VARIN TAKES SECOND OF THE SEASON AT FONDA
The last time Bobby Varin reached victory lane at Fonda this season was back on April 19. He did it again on Saturday August 2 after a little bit of luck came his way on Rite Aid Night at the Fonda Speedway.
It was also a special night at the Track of Champions as Dave Lape was honored for 40 years of consecutive racing at Fonda with many of his friends, family, and current and former car owners on hand to help him celebrate.
“Lape and Ronnie Johnson both had fast cars until getting flat tires during the feature event,” Varin said in victory lane. “This win has been a long time coming as we’ve had some problems with the car. But I’d rather be lucky than good anytime as I was tonight.”
Jeremy Matthies started the 30-lap modified feature on the pole position and immediately took the lead at the drop of the green. Ronnie Johnson started in the sixth spot and worked his way steadily to the front. On lap five in turn two, Johnson was the new leader.
Point leader Dave Lape was also making his way to the front after starting ninth. When the first of eight yellow flags came out on lap four, Lape was fifth after getting by both Bobby Varin and Alton Palmer.
Lape was in the second position at the lap five point in the event after getting by both Erik Gall and Varin for the position. After battling Johnson for the lead for a couple of laps, Lape brought out the next caution on lap twelve when he came to a stop in turn four with a flat tire. He pitted and restarted in the rear.
As Johnson continued to lead, his father Jack and Mike Romano were making their way to the front. Romano got by Jack for third on lap fourteen and next for Romano was Varin who was now second. Varin and Romano ran side by side for two laps at the midpoint of the event with Varin holding the position.
After having to pit a second time on lap thirteen, Lape was back into the top ten on lap eighteen with a bad break for the leader coming on lap twenty-three when he pitted with a flat left rear tire bringing out another caution and handing the lead to Varin.
Next to receive a left rear flat tire was Jeff Trombley, the fourth left rear flat of the evening in the modified feature. He was running fourth at the time. Nobody had anything for Varin and the race over the final few laps became the race for the third position as Pepicelli raced three wide at times with both Pat Ward and Lape.
Varin went on to his second win of the season followed by Romano, Pepicelli, Ward, and Lape.
The sportsman feature began with Jeff Holt on top with Jeremiah Munson taking over the second position from Mark Mortensen on lap two. An early yellow came out at that point and on the restart Munson took over the lead with John McAuliffe second after also getting by Holt.
Bobby Hackel blasted by Drew Fallis for the third position on lap six with Tim Clemons fourth. Munson stretched out his lead to a comfortable margin by the halfway point as the race was now for second. Lap traffic became a problem for the leaders with five circuits remaining as Hackel got by McAuliffe for the second position on lap eighteen. Munson went on to a convincing win followed by Hackel, McAuliffe, Clemons, and Tim Dwyer.
Six caution flags slowed the pro stock feature that began with Dan Rickard as the early leader with Rob VanAernam second. VanAernam took over the lead on lap two just before the caution came out for the second time in the event. Under the yellow, VanAernam pitted while leading, handing the lead over to Chris Morris.
Steve Welch was now in the second position after getting by Rob Noviczski as Kenny Gates followed Welch by Noviczski for the third position. Pro stock rookie Chucky Dumblewski was the new fourth place car on lap nine as Gates made his way by Welch for the second spot.
By then Morris stretched out his advantage to a comfortable margin as Gates and Welch battled for the second spot over the final six laps. When Welch was blocked by a lap car while alongside Gates for the second position on lap fifteen it allowed Gates to get away as Dumblewski got by Welch for the third spot. Morris went on to his fourth win of the season followed by Gates, Dumblewski, Welch, and Roy Fifield.
Perhaps the most exciting feature event of the evening was the IMCA feature with Tom Funk, Jeff Davis, and Kurt Olsen three wide coming out of turn four at the start of the event. Davis got the early lead as the cars went into turn one with Joe Williams getting by Olsen for the second position on lap two.
George Catanzano also got by Olsen for the third position at that point as Williams took over the lead on the inside in turn four. Catanzano made his way into the second position on lap four after getting by Davis and set his sights on the leader. The yellow was out on lap four closing up the field and that is when the fun began.
Williams and Catanzano battled hard and clean for the lead side by side at times from lap six on. Coming out of turn four with six laps to go Catanzano got by Williams for the lead with the two making contact but straightening out their cars and continuing on. Catanzano who leads the point chase went on to his second win of the season followed by Williams, Steve Bidwell, Danny Ballard, and Olsen.
The street stock “A” feature saw Chris McMurray take the lead at the start with Mike Frasier in second. Ron Tollner started the event in the eleventh position but got by Frasier for second on lap four. Coming out of turn four on lap four, McMurray and Tollner made contact with Tollner ending up hitting the inside frontstretch wall very hard. He wasn’t injured in the accident. John Babcock inherited the lead at that point and held the position until lap eight when Ricky Quick took over the lead. Quick went on to the win, the first of his career over Guy Klob, Babcock, Brian Cosselman, and Mark Sullivan Jr.
Howie Clark led the early part of the street stock “B” feature until Joe Smith took over the position before lap one was completed. On lap three in turn three, John Bradt was the new leader with Rocky Warner and Bob VanAernam battling hard for second. Warner took over the second spot and raced side by side with the leader at the halfway point. Bradt held on to the lead and got a break when VanAernam came up and started racing Warner for the second spot allowing Bradt to stretch out his lead. Bradt went on to his first career win over VanAernam, Warner, Luke Horning, and Ed Bradt.
There were only two leaders in the street stock “C” feature as Mike Walters took the lead at the start. Before lap one was completed, Don Warner was the new leader with Dave Horning Jr. in second at the halfway point. Horning Jr. got alongside the leader with three laps remaining but Warner was able to maintain the position and went on to his second win of the season followed by Horning Jr., Roger Keeny, Carol Parker, and Jeff Crosier.
The Jack Lockhart Memorial Dash for Cash was held for non-winners in the sportsman division. John Cefala led at the start with Robert Perry second at the completion of lap one. Cefala maintained the lead through lap five of the six lap event but on the final lap Perry began to pressure the leader. Coming out of turn four to the checkered flag, Perry got a run on the outside and got by the leader for the win. He celebrated the win acknowledging all of his sponsors along with his wife Melissa and his week old son Matthew who were unable to attend. Cefala was second followed by Billy Osta, Josh Pieniazek, and Jessica Zemken.
MODIFIED QUALIFYING – 33 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – Ryan Odasz, Alton Palmer, Jack Johnson, Mike Dillenbeck, John Marsh
HEAT 2 – Dave Lape, Jeremy Matthies, Jim Davis, Mike Romano, Tony Pepicelli
HEAT 3 – Bobby Varin, Erik Gall, Pat Ward, Steve Akers, Brian Borst
HEAT 4 – Robert King, Ronnie Johnson, Jeff Trombley, Jerry Pennock Jr., Mike Fusco
MODIFIED CONSOLATION – 5 qualify – Todd Morey, Craig Criscone, Ray Zemken, Ron Proctor, Dustin Purdy
MODIFIED FEATURE – 30 LAPS – BOBBY VARIN, Mike Romano, Tony Pepicelli, Pat Ward, Dave Lape, A.J. Romano, Jim Davis, Ronnie Johnson, Steve Akers, Robert King, Craig Criscone, Brian Borst, Erik Gall, Jeff Trombley, Ray Zemken, John Marsh, Todd Morey, Jack Johnson, Bob Sitterly, Mike Fusco, Jerry Pennock Jr., Bobby Vedder, Jeremy Mathies, Ron Proctor, Dustin Purdy, Mike Dillenbeck, Alton Palmer, Ryan Odasz
SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING – 22 total cars – 4 qualify
HEAT 1 – Jeremiah Munson, Jeff Holt, Tim Dwyer, Jessica Zemken
HEAT 2 – Elmo Reckner, Tim Clemons, Michael Ballestero, Floyd Billington
HEAT 3 – Drew Fallis, John McAuliffe, Mark Mortensen, Josh Pieniazek
SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20 LAPS – JEREMIAH MUNSON, Bobby Hackel, John McAuliffe, Tim Clemons, Tim Dwyer, Drew Fallis, Michael Ballestero, Billy Osta, Jeff Holt, Jessica Zemken, Robert Perry, Josh Pieniazek, John Johnson, John Cefala, Mark Mortensen, Floyd Billington, Elmo Reckner, Keith Flach, Pete Sisler, John Constantino, Randy Meka, Bob Rees, Car No. 97X
PRO STOCK QUALIFYING – 23 total cars – 6 qualify
HEAT 1 – Karl Klob, Steve Welch, Jim Normoyle, Joey Duncan, Dan Rickard, Hondo Carpenter
HEAT 2 – Chris Morris, Erik Nelson, Dave Viall, Kenny Gates, Roy Fifield, Rob VanAernam
PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20 LAPS – CHRIS MORRIS, Kenny Gates, Chucky Dumblewski, Steve Welch, Roy Fifield, Rob Noviczski, Jerry Pepper, Nick Stone, Joey Duncan, Hondo Carpenter, Rob VanAernam, Erik Yager, Erik Nelson, Wayne Patrick, Tom LaPlante, Guy Klob, Dan Rickard, Jim Normoyle, Eric Ellis, Karl Klob, Denver Wilson, Dave Viall
IMCA QUALIFYING – 21 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – Joe Williams, George Catanzano, George Proctor, Jeff Davis, Tom Funk
HEAT 2 – Steve Bidwell, Eric Stumpf, Steve Vrooman, Danny Ballard, Kurt Olsen
IMCA FEATURE – 20 LAPS – GEORGE CATANZANO, Joe Williams, Steve Bidwell, Danny Ballard, Kurt Olsen, Dennis Vroman, Jeff Davis, George Proctor, Kevin Buff, JoJo Donato, Skip Pabis, Billy Ward, Steve Vrooman, Eric Stumpf, Shawn Simmons, Aaron Jacobs, Tom Funk, Justin Labombard, Walter Cook
STREET STOCK “A” – 10 LAPS – RICKY QUICK, Guy Klob, John Babcock, Brian Cosselman, Mark Sullivan Jr., Phil Pearson, Brian Ashline, Mike Frasier, Chris McMurray, Ron Tollner, Steve Cosselman, Dave Horning Sr., Jim Colsen, Neil Cosselman
STREET STOCK “B” – 10 LAPS – JOHN BRADT, Bob VanAernam, Rocky Warner, Luke Horning, Ed Bradt, Scott Kilmer, Jay Sperry, Shawn Laport, Ray Ramos, Brandon Lehr, Justin Knight, Joe Smith, Howie Clark
STREET STOCK “C” – 10 LAPS – DON WARNER, Dave Horning Jr., Roger Keeny, Carol Parker, Jeff Crosier, Rod Slater, Kathy Bellen, Dan Hartgraves, Philip Tenerowicz, Paul Hughes, Mike Budka Jr., Mike Walters
JOHN “JACK” LOCKHART MEMORIAL DASH – 6 LAPS – ROBERT PERRY, John Cefala, Billy Osta, Josh Pieniazek, Jessica Zemken, Mark Mortensen, John Constantino, Elmo Reckner, John Johnson, Pete Sisler