AFTON – Friday night at the Afton Motorsports Park saw even better track conditions than the week before and led to some pretty outstanding racing taking place in all divisions on Afton Driving Park night.
The ZMK Construction Modified feature was captured by Brett Tonkin after coming on strong late in the race to pass Tim Mayne for the lead on lap 27.
Mayne jumping out to the lead over Hanson, Darwin Greene, Tonkin and Smith. With the leading duo pulling away, Tonkin slipped under Greene for third on lap four. On a lap seven restart, Mayne once again pulled out to a small lead over Hanson, Tonkin, Greene, and Smith. When Hanson slipped up, the turn four cushion on lap nine was erased and Tonkin was able to grab second.
Dealing with the same slip-up but on lap 12, Greene allowed Smith to move into fourth and Nye into fifth. In the front of the pack, Mayne was in control and looking to pull-off the huge upset win.
With the remainder of the race going caution free, the big lead that Mayne once had was now shrinking little by little. What once was a 15 car-length lead at the halfway point was down to three with eight laps to go.
It seemed that the Mayne car was slowing down as the Tonkin car was getting quicker. Exiting turn two on lap 26, the Mayne car pushed up the track and that was all Tonkin needed as he filled the opening. The two raced side-by-side into turn three and coming out of turn four Tonkin had the lead.
Once in front, Tonkin opened up a big lead with Mayne – who was trying his best to hold off the remainder of the field. Mayne once again pushed up in turn three on lap 27, allowing Hanson to move into second.
Tonkin grabbed his first of the year, making Friday’s winner the fifth different driver to take the checker for Modified feature this season at Afton Motorsports Park. Hanson, Smith, Nye, and Mayne rounded out the top five.
67 year old records first career Sportsman win
Friday’s Chambers & O’Hara Open Sportsman feature will be a feature remembered for a long time at Afton as 67 year old Skip Pickwick, driving the Hart Logging sponsored and maintained car, led the entire feature for his first career Sportsman win.
Pickwick led Dave Rosa, Dennis Clapperton, Brandon Kuhn, and Tyler Hart across the line.
Motoring out to the early lead over Dennis Clapperton, Klinger, Dave Rosa, and Dan Burman was Pickwick.
Following a lap five restart, Pickwick was still out infront of the field while Rosa and Burman battled for fourth. Two laps later, Rose slid into the fourth-place position, pushing Burman back one spot.
On a lap 11 restart, the 67 year old racer continued to show the superior power in his engine as jumped out to his largest lead of the race. Rosa moved up to third on the same restart, passing Klinger.
With Klinger sliding a few laps later, Burman moved into fourth. The next lap saw Brandon Kuhn sneak past Klinger to break into the top five.
The race leader Pickwick was running a perfect line around the smooth track with his lead growing each lap. Rosa got under Clapperton, moving into second by lap 18. He turned his focus onto Pickwick for the lead. With Rosa unable to catch Pickwick for the top spot, the crowd was standing and cheering for the race winner as Pickwick captured his first career Sportsman feature win.
Rosa, Clapperton, Burman, and Kuhn rounded out the next four places but in the post race tech inspection, the Burman car was found to be racing under the minimum weight requirement. Burman was disqualified moving Tyler Hart into the final spot of the top five.
Crate Sportsman feature sees same winner
Nearly seeing a surprise winner, Corey Cormier passed leader Fred Christ with four laps to go and go on to the win over Bobby Flood, Christ, Kinser Hill, and Blaine Klinger for the Butler Auto Sales Crate Sportsman feature.
When racing resumed Christ found himself infront over Cormier, Bobby Flood, Kinser Hill, and Klinger.
Christ was holding his own against Sportsman standout Cormier as it seemed that Cormier didn’t have enough to get by Christ for the lead. However, a caution with five laps to go closed the field up and that is all Cormier needed.
When the green lights flashed back on, Christ kept his lead but now Cormier was looking for a way around Christ for the lead.
Christ made one mistake that he paid for it as he slipped up exiting turn two on lap 16. Cormier filled the open hole to take the lead entering turn three to lead lap 17. He cruised to the win.
Cornell wins fifth straight IMCA feature
For five straight weeks, James Cornell has seen the checkered flag first as he crossed the finish line as the winner for the Trophy Guy IMCA Modified feature. The stout field is making him work harder for each feature win. Cornell took the lead on lap ten from Jake Maynard and went on to win over Beau Ballard, Maynard, Tyler Stoddard, and Tim Vandemark.
Maynard bolted into the lead over Ballard, Vandemark, Cornell, and Stoddard but Cornell moved into third on lap two and started making his move to the leader Maynard. Racing a very consistent line on the bottom part of the track was Maynard, letting Cornell know that if he wanted to pass him, he would have to go around him, not under him.
As Cornell realized that he wasn’t able to pass Maynard down low, he took the high side of the speedway. Maynard was racing hard down low but Cornell was up top and building momentum and was gaining on Maynard for the lead.
The leading duo raced under the crossed flags before Cornell was able to take the lead. Once infront, he opened up a big lead.
Other Friday night races:
The 15 lap Rinker Insurance Agency Street Stock feature saw the four race win streak of Butch Green snapped by Dustin Harris.
Both drivers raced side by side for the entire race distance with Harris using set up advice from Green, going onto the win. Harris led Green, Ron Greek, Fred Christ, and Jonathon Fowlston across the stripe.
Harris was able to gather his thoughts and ran two perfect laps to capture the win over Green, Greek, Christ, and Fowlston.
The 15 lap Four Cylinder Truck feature was an elbows up feature on this night with plenty of hard racing taking place. Ralph Cuozzo took the lead from Trey Palmer with two laps to go and go on to his fourth win of the year over Palmer, Brandon Loucks, Jerry Lanfair, and Dylan Nichols.
The racing was hard and fast with plenty of contact taking place throughout the field, which led to some caution flag periods.
Late in the race, Cuozzo applied the heavy pressure on Palmer for the lead and Cuozzo finally made it work with a turn four high-side pass coming down for the one-to-go signal.
 There will be a new ZMK Construction Modified track champion as consecutive, two-time and defending Modified track champion Andy Bachetti has decided to race elsewhere on Friday nights.
In the Crate Sportsman feature, Kinser Hill spun out and track officials made a call that would have sent Tyler Ward to the rear for spinning Hill out. However, Hill stopped to inform track officials that he was already going around before Ward hit him, thus allowing Ward to keep his position. Brandon Walters suffered terminal engine woes in his heat ending his evening of racing.
This Friday night, June 22, Afton Motorsports Park will be New York State Stock Car Association (NYSSCA) Night. John Keegan and his NYSSCA Staff will be on hand to award bonus money to NYSSCA Members who finish in the top finishing position in the feature events.
They will also be signing up new members at the track on this night. In racing competition will be the ZMK Construction Modifieds, Chambers & O’Hara Open Sportsman, Butler Auto Sales Crate Sportsman, The Trophy Guy IMCA Modifieds, Rinker Insurance Agency Street Stocks, and Four Cylinder Trucks.
Pit gates open at 4 p.m., grandstand gates open 30 minutes later. Hot laps by the racers will start at 6:15 pm, and the first heat goes green at 7 p.m., sharp.
Pit admission with no track license/membership required is $30, adult grandstand admission is $12, seniors age 62 and up are $10, youth aged 9 to 14 are $5, and 8 and under are free with a paid adult admission.
For more information on Afton Motorsports Park please log on to the World Wide Web at www.aftonmotorsportspark.com or by calling (607)-639-DIRT (3478) or (607)-624-3772.
Afton Motorsports Park is fast, fun, and furious...come check it out.
ZMK Construction Modified Finish Order: Brett Tonkin; Craig Hanson; Jeremy Smith; Nick Nye; Tim Mayne; Darwin R. Greene; Mitch Gibbs; Rusty Smith; JR Hurlburt; Steve Babicek; Kenny Titus; Ray See; Jim Cummings. DNS; Brandon Walters.
Chambers & O’Hara Open Sportsman Finish Order: Skip Pickwick; Dave Rosa; Dennis Clapperton; Brandon Kuhn; Tyler Hart; Butch Klinger; Claude Hutchings; Jr.; Don Hart; Jr.; Craig Pope; Bill Deckleman; Steve Andersen; Rich Coons. DQ; Dan Burman (light).
Butler Auto Sales Crate Sportsman Finish Order: Corey Cormier; Bobby Flood; Fred Christ; Kinser Hill; Blaine Klinger; Tyler Ward; Aaron Shelton; Craig Monroe; Gary Smith; Ryan Macartney; Michael Grover; Rob Loucks; Duane Knapp; Cody Clark; Fred Smith; Matt Roberts. DNS; AJ Digsby.
The Trophy Guy IMCA Modified Finish Order: James Cornell; Beau Ballard; Jake Maynard; Tyler Stoddard; Tim Vandemark; Gary Roberts; Eric Stumpf; Bryan Steigerwald; Bill Nichols.
Rinker Insurance Agency Street Stock Finish Order: Dustin Harris; Butch Green; Ron Greek; Fred Christ; Jonathon Fowlston; Ralph Cuozzo; Ernie Staelens; Jason Burgher.
Four Cylinder Truck Finish Order: Ralph Cuozzo; Trey Palmer; Brandon Loucks; Jerry Lanfair; Dylan Nichols; Jeff Young; Pete Christensen; Kyle Lanfair; Derrick Brundege; Bob Crandall.

– JR Kennerup, Afton Motorsports Park