Green And Anderson Get Fulton Spots At Afton
Afton, New York...9/18/99.....1999 Modified track champ held off a late race surge by Brian Weaver to take home the feature win and the guaranteed starting spot in the Victoria 200 last Saturday night at the Afton Speedway in the forty lap feature.. Steve Anderson also put his name on the Fulton entry list as he dominated the twenty-five lap Sportsman qualifier and will represent the Afton Speedway in that prestigious weekend.
By luck of the draw Green wound up on the pole and wasted no time establishing himself as the man to beat. Mike Clapperton, from his outside pole starting spot provided the early challenges to Green despite a number of early race yellows. Dominick Roselli got by Clapperton on lap four and set sail after Green who was intent on putting distance between himself and the rest of the field. Weaver, who had started in eleventh was steadily working his way through the pack and entered the top five by lap five.
Weaver, who already had a Fulton spot moved into third as he got by Clapperton on lap thirteen and got by Roselli for the second spot at the halfway point of the race. By this time Green had a commanding lead in the race but Weaver started to close the gap as the laps ticked off on the scoreboard. By lap thirty , Weaver was on Green’s back bumper and the race was on. Over the last ten laps Weaver tried every conceivable groove to get by the track champ but Green was equal to the task and held off the Ken Wilson sponsored mount at every turn.
Green took the checkers by less than a car length at the finish over Weaver. Roselli was a strong third followed by six time winner Tony Pepicelli in fourth and Gary Smith in fifth. Sixth through tenth went to Chris Bushnell, J. R. Hurlburt, Chuck Akulis, Jeremy Smith and Mike Gilette.
Steve Anderson pretty much had things his own way in the companion Victoria 20 qualifier for the Sportsman machines. Like Green Anderson drew the pole position. A four car tangle on the first lap eliminated the cars of Five Mile champ Tony Ross and Lakeville Speedway’s Jim Leyshon and four time Afton winner Dave Rosa. On the very next lap 1999 track champion Jim Crawn encountered a flat right rear and went to the pits under green. With three top runners in the pits, Anderson took advantage and increased his margin over three time winner Don Hart Jr. With no yellow flags to aid him Hart was unable to gain any ground on Anderson and wound up finishing second as the checkers flew. Wink Hinkley ran a strong third followed by a great run by the young Dave Crandall and round out the top five was Chad Cook in his new ride, the former Arnie Slade piloted machine.
Chad Cook took advantage of a Rick Holgate flat tire to post his eleventh win of the 1999 season in the Pro Stock twenty lapper. Barry Stephens led the first four laps before spinning. This gave Holgate the lead which he held despite constant pressure from P. J. Goodwin and track champ Cook. Cook passed Holgate for the lead as the crossed flags were shown to the field. Holgate’s run ended on lap sixteen as a right rear went down giving second to Goodwin followed by a fast closing Mike Decker who had made an early race pit stop. Cook crossed comfortably under the checkers as Decker and Goodwin made contact but P. J. held on for second with Decker third. Denny Smith and Johnny Walker completed the top five.
Todd Hurlburt led the first three laps of the four cylinder feature before Afton’s own Dave Jaindl took command on lap four. Jaindl encountered a problem on lap nine and gave the lead back to Hurlburt who was having a tough time holding on because of the intense pressure from Dickie Shcutt. Hurlburt and Schutt made contact on lap thirteen and Schutt went by for the lead which he held till the checkered flag flew. Hurlburt came home second followed by Ralph Cuozzo Jr., Scott Johnson and Dennis Vroman. After the victory lane ceremonies the first and second place teams became involved in an altercation in the pit area resulting in the disqualification of both and giving the win to Ralph Cuozzo Jr.
Gordie Isham survived an early race duel with young Alan Barker and cruised home with his seventh win of the year on the twelve lap Dwarf Car feature. Barker later fell far off the pace with mechanical woes. Isham finished a substantial distance in front of Louie Gordonier who came home second and Ken Titus who finished third. Completing the top five were Steve Tourje and Duane Knapp.
Double duty driving Mike Decker copped the fifteen lap Pure Stock feature despite a late race effort from Andy Tiffany who was right there at the end but didn’t have enough to pass Decker for the win. Denny Tiffany came home third followed by Larry Darling in fourth and Todd Hurlburt in fifth.
The next item on the Afton Speedway schedule will be the second annual Halloween "Spooktacular" on Friday and Saturday October 29th and 30th. Watch the paper for details.
MODIFIED FINISH: Robbie Green, Brian Weaver, Dominick Roselli, Tony Pepicelli, Gary Smith, Chris Bushnell, J. R. Hurlburt, Chuck Akulis, Jeremy Smith, Mike Gilette, Carl Nagel, Steve Walsh, Jeff Sheeley, George Lewis, Alan Rudalavage, Randy Decker, Mike Nagel, Tony Wrench, Bobby Puckett, Bill Walters, Aaron Excell, Dan Morden, John Siedlecky, Ed Hawley.
SPORTSMAN FINISH: Steve Anderson, Don Hart Jr., Wink Hinkley, Dave Crandall, Chad Cook, Brad Jones, Tim Ross, Pete Lyon, Robin Oltz, Gary Smith, Jim Crawn, Tony Ross, Jim Leyshon, Dave Rosa.
PRO STOCK FINISH: Chad Cook, P. J. Goodwin, Mike Decker, Denny Smith, Johnny Walker, Barry Stephens, Denny Decker, Chris Piasecki, Roger Lewis, Bob Zimmerman, Ken Winn, Fred Crist, Aaron Hacker, Rick Holgate, Scott Brown, Bob Zimmerman Jr., Steve Gould, James Crist, Tracy Gregory, Mike Trautschold, Charles Holcomb, Jason Schlafer, Tery Mudge.
FOUR CYLINDER FINISH: Ralph Cuozzo Jr., Scott Johnson, Dennis Vroman, Jamie Banta, Jim Money, Bob Dedrick, Ralph Cuozzo Sr., Kevin Davenport, Dave Jaindl, Mike Lester, Dean Haskins, Tim Rudolph, Ralph Jennings Jr., Don Cummings.
PURE STOCK FINISH: Mike Decker, Andy Tiffany, Denny Tiffany, Larry Darling, Todd Hurlburt, Rodney Hart, Joe Bono, Jim Laubmeier, Denny Decker, Dave Karp.
DWARF CAR FINISH: Gordie Isham, Louie Gordonier, Ken Titus, Steve Tourje, Duane Knapp, Dennis Copp, Matt Vosburgh, Ed Knapp, Alan Barker, Bunk Ellis.