AJ Walters Victorious In Pro Stock Feature Event Win At Utica-Rome Speedway Friday Night

Story By: CHRIS MOORE / UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY – VERNON, NY – Newport, N.Y.’s A.J. Walters claimed his fifth Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks victory of the season, outdueling Andy Graves with just two laps to go to pick up the victory.

Graves led the opening 18 laps of the affair, but Walters got by with a runoff turn two and led the final two laps to claim the victory.

Graves settled for the runner-up spot with Ken Griffin, George Cushman, and Kenny Gates completing the top five.

The STSS Modifieds were on hand for rounds of timed practice, with the fastest car in each set locking into the Beyea Custom Headers Redraw for tonight’s ‘Working Man’s Race.’

Elizabethtown, N.Y.’s Mike Mahaney and Durhamville, N.Y.’s Matt Janczuk were the quick timers, setting themselves up for the redraw this evening.

The CRSA 305 Sprint Cars were on hand for their one and only appearance at the ‘Home of Heroes’ and Zach Sobotka pulled off an upset victory, the first of his sprint car career.

In just his fifth start in a sprint car, Sobotka led all 25 laps of the A-Main on his way to his first career Sprint Car triumph.

It wasn’t all easy for Sobotka, as the front wing on his No. 38 machine broke off the racecar, forcing him to drive an ill-handling car for the final 18 laps of the event.

Sobotka’s front wing coming did end second place running Dillon Paddock’s night, as the runner-up ran over the front wing, damaging something in the rear and forcing him to retire from the main.

Sobotka held off the challenges from Tyler Graves to pick up the victory. Graves, Kyle Pierce, Johnny Smith, and Tomy Moreau completed the top five.

The Stone Motorsports/Online Performance Parts Street Stocks were on hand for their one and only appearance of ’24 as well and it was Jason Samrov leading all 20 laps on his way to the victory.

Samrov held off a challenge from brother Josh Samrov in the late stages to pick up the victory.

Josh Samrov, Mark Lester, Matt Mosher, and Ray Pierre Jr. completed the top five.

Sullivan Dickey dominated the All-Star Slingshot main event for his second win of the season, while Brody Janczuk celebrated his 11th birthday with his first career Junior Slingshot triumph.

Pro Stocks

Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 22W-AJ Walters[8]; 2. 96-Andy Graves[1]; 3. 25Y-Ken Griffin[3]; 4. 13-George Cushman[12]; 5. 35-Ken Gates[7]; 6. 101-Ed Kotary[10]; 7. 15K-Mike Kazluaskas[5]; 8. 19-Chuck Cushman[9]; 9. 94-Kevin Gates[14]; 10. 28G-Gus Gould[15]; 11. 44R-Ray Richer[13]; 12. 63-Matt Rose[16]; 13. 81-Bret Belden[6]; 14. 74N-Jim Normoyle[2]; 15. 72G-Denis Gauvreau[4]; 16. 17-Ernie Staelens[11]

Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 72G-Denis Gauvreau[3]; 2. 15K-Mike Kazluaskas[5]; 3. 74N-Jim Normoyle[6]; 4. 81-Bret Belden[7]; 5. 19-Chuck Cushman[4]; 6. 17-Ernie Staelens[8]; 7. 44R-Ray Richer[1]; 8. 28G-Gus Gould[2]

Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 25Y-Ken Griffin[2]; 2. 22W-AJ Walters[4]; 3. 96-Andy Graves[1]; 4. 35-Ken Gates[7]; 5. 101-Ed Kotary[6]; 6. 13-George Cushman[5]; 7. 94-Kevin Gates[8]; 8. 63-Matt Rose[3]

Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks Hot Laps 1: 1. 74N-Jim Normoyle, 00:22.539[12]; 2. 35-Ken Gates, 00:22.549[4]; 3. 22W-AJ Walters, 00:22.553[16]; 4. 72G-Denis Gauvreau, 00:22.686[6]; 5. 96-Andy Graves, 00:22.791[8]; 6. 101-Ed Kotary, 00:22.818[11]; 7. 63-Matt Rose, 00:23.210[14]; 8. 17-Ernie Staelens, 00:23.458[15]; 9. 94-Kevin Gates, 00:23.528[5]; 10. 25Y-Ken Griffin, 00:23.602[9]; 11. 44R-Ray Richer, 00:24.251[13]; 12. (DNS) 81-Bret Belden; 13. (DNS) 19-Chuck Cushman; 14. (DNS) 13-George Cushman; 15. (DNS) 28G-Gus Gould; 16. (DNS) 15K-Mike Kazluaskas

Street Stocks

Online Performance Parts / Stone Motorsports Street Stocks A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 24V-Jason Samrov[1]; 2. 24N-Josh Samrov[4]; 3. 14L-Mark Lester[3]; 4. 91-Matt Mosher[2]; 5. 72-Ray Pierre Jr[5]; 6. 16-Steve Walters[7]; 7. (DNS) 54-Wayne Russell Jr; 8. (DQ) 44-Malcum Warner[6]

Online Performance Parts / Stone Motorsports Street Stocks Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 24V-Jason Samrov[4]; 2. 91-Matt Mosher[7]; 3. 14L-Mark Lester[2]; 4. 24N-Josh Samrov[6]; 5. 72-Ray Pierre Jr[1]; 6. 44-Malcum Warner[5]; 7. 16-Steve Walters[3]; 8. (DNS) 54-Wayne Russell Jr

Online Performance Parts / Stone Motorsports Street Stocks Hot Laps 1: 1. 91-Matt Mosher, 00:24.851[2]; 2. 24V-Jason Samrov, 00:24.965[4]; 3. 14L-Mark Lester, 00:25.320[1]; 4. 24N-Josh Samrov, 00:26.764[5]; 5. 72-Ray Pierre Jr, 00:26.884[3]; 6. 16-Steve Walters, 00:28.300[6]; 7. (DNS) 54-Wayne Russell Jr; 8. (DQ) 44-Malcum Warner, 00:25.242[7]

All Star Slingshots

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 54-Sullivan Dickey[1]; 2. 29-Billy Richardson[3]; 3. 42-Kevin Loveless[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 54-Sullivan Dickey[3]; 2. 42-Kevin Loveless[1]; 3. 29-Billy Richardson[2]

Junior Slingshots

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 33X-Brody Janczuk[1]; 2. 15-Billy Pauch III[3]; 3. 22-Parker Fowler[2]; 4. 20-Preston Trautschold[4]; 5. 67X-Jaxx Welch[6]; 6. 23-Mark Cioffi[5]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 33X-Brody Janczuk[1]; 2. 22-Parker Fowler[3]; 3. 15-Billy Pauch III[2]; 4. 20-Preston Trautschold[5]; 5. 23-Mark Cioffi[4]; 6. 67X-Jaxx Welch[6]

Hot Laps 1: 1. 33X-Brody Janczuk, 00:14.076[3]; 2. 15-Billy Pauch III, 00:14.181[4]; 3. 22-Parker Fowler, 00:14.187[2]; 4. 20-Preston Trautschold, 00:14.225[5]; 5. 23-Mark Cioffi, 00:14.583[1]; 6. 67X-Jaxx Welch, 00:14.788[6]

Modifieds

Timed Hot Laps 1: 1. 35M-Mike Mahaney, 00:18.318; 2. 7MM-Michael Maresca, 00:18.364; 3. 02-Jack Lehner, 00:18.367; 4. 66X-Carey Terrance, 00:18.451; 5. 1-Rocky Warner, 00:18.624; 6. 43-Keith Flach, 00:18.633; 7. 01C-Willy Decker, 00:18.666; 8. 7Z-Zach Payne, 00:18.685; 9. 23-Brandon Loucks, 00:18.715; 10. 28-Matt Janczuk, 00:18.770; 11. 97-Bobby Hackel IV, 00:18.774; 12. 11T-Jeff Taylor, 00:18.800; 13. 44H-Chris Hulsizer, 00:18.879; 14. 24-Jake Dgien, 00:18.901; 15. 101-Billy Pauch Jr, 00:18.902; 16. 84Y-Alex Yankowski, 00:18.936; 17. 20C-Craig Hanson, 00:19.015; 18. 9J-Jim Becker, 00:19.131; 19. 6H-JR Hurlburt, 00:19.153; 20. 83-Kevin Stevens, 00:19.264; 21. 55J-Brian Calabrese, 00:19.338; 22. 8M-Tim Mayne, 00:19.361; 23. 84JR-Adam Coots, 00:19.544; 24. 369-Jim Walsh, 00:38.621; 25. 77-Alan Barker; 26. (DNS) 44CD-Ed Downing

Timed Hot Laps 2: 1. 28-Matt Janczuk, 00:18.351[10]; 2. 02-Jack Lehner, 00:18.409[3]; 3. 43-Keith Flach, 00:18.472[6]; 4. 7MM-Michael Maresca, 00:18.492[2]; 5. 1-Rocky Warner, 00:18.495[5]; 6. 23-Brandon Loucks, 00:18.706[9]; 7. 11T-Jeff Taylor, 00:18.892[12]; 8. 84Y-Alex Yankowski, 00:18.910[16]; 9. 7Z-Zach Payne, 00:18.935[8]; 10. 97-Bobby Hackel IV, 00:18.961[11]; 11. 44H-Chris Hulsizer, 00:18.996[13]; 12. 24-Jake Dgien, 00:19.002[14]; 13. 101-Billy Pauch Jr, 00:19.040[15]; 14. 83-Kevin Stevens, 00:19.049[20]; 15. 9J-Jim Becker, 00:19.178[18]; 16. 20C-Craig Hanson, 00:19.331[17]; 17. 55J-Brian Calabrese, 00:19.396[21]; 18. 6H-JR Hurlburt, 00:19.509[19]; 19. (DNS) 77-Alan Barker; 20. (DNS) 84JR-Adam Coots; 21. (DNS) 01C-Willy Decker; 22. (DNS) 44CD-Ed Downing; 23. (DNS) 35M-Mike Mahaney; 24. (DNS) 8M-Tim Mayne; 25. (DNS) 66X-Carey Terrance; 26. (DNS) 369-Jim Walsh

Hot Laps 1: 1. 02-Jack Lehner, 00:18.261[14]; 2. 1-Rocky Warner, 00:18.335[25]; 3. 28-Matt Janczuk, 00:18.381[13]; 4. 7Z-Zach Payne, 00:18.416[20]; 5. 35M-Mike Mahaney, 00:18.460[16]; 6. 43-Keith Flach, 00:18.605[8]; 7. 97-Bobby Hackel IV, 00:18.625[9]; 8. 24-Jake Dgien, 00:18.643[6]; 9. 84Y-Alex Yankowski, 00:18.671[26]; 10. 11T-Jeff Taylor, 00:18.750[22]; 11. 23-Brandon Loucks, 00:18.755[15]; 12. 84JR-Adam Coots, 00:18.863[4]; 13. 101-Billy Pauch Jr, 00:18.883[19]; 14. 9J-Jim Becker, 00:18.923[2]; 15. 20C-Craig Hanson, 00:18.937[10]; 16. 369-Jim Walsh, 00:19.060[24]; 17. 6H-JR Hurlburt, 00:19.156[12]; 18. 01C-Willy Decker, 00:19.307[5]; 19. 77-Alan Barker, 00:19.319[1]; 20. 83-Kevin Stevens, 00:19.333[21]; 21. 55J-Brian Calabrese, 00:19.344[3]; 22. 44H-Chris Hulsizer, 00:19.400[11]; 23. 8M-Tim Mayne, 00:19.516[18]; 24. (DNS) 44CD-Ed Downing; 25. (DNS) 7MM-Michael Maresca; 26. (DNS) 66X-Carey Terrance