VARIN CELEBRATES DAUGHTERS BIRTHDAY WITH A WIN
Bobby Varin’s daughter Sonya celebrated her thirteenth birthday on Sunday May 5. Her father Bobby started the party one day early winning the Modified feature at Fonda Speedway on Saturday night and dedicating the win to her. PCE Plumbing & C&W Home Builders sponsored the evening’s events.
“The car has felt real good every week so far this season but some bad breaks have caused us some problems,” Varin said in victory lane. “We still have a vibration in the car to take care of but I know we’ll get there.”
Bob Sitterly beat Billy Gray to turn one at the drop of the green flag and took the early lead in the Modified feature. Dave Lape started the event in fifth and immediately made his way to the front passing Ron Proctor for third as lap one was put in the record books and on the next lap he got around Gray for second. Tony Pepicelli brought out the first caution on lap four putting Lape alongside Sitterly on the restart.
Sitterly maintained the lead when the race was restarted as Bobby Varin made it a three way battle with Lape and Sitterly for first after Varin started the event in ninth. Yellow flags on laps four and six slowed the field after many cars were involved in spinouts in turns two and four. No drivers were injured but Jack Johnson and Randy Snyder were both done for the evening after being involved in separate incidents.
Just before the yellow came out on lap six, Lape took the lead from Sitterly in turn four on the outside only to have the yellow come out at about the same time relegating the pass and putting Sitterly back in front. That didn’t last long however as on the restart Lape got by for the lead and immediately began to stretch out his advantage.
Varin got by Sitterly for second on lap nine and set his sights on the leader who was now a half straightaway ahead. A.J. Romano and Jeff Trombley were third and fourth at the halfway point in the event and began pressuring Varin for the number two position.
Lap cars came into play on lap eighteen as A.J. and Trombley put on a terrific battle for third, swapping the positions many times. A.J.’s brother Mike joined the battle for the position as Varin got by Lape for the lead in turn four on lap twenty-two. Trombley also got by Lape for second as Varin stretched out his lead and went on for the win. He was followed by Trombley, Lape, Mike Romano, and Ronnie Holmes.
The Sportsman feature began with Jeff Jones in his “one seat school bus” taking the lead from his outside front row start. Mike Frasier started the event in sixth but on lap two he was already up to second after getting by Mike Ketchum. A yellow flag came out on lap six closing up the field and setting up a turning point in the event.
Coming out of turn four after the restart, Frasier got into the back of Jones turning him sideways on the front straightaway and almost into the wall. Frasier also got out of shape because of his contact with Jones which allowed Ketchum to get by both of them for the lead.
Tim Clemons took his turn as the leader next as he got by Ketchum with Bobby Hackel and John McAuliffe also getting by for second and third. The yellow was out again on lap nine as Ketchum spun in turn four with Jim Davis and Josh Pieniazek also involved. Under the yellow flag, Ketchum came around and rear ended another car resulting in a black flag disqualification.
McAuliffe got by Hackel for second on the restart and one lap later was dicing side by side with Clemons for the lead. After a side by side battle McAuliffe was the new leader after he got a fantastic run coming into turns three and four getting under Clemons for the lead.
One more yellow came out with six races to go allowing Hackel to get by Clemons for second but Hackel couldn’t do anything with last years Sportsman champion McAuliffe who went on for his first win of 2002. Hackel, Ryan Odasz, Clemons, and Robert Perry completed the top five.
Dan Rickard led at the start of the Pro Stock feature but that didn’t last too long as Dave Bayes was the new leader on lap two. Mark Lighthall also got by Rickard for second and on lap three Lighthall got by Bayes for the lead on the inside in turn three,
Nick Stone had a good run at the start of the event racing closely with Bayes for a few laps before finally getting by for second on lap seven as Butchie Irwin and Rob Noviczski followed Stone through for the third and fourth positions as the yellow came out again this time for Bayes who spun in turn four.
The top five of Lighthall, Irwin, Kenny Gates, Noviczski, and Chris Morris were all nose to tail at the halfway point in the event with Irwin trying to get by Lighthall on the inside in turn two for the lead on each and every lap. Irwin made the move stick on lap seventeen taking over the lead as Morris was now second after also getting by Lighthall.
One final caution on lap nineteen set up a one lap dash for the win but Irwin was just too strong and went on for the win followed by Morris, Gates, Hondo Carpenter, and Lighthall. Lighthall was later disqualified for having an illegal carburetor moving Rob Noviczski up to fifth as a result.
Skip Pabis was the leader as the IMCA feature began with Joe Hallenbeck taking over the lead before lap one was completed. Keith Ackerknecht got by Hallenbeck for the lead on the inside in turn one on lap three with Kevin Buff now second and Steve Hough third.
Danny Ballard joined the battle on lap ten getting by last years IMCA track champion who fell out of the event on lap eleven with a flat right rear tire. Hough got by Buff for second as Ballard also tried everything to also get by Buff as they put on a terrific battle for the third position.
Hough was the new leader on lap twelve, getting by Ackerknecht for the lead that he would hold for the final eight laps for the win followed by Ballard, Ackerknecht, Buff, and Hallenbeck.
The NSA Super Sprint organization (formerly the ELS Sprints) took to the track for their feature event with Dan Kaszubinski the early leader from his pole position start. A red flag was out on lap four when Russ Bennett lost a tire and flipped in turn four. He was uninjured in the wreck.
Brian Dumigan took over second on lap five as the leader was into lap traffic at the halfway point as the yellow came out again when the front of the wing dropped down on the car of Steve Dow. That put Dumigan on Kaszubinski’s rear nerf bar with Dumigan taking over the lead on lap twelve on the inside in turn two.
John Karklin also got by Kaszubinski for second on lap fourteen as Dumigan was now out to a straightaway lead. Karklin would close the gap but would never get close enough as Dumigan went on to the first win of the NSA Sprint organization as Karklin, Kaszubinski, Ray Preston, and Kyle Drum completed the top five.
Dumigan also won the $100 six-lap dash for cash sponsored by Fulton County Electric, a business owned by NSA Sprint car driver Jim Senzio. Karklin, Alexson, Mike Lauterborn, Alain Bergeron, and Podalak followed Dumigan under the checkered flag.
Lead changes were the name of the game in the Street Stock “A” main with Joe Smith the leader at the drop of the green flag. Randy Moore took over in turn one shortly afterwards and led until Dave Horning, Jr. got by both Moore and a lap car for the lead on lap five.
On a lap six restart, Horning, Jr. was put back to second with Moore back in the lead. That was short lived as Horning, Jr. got by on lap seven in turn four. Jeff Davis made his way up to second after starting in the rear of the field and got by Horning, Jr. for the lead on lap nine after a side by side battle.
The side by side battle continued for the remainder of the event as the number one spot was swapped between Davis and Horning, Jr. a couple of times before the twelve lap event was completed. On the last lap, Davis used a lap car as a pick to get around both Horning, Jr. and the lap car to go under the checkered flag first, winning his second feature of the season. Horning, Jr., Moore, John Johnson, and Dave Horning, Sr. completed the top five.
The “B” main began with Don Warner as the early leader before Shawn Simmons took over the top spot as the lap counter turned to the second lap. Simmons led the next five laps before Ray Hall, Jr. took over in turn four and led the remaining laps for his second win of the season.
In post race inspection, Hall Jr. was disqualified giving the win to Simmons who was followed by Jo Jo Donato, Bob VanAernam, John Babcock, and Kenny Barth.
Next week at Fonda a regular show will take the green at 6:00 p.m. with all divisions in action. A special event for the blind will also be held as the Eye Rock 500 will take to the track with regular Fonda drivers coaching the blind around the speedway.
MODIFIED FEATURE – 30 laps – BOBBY VARIN, Jeff Trombley, Dave Lape, Mike Romano, Ronnie Holmes, Craig Criscone, Bob Sitterly, Bobby Vedder, Floyd Billington, Kenny Hanson, Billy Gray, Jerry Pennock, Jr., Ancel Collins, Johnny Marsh, Jr., Chic Chandler, Jim Lavalla, A.J. Romano, Craig Hanson, Ron Proctor, Aaron Jacobs, John G. Wolfe, Jack Johnson, Alton Palmer, Mike Fusco, Randy Snyder, Paul Cirincione III, Chris Kokosa, Tony Pepicelli
SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20 laps – JOHN MCAULIFFE, Bobby Hackel, Ryan Odasz, Tim Clemons, Robert Perry, Tony Farone, Mike Ballestero, Jessica Zemken, Jim Burton, John LeClair, Billy Osta, Elmo Reckner, Steve Akers, Joe Geniti, Jeremiah Munson, Jason Otty, John Constantino, Drew Fallis, Jeff Jones, Doug Hutchison, Jim Davis, Mike Frasier, Joe Perrotti, Ray Zemken, Jeff Holt, Kenny Martin, Josh Pieniazek, Mike Ketchum
PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20 laps – BUTCHIE IRWIN, Chris Morris, Kenny Gates, Hondo Carpenter, Rob Noviczski, Jay Resch, Scott Govertson, Jeff Patrick, Joe Mottoshiski, Dan Rickard, Phlan Hart, Nick Stone, Tom LaPlante, Brent Hallenbeck, Jason Pieniazek, Rob VanAernam, Jim Normoyle, Dave Bayes, Steve Vrooman, Steve Cosselman, Mark Lighthall
IMCA FEATURE – 20 laps – STEVE HOUGH, Danny Ballard, Keith Ackerknecht, Kevin Buff, Joe Hallenbeck, Fred Proctor, Willy Reed, Jim Rajczi, Skip Pabis, Darcy Volans, Jason Miller, Tom Costanza, Steve Bidwell, Curt Olsen, Mike Bungay, Dennis Vroman, Bob Wilkie
NSA SUPER SPRINT “A” MAIN – 20 laps – BRIAN DUMIGAN, John Karklin, Dan Kaszubinski, Ray Preston, Kyle Drum, Bobby Podalak, Warren Alexson, Jeff “Spider” Thomas, Alain Bergeron, Jeff VanDusen, R.C. Faigle, Chris Shuttleworth, Bobby Cain, Steve Dow, Mike Lauterborn, Jim Senzio, Billy White, Tom Taber, Jim McAfferty, Russ Bennett, John Lieto, George Ely, Rich Wood, Anthony Cain
STREET STOCK “A” MAIN – 12 laps – JEFF DAVIS, Dave Horning, Jr., Randy Moore, John Johnson, Dave Horning, Sr., Ron Tollner, Scott Wells, Shawn Laport, Mike Burdo, Don Oldick, Dennis Wilson, John Babcock, Neil Cosselman, Mike Walters, Ricky Quick, Joe Smith, Wayne Gaige, Luke Horning, Brandon Lehr
STREET STOCK “B” MAIN – 12 laps – SHAWN SIMMONS, Jo Jo Donato, Bob VanAernam, John Babcock, Kenny Barth, Mike Burdo, Jeff Crosier, Don Warner, Jim Colson, Howard Smith, Brian Stangle, Sandy Ferrara, Hank Morin, Jason Samrov, Paul Hughes, Mike Budka, Jr., Jamie Tesiero, Carol Parker, Ray Hall, Jr