Nye holds off Bachetti and Mahaney for Afton Motorsports Park Modified win
By JR Kennerup
Afton, NY – Improving track conditions at the Afton Motorsports Park on Friday night led to pretty good racing action in all divisions.
In the ZMK Construction Modified 30 lap feature Nick Nye raced to his first win of the season at the track and he had to work hard for it. Nye at first held off the relentless Andy Bachetti for the lead, until he spun out. Mike Mahaney was up next and tried many times to sneak by the Groton, NY driver but to no avail. Nye in for the win over Mahaney, new point leader Mitch Gibbs, Jeremy Smith, and 16th place starting Brett Tonkin.
The 30 lap Modified feature saw Tim Mayne and Steve Babicek bring the field to green with Mayne grabbing the lead over a third place starting Nick Nye, Babicek, Jeff Sheeley, and Kenny Titus.
Lap two saw Craig Hanson enter fifth by passing Titus while Nye started to apply heavy pressure on Mayne for the lead. One lap later Nye got underneath Mayne going into turn three for the lead.
Lap four of the feature was a strange lap indeed with two near accidents taking place, which shuffled the running order significantly and finally a third incident that took out the point leader. When the dust settled Nye and Mayne were still pacing the field but now Mike Mahaney was in third, up from 11th and Mitch Gibbs was fourth while Babicek held on to fifth. The caution came out for a multi car wreck in turn four, which took out point leader Rusty Smith for the night with a broken front end.
On the restart Mahaney and Gibbs both made quick work by moving into second and third, but a trio of drivers deep in the field were making plenty of noise. Defending track champion Andy Bachetti, Jeremy Smith, and Brett Tonkin were all using the extreme top groove in their charge to the front.
Bachetti used his normal high line groove to go from tenth to fourth on lap seven. Seeing him make that move it prompted Smith and Tonkin who were both running in 11th and 12th at the time to go up and try the same groove and both of them had success.
A double file restart on lap 12 brought the Bachetti faithful to their feet as he moved from fourth to second by passing Mahaney and Gibbs. Once in second the Wild Child put immediate pressure on leader Nye for the lead. But Nye was up to the task as he hugged the inside track marking uke tires to keep Bachetti at bay. On lap 13 Bachetti tried another move in his bag of tricks to get by Nye for the lead, but this time disaster struck as Bachetti spun the car out in turn four to bring out the yellow.
On the restart the top three of Nye, Mahaney, and Gibbs pulled away. The driver on the move was Jeremy Smith who went from eighth to fourth and he closed in on the top running trio. With the top four cars pulling away a nice four car battle for fifth was shaping up between Hanson, Titus, Darwin R. Greene who recovered from a flat tire, and Tonkin. These four drivers were exchanging positions every lap for the next nine laps in a row.
Despite one final restart on lap 29 Mahaney didn’t have enough on this night to get by Nye for the lead and win.
Nick Nye aboard his American Taxi sponsored, Morrison powered car in for the win over Mahaney, Gibbs, Jeremy Smith, and Tonkin.
Qualifying for the 17 car field saw heat wins claimed by Bachetti, Babicek, and Nye.
ZMK Construction Modified Finish
- Nick Nye,
- Mike Mahaney,
- Mitch Gibbs,
- Jeremy Smith,
- Brett Tonkin,
8. ANDY BACHETTI
Notes – with a little help (sunny and dry) from Mother Nature and many hours of hard work the track surface was much better than previous weeks and this led to some pretty good feature racing during the evening. Brett Tonkin had to vacate his original starting spot (fifth) in the feature due to switching cars and he charged through the field for a fifth. At intermission a helmet collection was done for long time track friend and race fan Josh Newell who was recently diagnosed with Leukemia, $554 was raised and everyone would like to say Thank You. Matt Cole subbed for the vacationing Bill Nichols in the IMCA’s.
Next week at Afton Motorsports Park will be the first visit of the year for the CRSA Sprint Cars. Due to this special event the Butler Auto Sales Crate Sportsman will have the evening off and return to racing on Friday June 8th for their Fan Appreciation Night.
The Four Cylinder Trucks next week will be racing in the Eric Wagner Memorial Race, the most important race of the year for them.
Joining the CRSA Sprints and Four Cylinder Trucks this upcoming Friday will be the ZMK Construction Modifieds, Chambers & O’Hara Open Sportsman, Rinker Insurance Agency Street Stocks, and The Trophy Guy IMCA Modifieds.
Pit gates will open at 4 pm with grandstand gates opening one half hour later. CRSA heat in motors will be at 5:45 pm with hot laps beginning at 6 pm, and the first heat going green at 7 pm sharp.
Admission prices for this special event will be $30 for the pits with no license required, grandstand is $14, senior citizens age 62 and up is $12, youth aged 9 to 14 are $7, and 8 and under are free with a paid adult admission.
For more information on Afton Motorsports Park please explore the website or call 607-639-DIRT or 607-624-3772.
Afton Motorsports Park is fast, fun and furious – come check us out!