JR Kennerup
Afton Motorsports Park
AFTON – Afton Motorsports Park beat the weather on Friday night with a quickly paced racing program that despite some light showers, saw the entire show completed.
Tim Mayne made sure that a feature win would not get away from him in the ZMK Construction Modifieds like it did last week. Mayne led all 30 circuits on this night to claim the win, his first since 2011. Rusty Smith chased Mayne the entire race, settling for second with Mitch Gibbs, Nick Nye, and Brett Tonkin rounding out the top five.
Mayne would use big block power to get the lead over Smith, Kenny Titus, Craig Hanson, and Darwin R. Greene.
Following a lap four restart, the top four remained the same while Gibbs moved into fifth. With Titus slipping up and out of the groove on lap five, Hanson to move into third at this point.
Mayne, Smith, and Hanson paced the field after a restart on lap 12. Gibbs was able to move into fourth while Nick Nye took fifth when the race returned to action. One lap later, Gibbs used the inside line to move past Hanson for third.
With the top three pulling away by the halfway point, a battle was taking place for positions fourth through seventh with Hanson, Nye, Tonkin, and Mike Mahaney. All racing hard looking for the quick way to the front.
Ten laps to go, Tonkin got around Nye for fifth. It didn’t sit well with the driver from Groton, NY.
On the next circuit, Nye moved back into fifth and one lap later slipped under Hanson for fourth. Tonkin moved past Hanson for fifth on lap 24.
Up front, Mayne was holding a comfortable lead as the laps were winding down.
Smith had his hands full holding off Gibbs for second but mustered up enough of a charge to give a shot at the win one last try. On the final lap, Smith drove into turns three and four as hard as he could, catching the cushion just right.
Mayne won his first Modified win in seven years by a car length over Smith, Gibbs, Nye, and Tonkin.
Emotional first win for Kuhn
The Chambers & O’Hara Open Sportsman 20 lap feature was an emotional one indeed. Brandon Kuhn led all 20 laps to win on the birthday of his late grand mother to pick up his first win of the year.
Kuhn opened up a small lead, leaving Dennis Clapperton to deal with third generation racer, Tyler Hart.
Hart, after trying for a few laps, was able to get past Clapperton for second on fifth lap and focused on the race leader. Meanwhile, Clapperton was duking it out with two-time defending track champion Claude Hutchings Jr. for third.
As the good racing up front was keeping the fans attention, a driver coming from the rear was making some noise. Corey Cormier, who elected to race in both Sportsman divisions on this night with the same car, came out of nowhere in his sealed crate engine against the open motors and moved into fifth by lap 13.
Kuhn held off every chance for a pass by Hart up front to go on to the feature win over Hart, Clapperton, Hutchings, and Cormier, rounding out the top five.
Veteran driver pulls away for big win
The Butler Auto Sales Crate Sportsman saw veteran driver Gary Smith after getting the lead pull away to win by a large margin in the 20 lap feature.
Rob Loucks jumped out to the lead over Kinser Hill, Gary Smith, Greg Monroe, and Aaron Shelton.
New track regular Ryan Macartney, showed that he is learning quickly as he moved into fifth on lap two.
However, one lap later, Macartney’s night would end with front-end damage after getting into an incident while racing for fifth.
On the lap four restart, Loucks held onto the lead. Smith was able to get under Hill for second and Corey Cormier moved into fourth. Shelton had to pit for a flat tire but quickly raced back into fifth.
Smith, who has showed great speed all year long, grabbed the lead from Loucks. Pushing wide in turn one on lap five, Loucks lost second to Hill.
Once in front, Smith showed just how quick his car really was as he easily opened up a full straightaway lead. Loucks pushed up the track for the second time on lap 11, allowing Cormier to move into third and Shelton into fourth.
With five laps to go, Smith had a half a track lead. Hill and Cormier locked into a tussle for second while Shelton was by himself in fourth and Blaine Klinger coming up behind him in fifth.
Smith took the checkered flag for his first ever Sportsman feature win. Cormier took second on the final lap over Hill. Shelton and Klinger rounded out the top five.
Cornell goes six-for-six on the season
The Trophy Guy IMCA Modifieds saw an increased purse and a bounty on James Cornell. The 20 lap feature, with the help of sponsorship, had a potential of seeing $1,025 going to the feature winner and the big money brought some invaders in looking for it.
The suspense of whether five-time feature winner Cornell could keep up his winning streak was intensified when he was involved in a multi-car accident on lap one. Cornell was left no place to go and slammed on the brakes to avoid contact. Fortunately, no damage was incurred on his machine.
On the restart, the shuffled running order saw Bill Nichols lead over Billy Ward, Rodney Morgan, Will Ward, and Beau Ballard.
