AJ ROMANO WINS SECOND OF SEASON
Winning a race is very special. Winning a race on the night that one of your sponsors is sponsoring the racing activities at the track is also special. Winning a feature on your sponsor’s night is very special and is something that all drivers would like to do.
Last Saturday night, A.J. Romano did just that as he stood in victory lane at the Fonda Speedway for the second time this season on a night that was being sponsored by one of his sponsors, Skip Seymour, and his business North Norwich Motors & Trailer Sales.
“Thank God for Skip and his family,” A.J. said in victory lane. “I don’t know where I’d be without them, probably running a Sportsman car or something.”
Ronnie Holmes and Jerry Pennock Jr. started on the front row of the Modified feature with Holmes taking the advantage into turn one. Cars were running four wide in the frontstretch at the start in a wild scramble to get to the front. Before the first lap was completed, the yellow flag flew for Jack Johnson who came to a stop in turn four with a broken shock.
Bobby Varin started the event in the fifth position and was second by the completion of lap one. Varin got alongside of Holmes for the lead on the second lap and took over the point after a two lap side by side battle. Varin was off and running out front at that point with Holmes second and Romano third after starting thirteenth.
When Romano got by Holmes for the second position on lap thirteen, Varin was already a half straightaway ahead. Back in the pack, point leader Dave Lape and his teammate Mike Romano were battling side by side just out of the top ten. Lape and Mike Romano were stacked up behind three other cars and just couldn’t seem to make headway.
When Varin caught lap traffic on lap seventeen, A.J. was closing in and with ten laps to go he was right behind the leader. Mike Romano’s night came to an end at that point as he suffered a flat right rear tire while running in the top ten. On lap twenty-three, A.J. made a quick move past both the lap car of Billy Osta and Varin for the lead.
Varin stayed close to the leader over the remaining laps but A.J. sealed the win when he got by the lap cars of Alton Palmer, Kenny Hanson, and John Marsh Sr. while Varin had trouble getting by the trio. That allowed A.J. to pull away to a comfortable margin and go on to the win followed by Varin, Holmes, Jim Davis, and Steve Akers.
“The bottom of the track was real fast,” A.J. said. “Varin slid up a little bit out of the groove and I was able to get by for the lead.”
With soft tires allowed on the rear of the Modifieds for the next couple of weeks because of the inability to get the mandatory hard tires, A.J. seemed to think the track was equal for both compounds. “It definitely makes things more interesting though.”
Robert Perry led the Sportsman feature at the start from his outside front row starting position. Tony Farone started eighth but moved quickly to the front as he sat in the third spot by the completion of lap one. Farone got by Pat O’Hanlon for the second spot on the next lap with the one and only caution of the event coming out on lap three.
As Farone chased down the leader, John McAuliffe was making his way to the front, sitting in the third spot on lap four after getting by both Michael Ballestero and Bobby Hackel for the spot. Farone caught the leader on lap four and took over the lead one lap later after a two lap side by side battle. At the halfway point, Farone was the leader followed by McAuliffe, Hackel, Ballestero, and David Towns.
Farone and McAuliffe were running side by side for the lead on lap thirteen with McAuliffe taking over the lead for one lap before Farone was able to get back by him for the number one position. When Farone tried to lap the car of Josh Hohenforst, Hohenforst made slight contact with the leader breaking his momentum which allowed McAuliffe to get by for the lead and his second consecutive win of the season, Farone, Ballestero, Hackel, and Towns completed the top five.
Joey Duncan led at the start of the bizarre Pro Stock feature event but at the completion of lap one it was Jason Brownell who had the lead. Kevin Ward started the event in the sixth spot but was the new leader at the lap three point. When Chip Smith and Brownell both did a three hundred sixty degree spin on lap nine on the frontstretch but kept going, an inadvertent yellow was thrown by one of the track workers. Ward slowed when he saw the yellow allowing Duncan to get by for the lead as the race continued without a caution because the starter never threw a yellow flag. When the yellow came out for real on lap eleven, Ward was put back out front because of the earlier mistake.
But the action was far from over in this event as on the restart Rob Noviczski who was now running second got into the back of Ward spinning him out and bringing out another caution as Butchie Irwin now taking over the lead. Under the yellow, Ward came around and spun out the car that he thought had spun him out. The problem was that he spun Irwin out instead of Noviczski. At that point Ward was out of the event while Noviczski and Irwin were able to continue as Kenny Gates was now the new leader. Gates would go on to the surprising win over Nick Stone, Hondo Carpenter, Chuck McSpirit, and Duncan. It was Gates’ fourth win of the season and his wife and children all joined him in victory lane.
Jeff Davis led the first lap of the IMCA feature before JoJo Donato took over the point on lap two. Last weeks winner Aaron Jacobs started the event in the sixth spot and by lap four he was in contention for the win. Jacobs made a three wide move around the outside of both Davis and Donato for the lead on lap five and pulled out to a comfortable lead.
George Catanzano and Danny Ballard were both making their way to the front sitting in the third and fourth positions after getting by Kurt Olsen on lap thirteen. Catanzano made his way up to the second position on lap fourteen but at that point Jacobs had built up a half straightaway advantage. Catanzano tried to close in but it was to no avail as Jacobs went on to his second consecutive win followed by Catanzano, Ballard, Steve Bidwell, and Olsen.
Three yellow flags slowed the Street Stock “A” feature but there was nothing slowing down John Babcock who took the lead at the drop of the green flag. Babcock stayed smooth throughout the event and didn’t allow all of the yellows to get him riled up as he led flag to flag for his first win of the season followed by Howard Smith who started the event in the fifteenth spot, Bob VanAernam, John Bradt, and Phil Pearson.
Brain Cosselman led lap one of the Street Stock “B” feature before Dwight Oldorf took over the lead on lap two. Luke Horning took over the second position on lap four but it was Rocky Warner who was on the move from his eleventh place starting position. Warner took over the lead on lap six and never looked back as he went on to his third win of the season followed by Oldorf, Horning, D.T. Pickard, and Cassidy Wilson.
Keith Wright led the first five laps of the 4-Cylinder feature before Jason Duncan took over the lead on lap six. Jason Duncan led the remaining laps for the win followed by Jim Duncan, Wright, Randy Davis, and Greg Davis.
Next week at Fonda a regular show in all divisions along with the Midstate Vintage Stock Car Club and a Giant Fireworks display is on the racing card on Old Timers Night. The racing activities will be sponsored by Amsterdam Chrysler Dodge and Snapple with a special starting time of 5:00 p.m.
MODIFIED QUALIFYING – 28 total cars – 6 qualify (5 handicapped)
HEAT 1 – Jerry Pennock Jr., Bobby Varin, Dave Lape, Bobby Vedder, Tony Pepicelli, Mike Romano
HEAT 2 – Ronnie Holmes, Mike Fusco, Steve Akers, A.J. Romano, Jim Davis, Kenny Hanson
HEAT 3 – Ronnie Johnson, Chic Chandler, Matt DeLorenzo, John Marsh Sr., Craig Hanson, Jack Johnson
MODIFIED CONSOLATION – 5 qualify – Jeff Trombley, Alton Palmer, Ray Zemken, Billy Osta, Josh Pieniazek
NORTH NORWICH MOTORS & TRAILER SALES MODIFIED FEATURE – 30-LAPS – A.J. ROMANO, Bobby Varin, Ronnie Holmes, Jim Davis, Steve Akers, Tony Pepicelli, Bobby Vedder, Matt DeLorenzo, Dave Lape, Craig Hanson, Jeff Trombley, Jerry Pennock Jr., Ronnie Johnson, John Marsh Sr., Kenny Hanson, Ray Zemken, Alton Palmer, Billy Osta, Robert King, Josh Pieniazek, Chic Chandler, Mike Romano, Mike Fusco, Jack Johnson
SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING – 24 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – Michael Ballestero, David Towns, Pete Sisler, Drew Fallis, John Constantino
HEAT 2 – Keith Flach, John McAuliffe, Elmo Reckner, Jeremiah Munson, Jim Burton
HEAT 3 – Robert Perry, Tony Farone, Bobby Hackel, Pat O’Hanlon, Tim Clemons Jr.
NORTH NORWICH MOTORS & TRAILER SALES SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20-LAPS – JOHN MCAULIFFE, Tony Farone, Michael Ballestero, Bobby Hackel, David Towns, Robert Perry, Mark Mortensen, Keith Flach, Tim Clemons Jr., Jim Burton, Elmo Reckner, Jeremiah Munson, Tim VanBrocklin, Pat O’Hanlon, John Constantino, Drew Fallis, Keith Nichols, Ricky Quick, Josh Hohenforst, Pete Sisler, Bubba Barber, Erik Nelson
PRO STOCK QUALIFYING – 19 total cars – 6 qualify
HEAT 1 – Kevin Ward, Butchie Irwin, Chuck McSpirit, Rob Noviczski, Joey Duncan, Dan Rickard
HEAT 2 – Steve Welch, Hondo Carpenter, Kenny Gates, Jason Brownell, Nick Stone, Chip Smith
NORTH NORWICH MOTORS & TRAILER SALES PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-LAPS KENNY GATES, Nick Stone, Hondo Carpenter, Chuck McSpirit, Joey Duncan, Jerry Pepper, Rob Noviczski, Chucky Dumblewski, Butchie Irwin, Wayne Patrick, Steve Welch, Luke Klob, Clint Wiese, Kevin Ward, Chip Smith, Dan Rickard, Mark Lighthall, Jason Brownell, Bill Dona
IMCA QUALIFYING – 23 total cars – 4 qualify
HEAT 1 – Danny Ody, Steve Vrooman, Steve Bidwell, Aaron Jacobs
HEAT 2 – George Catanzano, Jeff Jones, Skip Pabis, Jeff Davis
HEAT 3 – Danny Ballard, Kurt Olsen, Dennis Vroman, JoJo Donato
NORTH NORWICH MOTORS & TRAILER SALES IMCA FEATURE – 20-LAPS – AARON JACOBS, George Catanzano, Danny Ballard, Steve Bidwell, Kurt Olsen, Jeff Davis, Steve Vrooman, Jeff Jones, JoJo Donato, Tom Funk, Pete Knapp, Eric Taber, Eric Stumpf, Kevin VanWert, Skip Pabis, Danny Ody, Carol Parker, Chris Reckner, Darcy Volans, Malcum Warner, Dennis Vroman, Tom Costanza
NORTH NORWICH MOTORS & TRAILER SALES STREET STOCK “A” FEATURE – 12-LAPS – JOHN BABCOCK, Howard Smith, Bob VanAernam, John Bradt, Phil Pearson, Car #29, Dave Horning Sr., John Quintana, Dan Hartgraves, Dan Clemens, Neil Cosselman, Paul Hughes, Joe Smith, Ulysses Taylor, Don Warner
NORTH NORWICH MOTORS & TRAILER SALES STREET STOCK “B” FEATURE – 12-LAPS – ROCKY WARNER, Dwight Oldorf, Luke Horning, D.T. Pickard, Cassidy Wilson, Ivan Joslin, Jeff Crosier, Brian Cosselman, Howie Clark, Sam Surnear, Dave Horning Jr., Scott Wells, Ron Cummings, Guy Klob, Justin LaBombard
NORTH NORWICH MOTORS & TRAILER SALES 4-CYLINDER FEATURE – 12-LAPS – JASON DUNCAN, Jim Duncan, Keith Wright, Randy Davis, Greg Davis, David Klob, Lori Fallis, Ricky Skinner, Crystal Seaburg, Angie Catanzano, Roger Newkirk Jr., Bob Snyder, Leigh Ann Snyder