NIGHT OF CAREER FIRSTS AND SPECIAL WINS AT FONDA
Fonda Speedway was the place to be last Saturday evening as two drivers got their first career wins and another won one in honor of his good friend.
Craig Hanson of Tribes Hill, NY took the lead in the modified feature on lap six and led the rest of the way to garner his first career win in the modified division. Erik Nelson was a first time winner in the sportsman division after taking the lead for good on lap 17 of the 20-lap feature event, and “Krazy” Kenny Martin won the pro stock feature in honor of his good friend Hondo Carpenter who passed away a few weeks ago.
What was so special about Martin’s win was that it came in the car that Carpenter piloted. Martin had been driving for only three weeks now after being out of racing for many years. All three wins brought the house down at Fonda with a great crowd on hand to see all of the action.
Other winners on an exciting night of racing at the Track of Champions were George Catanzano (IMCA), Dwight Oldorf and Jeff Crosier (street stock).
Snap-On Tools sponsored the racing program and the New York State Stock Car Association (NYSSCA) was also on hand to hand out their safety awards to the top finishing driver in each feature that was a member of the NYSSCA organization. The $50 awards were handed out to Craig Hanson (modified), Erik Nelson (sportsman), Kenny Martin (pro stock), Danny Ballard (IMCA), John Babcock and Rocky Warner (street stock).
Jerry Pennock Jr. led at the drop of the green flag in the modified feature but when he slowed in turn two on lap six after something broke on his car Hanson was the new leader. Tony Pepicelli took over the second spot at that point with Ryan Odasz and Dave Lape third and fourth respectively after starting seventh and 11th on the grid.
By lap 10, Hanson held a half straightaway lead with lap cars coming into play two laps later. Odasz took over the second position from Pepicelli on lap 18 with the leader still in lap traffic and only a short distance ahead of Odasz. When Hanson was blocked by three lap cars on lap 20, Odasz closed in on the leader.
With seven laps to go in the event, Hanson was now racing hard with the lap car of John Marsh Sr. who wouldn’t let Hanson by without a fight which is exactly what the two drivers did over the remaining laps in the 30-lap event. Both drivers raced hard but clean to the finish with Hanson finally getting by the lap car of Marsh on the final lap. Hanson held everyone at bay and went on to his first career win followed by Odasz, Pepicelli, Ronnie Johnson, and Lape.
“I have been trying to get here to victory lane for awhile now,” Hanson said in victory lane. “People said that it would come and it finally did. The motor was getting hot with the water temperature up to 260 but I wasn’t about to pull in. It was tough out there because the lap cars were not getting out of the way.”
Craig is a second generation driver as his dad Kenny has raced at Fonda for years. “We just got done building this motor Friday night at 10:30,” Kenny said as he celebrated the victory with his son.
Neal Erickson led lap one of the sportsman feature before Nelson took over the point on lap two. John McAuliffe started the event in the eighth spot and by lap 10 he was in the second spot with the yellow coming out shortly afterwards for Mark Kislowski who spun on the backstretch. On the restart, Nelson held the lead for two more laps before McAuliffe got by him on the outside of turn two on lap 12.
Nelson wasn’t about to let this one slip away however as he stayed right on the rear bumper of the defending track champion. On lap 16 McAuliffe and Nelson were side by side for the lead which Nelson eventually got back with three laps to go. Nelson led the final three laps and went on to his first career win over David Towns who got by McAuliffe for the spot on the final lap, Derrick McGrew, and John Scarborough.
Nelson is also a second generation driver with his dad Bill Nelson racing at Fonda years ago. The hug that Erik gave his dad Bill after he got out of the car in victory lane showed just how special the win was to Erik. “It is nice to beat McAuliffe,” Nelson said in victory lane. “He showed me his door under the caution but I wasn’t going to have any of that tonight. I knew that I had a good car, I just had to keep hitting my marks on the track.”
As if the action in the modified and sportsman features weren’t enough the pro stock feature was probably the most competitive of the night. Jason Brownell led lap one before Nick Stone took over the position on lap two after starting eighth. Kenny Martin started the event alongside of Stone and took over the second spot on lap five with Stone just ahead.
Martin was the new leader on lap 12 but that was short lived as Stone retook the spot one lap later. The see saw battle continued for the rest of the event as these two drivers swapped the lead two more times before the checkered flag flew. Martin took over the lead for good on lap 14 with Butchie Irwin and Kenny Gates making it a four car battle for the win over the final five laps.
Martin went on to the win followed by Irwin, Stone, Kenny Gates, and Lori Cary. For Martin it was his first win of 2005 and 29th of his career in the pro stock class at Fonda. He also has one career win in the sportsman division. Ironically the one win that Martin has in the sportsman division came with a motor borrowed from Bob James who owned Hondo Carpenter’s car.
Martin did some donuts on track to celebrate the win and when he got out of the car he clenched his fists high in the air and got the crowd into it, as he was one very excited driver. After getting the checkered flag from starter Denny Tilison, Martin took a lap around the track in honor of his good friend Hondo Carpenter.
“I need to send this race out to my good friend Hondo,” Martin said as the win brought the crowd to their feet. “This win was one of the best, fun times that I have had during my racing career.”
A comment made by Irwin on a local television show a week ago added a little bit of fun to the event as Martin took a custom built tricycle for a ride in victory lane. Both Martin and Irwin had tricycles at the track on Saturday as the comment by Irwin has turned into some good, clean fun between the two competitors and their race teams.
Kevin Priest was the leader of the IMCA feature at the drop of the green flag after getting back into a race car only a couple of weeks ago. Two yellow flags came out on lap seven, the first for Jeff Jones who spun in turn four and the second for Carol Parker who spun in turn one on the restart after the first caution. The yellow flags were significant as it allowed Eric Stumpf to close in on Priest who was out to a straightaway lead before the initial caution flag.
Stumpf took over the lead on the second restart and pulled away with George Catanzano taking over the second spot on lap nine after getting by Priest with Danny Ballard following him through for the third spot. On lap 12, Stumpf and Catanzano were side by side for the lead with Stumpf able to hold on to the spot at that point. The yellow flag was out again on lap 14 of the caution filled event for Priest who spun in turn two while still in the top five.
On the restart, Catanzano timed the restart just right on the backstretch and when Joe Kriss threw the green flag Catanzano ducked under Stumpf and got the lead as the two went into turn three. Catanzano led the rest of the way for his sixth win of the 2005 season and 33rd of his IMCA career at Fonda followed by Ballard, Steve Vrooman, Aaron Jacobs, JoJo Donato.
The street stock “a” feature began with Cassidy Wilson as the leader with an early yellow out on lap two for Norm Lamphear who had an issue with his hood coming up and blocking his view along with an engine that was smoking. On the restart, Phil Pearson took over the lead after starting the event in the seventh spot. Dwight Oldorf started 10th in the feature event and by the time the yellow came out again on lap nine he was already in the second spot. The yellow erased the half straightaway lead that Pearson had before the yellow came out.
On the final lap, Pearson and Oldorf were side by side coming out of turn four to the checkered flag with Oldorf just nipping Pearson for the win at the finish line. For Oldorf it was his third win of 2005 and the fourth of his career in the street stock division at Fonda. Pearson, John Babcock, Wilson, and John Bradt completed the top five in the event.
Don Warner led the first three laps of the street stock “b” feature with Jeff Crosier taking over the second spot on lap three after starting eighth. One lap later Crosier used the inside groove in turn three to take over the lead, one that he would not relinquish for the remaining laps. Rocky Warner got by his father Don for the second spot on lap 11 and that is the way they finished with Crosier the winner followed by Rocky Warner, Don Warner, Dan Hartgraves, and Dan Clemens. For Crosier it was his fourth win of 2005 and seventh of his street stock career at Fonda.
Next week a regular show in all divisions is on the racing card at Fonda starting at 6:00 p.m. Also on the racing card will be the Jack Lockhart Memorial Dash for Cash for non-winners in the sportsman division.
MODIFIED QUALIFYING – 24 total cars – 4 qualify
HEAT 1 – Bobby Vedder, Ryan Odasz, Dave Lape, John Marsh, Jr.
HEAT 2 – Craig Hanson, Tim Clemons, Mike Fusco, Jim Davis
HEAT 3 – Tony Pepicelli, Jerry Pennock Jr., Dustin Purdy, Ronnie Johnson
SNAP-ON MODIFIED FEATURE – 30-LAPS – CRAIG HANSON, Ryan Odasz, Tony Pepicelli, Ronnie Johnson, Dave Lape, Jim Davis, Bobby Varin, Mike Fusco, Tim Clemons, Elmo Reckner, John Marsh Jr., Steve Akers, Alton Palmer, Bobby Vedder, Floyd Billington, Dustin Purdy, Ray Zemken, Dan Humes, John Marsh Sr., Matt DeLorenzo, Todd Morey, Ken Aanonsen, Jerry Pennock Jr.
SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING – 27 total cars – 4 qualify
HEAT 1 – Justin House, David Towns, Pete Sisler, Robert Perry
HEAT 2 – Derrick McGrew, Neal Erickson, Erik Nelson, John McAuliffe
HEAT 3 – Mark Kislowski, John Scarborough, Jeremiah Munson, Drew Fallis
SNAP-ON SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20-LAPS – ERIK NELSON, David Towns, John McAuliffe, Derrick McGrew, John Scarborough, Josh Hohenforst, Justin House, Robert Perry, Jeremiah Munson, Pete Sisler, Mark Mortensen, Tony Farone, Neal Erickson, Mark Kislowski, Dave Constantino, Jason Greco, Luke Monroe, Randy Meka, Kevin Ward, Keith Nichols, Gary Greco, Tom LaPlante, Mike Bellinger, Drew Fallis, Jim Meka, Vinny Sanganetti
PRO STOCK QUALIFYING- 15 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – Butchie Irwin, Nick Stone, Lori Cary, Jeff Patrick, Jason Brownell
HEAT 2 – Chucky Dumblewski, Kenny Martin, Kenny Gates, Luke Klob, Scott Liese
SNAP-ON PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-LAPS – KENNY MARTIN, Butchie Irwin, Nick Stone, Kenny Gates, Lori Cary, Chucky Dumblewski, Jason Brownell, Chip Smith, Scott Liese, Jeff Patrick, Richard Taylor, Dan Rickard
IMCA QUALIFYING – 14 total cars – 4 qualify
HEAT 1 – Danny Ballard, Aaron Jacobs, Jeremy Cramer, George Proctor III
HEAT 2 – Kevin Priest, Eric Stumpf, JoJo Donato, Steve Vrooman
SNAP-ON IMCA FEATURE – 20-LAPS – GEORGE CATANZANO, Danny Ballard, Steve Vrooman, Aaron Jacobs, JoJo Donato, Eric Stumpf, Bob Banks Jr., Carol Parker, Jeff Jones, George Proctor III, Jeremy Cramer, Kevin Priest, Danny Ody
SNAP-ON STREET STOCK “A” FEATURE – 12-LAPS – DWIGHT OLDORF, Phil Pearson, John Babcock, Cassidy Wilson, John Bradt, Dave Horning Jr., Ivan Joslin, Dave Horning Sr., Norm Lamphear, Joe Smith
SNAP-ON STREET STOCK “B” FEATURE – 12-LAPS – JEFF CROSIER, Rocky Warner, Don Warner, Dan Hartgraves, Dan Clemens, Howard Smith, Matt Humes, Guy Klob, Dan Pollock, Mike Ketchum, Warren Pollock
by Fonda Speedway