SPECIAL WIN FOR JOHNSON AT FONDA
Years ago when Jim King was announcing at Albany Saratoga, King pegged the saying “R.J. is on the way” to Ronnie Johnson. Last Saturday at Fonda it was just like the old times again as King who now announces at Fonda was able to use the saying to describe Johnson’s win at the Track of Champions. For Johnson it was his first win of 2005 and the fifth of his career in the modified division at Fonda.
Other winners on Freihofer’s Night at Fonda were Justin House (sportsman), Steve Welch (pro stock), Danny Ballard (IMCA), Dan Hartgraves and Jeff Crosier (street stock). Wayne Patrick was the winner of the 7th annual pro stock dash in memory of Bev Caputo. The event is held each year for non-winners in the pro stock division to honor the memory of Bev Caputo and to raise money for breast cancer research.
“Out of all of the races that I have won here at Fonda this one means the most as I did it in my own equipment this time,” Johnson said in victory lane. “I really have to thank my sponsors JRP Construction, Saint Johns Stone & Concrete, Witz Roofing and my entire crew for this. They have all worked really hard to get me here tonight.”
John Marsh Sr. led the modified feature at the drop of the green flag from his outside pole starting spot but it was Mike Fusco who was the leader when lap one was completed after he got by Erik Mack, Dustin Purdy and Marsh in one quick move. Just as soon as lap one was completed the yellow flag was out for three cars that crashed in turn four. All were able to continue.
Ryan Odasz and Johnson both got by Marsh for the second and third positions on the restart after starting sixth and eighth respectively. At that point Jack Johnson was also in the top five after starting ninth. On lap four defending track champion Dave Lape got out in the loose stuff in turn one and hit the wall with the right rear of his car. He pitted and continued but on lap six he was out of the event as the damage was more severe than first thought.
On a lap eight restart after Matt DeLorenzo spun in turn two, Fusco continued to lead while Ronnie Johnson was second after getting by Odasz with Jack Johnson now third and Bobby Varin fourth. In lap traffic on lap 16, Ronnie closed in on the leader and three laps later when Fusco changed lanes to the low side of the speedway after running the high groove all race long, Ronnie was able to swing around the outside of him in turn three to get the lead.
Ronnie held a straightaway advantage at the lap 24 point of the event with Varin on the move at that point after getting by both Jack Johnson and Fusco for the second spot. Dave Camara was in a brand new PMC Chassis for the first time and he also got by Fusco for the third spot with two laps to go. Ronnie Johnson went on to the win followed by Varin, Camara, Fusco, and Jack Johnson. It had been almost a year since Ronnie’s last win at Fonda which came on June 26 of last year.
“Fusco was tough and luckily I was able to catch him in lap traffic,” Johnson said. “I don’t know if I could have caught him otherwise.”
The caution filled sportsman feature began with Justin House the leader at the drop of the green flag from his pole position starting spot. The second of a total of seven cautions came out on lap six when Elmo Reckner who was second in points coming into the night was involved in a wreck along with five other cars in turn four. Reckner was able to continue at the rear of the field.
It took three tries to get the event restarted after Dave Constantino hit the wall in turn one on lap 11 as Mark Mortensen and Erik Nelson were accused by track officials of jumping two of the three restarts. They were penalized and continued on in the event. Point leader John McAuliffe brought out the yellow on lap 13 as he came to a stop in turn four with a flat right rear tire. He pitted and returned to the rear of the field.
There were many close calls on the frontstretch during the event with cars getting out of shape but by far the worse crash of the night came on the lap 13 restart when Chris Garrity and Ricky Quick both hit the inside wall on the frontstretch. Both cars came across the track with many other cars piling at that point. All drivers were okay except for Garrity who was removed from his car by the emergency crew who had to take the roof off the car to do so. A neck brace was put Garrity for safety reasons and he was taken by the ambulance to the hospital. Garrity was awake and alert when removed from the race car.
House led flag to flag to the win despite all of the restarts in a former Matt Sheppard Teo car that he was in for only the second time. For House it was his first win of 2005 and his second career sportsman feature win at Fonda. David Towns, Robert Perry, Jeremiah Munson, and Drew Fallis completed the top five.
Jim Duncan was the early leader in the pro stock feature event but going down the backstretch he lost control of his car and spun collecting the cars of Hondo Carpenter, Nick Stone, and Rod Slater. Duncan and Stone were done for the night after the wreck while Carpenter and Slater pitted and continued on. Lori Cary led on the restart with Roy Fifield in the second spot with another wreck occurring on lap two when four cars were involved in a crash in turn two.
Fifield was the leader when the race was restarted with Steve Welch getting by both Luke Klob and Cary for the second spot on lap five after starting third but falling back early on. On lap seven, Welch was the new leader of the event after sweeping around the outside of Fifield in turn four. Fifield didn’t give up the lead easily and kept pressure on Welch for a few more laps but Welch was able to maintain the position.
As Welch pulled away the race was for the second spot between Fifield, and Butchie Irwin as the two raced hard and clean during the final laps of the event for the position. Welch went on to his first win of 2005 and 15th of his career in the pro stock division at Fonda over Irwin, Fifield, Kenny Gates, and Hondo Carpenter.
Eric Stumpf led the first four laps of the IMCA feature before Jeff Jones took over the point on a lap five restart. Danny Ballard started the event in the 11th spot but moved to the front quickly as he was challenging Jones for the lead just after the restart. Ballard took over the lead on the backstretch on lap six and at the halfway point in the event he held a straightaway lead.
Jones was able to close right up to the leaders rear bumper with only three laps to go but Ballard held on to the win, his second of 2005 and the ninth of his career in the IMCA division at Fonda. Jones ended up second followed by George Catanzano, Phil Balmen, and Aaron Jacobs.
Luke Horning led the street stock “a” feature at the start but when something broke on his car on lap three John Bradt was the new leader as the caution flag came out for Horning who stopped on the backstretch. On the restart, Dwight Oldorf was the new leader with Dan Hartgraves working his way into second on lap nine. One lap later Hartgraves was the new leader and he was able to hold off Dwight Oldorf for his second career street stock win at Fonda after winning his first feature earlier this year. Bradt, Don Warner, and John Babcock completed the top five.
Dave Horning Sr. led the first two laps of the street stock “b” feature before Jeff Crosier took over the point on lap three on the backstretch. Crosier led the remaining laps for his second win of 2005 and fifth of his career at Fonda. Dave Horning Jr., Rocky Warner, Phil Pearson, and Horning Sr. completed the top five.
Wayne Patrick led all eight laps in the Bev Caputo Memorial on his way to the $100 win. His brother Jeff won the event back in 2001 making them the first two brothers to win the special event. Chip Smith, Lori Cary, Jim Duncan, and Dan Rickard completed the top five in the event.
Next week at Fonda a regular show in all classes is on the racing card along with the 4-cylinder class. Snow Angels Kennels will sponsor the evenings activities with the green flag set to fly at 6:00 p.m.
MODIFIED QUALIFYING – 28 total cars – 5 qualify – 4 handicapped
HEAT 1 – Jack Johnson, John Marsh Sr., Steve Akers, Jim Davis, Jerry Pennock Jr.
HEAT 2 – Ronnie Johnson, Dave Lape, Dustin Purdy, Dave Camara, Todd Morey
HEAT 3 – Mike Fusco, Erik Mack, Ryan Odasz, Bobby Varin, Craig Hanson
MODIFIED CONSOLATION – 9 qualify – Ray Zemken, Floyd Billington, Robert King, Tim Clemons, Billy Osta, Alton Palmer, Matt DeLorenzo, Bobby Vedder, Jeff Holt
FREIHOFER’S MODIFIED FEATURE – 30-LAPS – RONNIE JOHNSON, Bobby Varin, Dave Camara, Mike Fusco, Jack Johnson, Ryan Odasz, Jim Davis, Steve Akers, Jerry Pennock Jr., Ray Zemken, Billy Osta, Craig Hanson, Alton Palmer, Tim Clemons, Josh Pieniazek, Floyd Billington, Bobby Vedder, John Marsh Sr., Todd Morey, Joey Duncan, Matt DeLorenzo, Robert King, Jeff Holt, Erik Mack, Dustin Purdy, Dave Lape
SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING – 23 total cars – 4 qualify
HEAT 1 – Mark Mortensen, John McAuliffe, Erik Nelson, Robert Perry
HEAT 2 – Tony Farone, Elmo Reckner, Chris Garrity, Drew Fallis
HEAT 3 – Justin House, Luke Monroe, John Scarborough, Jeremiah Munson
FREIHOFER’S SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20-LAPS – JUSTIN HOUSE, David Towns, Robert Perry, Jeremiah Munson, Drew Fallis, Josh Hohenforst, Tony Farone, Elmo Reckner, John Scarborough, John McAuliffe, Erik Nelson, Mark Mortensen, Mark Kislowski, Luke Monroe, John Constantino, Jeff Davis, Ricky Quick, Chris Garrity, Vinny Sanganetti, Keith Nichols, Dave Constantino, Neil Erickson
PRO STOCK QUALIFYING – 14 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – Nick Stone, Roy Fifield, Kenny Gates, Butchie Irwin, Chip Smith
HEAT 2 – Steve Welch, Luke Klob, Lori Cary, Hondo Carpenter, Jim Duncan
FREIHOFER’S PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-LAPS – STEVE WELCH, Butchie Irwin, Roy Fifield, Kenny Gates, Hondo Carpenter, Luke Klob, Lori Cary, Rod Slater, Chucky Dumblewski, Dan Rickard, Justin Forsthoffer, Chip Smith, Wayne Patrick, Jim Duncan, Nick Stone
IMCA QUALIFYING – 16 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – George Catanzano, Danny Ody, Eric Stumpf, JoJo Donato, Phil Balmen
HEAT 2 – Jeff Jones, Aaron Jacobs, Jeremy Cramer, Tom Funk, Dennis Vroman
FREIHOFER’S IMCA FEATURE – 20-LAPS – DANNY BALLARD, Jeff Jones, George Catanzano, Phil Balmen, Aaron Jacobs, Eric Stump, Rob VanAernam, JoJo Donato, Carol Parker, Jeremy Cramer, Tom Funk, Malcum Warner, Danny Ody, Dennis Vroman
FREIHOFER’S STREET STOCK “A” FEATURE – 12-LAPS – DAN HARTGRAVES, Dwight Oldorf, John Bradt, Don Warner, John Babcock, Howard Smith, Pete Broderson, Dan Clemens, Warren Pollock, Luke Horning, Reuben Kennedy, Dan Pollock, Joe Smith
FREIHOFER’S STREET STOCK “B” FEATURE – 12-LAPS – JEFF CROSIER, Dave Horning Jr., Rocky Warner, Phil Pearson, Dave Horning Sr., Cassidy Wilson, Sam Surnear, Guy Klob, Neil Cosselman, Ivan Joslin, Howie Clark