDALAVAGE, Mitch Gibbs, Aaron Excell, Jeremy Smith, George Hoffmier Jr, Rich Price, Mike Clapperton, John Siedlecky, Skip French, Shawn Ellsworth, Pete Nowicki Jr, Brad Shaffer, J.R. Hurlburt, Steve Walsh, Link Pettit (DNS), Allen Shiffler (DNS).
SPORTSMAN RESULTS: TIM FRENCH, Butch Klinger, Chad Cook, Arnie Slade, Ladd Yeomans, Joe Rando, Don Hart Jr, Chad O'Hara, Billy Price, Bob Conklin, Charlie Hendrickson, Craig Pope.
PRO STOCK RESULTS: WADE DECKER, James Cornell, Pat Nolan, Winnie Winchester, Neil Palladino, Todd Hurlburt, John Walker, Jason Schlafer, Gary Roberts, Terry Mudge, Jason Bartsch, Harold Humphrey, Jason Youngs, Brian Steigerwald.
PURE STOCK RESULTS: SHAUN WALKER, Gene Brainard, Butch Green, Denny Decker, Dennis Valentine, Rob Loucks, Charlie Holcomb, Chris White, Rob White, Craig Hawley.
FOUR CYLINDER STOCK: SHAWN MILLS, Ralph Cuozzo Jr, Russ Hendrickson, Skip Pickwick, Ralph Jennings Jr, Rich Rought, George Crippen, Jason Jaindl, Scott Johnson, Tim Clapper, Joe Bunt, Todd Smith, Ken Hotaling, Andy Graves, Ron Cummings, Pete Christianson, Ed Leslie (DNS).
DWARF CAR RESULTS: DUANE KNAPP, Alan Barker, Chris Thompson, Ray Vosburgh, Tim O'Neill, Steve Tourje, Melanie Axton.