PEPICELLI TAKES EMOTIONAL VICTORY AT FONDA

Tony Pepicelli has had nothing but terrible luck so far in 2003 but all of the bad luck came to an end last night as he won the 30-lap modified feature event at the Fonda Speedway. The win for Pepicelli was the seventh of his career at the “Track of Champions.”

“All of the restarts made it a lot harder for me as old tires were good when they were warm but not on restarts when they were cold,” he said in victory lane. “It has been awhile since we ran well and that affects your confidence a little bit so this definitely helps.”

It was Snapple Night at Fonda with Fireworks to celebrate the Fourth of July being set off into the sky and Fireworks on the track as well.

Pepicelli started the feature event on the pole and immediately rocketed out to the lead as the green flag flew to start the event with Ron Proctor in tow. Jack Johnson who has also had a tough season so far took over the third position at the completion of lap one with Bobby Varin following him through for fourth.

Pepicelli held a straightaway lead by lap five and was into lap traffic by lap eight. Just inside the top ten were Jeff Trombley, Dave Lape, and Alton Palmer who were battling hard for position as the yellow came out on lap fourteen for Trombley who spun in turn two after contact from Bob Sitterly. Trombley was able to continue at the rear of the field.

On the restart, Johnson got by Proctor for second as did Varin and Mike Romano for third and fourth putting Proctor back to the fifth position. Pat Ward and point leader Dave Lape were next to get by Proctor with two more yellows slowing the field before the end of the event.

Romano got by both Varin and Johnson for second with eight laps to go and tried to close in on the leader but Pepicelli was up to the challenge with a big block under the hood and went on to his first win of the season followed by Mike Romano, Ward, Jack Johnson, and Varin.

“I really want to thank my family for their support including my wife Dionne, three year old son Ryan, my three week old newborn son Tyler, and my dad,” Pepicelli said.

Michael Ballestero led at the start of the sportsman feature event from his outside pole starting position until Billy Osta took over the point in turn three before the first lap was completed. Point leader Tim Clemons moved into the second spot on lap two as he got by Ballestero after starting eighth.

An early yellow at the completion of lap two slowed the field and allowed Ballestero to gain some momentum. On the restart, Ballestero slid by both Clemons and Osta for the lead. Bobby Hackel was the next driver to show some strength as he was battling side by side with Clemons for the second position which he would eventually get on lap four.

As Ballestero stretched out his advantage the race was for second between Hackel and Clemons with Clemons getting the position back from Hackel at the halfway point. Despite one final caution flag with five laps remaining Clemons was not able to mount a challenge against Ballestero who went on to his first win of the season. Clemons ended up second followed by Hackel, Drew Fallis, and Jeremiah Munson.

“That was the most exciting pro stock feature that I have ever seen,” was a comment made by announcer Jim King at the completion of the 20-lap pro stock feature. Karl Klob led at the start of the feature with Luke Klob in second.

Hondo Carpenter started the event in the fifth position and moved into the third position on a lap four restart. On the next lap Carpenter got by Luke Klob for second and one lap after that he was the new leader. Jerry Pepper who started next to Carpenter in row three took over second from Karl Klob and from that point on Carpenter and Pepper would put on one of the most memorable battles to the checkered flag.

Pepper took over the lead on lap twelve only to have Carpenter come back and retake the point on lap sixteen. From there the lead would change between these two drivers every two laps until the final lap. Coming out of turn four to the checkered flag Pepper was the leader and was going for his first career pro stock feature win but he was loose coming out of the turn and ended up sideways.

Carpenter had nowhere to go and made contact with Pepper who was sideways in front of him. Pepper and Carpenter slid sideways into the tire barrier just before the inside wall of the frontstretch with Pepper ending up upside down on his roof and Carpenter sitting next to the implement tires with heavy damage to both racecars. Mark Lighthall, Dave Viall, and Jay Resch would also pile into the Pepper #24 but fortunately no drivers were injured.

Sneaking by the accident for the win was Nick Stone who was followed by Chris Morris, Rob VanAernam, Rob Noviczski, and Steve Welch.

JoJo Donato was the leader at the drop of the green flag in the IMCA feature but it was Steve Bidwell who made his way by both Joe Williams and Donato for the lead before the completion of lap one.

Williams pressured Bidwell for the lead from lap five until lap thirteen when Williams detonated the motor in his #1J. At that point George Catanzano was in the second position and everyone was looking for a classic battle between Bidwell and Catanzano for the win.

Catanzano closed in on Bidwell with five laps remaining but slid high into the loose stuff on the backstretch with one lap to go allowing Bidwell to get away for the win. Catanzano ended up second followed by Danny Ballard, Dennis Vroman, and Curt Olsen.

The street stock “A” feature began with Mike Walters as the early leader before Rocky Warner took over the point on lap two. Ron Tollner moved quickly into the second position after starting seventh and survived a chaotic restart on lap four to take the lead. Tollner and Warner would swap the lead two more times before Tollner ended up winning his first career feature event. Warner ended up second followed by Carol Parker, Brandon Lehr, and Neil Cosselman.

Joe Smith started on the pole for the street stock “B” feature and took the lead at the drop of the green. When the caution came out before the first lap was completed Luke Horning had gotten by Smith for the lead. On the restart, Mike Frasier moved Horning out of the way, took over the lead, and went on to his fourth win of the season followed by John Babcock, Bob VanAernam, Paul Hughes, and Shawn Laport.

Norman Lamphear Jr. and Denver Wilson took turns leading lap one of the street stock “C” feature before Roger Keeny took over the point on lap two. John Bradt was the new leader on lap three with Dave Horning Jr. second and pressuring Bradt for the lead. Horning Jr. took over the lead on lap seven on the backstretch and when Bradt came around to complete lap seven he lost a wheel and was done for the night while running second. Horning Jr. went on for the win followed by Keeny, Wilson, Steve Cosselman, and Mike Budka Jr.

Next Saturday at Fonda the second event of the big block/small block challenge series will be run along with a regular show in all other divisions. A Victoria 200 qualifying spot is also on the line with racing starting at 5:30 p.m.

MODIFIED FEATURE – 30 LAPS – TONY PEPICELLI, Mike Romano, Pat Ward, Jack Johnson, Bobby Varin, A.J. Romano, Alton Palmer, Dave Lape, Ronnie Johnson, Jeff Trombley, Brian Borst, Jerry Pennock Jr., Ron Proctor, Craig Criscone, Steve Akers, Craig Hanson, John Marsh, Jim Davis, Bobby Vedder, Todd Morey, Erik Gall, Jeremy Matthies, Keith Shoemaker, Mike Fusco, Ray Zemken, Ken Hanson, Johnny Marsh, Bob Sitterly, Ryan Odasz

SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20 LAPS – MICHAEL BALLESTERO, Tim Clemons, Bobby Hackel, Drew Fallis, Jeremiah Munson, Tim Dwyer, Billy Osta, John McAuliffe, Tony Farone, Elmo Reckner, John Johnson, Jeff Holt, Jessica Zemken, Mark Mortensen, Jim Burton, Floyd Billington, Dennis Pennock, John LeClair, John Constantino, Pete Sisler, Joe Perrotti, Josh Pieniazek, Robert Perry, Randy Meka

PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20 LAPS – NICK STONE, Chris Morris, Rob VanAernam, Rob Noviczski, Steve Welch, Kenny Gates, Mark Lighthall, Wayne Patrick, Erik Nelson, Erik Yager, Chucky Dumblewski, Jerry Pepper, Hondo Carpenter, Dave Viall, Jay Resch, Joey Duncan, Karl Klob, Tom LaPlante, Luke Klob, Bobby Gile, Jim Normoyle, Dan Rickard

IMCA FEATURE – 20 LAPS – STEVE BIDWELL, George Catanzano, Danny Ballard, Dennis Vroman, Curt Olsen, George Proctor, Kevin Buff, Steve Vrooman, Darcy Volans, Skip Pabis, Eric Stumpf, Chris Reckner, Shawn Simmons, JoJo Donato, Aaron Jacobs, Bob Banks Jr., Tom Funk, Justin Labombard, Joe Williams, Billy Ward

STREET STOCK “A” – 10 LAPS – RON TOLLNER, Rocky Warner, Carl Parker, Brandon Lehr, Neil Cosselman, Dan Hartgraves, Ray Ramos, Rod Slater, Sandy Ferrara, Howard Smith, Don Warner, Jay Sperry, Ricky Quick, Mike Walters, Kathy Bellen

STREET STOCK “B” – 10 LAPS – MIKE FRASIER, John Babcock, Bob VanAernam, Paul Hughes, Shawn Laport, Steve Cosselman, Chris McMurray, Joe Smith, Jeff Crosier, Justin Knight, John Anderson, Mike Burdo, Justin Labombard, Luke Horning

STREET STOCK “C” – 10 LAPS – DAVE HORNING JR., Roger Keeny, Denver Wilson, Steve Cosselman, Mike Budka Jr., Guy Klob, Howie Clark, Brian Cosselman, T.J. Marlitt, Steve Skinner, John Bradt, Dan Clemens, Norman Lamphear Jr.