VARIN WAITS UNTIL THE END BUT GOES ON FOR THE WIN

So far in 2002 Bobby Varin has seen both sides of the coin as far as how his racing season has gone. He has been fast just about every week putting on a great show for the fans as he used the outside groove to come up through the field. There were also nights when bad luck took him out of the run for the win. Last night it was the heads up side of the coin that was showing as he went on to his second win of the season at Fonda Speedway.

“Tony had a fast car and I had trouble keeping up with him until he had a problem at the end,” Varin said in victory lane. “I thought that I had more for him and I was waiting to put on a charge at the end. The fans are here to see a good show and we were going to give it to them.”

Jerry Pennock, Jr. rocketed out to a quick lead at the start of the Modified feature and stretched it out to a full straightaway within the first five laps. After a fine run a week ago on Thursday, Tony Pepicelli had a brand new Bicknell car with big block power humming along pretty good himself.

Lap after lap, Pepicelli got by cars one or sometimes two at a time taking over the fifth position at the completion of lap one after getting by Bobby Vedder and Erik Gall in one move down the backstretch. Pepicelli got by Billy Gray for second on lap six as the yellow was out for a crash in turn four involving Jack Johnson, Alton Palmer, and Joe Geniti who was making his first start in the Modified division. Only Johnson was able to continue.

On the restart, Pennock continued to lead with Pepicelli right on his rear bumper. Ronnie Holmes got by a few cars for the fourth position on the restart with Bobby Varin now a close fifth. On lap nine coming down the front straightaway, Pepicelli got by Pennock for the lead. Varin got by both Holmes and Pennock for second on a lap eleven restart while Lape and Mike Romano battled side by side for the sixth position.

Holmes came to a stop in turn two at the halfway point bringing out another caution and taking away the big lead that Pepicelli had built up. Lap cars came into play with ten laps remaining as Varin was held up by the lap car of Gall allowing Pepicelli to pull out to a slight lead with Mike Fusco now third.

Coming out of turn four with two laps to go, Pepicelli slowed with Varin bumping him in the rear slightly because Pepicelli had slowed so quickly. By the time the two cars reached turn two, Varin had the lead. Varin took the checkered flag ahead of Pepicelli, Mike Fusco, Romano, and Lape.

Jeff Holt led at the start of the Sportsman feature with Tony Farone second after getting by Doug Hutchison on lap two. The first of many caution flags slowed the field on lap nine and on the restart Farone was your new leader. Last years Sportsman champion John McAuliffe and Ryan Odasz were making their way up through the field together with both of them getting by Holt for the second and third positions on lap eleven.

When McAuliffe and Odasz caught up to Farone a great three car battle for the lead ensued with McAuliffe getting by Farone for the lead on lap thirteen as Odasz also got by Farone for second. McAuliffe and Odasz battled side by side at times for the lead with Michael Ballestero making it a three car battle with two laps to go.

On the last lap Odasz slowed with mechanical problems on the frontstretch allowing Ballestero to get by for second as McAuliffe went on for the win. Farone, Tim Clemons, and Billy Osta completed the top five.

After a hard crash a couple of weeks ago, Hondo Carpenter and crew spent many long nights to get the car rebuilt and back together. All of the hard work paid off as he led the first three laps of the Pro Stock feature event with last years champion Rob Noviczski in second.

Jim Normoyle got by both Noviczski and Carpenter for the lead on lap four on the outside in turn four. When Normoyle broke on lap eleven in turn two, Carpenter retook the lead. Butchie Irwin joined the battle for the lead on lap thirteen as he was all over the top two of Carpenter and Noviczski. Noviczski gained the lead in turn four on lap fourteen but the race was far from over as the yellow came out with one lap to go.

The yellow was brought out by Carpenter and Chris Morris who were racing in close quarters and got hooked together on the backstretch. That set up a one lap dash for the win between Noviczski and Irwin who ran side by side for the entire lap. Irwin edged Noviczski for the win followed by Scott Govertsen, Jeff Patrick, and Kenny Gates.

The IMCA feature was ready to start when last years champion Steve Bidwell came to a stop on the backstretch. He pitted and came back out just as the green flag flew to start the race. Danny Ody led coming under the starters stand at the start until George Catanzano took the lead going into turn two on the first lap.

Keith Ackerknecht and Curt Olsen were battling for the third position when another car tapped Ackerknecht in the rear causing him to get sideways in turn one. Ackerknecht was on the inside of Olsen at the time and they touched with both cars spinning around. Before you knew it, twelve cars were involved with Kevin Buff’s car coming to rest on top of Olsen’s. Nobody was injured but many of the top cars were out of the event as a result.

Catanzano continued to lead on the restart, stretching it out to a straightaway advantage when the yellow came out again on lap eight. Ody, Joe Williams, and Bidwell were racing hard for the second spot at the halfway point when Bidwell came in contact with Ody causing both of them to spin out in turn four bringing out another caution. Both were able to continue at the rear of the field.

Catanzano pulled away on the restart and was pretty much in a league of his own taking his first win of the season. Williams, Dennis Vroman, Pete Knapp, and Billy Wood completed the top five.

Don Warner was the early leader of the Street Stock “A” feature until the second lap when Dave Horning, Jr. took over the top spot on the inside in turn three. Kenny Barth pressured Horning for the win the last two laps but Horning was up to the challenge and went on for his third win of the season.

Ricky Quick led the first lap of the Street Stock “B” event with John Johnson getting by in turn two on lap two. Jeff Davis was the next to lead on lap three until his exhaust system came apart and was hanging under the car causing him to pit and handing the lead back over to Johnson. John Babcock put the pressure on Johnson with two laps to go, running side by side at times but Johnson went on for his first win of the season.

Buck Gasner and Joe Smith took turns leading lap one of the Street Stock “C” feature with Luke Horning taking over the position on lap two. Randy Moore was the new leader on lap four and led the rest of the way for his second win of the season.

Jerry Pepper led all six laps of the Bev Caputo Memorial Dash for Cash but it was by no means an easy victory. Joe Mottoshiski started fourth and pressured the leader the last two laps running side by side with the leader at times. Pepper hung on for the victory and the $100 top prize.

MODIFIED QUALIFYING – 28 total cars – 6 qualify; HEAT 1 – Jeff Trombley, Jerry Pennock, Jr., Billy Gray, Alton Palmer, Ron Proctor, Craig Criscone; HEAT 2 – Tony Pepicelli, Jack Johnson, Craig Hanson, Erik Gall, A.J. Romano, Bob Sitterly; HEAT 3 – Bobby Varin, Bobby Vedder, Dave Lape, Ronnie Holmes, Mike Fusco, Chic Chandler: CONSOLATION – 6 qualify – Ronnie Johnson, Mike Romano, Ken Hanson, Joe Geniti, John Marsh, Todd Morey

MODIFIED FEATURE – 30 laps – BOBBY VARIN, Tony Pepicelli, Mike Fusco, Mike Romano, Dave Lape, Jack Johnson, Ronnie Johnson, Jerry Pennock, Jr., Craig Criscone, Bobby Vedder, Todd Morey, Ronnie Holmes, Bob Sitterly, Chic Chandler, John Marsh, Craig Hanson, Erik Gall, Ron Proctor, Jeff Trombley, Billy Gray, A.J. Romano, Ken Hanson, Alton Palmer, Joe Geniti

SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING – 31 total cars – 6 qualify: HEAT 1 – Jeff Jones, John McAuliffe, Steve Akers, Jim Davis, Jessica Zemken, Kenny Martin; HEAT 2 – Jeff Holt, Ryan Odasz, Mike Ketchum, Robert Perry, Tony Farone, Ray Zemken; HEAT 3 – Doug Hutchison, Josh Pieniazek, Drew Fallis, Billy Osta, Michael Ballestero, Tim Clemons; CONSOLATION – 6 qualify – Elmo Reckner, Tim Adair, Jim Burton, Bobby Hackel, Jeremiah Munson, Steve Jazeboski

SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20 laps – JOHN MCAULIFFE, Michael Ballestero, Tony Farone, Tim Clemons, Billy Osta, Jeff Jones, Jeff Holt, Drew Fallis, Jim Davis, Robert Perry, Josh Pieniazek, Elmo Reckner, Jeremiah Munson, Jim Burton, Bobby Hackel, Kenny Martin, Steve Akers, Kory Gurney, Tim Adair, John Constantino, Ryan Odasz, Ray Zemken, Jessica Zemken, Mike Ketchum, Steve Jazeboski, Doug Hutchison

PRO STOCK QUALIFYING – 18 total cars – 6 qualify: HEAT 1 – Rob VanAernam, Joe Mottoshiski, Butchie Irwin, Rob Noviczski, Kenny Gates, Dan Rickard; HEAT 2 – Hondo Carpenter, Jim Normoyle, Chris Morris, Scott Govertsen, Nick Stone, Jeff Patrick

PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20 laps – BUTCHIE IRWIN, Rob Noviczski, Scott Govertsen, Jeff Patrick, Kenny Gates, Jay Resch, Joe Mottoshiski, Jerry Pepper, Nick Stone, Rob VanAernam, Mark Sullivan, Hondo Carpenter, Chris Morris, Dan Rickard, Bobby Gile, Mark Lighthall, Jim Normoyle

IMCA QUALIFYING – 22 total cars – 5 qualify: HEAT 1 – Kevin Buff, Danny Ody, Danny Ballard, Curt Olsen, Jim Rajczi; HEAT 2 – Steve Bidwell, George Catanzano, Steve Hough, Keith Ackerknecht, Skip Pabis

IMCA FEATURE – GEORGE CATANZANO, Joe Williams, Dennis Vroman, Pete Knapp, Billy Wood, Jason Miller, Bob Wilkie, Danny Ody, Skip Pabis, Kevin Buff, Joe Hallenbeck, Steve Bidwell, Dan Krajewski, Danny Ballard, Jim Rajczi, Steve Hough, Mike Bungay, Curt Olsen, Keith Ackerknecht, Willy Reed, Darcy Volans

STREET STOCK “A” – 10 laps – DAVE HORNING JR, Kenny Barth, Bob VanAernam, Jim Colson, Jo Jo Donato, Shawn Simmons, Don Warner, Justin Labombard, Donnie Oldick, Rod Slater, Howard Smith

STREET STOCK “B” – 10 laps – JOHN JOHNSON, John Babcock, Jeff Crosier, Jeff Davis, Steve Cosselman, Ed Bradt, Rocky Warner, Paul Hughes, Shawn Laport, Denver Wilson, Neil Cosselman, Ricky Quick, Dave Daniels

STREET STOCK “C” – 10 laps – RANDY MOORE, Guy Klob, Luke Horning, Buck Gasner, Carol Parker, Mike Budka, Jr., Joe Smith, Tom Harper, Chris McMurray, Jim Bourn, Pete Sisler, Mike Walters, Brandon Lehr, Brian French

BEV CAPUTO MEMORIAL DASH FOR CASH – 6 laps – JERRY PEPPER, Joe Mottoshiski, Mark Lighthall, Bobby Gile, Rob VanAernam, Wayne Patrick, Dan Rickard, Frank Early, Jr., Brent Hallenbeck