DAVIS GETS FIRST CAREER MODIFIED WIN AT FONDA
Jim Davis ended the 2002 season at the Fonda Speedway on the highest note possible, as the 2002 Sportsman Track Champion. It was his second career sportsman title after winning it back in 2000. In 2003 Davis decided to make the jump into the modified division and finished the season seventeenth in the final point standings. Since his move up to the modified division it has been a long, hard journey for Davis but last Saturday night all of the hard work paid off as he took his #73 to victory lane at the Fonda Speedway for the first time in his career in a modified.
“I can’t put into words how I feel right now,” Davis said in victory lane. “I really have to thank everyone who has stuck by me for the last ten years. My crew chief was ill tonight and couldn’t be here so this one is for him. He hasn’t missed a race in ten years so I hope that we can get back to victory lane again on a night when he is here.”
While leading modified heat race number three, Jeff Trombley hit the wall hard in turn four and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. After talking to his wife on the Sunday morning after the accident Jeff was still in the Albany Medical Center and was diagnosed with a compression fracture of a vertebra in his back. He is currently waiting to be measured for a neck and back brace that he will have to wear for eight to twelve weeks in order to keep him mobilized so that no further injury can occur. “He has no loss of motion or numbness anywhere but will be out of racing for the rest of the 2005 season,” his wife Serena said by phone on Sunday morning.
Other winners on Roosevelt’s Auto & Commercial Truck Service Center Night were David Towns (sportsman), Nick Stone (pro stock), Ed Aikin (URC sprints), Rocky Warner and John Bradt (street stock). The IMCA division was off last Saturday evening.
John Marsh and Tony Pepicelli started the modified feature on the front row with Pepicelli the early leader. As lap one was completed Marsh was the new leader but it was only for a short time. The yellow was out on lap two for a ten car pileup in turn one after both Robert King and Ryan Odasz brushed the inside wall in turn one. King crossed the track and all the cars behind him scattered to try to avoid hitting him or anything else. All cars involved were able to drive away but defending track champion Dave Lape went to the pit area and was unable to continue.
On the restart, Pepicelli retook the lead with Davis already up to the second spot after starting sixth followed by Dave Camara in third and Jack Johnson in fourth. Davis was on the leader’s rear bumper on lap four and took over the lead one lap later with a sweeping move around Pepicelli in turn four. The outside groove proved to be the fast way around for Davis as he stayed up there for the remainder of the event, riding the right rear tire on the cushion on every lap.
Camara and Johnson were running side by side for the fourth spot by lap six while point leader Bobby Varin and Ronnie Johnson were making their way to the front together after starting twelfth and eighteenth respectively. Lap cars came into play on lap ten but nothing was going to slow Davis on this night as he went in between the lap cars of Alton Palmer and Jeremy Matthies on lap twelve and later in the event went four wide around the lap cars of Marsh, Jeff Holt, and Josh Pieniazek on the back stretch.
“Lap traffic was hairy tonight and they weren’t being very kind even after the starter showed them the move over flag,” Davis said. “But you never know who is behind you here at Fonda so you have to get by the lap cars as quickly as possible.”
When Camara got by Pepicelli for second on lap twenty, Davis was out to a half track lead and was lapping cars into the top ten. On lap twenty-two, Varin slowed on the back stretch with a flat left rear tire bringing out another caution. Varin pitted and returned to the rear of the field while Davis was still the leader with two lap cars in between him and Camara on the restart.
Davis led the rest of the way for his first career modified win with Camara finishing second. Jack and Ronnie Johnson ran side by side for the fourth spot over the final two laps with Ronnie getting by both his dad and Pepicelli to finish third on the final turn of the race. Pepicelli ended up fourth with Jack Johnson fifth.
“Anytime you beat the likes of Jack (Johnson), Dave (Lape), Bobby (Varin) and others here at Fonda your car has to be perfect,” Davis said. “And tonight my car was perfect.”
Robert Perry led from the pole at the drop of the green flag in the sportsman feature but his lead was short lived as Neil Erickson was the leader when lap one was completed. Justin House started the event in the third spot and at the completion of lap one he was second. One lap later he took over the lead on the inside of the backstretch. David Towns got by Erickson for second on lap four with the first of four yellows coming out on lap five for Elmo Reckner who spun sideways in the frontstretch after being tapped in the rear by Drew Fallis. Mark Mortensen was also involved and although he was uninjured he was done for the evening.
On the restart, Josh Hohenforst and John McAuliffe both got by Erickson and two laps later Towns was the new leader after getting by House on the outside of turn four. House just wouldn’t give way however as he kept pressure on Towns with the two racing side by side for the lead. By lap eight Towns had the lead for good and was now being pressured by Josh Hohenforst for the top spot. House did a 360 degree spin on the backstretch while running third on lap nine but kept going with the caution coming out at that point.
Hohenforst and McAuliffe were having a whale of a battle for the third position for the last half of the race while Jeremiah Munson and Fallis were also racing side by side behind them for position. Fallis got by both Munson and McAuliffe for the third spot over the final laps as Towns went on to the win after a couple of tough weeks at Fonda. Hohenforst, Fallis, Munson, and McAuliffe completed the top five. It was career win number eight for Towns at Fonda.
Jim Duncan led at the start of the pro stock feature event from his pole position start followed by Rod Slater. Nick Stone started seventh but on lap three he was already up to the third spot after getting by Lori Cary. Cary came right back on the next lap, getting by both Stone and Slater for the second position. Slater and Cary swapped the second spot twice before Cary took over the spot for good on lap seven. One lap later Cary was the new leader of the event after getting by Duncan.
Stone turned up the wick on lap nine, getting by both Duncan and Cary for the lead on the outside groove in turn two. Duncan’s fine run came to an end on lap fifteen of the twenty lap event when he spun out in turn four while running in the top five. When the final yellow of the event came out on lap sixteen, Stone was the leader followed by Cary, Hondo Carpenter, Kenny Gates, and Butchie Irwin.
Gates got by both Carpenter and Cary with three laps to go as Stone looked to be on cruise control in the lead. But Gates never gave up and reeled in the leader on the final lap. In turn four going for the checkered flag, Gates got under Stone in turn four as the two crossed the finish line side by side, nose to nose. The finish was so close that it was transponder scoring that had to decide the winner of the event. Stone was declared the winner by 0.006 sec. over Gates, Cary, Carpenter, and Roy Fifield. It was Stone’s fifth career win at Fonda.
After the traditional four wide salute to the fans by the URC sprint cars, Tim Hogue led from his pole position start in the twenty-five lap feature followed by last years winner of the event Brian Seidel. On lap two, Seidel took over the lead in turn two after a side by side battle with Hogue. Ed Aikin also got by Hogue for the second spot on lap four with Chris Coyle following him through for third.
Two yellows slowed the field on laps eleven and twelve with the top five consisting of Seidel, Aikin, Coyle, Trevor Lewis, and Hogue. Seidel got into lap traffic on lap nineteen and that would prove to be his downfall as he misjudged a lap car on lap twenty-two and ended up spinning around twice in turn two while leading. That handed over the lead to Aikin who went on to the win followed by Coyle, Lewis, Dave Ely, and Hogue.
Warren Pollock led the first lap of the Street Stock “A” feature before losing a wheel on the second lap which handed the lead over to Sam Surnear. Phil Pearson brought out the caution at that point after hitting the wall on the front stretch. Rocky Warner went from last to first after starting eleventh and taking over the lead on the restart. One more yellow slowed the field shortly afterwards when Ivan Joslin crashed into the frontstretch wall. On this restart Dan Hartgraves took over the second spot but had nothing for Warner who went on to the win over Hartgraves, John Babcock, Pete Broderson, and Howard Smith. For Warner it was his eighth career street stock win at Fonda.
The Street Stock “B” feature saw Cassidy Wilson lead the first five laps while John Bradt worked his way to the front from his ninth place starting spot. Bradt was up to the second spot on lap five after getting by Don Warner for the spot and was the new leader on lap six with a pass on the inside of turn four. Dwight Oldorf took over the second spot on lap eight and pressured the leader for the remainder of the event. Bradt and Oldorf ran side by side to the checkered flag with Bradt taking his third career street stock win over Oldorf, Dave Horning Jr., Don Warner, and Luke Horning.
Both street stock feature winners dedicated their wins to Bob VanAernam who passed away a few weeks ago, Skip Pabis who passed away last week, and Steve Bidwell who passed away last fall.
Next week at Fonda a regular show in all divisions is on the racing card along with a 4-cylinder Crazy 8 event along with the rain delayed pro stock and street stock features from 5/21. The Leader Herald will sponsor the racing card which will start at 6:00 p.m.
MODIFIED QUALIFYING – 33 total cars – 6 qualify – 4 handicapped
HEAT 1 – Dave Camara, Jack Johnson, Jim Davis, Steve Akers, Bobby Vedder, Josh Pieniazek
HEAT 2 – Bobby Varin, Dave Lape, Robert King, John Marsh Sr., Jeff Holt, Floyd Billington
HEAT 3 – Ryan Odasz, Billy Osta, Tony Pepicelli, Jeremy Matthies, Ancel Collins, Ronnie Johnson
MODIFIED CONSOLATION – 7 qualify – Alton Palmer, Todd Morey, Jerry Pennock Jr., Willy Decker, Ray Zemken, Craig Hanson, Mike Fusco
ROOSEVELTS AUTO & COMMERCIAL TRUCK SERVICE CENTER MODIFIED FEATURE – 30-LAPS – JIM DAVIS, Dave Camara, Ronnie Johnson, Tony Pepicelli, Jack Johnson, Ryan Odasz, Bobby Varin, Floyd Billington, Bobby Vedder, Steve Akers, Josh Pieniazek, Jeremy Matthies, Todd Morey, John Marsh Sr., Willy Decker, Craig Hanson, Billy Osta, Jeff Holt, Mike Fusco, Robert King, Ray Zemken, Alton Palmer, Matt DeLorenzo, Todd Ryan, Ancel Collins, Jerry Pennock Jr., Dave Lape
SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING – 26 total cars – 4 qualify
HEAT 1 – David Towns, John Scarborough, Elmo Reckner, Robert Perry
HEAT 2 – Drew Fallis, John McAuliffe, Jeremiah Munson, Tony Farone
HEAT 3 – Mark Mortensen, Josh Hohenforst, Justin House, Neil Erickson
ROOSEVELTS AUTO & COMMERCIAL TRUCK SERVICE CENTER SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20-LAPS – DAVID TOWNS, Josh Hohenforst, Drew Fallis, Jeremiah Munson, John McAuliffe, Erik Nelson, Robert Perry, John Scarborough, Ricky Quick, Elmo Reckner, Neil Erickson, Justin House, Tony Farone, Chris Garrity, Dave Constantino, Vinny Sanganetti, Jeff Davis, Keith Nichols, John Constantino, Jim Meka, Dan Papa, Pete Sisler, Mark Kislowski, Luke Monroe, Mark Mortensen
PRO STOCK QUALIFYING – 15 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – Hondo Carpenter, Butchie Irwin, Rod Slater, Kenny Gates, Jim Duncan
HEAT 2 – Roy Fifield, Nick Stone, Lori Cary, Chucky Dumblewski, Wayne Patrick
ROOSEVELTS AUTO & COMMERCIAL TRUCK SERVICE CENTER PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-LAPS – NICK STONE, Kenny Gates, Lori Cary, Hondo Carpenter, Roy Fifield, Butchie Irwin, Chip Smith, Rod Slater, Chucky Dumblewski, Justin Forsthoffer, Rick Langenbach, Roger Keeny, Jim Duncan, Wayne Patrick
URC SPRINT QUALIFYING – 32 total cars – 6 qualify
HEAT 1 – Tim Hogue, Mark Bittner, Chris Coyle, Josh Weller, Doug Emery, Bill Brian
HEAT 2 – Brian Seidel, Trevor Lewis, Dave Ely, Dave McGough, Kevin Welsh, Warren Alexson
HEAT 3 – Ed Aikin, Kyle Parks, Pete Green, Jason Clauss, Curt Michael, Cory Sparks
URC SPRINT B-MAIN – 12-LAPS – 6 qualify – John Karklin, Dave Betts, Scott Pursell, Junior Martin, Dick Spadaro, Johnny Zimmerman
ROOSEVELTS AUTO & COMMERCIAL TRUCK SERVICE CENTER URC SPRINT FEATURE – 25-LAPS – ED AIKIN, Chris Coyle, Trevor Lewis, Dave Ely, Tim Hogue, Curt Michael, Jason Clauss, Doug Emery, Kyle Parks, John Karklin, Brain Seidel, Bill Brian, Dave McGough, Warren Alexson, Dave Betts, Pete Green, Cory Sparks, Josh Weller, Junior Martin, Kevin Welsh, Scott Pursell, Will Urkuski, Johnny Zimmerman, Dick Spadaro
ROOSEVELTS AUTO & COMMERCIAL TRUCK SERVICE CENTER STREET STOCK “A” FEATURE – 12-LAPS – ROCKY WARNER, Dan Hartgraves, John Babcock, Pete Broderson, Howard Smith, Sam Surnear, Joe Smith, Jeff Crosier, Ivan Joslin, Warren Pollock, John Palmer, Phil Pearson
ROOSEVELTS AUTO & COMMERCIAL TRUCK SERVICE CENTER STREET STOCK “B” FEATURE – 12-LAPS – JOHN BRADT, Dwight Oldorf, Dave Horning Jr., Don Warner, Luke Horning, Cassidy Wilson, Neil Cosselman, Dan Pollock, Dave Horning Sr., Howie Clark