Shaun Walker Wins Another At Afton Motorsports Park Saturday

Story By: DAWN MAYNARD / AFTON MOTORSPORTS PARK – AFTON, NY – Mother nature cooperated as it was Defy Glow and NYSSCA night.

The special honor saw Gary Smith and Roger Heroux inducted into the Hall of Fame. The New York State Stock Car Association honored these drivers. Gary Smith who has twenty-four years of racing, with 150 victories and fourteen championships to his record. The first of them came in 1984 when Gary won his first Enduro race.

Roger Heroux has worn many hats during his time in this great sport. From preparing various race tracks for competition to owning cars for various drivers. He has had sixteen different drivers in his cars. He has won two championships, at Five Mile Point and Utica Rome. Some of the drivers who have raced for him include Mitch Gibbs, Stewart Friesen, Chuck Hebing and is currently working in the 305 Sprint Cars. Both drivers were very humble about being inducted into the hall of fame. They thanked all the people who helped them get to this point. The fans in the grandstands honored them with a standing ovation.

It was now time for the features to roll out onto the track. The mighty Modifieds rolled onto the track with twenty-seven cars taking the green. Three competitors did not make the race as there were thirty teams all looking to be a part of the feature. When the green fell Derek Cornish jumped into the quick lead. Geoff Quackenbush came right back to battle hard with the Cornish machine. They raced side by side with Cornish keeping control of the lead. Lap nine found Doug Polhaumus bringing out the caution and he went pit side. On the restart Geoff once again raced side by side with Derek. Derek regained the lead holding off Geoff. Making a move into third was Justin Holland as he had his eye on the top spot. In turn two Derek Cornish did a 360 degree spin, but went to the pits and didn’t return. That moved the Holland machine into second with Quackenbush in the lead. On the restart the battle heated up with Holland making his move around the fifty-three of Quackenbush. Coming from fifteenth and eleventh was Shaun Walker and Danny Creeden. They now had their eyes on the big prize. It appeared that Justin Holland was going to grab the win, but cautions once again tightened up the field. Now Danny Creeden was up to second place. It was Shaun Walker who was coming to the front. The Billy Fiske machine was having an issue and made contact with the top two. Holland and Creeden were battling hard as Danny made a move around the Holland modified. Justin was not having any of that and moved to the outside attempting to get around Danny. They made contact forcing the 16X to lose a position. On the next caution Justin was put back one position for the contact. That put Shaun Walker into second giving him the chance for the win. On the restart Walker grabbed the lead and checked out. Behind him the battle for second was heating up as Danny and Justin were racing hard. When the checkered flag fell it was Shaun Walker recording his third feature win of the season. Finishing in the top five were Danny Creeden, Justin Holland, Shane Jablonka and Brandon Loucks.

The IMCA modifieds were up next as tonight was their season championship event. Going into tonight’s races Eddie Sites had a lead over Jake Maynard and Tyler Stoddard. Fifteen teams made their way onto the track surface. Bobby Maynard was not able to make the feature after mechanical issues in the heat race. Shawn Bruce and Tyler Belcher made up the front row. The twenty lap race began with Belcher taking the lead. Jake Maynard was right on his bumper hoping to get by. Cautions plagued the event early on, with one of them catching the Maynard sixty-nine. He went pit side and did return, but only for a short time as a mechanical issue sent him back to the pit area. The battle up front was now between the Belcher machine and Gary Roberts. Gary took the lead away and was looking to pick up his first win of the season. Now in second Jared Spalding was piloting the Rodney Morgan number eighty-nine. He tried the inside and outside to make his move around the Roberts machine. Coming on the high side was the 5S of Eddie Sites. He was now in second making the top side his friend. He took the lead away from Gary and set sail to win another feature. Roberts was still in second hoping to pick up his best finish of the season. Unfortunately that would not happen as he broke on the white flag lap. Eddie Sites grabbed his second win of the season and the first IMCA track championship here at Afton.. Finishing in second was Tyler Stoddard, third was newcomer Keith Lamphere, fourth was Tyler Belcher and fifth was Brad Sites.

The Crate Sportsman were running topless for the program. It was definitely different seeing those cars on the track with no roofs. Thirty teams filled the pit area all hoping to qualify for the twenty-four starting positions. They did start twenty-six cars for the feature event. Kyle Smith and Jared Green were in control of the start of the race. As the race began, Jared Green took the lead. He opened up a big lead over the second place of Matt Brewer. Coming to the front on the outside was Dale Welty, who started in eighth. The twenty lap feature almost went green to checker, but the Kyle Smith car brought a caution. As the laps wound down, traffic was playing with the leader. Jared handled each of them with precision. Being a rookie in this division in 2023 he made his moves through the traffic like a veteran. The last caution came t with one lap left. That meant it would be a green, white, checkered finish. Dale Welty was now in fourth setting his eye on third. While Jared opened up a good lead over Matt Brewer. Dale was working on third and hoping for second. Jared Green went on to capture his second feature win of the season. Battling for the rest of the top five were Matt Brewer in second, Dale Welty in third, Jim Cummings and Dave Rosa rounding out the top five.

The Limited Sportsman were up next on the program. Tom Davey and Derrick Shaffer brought the field to the green. Tom grabbed the early lead with Shaffer right there. Coming from the eighth position was Garrett Zacharias. He was picking up positions early in the feature and on lap six he took the lead. He opened up a sizeable lead over the Davey machine. It appeared that Garrett had it all under control as the fifteen lap event was about to not rave any cautions. Coming with hopes to steal away the top spot was Dylan Nichols. He was now in second trying to catch the seventeen of Zacharias. A caution came out for Devon Green who developed a mechanical issue. On the restart Garrett once again held on to the lead. He went on to rack up his second feature win of the season. Coming in second was Dylan Nichols, third was Tom Davey, fourth was Matthew Backus and fifth went to Jason Shedd.

The popular 600cc Modifieds made their way to the track. John Hoover and Darwin R. Greene Jr. were in the front row. Hoover grabbed the early lead as the first caution came out the 566 of Ryan David-Kadaronak. Ryan was taken pit side and did not return to the feature. Tough break for this young man who was second in the season points battle. On the restart many time feature winner Ryan Jordan was now in second. He and Hoover would battle for the top spot. On lap three Ryan would gain control of the feature event. Brenton Payne was using the high side of the track. He and John were battling for the second position. Once Brenton was close enough he made his move on the inside for second. Ryan Jordan has checked out with Brenton trying to catch him. That would not happen as the Jordan number one recorded its fourteenth feature win. Rounding out the top five were Brenton Payne, John Hoover, Talan Oliver and Aiden Miller

The final event of the evening was the Front Wheel Drive 4 Cylinders. Rich Wagner and Andy Bolles made up the front row. When the race began Wagner and Bolles raced for the lead. Coming from fourth was six time feature winner Collin Mills. He was working his way around the Wagner and Bolles machines. Collin grabbed the lead, hoping to grab the win. Coming from the fifth position was Collin’s dad Shawn. He worked his way into the second position, with hopes of catching his son. As the laps went away, Collin opened up a lead over Shawn. Collin who is leading the championship points went on to capture win number seven. Shawn would finish in second. With Andy Bolles, Rich Wagner and Dakota Fuller finishing third through fifth.

It was a night of special memories made and exciting racing. Congratulations to our inductee and the feature winners. Thank you to Defy and NYSSCA for your sponsorship. Coming up on Saturday, August 12th the sponsor will be Wagner Nineveh Night. No Crate Sportsman in competition. The CRSA Sprint Cars will be in attendance along with the weekly division and Factory Stocks. Be sure to mark this night on your calendar as it will be one you won’t want to miss.

ZMK Construction Modified Feature – SHAUN WALKER, Danny Creeden, Justin Holland, Shane Jablonka, Brandon Loucks, Geoff Quackenbush, Darwin Greene, Dennis Clapperton, Seth Zacharias, Ken Titus, Alex Tonkin, Brian Mady, Tyler Yeagle, Joe Krum, JR Hurlburt, Brett Tonkin, Jim Introne Jr, Art Bray, Lenny Miller, Billy Fiske, Jeremy Hamilton, Doug Polhaumus, Nick Mady Jr, Derek Cornish, Brian Puckett, Tyler Ward, Tucker O’Connor
DNQ – John Michael Philips, Brandon Fritsch, James Christ
Heat Race Winners – Brian Mady, Darwin R. Greene Sr, Geoff Quackenbush, Seth Zacharias
Consi Winner – Billy Fiske

Pit Stop Auto Crate Sportsman Feature – JARED GREEN, Matt Brewer, Dale Welty, Jim Cummings, Dave Rosa, Todd Titus, Matt Richardson, Tvien Blowers, Aidan Elliott, Jim Gould, Joe Buchanan, Brad Weaver, Darrell Quackenbush, Brandon Christ, Gary Smith, Dustin Harris, Charlie Towner, Bill Davey Jr, Eric Winsor, Kyle Smith, Chuck Culbertson, Kourtney Slavick, Scot Torbitt, Trey Palmer, Brett Wooster, Brian Durbin
DNQ – Mike Travis, Ned Fitch, Josh Fedo, Craig Pope
Heat Race Winners – Brandon Christ, Jared Green, Dale Welty, Dustin Harris
Consi Winner – Tavien Blowers

Big E’s Shed Sleddin’ & Sales Limited Sportsman Feature – GARRETT ZACHARIAS, Dylan Nichols, Tom Davey, Matthew Backus, Jason Shedd, Stephen Winsor, Buck Brown, Lenny Helmich, Dan Specht, Brad Hurlburt, Jerry Roys, Dave Stanton, Dan Eichler, Devon Green, Derrick Shaffer, Dominick Amato, Buddy French
Heat Race Winners – Garrett Zacharias, Devon Green

Rinker Insurance Agency 600cc Modified Feature – RYAN JORDAN, Brenton Payne, John Hoover, Talan Oliver, Aiden Miller, Darwin R. Greene, Kyle Percy, Larry Furman, Aubrey Davis, Matt Cole, Dillon Beadle, Ryan David-Kadaronak, Keith Lamphere (DNS)
Heat Race Winners – John Hoover, Darwin R. Greene Jr

Carquest of Unadilla FWD 4 Cylinder Feature – COLLIN MILLS, Shawn Mills, Andy Bolles, Rich Wagner, Dakota Fuller, Robert Burch, Randy Lane, John Maynard, Kayla Gould, John Mason, Kenny Benjamin, Tanner Milliron (DNS)
Heat Race Winners – Collin Mills, Rich Wagner

IMCA Modified Feature – EDDIE SITES, Tyler Stoddard, Keith Lamphere, Tyler Belcher, Brad Sites, Shawn Bruce, JW Lamphere, Dave Stalker, Michael Owen, Gary Roberts, Jared Spalding, Lance Conley, Owen Clark, JT Roe, Jake Maynard, Bob Maynard (DNS)
Heat Race Winners – Brad Sites, Eddie Sites