Pepicelli And Fench Cruise To Afton Wins

Afton, NY - After several weeks of=20

bad luck, Duanesburg's Tony Pepicelli

returned to Afton Speedway's victory

lane, picking up the 358 Modified feature

win Friday night.

Jeremy Smith, of Triangle, and

Morris native Brad Jones started on the

front row of the 30 lap Modified event.

Smith took the early lead as the green

dropped, with Jones trailing in second.

Middeltown’s Steve Walsh took over=20

the second spot from Jones on lap four,

as sixth place starter Tony Pepicelli

edged out Pat Jordan, of Berkshire, to

break into the top five. Pepicelli made

his way by fourth place runner John

Siedlecky the next lap, and set his aim at

the third position.

A caution for a spinning J.R. Hurlburt

on lap seven would benefit Pepicelli, as

he took over third from Jones on the

restart. A second caution on lap nine for

Hubbardsville’s Aaron Excell would

tighten the pack right back up.

As the pack re-started double file,

Pepicelli followed Smith under second

place runner Walsh to take over the

runner up position. Another caution

period on lap eleven for a tangle between

Skip French and Mike Gillette would set

the stage for an epic battle.

As the green flag flew, Smith and

Pepicelli diced it out side by side. The

duo continued to run wheel to wheel,

exchanging the lead several times by only

inches, for the next eleven laps, as the

crowd stood on their feet.

Pepicelli finally took the lead for

good on lap twenty-two, and went on to

pick sixth win of the season. Smith,

Walsh, Jordan and J.R. Hurlburt

completed the top five.

The win couldn’t come at a better=

time for current points leader Pepicelli, as

he increased his lead over J.R. Hurlburt

to sixteen points, after entering the night

just five points ahead of him.

Tim French, of Rockdale, tightened

up the points battle in the Sportsman

division by capturing the win in the 20

lap Feature Friday night.

Outside pole sitter Mike Walters, of=20

Unadilla, lead the first lap, but pole sitter

Dave Crandall, of Greene, fought back to

take the lead on lap two. Deposit’s Chad

Cook, and Tim French moved past

Walters to take over second and third on

lap three.

Cook got by Crandall to take over the

lead on the next lap, as Crandall wound

up getting shuffled back to fourth, behind

Walters. Cook’s reign was short lived, as

French took over the top spot on the sixth

lap.

Last week’s feature winner Ladd

Yeomans, of Swan Lake, moved into

third past Walters on lap nine, but neither

Cook nor Yeomans could mount a

serious challenge against French, as the

Sportsman ran from flag to flag without a

caution.

French took home the win, followed

by Cook, Yeomans, Walters, and Steve

Anderson. With his fifth win of the

season, French moved to within three

points of current points leader Arnie

Slade.

Harold Humphrey, of Norwich, was

the early race leader in the 20 lap Pro

Stock feature, as he grabbed the lead at

the start from his outside pole starting

position.

Rookie driver James Cornell, of

Harpursville ran second with pole starter

Jason Youngs in third. West Edmeston

native Bret Belden took over the third

spot from Youngs as they crossed the

stripe on lap four.

After a lap seven restart, Cornell and

Humphrey ran side by side into turn one,

and after the top two got a little out of

shape it was Cornell emerged in the lead,

with Belden second and Humphrey third.

It looked as if the rookie driver

Cornell was on his way to his first

victory, until a flat right front tire caused

by a busted shock mount ending his bid

for the win on lap twelve.

Belden inherited the lead, and went

on to pick up his first feature win at the

Afton Action Attraction. Humphrey

finished second, with Butch Klinger, P.J.

Goodwin and Youngs completing the top

five.

Jamie Banta, of Unadilla, brought his

00 machine back to victory lane for the

fourth time this year, picking up the win

in the Four Cylinder Stock division.

Skip Pickwick, of Bainbridge, took

the lead from his pole starting position at

the start of the fifteen-lap event, as Banta,

who started third, followed Pickwick

under Ed Leslie to move into second.

A lap three caution for Brian

Steigerwald bunched the pack back up

for a double file restart. Banta took over

the lead as the green came back out, with

Norwich’s Harold Humphrey making the

move into second.

Humphrey looked high and low

throughout the next twelve laps, but

could not make a bid on the lead, as

Banta took home the checkers.

Humphrey finished second, followed by

Pickwick, Jim Money and Scott Johnson.

The 15 lap Pure Stock feature saw

pole sitter Todd Smith, of Deposit, jump

out to the early lead, only to relinquish

the spot to fourth place starter Mark

Effner, of Bridgewater, on the next lap.

Effner held on to the lead until points

leader Neil Palladino made the move to

take the top spot on lap six.

Palladino, who started sixth in the

field, went on to pick up the win, making

it two in a row for the Guilford native,

and six for the season. Effner, Rob

Loucks, Denny Decker, and Bob Stilson

completed the top five.

In the ever-popular Dwarf Car

division, it was the youngster from

Sherburne, Alan Barker, making it three

in a row, as he took home the 12 lap

Main event.

Ken Titus, of Kirkwood, took the lead

at the start from his outside pole starting

position. Barker, who started sixth,

moved past Windsor’s Gordie Isham into

second at the half-way point.

Titus and Barker battled side by side,

as Louie Gordinier, of Glen Castle, made

a surprise move to g from third to first

with just one lap to go. Barker powered

past Gordinier going into turn three on

the final lap, and held on to capture his

seventh win of the year at Afton.

This coming Friday is Four Cylinder

Stock fan appreciation night, brought to

you by Pepsi. As always, gates open at

5pm, with racing at 7:30pm.

358 MODIFIED RESULTS: Tony

Pepicelli, Jeremy Smith, Steve Walsh, Pat

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

Clapperton, Dave Rosa, Barry Davis, John

Siedlecky, Brian Malcolm, Gary Smith, John

Ritter, Skip French, Brad Jones, Bill Cook,

Mike Gillette, Dana Wagner, Aaron Excell,

Pete Christiansen.

SPORTSMAN RESULTS: Tim French,

Chad Cook, Ladd Yeomans, Mike Walters,

Steve Anderson, Dave Crandall, Arnie Slade,

Wink Hinkley, Don Hart jr, Alan Barker,

Steve Davis.

PRO STOCK RESULTS: Bret Belden,

Harold Humphrey, Butch Klinger, P.J.

Goodwin, Jason Youngs, Todd Hurlburt, Jason

Schlafer, James Cornell, Denny Smith, Wade

Decker, Randy Ryan, Mike Lester, Guy Park,

Winnie Winchester, Terry Mudge, Denny

Decker.

PURE STOCK RESULTS: Neil Palladino,

Mark Effner, Rob Loucks, Denny Decker, Bob

Stilson, Todd Smith, Todd Curtin, Dennis

Valentine.

FOUR CYLINDER STOCK: Jamie Banta,

Harold Humphrey, Skip Pickwick, Jim Money,

Scott Johnson, Ralph Jennings jr, Ralph

Cuozzo jr, Ron Cummings, Bob Dedrick,

Cyrus Budine, Dennis Vroman, Ralph Cuozzo

sr, Brian Steigerwald, Ed Leslie, Jeff Mills.

DWARF CARS: Alan Barker, Louie

Gordinier, Ken Titus, Gordie Isham, Duane

Knapp, Chic Chandler, Steve Tourje, Hal

Merrick, Scott Boyle, Ray Vosburgh.