JOHNSON EARNS $8,000 IN ONE NIGHT AT FONDA
The 2004 season has seen its share of highs and lows for Jack Johnson. The high point of the season is that he has been fast and won features at Albany Saratoga in a 358-Modified. The low point has been his big block program at Fonda where he has struggled all season to get something to go right. That was until last Saturday evening.
Johnson had the Witz Roofing #12A working on all eight cylinders as he went on to his 142nd career feature win at Fonda. With the win he also locked up the Fonda Big Block/Small Block Shootout Series Championship worth $3,000; the combined Fonda/Albany Saratoga Shootout Series bonus worth an extra $2,000; along with $3,000 for the feature win. A total of $8,000 in one night! Coors was the sponsor of the exciting racing program.
I really need to thank Frank Witz and all of my crew for sticking with me this year, Johnson said. We have been trying to pick it up all year and we finally did it. We can definitely use this money as we go to Syracuse next month with a new car and a new motor.
After qualifying was completed the heat race finishes were inverted to determine the starting line-up for all of the feature events with Jeff Trombley starting on the outside pole of the 50-lap Modified feature and immediately taking the lead at the drop of the green flag. By lap three Trombley held a straightaway lead and he was in lap traffic by lap six when the first yellow flag of the night came out. Trombleys car was fast, turning a 19.945 sec lap before the caution came out.
On the restart, Johnson got by both Bobby Varin and Alton Palmer for second with another yellow coming out on the restart for a four car crash in turn two where Ray Jashembowski had the roof of his car taken off but fortunately all drivers involved were okay. Tony Pepicelli joined in the mix at the front of the field at that point, getting by Varin for third on lap seven.
Jacks son Ronnie also came to the front quickly after starting the feature in the ninth spot, running side by side with Varin for the fourth position on lap twelve. After a two lap battle, Varin was able to hold on to the spot with another yellow coming out before lap twelve was completed. On the restart, Trombley set sail again as he was out to a straightaway lead by lap fifteen while 2004 track champion Dave Lape was working his way up to the front, sitting in the seventh position on lap seventeen after starting nineteenth.
The last yellow flag of the event came out on lap nineteen when Trombley suffered a flat left rear tire handing the lead over to Jack Johnson. Trombley was able to pit and return at the rear of the field. At the halfway point, Jack Johnson was the leader followed by Tony Pepicelli, Ronnie Johnson, Varin and Lape with Trombley already back up to the tenth position at that point.
Pepicelli and Ronnie Johnson ran side by side for a couple of laps as they battled for the second spot which Pepicelli was able to maintain as he tried to chase down the leader. Lap traffic slowed Jack Johnson on lap thirty-five allowing Pepicelli to close in slightly while Varin was now battling with Ronnie Johnson for the third position. Ronnie got by for the spot with ten laps to go only to have Varin retake the spot on the next lap.
With five laps to go the only thing that was going to keep Jack Johnson from winning the event was more bad luck which fortunately never happened as he went on to the win followed by Pepicelli, Varin, Ronnie Johnson, and Trombley. The crowd gave Jack a great ovation as he stood in victory lane after a very popular win.
Jeff (Trombley) runs real good here, Jack said in victory lane. I really dont know if I had anything for him or not. We just got our motor program going about four weeks ago and Im sorry to see the season end. But well be back next year. Weve got to win that championship one more time.
Varin had the highest finishing small block which earned him a $500 bonus. A guaranteed starting spot for the 358-Modified race during Super DIRT Week in October was also on the line for the highest finishing small block but because Varin already had a spot that went to Ronnie Johnson who finished fourth in his Albany Saratoga car. With his tenth place finish, DeLorenzo locked up the Fonda Big Block/Small Block Series Championship earning him a $1,000 bonus.
The inversion after qualifying put Jim Burton and David Towns in the front row for the Sportsman feature event with Towns immediately taking the lead as the race began. By lap five Towns held a straightaway lead over Burton with Drew Fallis working his way to the front after starting seventh on the field. Fallis was up to the third position by lap six after getting by Neal Erickson for the position with Joe Budka following through for the fourth spot.
Fallis got by Burton for the second spot on lap seven as Towns was out to a half track lead, lapping cars like they were standing still. With Towns out to a huge lead the race was for second place and when it was all said and done Towns was the winner of the feature for the sixth time this season followed by Fallis, Joe Budka, Tim Clemons, and John McAuliffe.
The Pro Stock feature saw Hondo Carpenter take the early lead with Kenny Gates in the second position. Joe Mottoshiski was in the third position by lap seven and started pressuring Gates for the second spot a short time later. Gates was able to hold the second spot after a few laps of side by side racing with Mottoshiski as Carpenter was strong on the lead with the first of only two yellow flags in the event coming out on lap twelve for Bernie Companion who spun on the front stretch.
Carpenter and Gates have had a handful of great races together this season with the two competitors racing close and hard without contact. That was the case again last Saturday as Gates began pressuring Carpenter for the lead with Butchie Irwin also joining in on all of the fun on lap fourteen as he was now in the third position. The top two were side by side for the lead on lap seventeen with Gates taking over the position as the lap was completed. Carpenter fell off the pace on lap eighteen and came to a stop with a broken driveshaft as Gates went on to his ninth win of the season followed by Irwin, Mottoshiski, Robert Langevin, and Steve Welch.
The 2004 Fonda Speedway IMCA Track Championship was on the line with JoJo Donato taking the lead at the start of the event. Aaron Jacobs started the event in the fourth position but was up to second quickly and actually took over the lead before lap one was completed. These two drivers would put on a spectacular race to the finish as Danny Ballard and Steve Bidwell battled for the championship. Jacobs and Donato swapped the lead twice before lap ten was completed as Bidwell was fourth and Ballard seventh at that point.
Three more yellows slowed the field before the 20-lap event was completed with Donato taking the lead for good on lap fourteen. Bidwell was second with three laps remaining with Ballard close behind in fifth. George Catanzano took over the second spot from Bidwell on lap nineteen but Donato was long gone and went on to his second win of the season followed by Catanzano, Bidwell, Ballard, and Dale Caswell. With his fourth place finish, Ballard was crowned the track champion for the second time in his career in the division after winning the title at Fonda back in 2002.
Joe Smith was the early leader of the Street Stock A event from his outside pole position start. Dan Pollock was the new leader at the lap six point of the event but it was Sam Surnear who was on the move after starting sixth as he was up to the second spot at the lap nine point of the event. On the inside of turn four on lap ten, Surnear took over the lead, one which he would not relinquish as he went on to his first career win over Pollock, Dave Horning Sr., Chuck McSpirit, and Mike Jeske.
Dan Hartgraves was the leader of Street Stock B feature at the start until lap two when Jeff Crosier took over the point. Dave Horning Jr. took over the second spot on lap six after starting eleventh and was the new leader shortly afterwards. John Babcock started back in the ninth spot but was up to second by lap eight. Babcock was the new leader on lap eleven as he and Bob VanAernam were battling for the 2004 Track Championship. Babcock took the win followed by D.T. Pickard, Horning Jr., VanAernam, and John Bradt. With his fourth place finish, VanAernam was crowned the track champion as he ended up winning the crown by four points over Babcock. It was the second consecutive title for VanAernam at Fonda after winning it last year.
MODIFIED QUALIFYING 40 total cars 5 qualify
HEAT 1 Ryan Odasz, Kory Gurney, Ronnie Johnson, Ancel Collins, Jerry Pennock Jr.
HEAT 2 Tim Clemons, Bobby Varin, Matt DeLorenzo, Willy Decker, Don Mattison
HEAT 3 Tony Pepicelli, Jeff Trombley, Mike Romano, Frank Jashembowski, Craig Hanson
HEAT 4 Jack Johnson, Alton Palmer, John Marsh Sr., Jim Davis, Dave Lape
MODIFIED CONSOLATIONS 5 qualify
CONSI 1 Ray Jashembowski, Don Ronca, Bobby Vedder, Brian Purdy, John Alberti
CONSI 2 Bob McCreadie, Ray Zemken, Josh Pieniazek, Randy Hotaling, Chic Chandler
COORS MODIFIED FEATURE 50-LAPS JACK JOHNSON, Tony Pepicelli, Bobby Varin, Ronnie Johnson, Jeff Trombley, Dave Lape, Alton Palmer, Ryan Odasz, Mike Romano, Matt DeLorenzo, John Marsh Sr., Brian Purdy, Willy Decker, Tim Clemons, Frank Jashembowski, Don Mattison, John Alberti, Bobby Vedder, Kory Gurney, Josh Pieniazek, Ray Zemken, Craig Hanson, Randy Hotaling, Jerry Pennock Jr., Ancel Collins, Bob McCreadie, Ray Jashembowski, Don Ronca, Jim Davis, Chic Chandler
SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING 27 total cars 6 qualify
HEAT 1 Ryan Larkin, Drew Fallis, Joe Budka, Jim Burton, Tim Hartman, Mark Mortensen
HEAT 2 Mike Ketchum, Josh Hohenforst, Neal Erickson, David Peek, Ricky Quick
HEAT 3 Tim Clemons, Elmo Reckner, David Towns, Keith Flach, John Constantino, Jason Memrick
SPORTSMAN CONSOLATION 6 qualify John McAuliffe, Steve Constantino, Stan Lemiesz, Dan Papa, Tom LaPlante, Colleen Salisbury
COORS SPORTSMAN FEATURE 25-LAPS DAVID TOWNS, Drew Fallis, Joe Budka, Tim Clemons, John McAuliffe, Bobby Hackel, Jim Burton, Neil Erickson, Keith Flach, Elmo Reckner, Ryan Larkin, Jason Memrick, Ricky Quick, Erik Nelson, Mike Tholin, Stan Lemiesz, Dan Papa, Steve Constantino, Colleen Salisbury, Josh Hohenforst, Tim Hartman, Mark Mortensen, Mike Ketchum, Tom LaPlante, Bubba Barber
PRO STOCK QUALIFYING 22 total cars 6 qualify
HEAT 1 Bernie Companion, Erik Yager, Steve Welch, Nick Stone, Kenny Gates, Cale Kneer
HEAT 2 Butchie Irwin, Lori Cary, Joe Duncan, Joe Mottoshiski, Hondo Carpenter, Rob Noviczski
COORS PRO STOCK FEATURE 20-LAPS KENNY GATES, Butchie Irwin, Joe Mottoshiski, Robert Langevin, Steve Welch, Lori Cary, Robbie Speed, Erik Yager, Dean Charbonneau, Bill Lobdell, Dan Rickard, Cale Kneer, Roger Keeny, Lou Ganzer, Hondo Carpenter, Chucky Dumblewski, Steve Hankle, Rob Noviczski, Nick Stone, Joe Duncan, Bernie Companion, David Cook
IMCA QUALIFYING 31 total cars 4 qualify
HEAT 1 George Catanzano, Steve Vrooman, Dale Caswell, Kurt Olsen
HEAT 2 Jeff Jones, Danny Ody, Steve Bidwell, Tom Funk
HEAT 3 JoJo Donato, Jeff Davis, Kevin Buff, Aaron Jacobs
IMCA CONSOLATIONS 5 qualify
CONSI 1 Bob Banks, Jeff Cleveland, Rob VanAernam, Rich Riggs, Bob Bradt
CONSI 2 Jim Cramer, Skip Pabis, Danny Ballard, Phil Balmer, Carol Parker
COORS IMCA FEATURE 20-LAPS JOJO DONATO, George Catanzano, Steve Bidwell, Danny Ballard, Dale Caswell, Jeff Davis, Kurt Olsen, Skip Pabis, Mike Smith, Jim Cramer, Tom Funk, Rob VanAernam, Bob Bradt, Danny Ody, Aaron Jacobs, Jeff Jones, Phil Balmer, Jeff Cleveland, Tom Costanza, Kevin Buff, Bob Banks
COORS STREET STOCK A FEATURE 12-LAPS SAM SURNEAR, Dan Pollock, Mark Sullivan Jr., Chuck McSpirit, Mike Jeske, Justin Knight, Joe Smith, John Quintana, John Palmer, Jason Samrov, Howie Clark, Ron Cummings, Neil Cosselman, Ivan Joslin, Steve Skinner
COORS STREET STOCK B FEATURE 12-LAPS JOHN BABCOCK, D.T. Pickard, Dave Horning Jr., B