Gibs, French take top honros at Afton
AFTON, NY (July 21, 2000) — For the second week in a row, Afton Speedway dodged the rainstorms that doused the surrounding areas to get in a full program of racing on Friday night.
Thirty DIRT 358 Modifieds made the trek to try and make the 24 car field. Windsor’s Bill Cook and Unadilla native Billy Walters, jr. made up the front row for the 30 lap event.
After a trio of cautions in the first two laps, Berkshire’s Pat Jordan emerged as the leader, followed by Walters and Mike Clapperton, of Sidney Center. Mitch Gibbs, of North Norwich, had the hot set up as he made his way into fourth from his twelfth starting spot by lap number three.
Clapperton and Gibbs moved by Walters on the next lap, putting him in the fourth spot. Gary Smith would then take over the fourth spot from Walters on the fifth lap. Gibbs made the move by Clapperton for second, as the caution flag fell on lap six for Jim Witko, jr.
Gibbs grabbed the lead on the re-start and lead the pack across the line as the caution fell once again, this time on lap eight for Triangle’s Jeremy Smith. During the caution, mechanical problems would end a great run for fourth place runner Gary Smith, of Harpursville.
The final caution of the race on lap 25 tightened the pack up. The top three, Gibbs, Jordan and Clapperton battled side by side for one of the most exciting Modified features of the season.
At the line it was Gibbs picking up his third win of the season, with Clapperton edging Jordan for the second spot. Trout Creek’s Dana Wagner was fourth, followed by current points leader Tony Pepicelli for fifth.
Unadilla’s Mike Walters took the inside line to grab the lead from pole sitter Dave Crandall in the 20 lap Sportsman feature.
Tim French, of Rockdale, took over the second spot from his fourth place starting position, with Steve Anderson of West Edmeston in third. Anderson took the lead on the second lap as the top three diced back and forth for position.
French became the third different leader in three laps, taking the top spot from Anderson, as Chad Cook, of Deposit, moved by Walters for the third spot. Four cautions on the next three laps slowed the pace of the race.
As the field returned to green flag racing, the top three remained the same, as Wink Hinkley moved his Genessee Beer wagon into fourth.
French held on for the win, his fourth of the season, as the Sportsmen ran caution-free for the last fourteen laps. Anderson finished second, with Cook, Hinkley and Arnie Slade completing the top five.
Aaron Hacker, of Harpursville took command of the 20 lap Pro Stock feature from his outside pole starting position, with Guilford’s Todd Hurlburt in second.
Harpursville’s Rodney Hart was the man on the move as he moved into third on the fifth lap after starting twelfth on the field. Hart took over the second spot from Hurlburt on the next circuit and set his sights on Hacker for the lead.
Hart moved into the lead on lap seven as mechanical problems slowed hacker back to the fourth spot. Hacker retired to the pits the next lap and was unable to return to racing action.
Points leader Butch Klinger, of Walton, took over second from Hurlburt at the half-way point of the race, as P.J. Goodwin followed through to take over third on the next lap.
Klinger ran hard, but was unable to make a run for the lead as Hart took home the victory. Klinger came in for second followed by Goodwin, Hurlburt and Bret Belden.
Norwich’s Harold Humphrey had the pole for the 15 lap Four Cylinder Stock event, but it was outside pole sitter Skip Pickwick, of Bainbridge, with the early lead.
A lap one caution would shorten Pickwick’s run, as Dennis Vroman, Ralph Jennings, jr. and Humphrey shuffled Pickwick back to fourth on the restart. Humphrey moved into second on lap three as the yellows came out once again.
Humphrey took over the lead on the restart, as Cortland native Dickie Scutt, making his second appearance of the season, moved through the pack. Scutt moved past Vroman into second on the sixth lap, but was unable to mount a serious challenge to Humphrey.
Humphrey picked up his fourth Four Cylinder win of the year after a string of mechanical problems the past few weeks. Completing the top five were Scutt, Vroman, Ralph Cuozzo, jr. and Jamie Banta.
The 15 lap Pure Stock feature event saw points leader Neil Palladino, of Guilford, take on the early lead followed by Bainbridge’s Rob Loucks and Chris Stull, of Homer.
Stull, making his first appearance at the Action Attraction this season, moved by Loucks for second the next lap. Stull put the pressure on Palladino and made the move for the lead on lap six, as the caution came out for Unadilla’s Bob Stilson.
Stull held on to the lead at the start, and went on to capture the victory. Palladino, Denny Decker, Loucks and Stilson completed the top five.
Outside pole sitter Steve Tourje, of Uniondale, PA, was the early leader at the start of the twelve lap Dwarf Car feature, but his run was short lived as he and third place runner Ken Titus, of Kirkwood, got tangled up on lap two.
Alan Barker, Chic Chandler and newcomer George Moylan battled inside and out for the top spots the next four laps as Tourje made his way back through the pack quickly.
Barker went on for his fourth Dwarf Car win of the season, followed by Tourje, Titus, Gordie Isham and Duane Knapp.
Next Friday night is Pepsi night at the Afton Action Attraction with a full card of 358 DIRT Modifieds, DIRT Sportsmen, DIRT Pro Stocks, Pure Stocks, Four Cylinder Stocks and Dwarf Cars. As always, gates open at 5pm, with racing at 7:30pm.
RESULTS
358-MODIFIED:
Mitch Gibbs, Mike Clapperton, Pat Jordan, Dana Wagner, Tony Pepicelli, J.R. Hurlburt, Aaron Excell, Jeff Rudalavage, Dave Rosa, John Siedlecky, Brad Jones, Jim Witko jr, Skip French, Ed Strada, Mike Gillette, Chris Bushnell, Barry Davis, Justin Holland, Bill Cook, Dave VanBuren, Dan Morden, Earl Walrath, Billy Walter jr, Gary Smith.
SPORTSMAN:
Tim French, Steve Anderson, Chad Cook, Wink Hinkley, Arnie Slade, Don Hart jr, Mike Walters, Craig Pritchard, Ladd Yeomans, Bill Deckelman, Billy Harris, Pete Lyon, Dave Crandall, Michael Trautschold, Kevin Timinsky, Steve
Davis, Joe Rando.
PRO STOCK:
Rodney Hart, Butch Klinger, P.J. Goodwin, Todd Hurlburt, Bret Belden, Denny Smith, Jason Youngs, Jason Schlafer, Pete Christiansen, Bob Zimmerman jr, Erik Knudson, Bob Zimmerman sr, Winnie Winchester, Harold Humphrey, James Cornell, Gus Gould, Pat Nolan, Aaron Hacker, John Payne.
PURE STOCK:
Chris Stull, Neil Palladino, Denny Decker, Rob Loucks, Bob Stilson, Jerry Whorral, Todd Curtin, Todd Smith, James Cornell jr, Dennis Valentine.
FOUR CYLINDER STOCK:
Harold Humphrey, Dickie Scutt, Dennis Vroman, Ralph Cuozzo jr, Jamie Banta, Ralph Jennings jr, Ralph Cuozzo sr, Ed Leslie, Ron Cummings, Cyrus Budine, Scott Johnson, Skip Pickwick, Bob Dedrick.
DWARF CARS:
Alan Barker, Steve Tourje, Ken Titus, Gordie Isham, Duane Knapp, George Moylan, Jerry Roys, Ray Vosburgh, Kraig Heroth, Chic Chandler, Dennis Copp, Scott Boyle, Hal Merrick.