JOHNSON DOMINATES FONDA MODIFIED FEATURE
While Fireworks lit up the sky over Fonda Speedway at the end of the racing program to celebrate the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, Ronnie Johnson lit up the race track in the Modified feature as he dominated the event for his first win of the 2004 season at Fonda. The racing activities were sponsored by Amsterdam Chrysler Dodge and Snapple and the representatives from both companies performed a great rendition of the National Anthem before the Modified feature was started.
It was also NYSSCA (New York State Stock Car Association) Night with $50 Safety Awards going to the top finishing drivers in all divisions who are members of the NYSSCA organization. Winning those awards were Ronnie Johnson (Big Block Modified), Jerry Pennock Jr. (358-Modified) Michael Ballestero (Sportsman), Butchie Irwin (Pro Stock), Danny Ballard (IMCA), Dave Horning Jr. and Howard Smith (Street Stock).
“We had a good starting spot and that definitely helped us tonight,” Johnson said in victory lane. “This year has been a struggle running good only every three or four weeks. I really want to thank the owner of this Adirondack Motorsports car who has stuck behind me through thick and thin. This win is for him.”
Modified rookie Josh Pieniazek was the outside pole position starter of the 30-lap Modified event and was literally pushed into the lead at the start by Ronnie Johnson who started right behind him. When Mike Fusco slid out of the groove in turn one on lap two he spun and brought out the caution for the first time in the event. On the restart, Johnson was the new leader as back a little further into the pack Dave Lape got by both Mike Romano and Ken Aanonsen for the fifth position.
As Tony Pepicelli ran third behind Johnson and Pieniazek, Lape moved steadily to the front getting by John Marsh Sr. for the fourth position on lap four as Johnson motored away to a straightaway lead. Pepicelli and Lape swapped the third position twice on lap seven with Pepicelli getting the better of Lape on that circuit. Pepicelli also got by Pieniazek for the second position as the lap counter clicked on lap eight.
Lape made his way by Pieniazek for the third position on lap nine as Johnson was now out to a half track lead and running on cruise control. After another side by side battle for position on lap eleven, Lape finally got by Pepicelli for second. Jeff Trombley was now in the fourth spot and took his turn at racing side by side with Pepicelli for the third spot but Pepicelli was able to hold him off at that point.
Johnson was now in heavy lap traffic with four lap cars racing in front of him for position on lap sixteen. Johnson just moved up to the high side of the speedway and swept around them all with ease as his car was working perfectly. The yellow flag was thrown again on lap sixteen for Bobby Varin who spun out in turn one. At that point there were still three lap cars between Johnson and Lape as the race came down to those two cars.
Johnson pulled away easily on the single file restart with Lape still second and a great battle between Pepicelli and Trombley for the third spot. Trombley took over the position on lap seventeen with Ken Aanonsen following him through for fourth putting Pepicelli back to fifth.
One final caution flag was thrown with ten laps to go but Johnson was able to pull away from Lape on the restart with Aanonsen and Pepicelli racing side by side for fourth until the checkered flag was thrown. At the line it was Johnson winning the event by a full straightaway over Lape, Trombley, Pepicelli, and Aanonsen. For Lape it was his fifth second place finish in the last six weeks.
“I knew that Lape was back there and tried to pick it up a little bit but sometimes when you try to go faster you actually feel like you are slowing down,” Johnson said. “This Teo car is a great car and we have to give those Bicknell cars a run for their money.”
Mike Ketchum started the Sportsman feature on the outside pole and immediately took the lead at the drop of the green flag. The yellow was out at the completion of lap one for a four car crash in turn four. Ketchum maintained the lead on the restart with Michael Ballestero making his way to the front after starting tenth. On lap four Ballestero took over the second position from Elmo Reckner as Ketchum was out to a half straightaway lead.
The race remained under green for many laps but Ballestero was able to close the gap between himself and Ketchum by lap eight. One lap later Ballestero was the new leader after sweeping around the outside of Ketchum for the lead in turn four. From that point on the attention swung to the two and three wide racing that was taking place for the second through fifth positions. Ballestero pulled out to a straightaway lead with five laps to go and went on to his second win of the season followed by Ketchum, Bobby Hackel, Elmo Reckner, and David Towns.
Jason Brownell led the Pro Stock feature at the drop of the green flag until Mark Lighthall took over the point at the completion of lap one. Steve Welch started the event in the sixth position and got by both Chip Smith and Dan Rickard for the third position by the time lap two was completed. Welch got by Brownell for the second spot on the next lap and set out to catch Lighthall who was now a straightaway ahead. Welch was able to close the gap by lap eight and one lap later he was the new leader after getting by Lighthall for the lead on the outside in turn four.
Nick Stone and Butchie Irwin were making their way to the front at this point after starting twelfth and thirteenth respectively as they both got by Lighthall for the second and third spot at the halfway point. Irwin got by Stone for the second position on lap twelve with Welch now a half straightaway ahead. Irwin was able to close in with five laps to go and made a last turn, last lap pass to take his second win of the season over Welch, Stone, Joey Duncan, and Lighthall.
The caution plagued IMCA feature began with Skip Pabis as the early leader before Eric Stumpf took over the point at the completion of lap one. Pabis retook the lead on the next lap before Steve Vrooman got by both Stumpf and Pabis to take the lead on lap three on the backstretch. Jeff Jones started the event in the tenth position and moved into the top five on lap four with George Catanzano and Danny Ballard right behind.
Jones was passing one car per lap from that point on for the next three laps, taking over the second spot from Pabis on lap six. On the next lap Jones used the outside line that he has pretty much been using all season long to take over the lead. Jones survived six more caution flags, including one on the final lap to take his first career win in the IMCA division over Ballard, Steve Bidwell, JoJo Donato, and Stumpf.
Joe Smith led the Street Stock “A” feature at the drop of the green flag until he spun going into turn three allowing Dave Horning Jr. to take over the lead. Phil Pearson took over the second spot on lap two and began to pressure the leader on lap six. At that point John Bradt and Bob VanAernam waged a great battle for the third position running side by side for the spot when the yellow came out on lap nine. Under caution Bradt and VanAernam played a game of bumper cars resulting in both drivers being black flagged and sent to the pits. Horning Jr. went on to his second win of the season followed by Pearson, Jeff Crosier, Paul Hughes, and Neil Cosselman.
The Street Stock “B” feature was a barn burner from the start with Dan Hartgraves leading lap one. Dave Horning Sr. was the new leader on lap two while Rocky Warner was in the second spot one lap later after starting fourteenth. Warner took over the top spot from Horning Sr. on lap five and maintained the lead until lap seven when he went up in smoke going down into turn one with Horning Sr. now retaking the lead. John Babcock was the next to lead on lap eight after getting by Horning Sr. in turn four but the race to the win wasn’t over yet. Howard Smith ran side by side with Babcock to the checkered flag with Smith edging Babcock at the line for his second career win. Horning Sr., Hartgraves, and D.T. Pickard completed the top five in the event.
The Midstate Vintage Stock Car Club was on hand with two features being run for the club. In the first feature which was for the 50’s and 60’s cars combined, Tom Traynor took the lead at the drop of the green but going into turn one he slid sideways with Frank Blanchard making contact with him after having nowhere to go bringing out the caution.
Phil Claussen took over the lead at that point and led until the final lap when Butchie Irwin took over the lead coming out of turn four and went on to the win followed by Claussen, Jim Hilimire, Brad Litzenberger, and Joey Edgbert. Irwin was driving a replica of the John Flach #77 which was an original 1934 Ford coupe with a V8 Crossfire Flathead engine under the hood. Claussen was credited with the win in the 60’s class as he was the first car in that class to cross the finish line.
The 70’s feature began with Pat Sonnenberg the early leader before John McNamee took over the point on lap five using the outside groove in turn four to get the job done. McNamee from Smith Falls, Ontario Canada held the lead the rest of the way, winning the twelve lap event by a straightaway over Sonnenberg, Gary Byerly, Ally Amell, and Mike McLauglin.
Next week at Fonda the second event of the Big Block/Small Block Shootout Series will take place with a 50-lap Modified feature event. All other classes will also be in action on Andy’s Speed Shop Night with a starting time of 6:00 p.m. A qualifying spot for the Victoria 200 is also on the line in the Modified feature for the event which will be held at the Fulton Speedway this October.
MODIFIED QUALIFYING – 25 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – Alton Palmer, Ronnie Johnson, Dave Lape, Mike Romano, Ken Aanonsen
HEAT 2 – A.J. Romano, Tony Pepicelli, Chic Chandler, Ken Hanson, Josh Pieniazek
HEAT 3 – Mike Fusco, Steve Akers, John Marsh Sr., Bobby Varin, Jeff Trombley
AMSTERDAM CHRYSLER DODGE/SNAPPLE MODIFIED FEATURE – 30-LAPS – RONNIE JOHNSON, Dave Lape, Jeff Trombley, Tony Pepicelli, Ken Aanonsen, A.J. Romano, Mike Romano, Bobby Varin, Ronnie Holmes, Jack Johnson, Jim Davis, Alton Palmer, John Marsh Sr., Jerry Pennock Jr., Steve Akers, Josh Pieniazek, Ken Hanson, Billy Osta, Craig Hanson, Matt DeLorenzo, Bobby Vedder, Chic Chandler, Robert King, Ray Zemken, Mike Fusco
SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING – 26 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – David Towns, Jim Burton, Tim Clemons, Michael Ballestero, Erik Nelson
HEAT 2 – John McAuliffe, Elmo Reckner, Tony Farone, Drew Fallis, Robert Perry
HEAT 3 – Mike Ketchum, Jeremiah Munson, Bobby Hackel, Tim Clemons Jr., Josh Hohenforst
AMSTERDAM CHRYSLER DODGE/SNAPPLE SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20-LAPS – MICHAEL BALLESTERO, Mike Ketchum, Bobby Hackel, Elmo Reckner, David Towns, John McAuliffe, Drew Fallis, Tony Farone, Jeremiah Munson, Tim Clemons, Tim Clemons Jr., Robert Perry, Jim Burton, Josh Hohenforst, Chris Garrity, Randy Meka, Justin House, Keith Nichols, John Constantino, Ricky Quick, Randy Salisbury, Bubba Barber, Gary Greco, Pete Sisler, Erik Nelson, Mark Mortensen
PRO STOCK QUALIFYING – 14 total cars – 7 qualify
HEAT 1 – Mark Lighthall, Butchie Irwin, Hondo Carpenter, Chucky Dumblewski, Jason Brownell, Joey Duncan, Bill Dona
HEAT 2 – Rob Noviczski, Steve Welch, Dan Rickard, Chip Smith, Chuck McSpirit, Kenny Gates, Nick Stone
AMSTERDAM CHRYSLER DODGE/SNAPPLE PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-LAPS – BUTCHIE IRWIN, Steve Welch, Nick Stone, Joey Duncan, Mark Lighthall, Rob Noviczski, Chucky Dumblewski, Chip Smith, Dan Rickard, Jason Brownell, Chuck McSpirit, Kenny Gates, Hondo Carpenter, Bill Dona
IMCA QUALIFYING – 27 total cars – 4 qualify
HEAT 1 – JoJo Donato, Steve Vrooman, Danny Ballard, Aaron Jacobs
HEAT 2 – George Catanzano, Jeff Davis, Danny Ody, Eric Stumpf
HEAT 3 – Jeff Jones, Skip Pabis, Darcy Volans, Kurt Olsen
AMSTERDAM CHRYSLER DODGE/SNAPPLE IMCA FEATURE – 20-LAPS – JEFF JONES, Danny Ballard, Steve Bidwell, JoJo Donato, Eric Stumpf, John Malloy, Tom Funk, Kurt Olsen, Darcy Volans, Dennis Vroman, Kenn VanWert, Skip Pabis, Rob VanAernam, Pete Knapp, Eric Taber, Aaron Jacobs, Malcum Warner, George Catanzano, Nick Candelaria, Steve Vrooman, Bob Wilkie, Chris Reckner, Jay Fitzgerald, Danny Ody, Tom Costanza, Carol Parker, Jeff Davis
AMSTERDAM CHRYSLER DODGE/SNAPPLE STREET STOCK “A” FEATURE – 12-LAPS – DAVE HORNING JR., Phil Pearson, Jeff Crosier, Paul Hughes, Neil Cosselman, Cassidy Wilson, Howie Clark, Ivan Joslin, Philip Tenerowicz, Bill Lehman, Dwight Oldorf, John Bradt, Bob VanAernam, Joe Smith
AMSTERDAM CHRYSLER DODGE/SNAPPLE STREET STOCK “B” FEATURE – 12-LAPS – HOWARD SMITH, John Babcock, Dave Horning Sr., Dan Hartgraves, D.T. Pickard, Brian Cosselman, Sam Surnear, Pete Broderson, John Quintana, Dan Clemens, Ron Cummings, Dan Pollock, Rocky Warner, Luke Horning
AMSTERDAM CHRYSLER DODGE/SNAPPLE MIDSTATE VINTAGE STOCK CAR CLUB 50’S & 60’S CLASS COMBINED FEATURE – 12-LAPS – BUTCHIE IRWIN (50’S CLASS WINNER), PHIL CLAUSSEN (60’S CLASS WINNER), Jim Hilimire, Brad Litzenberger, Joey Edgbert, Dick Ackerman, Harold Sonnenberg, Jim Chicoski, Shirley Morden, Frank Blanchard, Tom Traynor
AMSTERDAM CHRYSLER DODGE/SNAPPLE MIDSTATE VINTAGE STOCK CAR CLUB 70’S CLASS FEATURE – 12-LAPS – JOH