VARIN AND ODASZ TAKE MODIFIED FEATURE WINS AT FONDA
Bobby Varin and Ryan Odasz made the most of double feature night at Fonda Speedway on Saturday evening. The double features were necessary after rain cancelled the feature events on Saturday, August 7 after qualifying was completed. The big crowd in attendance enjoyed six solid hours of exciting racing on Labatt’s/Benjamin Moore Night.
The rain delayed Modified feature from August 7 was first on the track at Fonda with Kenny Hanson in the early lead. Jerry Pennock Jr. was next to lead the event on lap six after using an outside move in turn one to get the job done. Tony Pepicelli started eighth in the event but moved into second on lap seven after getting by Hanson. Pepicelli moved into the lead two laps later with a quick move to the inside of Pennock on the backstretch.
Varin has had many different rides so far in 2004 but when he got the ride in the Jake Spraker owner #1J everyone knew that it wouldn’t be long before he got to victory lane in the car. He started the feature in the twelfth position but moved to the front quickly. Varin was battling with Dave Lape, Alton Palmer, and Jeff Trombley for a top five position early on with Varin and Trombley third and fourth at the halfway point behind Pepicelli and Lape.
Varin got by Lape for the second spot on lap twenty-one and set his sights on the leader. Varin used the inside of turn three to get the lead from Pepicelli on lap twenty-seven and pulled away for his second win of 2004 and eighteenth of his career in the Modified division followed by Pepicelli, Lape, Trombley, and Palmer.
“That race was awesome,” Varin said in victory lane. “Jake (car owner Jake Spraker) is a fantastic guy who has a great car and engine. But the key is really the team. They work hard all week to make sure that the car is perfect for me on Saturday. As the driver of the car they expect the same out of me.”
The regular scheduled Modified feature saw Ryan Odasz as the early leader from his pole position start. Tim Clemons, Palmer, and Steve Akers raced three wide for seventh on lap one while Odasz was out for a Sunday drive stretching his lead out to a straightaway by lap five. On lap eight, Odasz was a half track ahead and in lap traffic one lap later.
The yellow on lap nine was the most interesting one of the night as A.J. Romano ended up spun out in turn four. Romano felt that Varin had something to do with the spin so he went after Varin under the caution. The cars made contact many times with the green flag eventually flying again. But the feud wasn’t over yet. Romano pitted and returned to the track to go after Varin again with more contact being made between the cars. On lap twelve the red flag was thrown in order to stop the field and get control of the race.
Odasz pulled away again on this restart and Palmer tried to keep it close to the end but Varin continued his march to the front getting by both Ray Zemken and Palmer for second late in the event. Odasz had everyone covered on this night as he went on to his first win of 2004 and second of his career in the Modified division followed by Varin, Palmer, Matt DeLorenzo, and Zemken.
In the race for the 2004 Modified Track Championship, point leader Jeff Trombley had a tire go down on lap twenty of the second Modified feature. He ended up finishing the event in the seventeenth position. Lape on the other hand finished sixth in the second event gaining some points through Trombley’s misfortune.
“We worked hard on this car all night long struggling with what rear tires to run on the car for the feature,” Odasz said. “We were horrible in the first feature event and didn’t have any rear tires on this car until just before they called us to the line for the start of the feature. I have to thank Jeff Hoetzler for this. He drove this car in a race at Albany Saratoga earlier this season and got us back on track. This is a good self confidence booster for me because now I know that I can get the job done.”
During victory lane ceremonies which were combined for both Modified features, Varin described his incident with A.J. “I went into turn three and four too hard and I thought that I was by A.J. and had him cleared,” Varin said. “I did get into him but it was definitely not intentional.”
The rain delayed Sportsman feature from August 7 saw rookie driver Ricky Quick in the early lead. Another rookie, Justin House started the event in the fifth spot but moved into the lead when the lap counter clicked on lap three. The lead was short lived as Bobby Hackel used a high wide and handsome move to get around House for the lead before lap three was completed.
Going into turn four on lap ten, John McAuliffe pushed up the track and made contact with Hackel who ended up in the turn four wall. McAuliffe’s car suffered right side damage in the accident but he pitted and returned at the rear of the field. Hackel was also able to pit and continue.
House inherited the lead at that point but it was short lived again as Elmo Reckner took the lead from House before lap ten was completed and went on to his first career Sportsman win followed by David Towns, Hackel who got all the way back to third, House, and Drew Fallis. McAuliffe ended up getting back up to the eighth finishing position.
The regular scheduled Sportsman feature began with Randy Meka the leader at the drop of the green flag until Quick took over the point before lap one was completed. An early yellow slowed the field just after lap one was completed with Josh Hohenforst taking over the lead at that point. McAuliffe who started the event in the eleventh position wasted no time getting to the front and was already up to the second spot by lap three.
McAuliffe caught the leader on lap five and took the lead from Hohenforst on lap six after a side by side battle for the position. Hackel started the event in the twelfth spot but used his patented outside groove to get up to the second spot on lap twelve after getting by Hohenforst. McAuliffe was out to a half straightaway lead at that point but Hackel would close the gap with three laps to go. McAuliffe went on to the win, his third win of 2004 and the twenty-third Sportsman win of his career followed by Hackel, Hohenforst, Fallis, and Reckner.
Four different drivers led the rain delayed Pro Stock feature from August 7 before a winner was decided with Joey Duncan the first to lead. Mark Lighthall took over the lead briefly on lap five before Hondo Carpenter made his way into the lead before lap five was completed. Kenny Gates pressured Carpenter for the top spot and actually took the number one position on lap fourteen. Carpenter was up to the task at hand as he retook the lead on lap fifteen and went on to his first win of 2004 and second of his career in the Pro Stock division. Gates, Nick Stone, Lighthall, and Duncan completed the top five.
The regular scheduled Pro Stock feature saw Chucky Dumblewski in the lead at the drop of the green from his pole position start. Lighthall took over the top spot on lap eight on the inside of turn two after a side by side battle with Dumblewski. Gates started the feature in the twelfth position but was already up to the second position at this point in the event after getting by Dumblewski. Using the outside groove in turn four, Gates was the new leader on lap ten.
From that point on Gates just kept stretching out his advantage and it looked as though he was going to go on to an easy win. Coming out of turn four on the final lap, he and a lap car made contact but Gates survived the contact and went on to his sixth win of 2004 and twenty-seventh of his career in the Pro Stock division over Carpenter, Lighthall, Butchie Irwin and Nick Stone.
The rain delayed IMCA feature found JoJo Donato in the lead early on and stretching it out to a straightaway lead by the completion of lap two. Jeff Davis was second and pressured Donato for the lead non stop before the caution came out on lap six. George Catanzano started ninth but was up to the second spot on lap seven and up to the leader on the next lap.
When Catanzano tried an inside move coming out of turn four on lap twelve, he and Donato made contact with Catanzano going off into the infield while Donato continued on. Donato went on to his first career IMCA win followed by Davis, Danny Ballard, Jeff Jones, and Steve Vrooman.
The regular scheduled IMCA feature began with Pete Knapp as the early leader from his pole position start. Davis started the event in the fifth spot but was already pressuring the leader just before the caution came out on lap three. On the restart, Davis was the new leader as Ballard was making his way to the front from his tenth starting spot.
Ballard was second on lap five after getting by Knapp for the position and four laps later he took over the lead from Davis with a move on the inside groove in turn four. As Ballard pulled away from the rest of the field, Davis and Catanzano were battling for the second spot for the remainder of the event. Ballard went on to his second win of 2004 and seventh of his career in the IMCA division followed by Catanzano, Davis, Jeff Jones, and Steve Bidwell.
Pete Sisler led the Street Stock “A” feature at the start until lap two when Dan Hartgraves took over the top spot. Under caution on lap seven, Howard Smith inherited the lead when Hartgraves was forced to the pit area. Dave Horning Jr. started the event in the eleventh position but was already up to second on lap seven after a great battle with Phil Pearson for the spot. Horning was the new leader on lap nine and went on to his sixth win of 2004 and forty-first of his career in the Street Stock division over Smith, Pearson, Dwight Oldorf, and Pete Broderson.
The Street Stock “B” feature saw Luke Horning as the early leader with Mark Sullivan Jr. second. Rocky Warner started the event in the seventh spot but was up to the third position on lap two. Warner got by Sullivan for the second spot two laps later and was the new leader on lap five. John Babcock took over the second position on lap eight and one lap later was the new leader after getting by Warner on the outside in turn two. Babcock went on to the win, his fifth win of 2004 and seventeenth of his career in the Street Stock division over D.T. Pickard, Warner, Bob VanAernam, and Sam Surnear.
The John “Jack” Lockhart Memorial Dash for Cash was also held for non winners in the Sportsman division who were in the top twenty in points as of July 24. Fourteen year old Josh Hohenforst took the lead at the drop of the green and never looked back as he went on to the victory worth $200 to the winner. T.J. Clemons, Keith Flach, Mark Kislowski, and Keith Nichols completed the top five in the event. The family and friends of Jack Lockhart also donated two bicycles that were given away to a boy and a girl and the three Sportsman division heat race winners each received $100 in honor of Jack Lockhart.
Joe Duncan was the winner of the 4-Cylinder feature event followed by Roger Newkirk, Greg Davis, Lynn Wesley, and Ed Laspina.
Next Saturday the 2004 Track Champions will be determined in the Modified, 358-Modified, Sportsman, and Pro Stock divisions after double features are held in all of those classes. The Street Stock and IMCA divisions will also be in action on the Night of Features which will be sponsored by Wm. Larned & Sons. Starting time will be 6:00 p.m.
LABATT’S/BENJAMIN MOORE RAIN DELAYED MODIFIED FEATURE FROM 8/7/04 – 30-LAPS – BOBBY VARIN, Tony Pepicelli, Dave Lape, Jeff Trombley, Alton Palmer, Matt DeLorenzo, Josh Pieniazek, Jerry Pennock Jr., Jim Davis, Ray Zemken, Tim Clemons, Ronnie Holmes, Billy Osta, John Marsh Sr., Brian Purdy, Ken Hanson, Robert King, Erik Gall, Chic Chandler, Steve Akers, Bobby Vedder, Todd Morey, Ryan Odasz, Derrick McGrew, A.J. Romano, Craig Hanson
LABATT’S/BENJAMIN MOORE RAIN DELAYED SPORTSMAN FEATURE FROM 8/7/04 – 20-LAPS – ELMO RECKNER, David Towns, Bobby Hackel, Justin House, Drew Fallis, Keith Flach, Mark Mortensen, John McAuliffe, T.J. Clemons, Jim Burton, Mark Kislowski, Josh Hohenforst, Keith Nichols, Ricky Quick, Pete Sisler, John Constantino, Bubba Barber, Robert Perry, Erik Nelson, Frank Greco, Jeremiah Munson, Jason Memrick, Jim Meka, Tom LaPlante, Mark Majewski, Chris Garrity
LABATT’S/BENJAMIN MOORE RAIN DELAYED PRO STOCK FEATURE FROM 8/7/04 – 20-LAPS – HONDO CARPENTER, Kenny Gates, Nick Stone, Mark Lighthall, Joe Duncan, Rod Slater, Chuck McSpirit, Chip Smith, Erik Yager, Wayne Patrick, Chucky Dumblewski, Rick Langenbach, Bill Lobdell, Kevin Ward, Luke Klob, Randy Cannell, Rob Noviczski, Butchie Irwin, Jason Brownell, Frank Twing, Rick Spencer
LABATT’S/BENJAMIN MOORE RAIN DELAYED IMCA FEATURE FROM 8/7/04 – 20-LAPS – JOJO DONATO, Jeff Davis, Danny Ballard, Jeff Jones, Steve Vrooman, Steve Bidwell, George Catanzano, Kurt Olsen, Aaron Jacobs, Tom Funk, Rob VanAernam, Darcy Volans, Bob Wilkie, Carol Parker, Danny Ody, Pete Knapp, Malcum Warner, Jeremy Cramer
MODIFIED QUALIFYING – 33 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – Alton Palmer, Bobby Varin, Ray Zemken, John Marsh Sr., Ronnie Johnson
HEAT 2 – Jeff Trombley, Tony Pepicelli, A.J. Romano, Ken Hanson, Todd Morey
HEAT 3 – Ryan Odasz, Dave Lape, Brian Purdy, Chic Chandler, Jim Davis
HEAT 4 – Mike Romano, Ronnie Holmes, Tim Clemons, Steve Akers, Matt DeLorenzo
MODIFIED CONSOLATION – 7 qualify – Craig Hanson, Jerry Pennock Jr., Bobby Vedder, Derrick McGrew, Mike Fusco, John Marsh Sr. (qualified back-up car after problems with primary car in heat race), Ancel Collins
LABATT’S/BENJAMIN MOORE MODIFIED FEATURE – 30-LAPS – RYAN ODASZ, Bobby Varin, Alton Palmer, Matt DeLorenzo, Ray Zemken, Dave Lape, Ronnie Holmes, Tony Pepicelli, Jim Davis, Tim Clemons, Jerry Pennock Jr., Mike Fusco, Chic Chandler, Brian Purdy, Derrick McGrew, John Marsh Sr., Jeff Trombley, Ken Hanson, Bobby Vedder, Ancel Collins, Craig Hanson, Todd Morey, Steve Akers, Ronnie Johnson, Mike Romano, A.J. Romano
SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING – 27 total cars – 6 qualify
HEAT 1 – Justin House, John McAuliffe, Mark Mortensen, Tony Farone, Randy Meka, Chris Garrity
HEAT 2 – Bobby Hackel, David Towns, Mark Kislowski, Jeremiah Munson, Drew Fallis, Jim Burton
HEAT 3 – Josh Hohenforst, Elmo Reckner, Ricky Quick, T.J. Clemons, Keith Flach, Mike Ketchum
LABATT’S/BENJAMIN MOORE SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20-LAPS – JOHN MCAULIFFE, Bobby Hackel, Josh Hohenforst, Drew Fallis, Elmo Reckner, Keith Flach, Jim Burton, Mark Mortensen, Justin House, Jeremiah Munson, Tony Farone, Chris Garrity, Ricky Quick, Mark Kislowski, Frank Greco, Jason Memrick, Randy Meka, Keith Nichols, Jim Meka, John Constantino, Pete Sisler, Tom LaPlante, Bubba Barber, David Towns, T.J. Clemons, Mark Majewski, Mike Ketchum
PRO STOCK QUALIFYING – 25 total cars – 6 qualify
HEAT 1 – Rob Noviczski, Lori Cary, Nick Stone, Chucky Dumblewski, Chuck McSpirit, Lenny Brice
HEAT 2 – Butchie Irwin, Kenny Gates, Mark Lighthall, Chip Smith, Joe Duncan, Pat Zimmer
HEAT 3 – Luke Klob, Wayne Patrick, Hondo Carpenter, Dean Charbonneau, Speed Felon, Bill Lobdell
PRO STOCK CONSOLATION – 8 qualify – Lori Cary (disqualified for an illegal carburetor in heat race), Rod Slater, Roger Keeny, Rick Spencer, Rich Langenbach, Erik Yager, Jerry Craig, Pat Zimmer
LABATT’S/BENJAMIN MOORE PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-LAPS – KENNY GATES, Hondo Carpenter, Mark Lighthall, Butchie Irwin, Nick Stone, Rob Noviczski, Luke Klob, Bill Lobdell, Chucky Dumblewski, Rod Slater, Dean Charbonneau, Lenny Brice, Pat Zimmer, Chuck McSpirit, Erik Yager, Joe Duncan, Speed Felon, Wayne Patrick, Rick Spencer, Roger Keeny, Jerry Craig, Chip Smith, Rich Langenbach, Pat Zimmer
IMCA QUALIFYING – 20 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – Steve Vrooman, George Catanzano, Kurt Olsen, Darcy Volans, Pete Knapp
HEAT 2 – Danny Ballard, Jeff Davis, Carol Parker, JoJo Donato, Jeff Jones
LABATT’S/BENJAMIN MOORE IMCA FEATURE – 20-LAPS – DANNY BALLARD, George Catanzano, Jeff Davis, Jeff Jones, Steve Bidwell, JoJo Donato, Aaron Jacobs, Kurt Olsen, Rob VanAernam, Pete Knapp, Darcy Volans, Carol Parker, Bob Wilkie, Steve Vrooman, Eric Stumpf, Tom Funk, Danny Ody, Jeremy Cramer
LABATT’S/BENJAMIN MOORE STREET STOCK “A” FEATURE – 12-LAPS – DAVE HORNING JR., D.T. Pickard, Rocky Warner, Dwight Oldorf, Pete Broderson, Bill Duprey, Neil Cosselman, Ken Danforth, Howie Clark, Mark Sullivan Jr., Dan Hartgraves, Dan Clemons, Jack Hamm, Howard Smith III, Justin Poulin
LABATT’S/BENJAMIN MOORE STREET STOCK “B”FEATURE – 12-LAPS – JOHN BABCOCK, Howard Smith, Phil Pearson, Bob VanAernam, Sam Surnear, John Bradt, John Quintana, Cassidy Wilson, Luke Horning, Joe Smith, Paul Hughes, Guy Klob, Mark Burch, Jeff Crosier