Pepicelli Picks Up Fifth Win At Afton Raceway

Afton, NY - For the fifth time this

season, Duanesburg's Tony Pepicelli

took home top honors in the 358

Modified division Friday night at Afton

Speedway.

Earlville's Mike Gillette and Windsor

native Bill Cook made up the front row

for the 30 lap Modified event. Gillette

took the lead at the start, with Berkshire's

Pat Jordan following throu into second,

and Gary Smith moving into third.

Tony Pepicelli moved past Smith to

take over the third spot on lap three, and

moved past Jordan to take over second as

the caution came out on lap four.

Pepicelli grabbed the lead from

Gillette as the green flag fell, as the

caution flew once again on lap five. J.R.

Hurlburt, of Otego, got by Jordan for

third during a multitude of cautions on

laps five, six and seven.

As the field returned to green flag

racing, Pepicelli held on to the lead,

followed by Gillette, Hurlburt, and Gary

Smith who moved past Jordan into the

fourth spot. Hurlburt took over second

from Gillette as the two crossed on lap

fourteen.

The top four remained the same as

Jeff Rudalavage, of Olyphant, PA made

his way into fifth. A pair of cautions on

laps 28 and 29 tightened the pack up for a

one lap dash for the cash. A tangle on

the last lap involving Smith would knock

him out of the top five.

At the line, it was Pepicelli taking the

win, followed by Hurlburt, Rudalavage,

Gillette and Dana Wagner.

Dave Crandall, of Greene, had the

pole for the 20 lap Sportsman feature,

with Unadilla's Mike Walters on the

outside.

Walters took the early lead, with

Steve Davis, of Jordansville, in second

and Guilford's Arnie Slade in third.

After three cautions during the first two

laps, Davis took over the lead from

Walters as the fourth caution came out on

lap four.

Davis kept the lead through another

caution period, and maintained his lead

when the green flag came back out.

Slade took over the second spot from

Walters on lap 8, and set his sights on

Davis for the lead. Steve Anderson

moved by Walters for third the next lap.

Slade made his move nad took over

the top spot on lap 13, as Bill Deckelman

moved past Walters into fourth.

Slade went on to pick up his second

victory in a row at the Action Attraction.

Davis finished second, with Anderson,

Deckelman and Chad Cook completing

the top five.

Slade wasn't the only one to pick up

back to back features on Friday.

Walton's Butch Klinger made it two in a

row in the Pro Stock division.

After three cautions on the first lap of

the 20 lap event, Trout Creek's Denny

Smith emerged as the leader, with

Unadilla's Winnie Winchester in second

and Klinger in third.

Klinger, who started ninth in the

field, took over second from Winchester

as the caution fell on lap four for Aaron

Hacker. At the restart, it was Klinger

winning the drag-race to the first turn,

taking over the lead from Smith.

A caution on lap eight, again for

Hacker, would tighten the pack back up.

Klinger held on to the lead, as Rodney

Hart, of Harpursville moved into fourth.

Binghamton's P.J. Goodwin and Bret

Belden, of West Edmeston, battled for

fifth, but Belden broke on lap 13, ending

his night.

Hart and Goodwin shuffled

Winchester back to fifth by lap fifteen,

but the race was all Klingers. Klinger

went on for his third win of the season,

followed by Smith, Hart, Goodwin and

Winchester.

Bainbridge's Rob Loucks took the

lead at the start of the 15 lap Pure Stock

feature, but it was short lived as James

Cornell, jr., of Brooktondale, took over

the top spot on the second lap.

Guilford's Neil Palladino took over

second from Loucks the next lap, and put

the pressure on Cornell until getting

involved in an accident on lap five.

At the restart, Mark Effner moved

into second behind Cornell, with Loucks

riding in third. Loucks moved back int

osecond past Effner on lap ten, as

Palladino made his way up to fourth.

Cornell, jr. came up with his first win

of the season, followed by Loucks,

Effner, Palladino and Jerry Whorral.

Sidney Center's Ralph Cuozzo, sr.=

took the early lead from his outside pole

starting spot in the 15 lap Four Cylinder

Stock feature event.

Skip Pickwick ran in second until

losing the handle on his machine on lap

three, giving second to Norwich's Harold

Humphrey.

An incident on lap four involving

Humphrey, third place runner Ralph

Cuozzo, jr. and Scott Johnson would put

all three in the back of the pack. Jamie

Banta inherited the second spot, with

Oxford's Jim Money in third.

Banta took over the lead on the

restart, as a multi-car incident would

shake up the rest of the pack. Dennis

Vroman moved up to second, with Ed

Leslie in third.

Money took over Vroman for second

at the half-way point on lap eight.

Cuozzo, jr. made his way back to fourth.

Vroman lost the handle on lap ten, but

was able to gather it back up without a

caution.

Banta picked up the win, his second

in a row and third of the season. Money

came in for second, with Cuozzo, jr. 3rd,

Bob Dedrick 4th and Scott Johnson 5th.

Uniondale, PA's Steve Tourje was

the early leader in the twelve lap Dwarf

Car feature, holding on to the spot from

his pole starting position.

After a pair of cautions at the start of

the race, Charleton, Massachusette's

native Chic Chandler made the pass for

the lead on lap number four. Alan

Barker, who had to start from the rear

after being involved in the first caution,

moved by Tourje for second on the fifth

lap.

Barker gave it all he had as the trio

moved into lapped traffic, but it wasn;t

enough as Chandler went on for the

victory. Barker finished second, followed

by Tourje, Ken Titus, and Hal Merrick.

358 MODIFIED RESULTS: Tony

Pepicelli, J.R. Hurlburt, Jeff Rudalavage, Mike

Gillette, Dana Wagner, Mike Clapperton, John

Siedlecky, Justin Holland, Gary Smith, Jim

Witko, Steve Walsh, Brad Jones, Jeremy

Smith, Dan Morden, Skip French, Pat Jordan,

Bill Cook, Mitch Gibbs, Aaron Excell, Dave

Rosa, George Lewis, Brian Malcolm, Billy

Walters jr, Steve Eldred.

SPORTSMAN RESULTS: Arnie Slade,

Steve Davis, Steve Anderson, Bill Deckelman,

Chad Cook, Mike Walters, Don Hart jr, Wink

Hinkley, Dave Crandall, Craig Pritchard, Pete

Lyon, Michael Trautschold, Don Newell, Billy

Harris, Tim French.

PRO STOCK RESULTS: Butch Klinger,

Denny Smith, Rodney Hart, P.J. Goodwin,

Winnie Winchester, Harold Humphrey, James

Cornell, Jason Youngs, Gus Gould, Pete

Christiansen, Pat Nolan, Jason Schlafer, Bret

Belden, John Payne, Aaron Hacker, Erik

Knudson, Todd Hurlburt.

PURE STOCK RESULTS: James Cornell

jr, Rob Loucks, Mark Effner, Neil Palladino,

Jerry Whorral, Dennis Valentine, Todd Curtin,

Owen Beavers, Denny Decker, Scott Brown,

Scott Chapman, Bob Stilson.

FOUR CYLINDER STOCK : Jamie

Banta, Jim Money, Ralph Cuozzo jr, Bob

Dedrick, Scott Johnson, Ralph Jennings jr, Ed

Leslie, Dennis Vroman, Ron Cummings,

Cyrus Budine, Skip Pickwick, George Procter,

Harold Humphrey, Ralph Cuozzo sr.

DWARF CARS: Chic Chandler, Alan

Barker, Steve Tourje, Ken Titus, Hal Merrick,

Louie Gordinier, Duane Knapp, Scott Boyle,

Terry Gordinier, Ray Vosburgh, Troy

VanAllen, Gordie Isham.