ODASZ & RJ WIN MOD MAINS
KISLOWSKI & MUNSON SPLIT SPORTSMAN FEATURES
The Track of Champions had a full plate of racing Saturday night with double features for both the modifieds and sportsman. The intense action had the fans out of their seats more than in them Saturday night. Ryan Odasz and Ronnie Johnson were the winners of the two 30-lap modified features. Mark Kislowski and Jeremiah Munson were victorious in the two 20-lap sportsman mains. George Catanzano won the 20-lap IMCA modified feature and Nick Stone won the 20-lap pro stock feature. Dwight Oldorf and Rocky Warner won the two 12-lap street stocks features. The Race Invaderz kids club was out in full force. Many of the kids worked super hard on projects for their special night. The highlight of the night was the awarding of the BMX bikes to over a dozen lucky kids. The bikes were donated by the drivers and painted up to match their racers.
Joey Duncan and Tony Pepicelli set the pace for the rained out modified feature from last week. Pepicelli grabbed the advantage on the start, but the caution flew quickly on lap two as Alton Palmer slowed in turn two. Palmer was done for the race with serious driveline problems. That would be the only caution period for the entire race. Jack Johnson started ninth on the grid and took the lead on lap three from Pepicelli. Ryan Odasz started the race in 18th and was third by lap five! Odasz moved into the runner-up position on lap eleven as he passed Tim Clemens. Lapped traffic started to play a factor by lap eleven, but Johnson held a sizeable lead on Odasz. At the halfway point, it was Johnson, Odasz, Clemons, Matt Delorenzo and Pepicelli running in the top five.
As the laps started to wind down it appeared that Johnson had the race locked up, but little by little, Odasz was able to close the gap. Heavy lapped traffic and a shift in lane choice helped Odasz catch Jack with five laps to go. Johnson had his brand new Teo stuck to the bottom of the track, while Odasz had his racer wound up on the topside. Odasz made his bid for the lead in turn four as they took the white flag. Johnson had to move outside to avoid a slower car and contact between the he and Odasz was made. Odasz took the one to go signal as the leader and went on to record his second victory of the season. “Jack owns this place. I’ve looked up to him since I was ten years old. I think we may have surprised him a little with that move,” Odasz stated from victory lane. Jack Johnson did finish second with Bobby Varin finishing third. Clemons finished fourth and Delorenzo rounded out the top five.
In the second modified feature, Pepicelli once again held the early advantage until a caution flag on lap three. Ryan Odasz went from the penthouse to the outhouse after contact sent him hard into the turn three wall, severely damaging his car. Alton Palmer passed Pepicelli on the restart and took the lead. At the halfway point, it was Palmer, Pepicelli, Jack Johnson, Ronnie Johnson and Clemons. Johnson was looking to avenge the earlier loss as he passed the front two cars and moved into the lead by lap 18.
Ronnie Johnson was following his dad to the front and moved into second on lap 22. Jimmy Davis had borrowed a motor from Alton Palmer during the week and was making the most of the opportunity. He started 15th on the grid and was up to third by lap 22. Once again, Jack looked to have the race in hand, but a caution on lap 27 bunched up the field. Todd Morey dropped fluid on the track in turn one and Joey Duncan and Dustin Purdy crashed after running through the slippery substance. The restart set-up a Johnson family show down, but Ronnie Johnson quickly passed his dad in turn two and took the lead on lap 27. The final caution of the race came out on lap 28 as Bob Vedder and Craig Hanson hooked together in turn three. This gave Jack one last chance, but his son held off the challenge to record his second victory of the season. Davis and Varin swapped third several times in the final laps with Davis holding the advantage at the end. Varin finished fourth and Palmer rounded out the top five.
The sportsman division had double features as well on Saturday night. Mark Kislowski took command of the first feature after a lap four restart and drove away from the rest of the field. Kislowski had the perfect set-up on the car and it looked like he was on cruise control. By the halfway point in the feature, he had a full straightaway lead over second. There was great action behind Kislowski between David Towns and Josh Hohenforst. Towns moved into second on lap ten and chipped steadily into Kislowski’s lead. Elmo Reckner went up in smoke going down the backstretch on lap 17, but no caution was needed. Heavy lapped traffic gave Kislowski a scare with two to go, but he managed it masterfully and crossed the finish line almost seven seconds ahead of Towns for his first career sportsman victory. “The car was perfect tonight. It was so easy to drive. I have to thank the whole Trombley crew and everyone that has made this possible,” a jubilant Kislowski exclaimed from victory lane. Hohenforst finished third with John Scarborough fourth and John McAuliffe rounding out the top five.
Luke Monroe led the first six laps of the second 20-lap sportsman feature. He held off one challenge from Jeremiah Munson on lap four, but could not hold off the second effort on lap six. While running near the front of the pack David Towns and Justin House made contact on lap seven. Towns hit the front stretch wall hard, but continued racing. The only caution flag flew on lap nine. Towns passed Monroe for second on the restart and for the second time tonight set sail after the leader. Munson and Towns pulled away from rest of the field by lap 14. Munson held on for his fifth career sportsman victory at the track. Towns could never mount a serious challenge but like Jack Johnson in the modifieds, he had his second runner-up finish of the night. Luke Monroe had a great third place finish and Scarborough finished in the top five for the second time tonight. House rounded out the top five.
Rod Slater led the first four laps on the 20-lap pro stock feature. He handed the lead over to Kenny Martin on lap five. Martin running in memory of Hondo Carpenter readapted to running a pro stock quickly and looked fats. Butchie Irwin made the move of the race going from fifth to second on lap five. A restart just before halfway saw Martin and Irwin touch and Irwin shuffled back to fourth. This allowed Kenny Gates to move into second and Nick Stone into third. Gates began applying pressure on Martin for the lead and made the pass in turn two on lap eleven. Martin was able to get back by Stone into second on lap 12. A restart on lap 13 saw Irwin moved into third and relegate Stone back to fourth. Stone responded with a power move on the outside to take two spots on lap 15. A caution on lap 16 set up a four-lap shoot-out to the finish. Gates still searching for his first win of 2005 tried to hold Stone off on the restart. Stone made his bid on lap 17 and took the lead and the victory. Gates had to settle for second again, with Irwin third, Martin fourth and Roy Fifield fifth.
Eric Strumpf took the lead from Justin Labombard on the second lap of the IMCA modified feature. Right behind Strumpf was George Catanzano while Danny Ballard was moving into the top five as well. By the halfway point of the race Strumpf, Catanzano and Aaron Jacobs pulled away from the rest of the field settle it amongst themselves. Catanzano made his move on lap 17 passing Strumpf for the lead in turn four. Catanzano was able to cruise home for his fifth win of the season.
The Track of Champions will be back in action next Saturday night with a regular program. As an added attraction, the USAF Simulator will be at the track along with Ricky Rudd’s Nextel Cup racer. Race time is set for 6:00. Check us out on the web at www.fondaspeedway.com.
PONDEROSA MODIFIED FEATURE FROM 7-9-05 (30-LAPS) RYAN ODASZ, Jack Johnson, Bobby Varin, Dave Lape, Tim Clemons, Matt Delorenzo, Jim Davis, Tony Pepicelli Ronnie Johnson, Jerry Pennock Jr, Steve Akers, Josh Pieniazek, Billy Osta, Ray Zemken, Dustin Purdy, Ansel Collins, Todd Morey, Bob Vedder, Joey Duncan, Craig Hanson, John Marsh Jr, Floyd Billington, Alton Palmer, Robert King
MODIFIED FEATURE FROM 7-16-05 (30-LAPS) RONNIE JOHNSON, Jack Johnson, Jim Davis, Bobby Varin, Alton Palmer, Tony Pepicelli, Matt Delorenzo, Ray Zemken, Tim Clemons, Josh Pieniazek, Craig Hanson, Floyd Billington, Jerry Pennock Jr, Bob Vedder, John Marsh Jr, Joey Duncan, Dan Humes, Steve Akers, Todd Morey, Dustin Purdy, Ansel Collins, Jeff Holt, Billy Osta, Dave Lape, Ryan Odasz
PONDEROSA SPORTSMAN FEATURE FROM 7-9-05 (20-LAPS) MARK KISLOWSKI, David Towns, Josh Hohenforst, John Scarborough, John McAuliffe, Jeremiah Munson, Erik Nelson, Justin House, Derrick McGrew, Mark Mortensen, Robert Perry, Pete Sisler, Vinny Sanganetti, Neil Erickson, Luke Monroe, Dave Constantino, Chris Garrity, Randy Meka, John Constantino, Keith Nichols, Bob Schreppel, Gary Greco, Elmo Reckner, Mike Bellinger
SPORTSMAN FEATURE FROM 7-16-05 (20-LAPS) JEREMIAH MUNSON, David Towns, Luke Monroe, John Scarborough, Justin House, John McAuliffe, Tony Farone, Robert Perry, Drew Fallis, Mark Mortensen, Josh Hohenforst, Mark Kislowski, Derrick McGrew, Randy Meka, Vinny Sanganetti, Elmo Reckner, Pete Sisler, Dave Constantino, Kevin Ward, Dan Papa, Keith Nichols, Tom LaPlante, Neil Erickson, Chris Garrity
PRO STOCK FEATURE 7-16-05 (20-LAPS) NICK STONE, Kenney Gates, Butchie Irwin, Kenny Martin, Roy Fifield, Rob Langevin, Lori Cary, Chip Smith, Dan Rickard, Jason Brownell, Jerry Pepper, Rod Slater, Bernie Companion, Rick Langenback, Wayne Patrick
IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE FROM 7-16-05 (20-LAPS) GEORGE CATANZANO, Eric Strumpf, Aaron Jacobs, Danny Ballard, JoJo Donato, Jeremy Cramer, Danny Ody, Justin Labombard, Ken VanWert, Carol Parker, Bob Banks Jr, Malcum Warner, Jeff Jones
STREET STOCK “A” FEATURE 7-16-05 (12-LAPS) DWIGHT OLDORF, Ron Tollner, Phil Pearson, John Babcock, Mike Burdo, Dan Hartgraves, Cassidy Wilson, Pete Broderson, Howard Smith, Sam Surnear, Joe Smith, Glen Weaver
STREET STOCK “B” FEATURE 7-16-05 (12-LAPS) ROCKY WARNER, Jeff Crosier, John Brandt, D.T. Pickard, Dan Pollock, Norm Lamphere, Don Warner, Ivan Joslin, Warren Pollock, Luke Horning, Bruce Whitefield, Neil Cosselman