Hurlburt And Hinkley Take First Wins At Afton

Afton, NY - Otego, NY's J.R.

Hurlburt and Grand Gorge native Wink

Hinkley picked up their first feature wins

of the season at Afton Speedway.

Bill Cook of Windsor and Rockdale's

Skip French started on the front row of

the 30 lap 358 Modified Main event.

French grabbed the early lead, with Cook

falling into second followed by Mike

Gillette and Dana Wagner.

Wagner, of Trout Creek, moved from

fourth to second, as the caution fell on

lap three for George Lewis and Brad

Jones. Wagner took over the lead from

French on the restart, as J.R. Hurlburt

moved up into fourth from his fifth

starting position.

The top four remained the same until=20

Hurlburt grabbed the third spot from

Gillette on lap nine. Hurlburt made his

way by French to take over the second

position as the lead pack came into

lapped traffic.

A lap fourteen caution involving Pat=20

Jordan, Jeff Rudalavage and points leader

Tony Pepicelli would tighten the pack

back up behind leader Wagner.

Hurlburt took over the lead on the

restart, as North Norwich=E2=80=99s Mitch Gibbs

took over the third spot from French.

Gibbs moved into second on lap 18, as

Aaron Excell, of Hubbardsville, moved

into third the next lap.

Wagner's great run would come to a

halt on lap 23 as he and fifth place runner

Steve Walsh got tangled up together.

Jeremy Smith of Triangle inherited the

fourth spot with French in fifth.

Gibbs put the pressue on for the

remainder of the race, but Hurlburt was

able to hold him off to pick up his first

win of the season at Afton. Gibbs

finished second, followed by Excell,

Smith and French.

Dave Crandall of Greene had the pole=20

position for the 20 lap Sportsman feature

event, with Billy Harris of Treadwell on

the outside.

Harris took the lead on the start, with

fourth place starter Chad Cook, of

Deposit, following through for the second

spot. Wink Hinkley of Grand Gorge and

Guilford's Arnie Slade took over the

third and fourth spots on lap two.

Rockdale's Tim French made his way

into the top five from his eighth starting

spot, passing Crandall for the position.

The top five remained unchanged until

Jamie Christian brought out the race's

first caution on lap 8, followed by

another caution on lap 9 for Jim Crawn.

Harris faltered on the restart, falling

back in the pack. Cook took over the

lead, but it was short lived as Hinkley

took over the bid for the top spot on lap

10, as the caution fell again.

Hinkley held the lead as the green

flag waved while Cook and Slade battled

for the second spot. Slade overtook Cook

on the back stretch on lap 16, but a

caution brought out by newcomer Brian

Cobb, of Honesdale, would place Cook

back into second.

Hinkley held on the capture his first

win of the season in his Genessee Beer

Wagon. Cook finished second, with

Slade, Don Hart, Jr., and Tim French

completing the top five.

Jason Schlafer of Walton and

Harpursville's James Cornell were on the

front row for the 20 lap Pro Stock

feature. Denny Smith, of Trout Creek,

continued to be haunted by mechanical

problems, as he retired to the pits just

after the green flag came out.

Cornell took the early lead, as Todd=20

Hurlburt, of Guilford, moved into the

second spot from his fifth starting

position. Unadilla's Winnie Winchester

took over fourth, shuffling Schlafer back

to fifth.

After a lap 3 restart, Aaron Hacker,=20

Butch Klinger and Harold Humphrey got

by Winchester, moving him back to sixth.

Humphrey, of Norwich, made his way by

Hurlburt on lap six, and set his sights on

race leader Cornell.

Humphrey tried high and low, but

could not get by Cornell, meanwhile

Klinger, of Walton, moved into the third

spot behind Humphrey.

Rookie driver Cornell held on to the=20

lead until losing the handle of his

machine with just five laps remaining in

the event, giving the lead to Humphrey.

Humphrey held on fir his second win

in a row in the Pro Stock division at

Afton, followed across the line by

Klinger, Bret Belden, P.J. Goodwin and

Hurlburt.

The 15 lap Four Cylinder stock

feature proved to be one of the most

exciting races of the night as Harold

Humphrey tried to go for the double after

winning the Pro Stock event.

Bob Dedrick, of Bainbridge, and Fly

Creek's Ed Leslie set the pace. Fourth

place starter Dennis Vroman, of North

Blenheim, taking the lead on the start.

Vroman held the lead as a couple of

caution periods shuffled the running

order. At the restart on lap three, it was

Vroman with the lead, followed by last

week's winner Jamie Banta, of Unadilla,

and Humphrey, who had moved up from

his tenth starting spot.

Humphrey took over second from

Banta on the ninth lap, and set his sights

on first. Humphrey gave it all he had, but

could not get by as Vroman won by half

a car length. Ralph Jennings, jr., Banta

and Scott Johnson completed the top five.

Pole sitter Bob Stilson, of Unadilla,

grabbed the early lead in the 15 lap Pure

Stock feature, with Coventry's Scott

Chapman running second.

Windsor's Denny Decker and

Bainbridge native Rob Loucks took over

the top spots on lap three. James Cornell

took over second from Loucks on a lap

four restart.

Neil Palladino took over third from

Loucks on lap six, as the top four would

remain unchanged all the way to the

checkered. Decker took home the top

honors, making it three in a row in the

Pure Stocks for him.

Ken Titus of Kirkwood became the

seventh different winner in the

competitive Dwarf Car division.

Titus started outside pole in the 12=20

lap event, and lead wire to wire holding

off past feature winner Alan Barker,

Gordie Isham and Louie Gordinier to

capture his first victory of the season.

Please note, the DIRT 358 Modified

Tour show scheduled for July 18th has

been changed to July 25th. This event

will also include the Pro Stocks and Four

Cylinder stocks.

358 MODIFIED RESULTS: J.R.

Hurlburt, Mitch Gibbs, Aaron Excell, Jeremy

Smith, Skip French, Mike Clapperton, Tony

Pepicelli, Jeff Rudalavage, John Siedlecky,

Earl Walrath, Brad Jones, Mike Gillette, Bill

Cook, Dana Wagner, Gary Smith, Brian

Malcolm, Steve Eldred, Steve Walsh, George

Lewis III, Pat Jordan, Dan Morden, Dan Janus,

Billy Walters.

SPORTSMAN RESULTS: Wink Hinkley,

Chad Cook, Arnie Slade, Don Hart Jr, Tim

French, Steve Anderson, Steve Davis, Joe

Rando, Billy Harris, Jamie Christian, Jim

Potts, Mike Walters, Dave Crandall, Brian

Cobb, Jim Crawn.

PRO STOCK RESULTS: Harold

Humphrey, Butch Klinger, Bret Belden, P.J.

Goodwin, Todd Hurlburt, Winnie Winchester,

Jason Schlafer, Jason Youngs, Fred Christ,

James Cornell, Charles Holcomb, Bob

Zimmerman, Pete Christiansen, Erik Knudson,

Pat Nolan, Aaron Hacker, Guy Park, Bob

Zimmerman Sr, Denny Smith.

PURE STOCK RESULTS: Denny Decker,

James Cornell Jr, Neil Palladino, Rob Loucks,

Scott Chapman, Bob Terrell, Jim Laubmeier,

Todd Curtin, Tony Pease, Bob Stilson, Dennis

Valentine.

FOUR CYLINDER STOCK: Dennis

Vroman, Harold Humphrey, Ralph Jennings

Jr, Jamie Banta, Scott Johnson, Bob Dedrick,

Ed Leslie, Alan Smith, Skip Pickwick, Ron

Cummings, Ralph Cuozzo Sr, Rob White,

Ralph Cuozzo Jr.

DWARF: Ken Titus, Alan Barker, Louie

Gordinier, Terry Gordinier, Hal Merrick, Steve

Tourje, Scott Boyle, Dominick Commesso,

Gordie Isham, Ray Vosburgh, Dennis Copp.