LAPE TAKES FIRST WIN IN NEW RIDE
Fonda, NY - It was a full night of racing at the Fonda Speedway on Saturday May 3 on Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center Night. In the end it was a rejuvenated driver in a new ride that sat in victory lane after the Modified feature.
It all started last August when it was announced that Dave Lape would be joining forces with the Andy Romano Racing Team. It didn’t take too long for Lape to get used to his new ride and his new team as he has been running strong every week so far this season at Fonda Speedway. But it all came together on this night as he won the Modified feature, the 92nd of his career at Fonda.
The 2003 season is Lape’s 40th consecutive season competing at the Track of Champions. Lape is third on the all time win list at Fonda behind Jack Johnson and Lou Lazzaro with 92 feature victories (one of those victories was actually a tie between Lape and Don Wayman on August 8, 1970). May seems to be a good month for Lape at Fonda as his first career victory at Fonda came on May 17, 1969 while his last victory was on May 12, 2001. For Lape it was his first ever victory in a Bicknell car.
“This win is for Jessica (Lape’s daughter) who was born in 1992 and this win being David’s 92nd it makes it even more special because of that,” Dave’s wife Jackie said in victory lane. Jessica even got to do her now famous roof dance on top of the #22.
Dave was quick to thank his new team right from the team owner Andy Romano to Mike and A.J. Romano who are also part of the team. “This feels real good,” Lape said. “I want to thank the Romano’s for everything that they have done for me. I have a new car with new parts so nothing is breaking down. And when you are running out front it is always fun.”
Mike Fusco was out to an early lead from his pole position start and stretched out his advantage to a straightaway by the time lap two was completed. Lape started the event in the fifth position and by the lap two point he was already second as he got by both Erik Gall and Johnny Marsh.
Just as Lape started to close the gap between himself and Fusco the yellow came out for Jack Johnson who spun on the backstretch after he came in contact with Kenny Hanson’s rear bumper. All other cars missed the stopped car of Johnson as he continued on in the event.
On the restart, Fusco chose the outside lane but that was the wrong choice as Lape blew by him on the inside when the green was thrown. Lape quickly put distance between himself and the second place car of invader Pat Ward by lap eight as Lape held a straightaway lead at that point. Ward started the feature event in the fourteenth position and was running at Fonda because his home track of Can-Am hasn’t opened yet.
Lape got into lap traffic by lucky lap thirteen but had no trouble at all getting by the back markers. At one point Lape went right down the middle of two lap cars in turn four and there was nothing that was going to stop him on this night.
There was one scary moment for the leader on lap twenty-two when the lap car of Ron Proctor hit the frontstretch wall right in front of Lape. Proctor kept the car moving and the race went on without the caution being dropped. Lape went on to a convincing victory over Ward, Jeff Trombley, A.J. Romano, and Ronnie Johnson.
“I said back in the fall when I got this ride that we are going to go for the track championship,” Lape said. “This is a good start towards it.”
Josh Pieniazek was the early leader of the Sportsman feature event with Allen Powell, Jr. second. An early yellow was out on lap two for a car spun out in turn two and on the restart Powell, Jr. was the new leader.
At that point in the event Tim Clemons had moved his way up to the fourth position and was wasting no time getting to the front. On lap four, Clemons got by two cars into the second position and set his sights on the leader.
Clemons got by Powell, Jr. for the lead on lap six and it was smooth sailing from there as he went on to his second consecutive victory of the 2003 season at Fonda over John McAuliffe, Tim Dwyer who is driving the Mike Parillo owned #17 this season, Dave Towns, and Pieniazek.
Dave Bayes led at the start of the Pro Stock feature from his outside front row starting position. Only two yellow flags slowed the event with the first one coming at the completion of the first lap. At that point it was Hondo Carpenter who was on the move sitting in the second position after starting ninth.
On lap five using the inside groove in turn three, Carpenter took over the lead with the yellow out again on lap eight as Jim Normoyle was now in the second position. Turn three was the place to pass in this feature as Normoyle got by Carpenter for the lead on lap ten using the outside groove in turn three.
Kenny Gates moved into the second position on lap fourteen after getting by Carpenter and tried to mount a charge to catch the leader. Rob Noviczski and Chris Morris also made a late race charge into the top five after starting the feature event in the eleventh and twelfth positions respectively but nobody was going to catch Normoyle on this night as he went on to the victory followed by Gates, Noviczski, Morris, and Carpenter.
Last years IMCA Track Champion Danny Ballard started the IMCA feature on the pole position and took the early lead at the drop of the green flag. Steve Bidwell started the event in the seventh position but was already up to third as the lap counter changed over to lap two.
Bidwell got by Danny Ody for the second position on lap six and set out to catch the leader. On lap eleven, Bidwell went to the outside of both Ballard and a lap car to try and take over the lead but Ballard was able to hold the position.
Ballard was running strong on the inside while Bidwell used the outside groove to his liking as the two drivers put on a whale of a race for the fans to watch. One final yellow flag was out on lap thirteen for George Catanzano who came to a stop in turn three.
The caution flag not only slowed the field but it seemed to take away some of Bidwell’s momentum as he never got close to the leader again. Ballard went on for the win followed by Bidwell, Ody, George Proctor, and Joe Williams.
Sixteen cars started the Sprint Car feature event with Jeff VanDusen in the lead at the drop of the green flag. Mike Lutz driving a team car to VanDusen moved into the second position on lap two getting by Alain Bergeron but at that point VanDusen was out to a straightaway advantage.
Justin Barger got by Bergeron for the second position on lap five as Lutz began to close the gap between himself and the leader. Lap traffic came into play for VanDusen on lap sixteen as Lutz was now in striking distance. Lutz was alongside VanDusen with two laps to go in the feature as a lap car slowed the leader setting up a great finish. Lutz got the lead with two laps to go and went on for the win in his first ever ride in that race car. VanDusen, Barger, John Karklin, and Warren Alexson completed the top five.
Six yellow flags slowed the Street Stock “A” feature with five lead changes between four different drivers made it a very exciting event. Paul Hughes was the early leader until Carol Parker took over the lead on lap three. Parker led for three laps until Bob VanAernam took over the top spot on the outside in turn three.
From that point on it was VanAernam and Ron Tollner who put on a whale of a race for the fans. Tollner did a “Bump and Run” on VanAernam in turn four on lap eight taking over the lead in the event but VanAernam returned the favor on the next lap using the same move in turn four to retake the lead.
One more yellow flag slowed the field before the completion of the feature but VanAernam held on for the win followed by Tollner, Shawn Laport, Donnie Oldick, and Jeff Crosier. Only nine cars were running at the end of the feature out of the sixteen that started the event.
The Street Stock “B” feature began with Ricky Quick as the early leader. John Bradt was next to lead taking the top spot on lap two. As Bradt continued to lead, Guy Klob was making his way to the front moving into the second position on lap five. Klob took over the lead on lap eight getting by Bradt on the inside of turn four.
Mike Frasier was now second and pressured the leader with two laps to go, Klob using the outside groove while Frasier hugged the inside of the speedway. Klob edged out Frasier for his first career win as Bradt, Brandon Lehr, and Howard Smith completed the top five.
Next Saturday May 10 Fonda Speedway will feature a regular show in all divisions along with the EYEROCK 500 which is a race for blind people who are coached around the speedway by stock car drivers who compete regularly at the track. Starting time will be 6:00 p.m.
MODIFIED QUALIFYING – 38 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – Dave Lape, Jeff Trombley, Mike Fusco, Jack Johnson, Jerry Pennock, Jr.
HEAT 2 – Ryan Odasz, Pat Ward, Johnny Marsh, Ronnie Johnson, John Marsh
HEAT 3 – Mike Romano, Craig Criscone, Alton Palmer Erik Gall, Ron Proctor
HEAT 4 – A.J. Romano, Ray Zemken, Bobby Varin, Ken Hanson, Steve Akers
MODIFIED CONSOLATIONS – 4 qualify
CONSI 1 – Bob Sitterly, Tony Pepicelli, Craig Hanson, Bobby Vedder
CONSI 2 – Robert King, Brian Borst, Mike Dillenbeck, Ancel Collins
MODIFIED FEATURE – 30 laps – DAVE LAPE, Pat Ward, Jeff Trombley, A.J. Romano, Ronnie Johnson, Bobby Varin, Mike Romano, Craig Criscone, Mike Fusco, Jim Davis, Jerry Pennock, Jr., Tony Pepicelli, Brian Borst, Johnny Marsh, Ryan Odasz, Ron Proctor, Ken Hanson, Bob Sitterly, Erik Gall, Steve Akers, Ancel Collins, Bobby Vedder, Robert King, Craig Hanson, Jack Johnson, Mike Dillenbeck, Alton Palmer, Ray Zemken
SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING – 24 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – Tim Clemons, Drew Fallis, Dave Towns, Tim Dwyer, Tony Farone
HEAT 2 – Allen Powell, Jr., Josh Pieniazek, John McAuliffe, Robert Perry, Mike Ketchum
HEAT 3 – Bobby Hackel, Ancel Collins, Jim Burton, Billy Osta, Michael Ballestero
SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20 laps – TIM CLEMONS, John McAuliffe, Tim Dwyer, Dave Towns, Josh Pieniazek, Drew Fallis, Allen Powell, Jr., Robert Perry, Tony Farone, Mike Ketchum, Jim Burton, Frank Greco, Mark Mortensen, Jason Memrick, John Constantino, John Cefala, Elmo Reckner, Michael Ballestero, Billy Osta, Johnny Johnson, Jeremiah Munson, Joe Perrotti
PRO STOCK QUALIFYING – 21 total cars – 6 qualify
HEAT 1 – Kenny Gates, Dave Bayes, Chris Morris, Luke Klob, Jeff Patrick, Erik Yager
HEAT 2 – Jim Normoyle, Dave Viall, Hondo Carpenter, Rob Noviczski, Karl Klob, Bobby Gile
PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20 laps – JIM NORMOYLE, Kenny Gates, Rob Noviczski, Chris Morris, Hondo Carpenter, Jeff Patrick, Jerry Pepper, Luke Klob, Dave Viall, Bobby Gile, Steve Welch, Dave Bayes, Karl Klob, Erik Yager, Randy Cannell, Wayne Patrick, Tom LaPlante, Chucky Dumblewski, Rob VanAernam, Dan Rickard, Erik Nelson
IMCA QUALIFYING – 21 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – Steve Vrooman, Kevin Buff, Steve Bidwell, Dennis Vroman, Floyd Billington
HEAT 2 – Danny Ody, Danny Ballard, Joe Williams, George Proctor, George Catanzano
IMCA FEATURE – 20 laps – DANNY BALLARD, Steve Bidwell, Danny Ody, George Proctor, Joe Williams, Kevin Buff, Curt Olsen, Steve Vrooman, Dennis Vroman, Jeff Davis, Shawn Simmons, Tom Funk, Randy Moore, Justin LaBombard, Skip Pabis, Darcy Volans, George Catanzano, Eric Stumpf, Chris Reckner
SPRINT CAR QUALIFYING – 17 total cars – 6 qualify
HEAT 1 – Jeff VanDusen, Warren Alexson, Bill Wolf, Jim Senzio, Mark Cole, Robert E. Wade
HEAT 2 – Justin Barger, Mike Lutz, Frankie Senzio, Alain Bergeron, John Karklin, Russ Bennett
SPRINT CAR FEATURE – 20 laps – MIKE LUTZ, Jeff VanDusen, Justin Barger, John Karklin, Warren Alexson, Russ Bennett, Bill Wolf, Jim Senzio, Frankie Senzio, Mark Cole, Ricky Hart, Jim McCaffrey, Don Bellen, Robert E. Wade, Scott Davis, Alain Bergeron
STREET STOCK “A” – 12 laps – BOB VANAERNAM, Ron Tollner, Shawn Laport, Donnie Oldick, Jeff Crosier, Norman Lamphear, Jr., Mike Burdo, John Babcock, Car #23, Rocky Warner, Carol Parker, Paul Hughes, Mike Walters, Ron Cummings, Mike Budka, Jr., Roger Keeny
STREET STOCK “B” – 12 laps – GUY KLOB, Mike Frasier, John Bradt, Brandon Lehr, Howard Smith, Don Warner, Justin Knight, Dan Clemens, Car #21, David Trombley, Jr., Neil Cosselman, Ron Cummings, Steve Cosselman, Ricky Quick, T.J. Marlitt, Dave Horning, Jr.