Varin Wins - Official Release
It was a good night for defending track champions and point leaders at Fonda Speedway Saturday night.
Bobby Varin got back on track in the modified division with his second win of the season while Jimmy Davis again showed the form that carried him to the 2000 sportsman title with his second win in that division.
And in the pro-stock class, point leader Jim Normyle, whose trademark has been consistent top-five finishes, got his first win of the season, further staking his claim to supremacy in that division.
The program was supposed to include double features, carried over from a rainout three weeks ago. But an afternoon thunderstorm killed that idea. By the time the track was race-ready, the show had already been delayed nearly an hour and a half, and the racing was finally curfewed a few minutes before midnight to leave time for the 4th of July holiday fireworks presentation.
That will create double features for modifieds, sportsman, pro-stocks and IMCA modifieds again Saturday night.
The early part of the 2001 campaign has been a real struggle for Varin, who walked off with his first track championship in the 2000 season. The Sharon Springs driver had been plagued by engine problems early in the year, putting him behind the proverbial 8-ball, and he just couldn’t get the feel on his new Troyer four-link modified.
But he had everything hitting on all eight cylinders Saturday night, becoming the first repeat winner in the modified division this season. Although he started eighth, getting to the front proved to be no problem.
A restart on the first lap, caused by a tangle in the second turn that saw A.J. Romano slam into the outside wall, reshuffled the lineup, putting Varin closer to the lead and allowing veterans Dave Lape, Jack Johnson and Mike Romano to weave their way through traffic and became instant factors in the race.
For the next couple of laps, while Varin chased leader Rich Pennock, Lape and Johnson put on a vintage battle that has thrilled Fonda Speedway race fans for years.
But that battle ended on lap six, when Johnson’s right rear tire exploded. By that time, Varin was already in the lead, but he still had Romano to contend with.
Romano, who has been a solid contender ever since debuting a new Bicknell chassis after an early-season wreck, got past Lape on a lap nine restart and set his sights on Varin. Romano got the opportunity he wanted when another yellow came out on lap 14, when Randy Hotaling spun around in the fourth turn. But Varin had the preferred line on the restart, and Romano never had a chance to really challenge for the lead.
With the rest of the feature being running under a green flag, Varin had control of the race, and Romano had another solid, second place finish. Third and fourth were occupied by Teo-Pro cars, with Lape third and Jeff Trombley fourth in his new car. Ronnie Hot Shoe Holmes came from 13th to finish fifth.
Bob Savoie kept the fans on their feet with a sixth-place run in the Ghetto Racing No. 28. After qualifying through the consy, the Silver Bullet started 25th, but had the fastest car on the track, and definitely earned the hard charger award for the night with his sixth-place finish.
Completing the top 10 were Tony Pepicelli, Pennock, Brian Borst and Mike Fusco.
Jimmy Davis had also struggled after an early-season win, but kept his hopes for a second straight title alive Saturday with his second win of the season. Tim Mayne started on the pole and for a while, it looked like 2000 was going to repeat itself, when Mayne started on the pole one Saturday night and recorded his only career win.
The race got off to a bad start, when John LeClair and Ray Zemken got together coming out of the second turn. LeClair slammed into the outside concrete barrier, climbed the wall and rolled over once, landing on the outside of the speedway, against trees that border the Mohawk River. But he wasn’t hurt in the incident. Hurricane Bobby Hackel created the next big gasp from the crowd, doing a complete 360 spin in the fourth turn and forcing the rest of the field to scramble on the third lap. But Hackel kept his machine going, and later became a factor in the race.
Davis, who started 10th, got the lead on the fifth lap, but he also had Tim Clemons in tow in the Jake Spraker small block and by the halfway point of the feature, point leader John McAuliffe had joined the fray, creating a battle of three veteran drivers for the lead.
Hackel charged from the rear and found traction on the outside of the speedway late in the race, getting right up with McAuliffe. Two late cautions played right into Clemons’ hands as he had a couple of good runs at Davis. On the final lap, it looked Clemons finally had an extra boost that was going to carry him by Davis coming out of the fourth time for the final time, but Davis held his line and got his second win of the
season.
Hackel got past McAuliffe to finish third, capping an outstanding performance, while Mike Ballestero came up to finish fifth.
Young Joey Williams had the biggest night of his career, as he drove to his first career win in the 15-lap IMCA Modified feature. The IMCA feature was the cleanest race of the night, being run without the benefit of a caution, and Williams used his front-row starting position to get the victory. Evne though he led the whole way, Williams never had time to relax, as he had a pair of vultures waiting for him to make a mistake. Cory Fachini, the point leader who is still looking for his first win of the season, moved into the No. 2 position on the seventh lap and George Catanzano, still trying to regain the form that carried to three wins earlier in the year, was third. But Williams showed the poise of a veteran and enjoyed the first win of his career, leaving both Fachini and Catanzano to wait for another night. Keith Ackerknecht finished fourth, with Jimmy Duncan fifth.
After a string of consistent finishes, Jim Normyle finally found the right path to victory lane in the 20-lap pro-stock feature. Despite losing his hood early in the feature, Normyle didn’t let the aerodynamic change affect him. The early lead belonged to Dave Bayes, who was also looking for his first win of the season and had it not been for Normyle, he probably would have gotten it.
Bayes only needed two laps to get to the front from his third starting position, but Normyle, who had started sixth, moved right up to the leaders early. A couple of early incidents left the cars of Honda Carpenter and Mark Sullivan looking like they had been attacked by a can opener, and attrition was at a high rate. Cautions put Bayes under a lot of pressure, and he finally cracked on lap 13, when Normyle rocketed into the lead. Normyle and Bayes would cross the finish line one-two, with Kenny Gates making a late-race charge to get up for third. Jay Resch passed Kerry Jordan on the final lap to get the fourth spot.
The street stock division again played the alphabet game again, with A, B and C features to accomodate the growing list of cars.
Jimmy Olsen ruined a strong night by Buck Gasner to win the street stock A feature. Gasner, who was back at the track after taking a nasty flip three weeks ago, led the first six laps of the feature, but Olsen then made the one important pass that gave him his first victory of the season.
The street stock B feature was dominated by John Babcock, who started in the second-to-last row. Flying from the start, Babcock had the lead after lap four, and that was all she wrote, as he held off Steve Cosselman to get the win.
The street stock C feature was loaded with the best cars in the division, and Jeff Davis took home the family’s second trophy of the night, leading from start to finish Kenny Barth made a late-race run, but there was no way he was going to catch the high-flying Davis.
MODIFIED FINISH: BOBBY VARIN, Mike Romano, Dave Lape, Jeff Trombley, Ronnie Holmes, Bob Savoie, Tony Pepicelli, Rich Pennock, Brian Borst, Mike Fusco, Seth Gano, Bob Sitterly, Ken Hanson, Ron Proctor, Alton Palmer, Matt DeLorenzo, John Kollar, Jerry Pennock Jr., Floyd Billington, Craig Criscone, Jack Johnson, Bobby Albert, Mike Dillenbeck, Craig Hanson, Randy Hotaling, John Marsh, Bobby Vedder, A.J. Romano.
SPORTSMAN: JIMMY DAVIS, Tim Clemons, Bobby Hackel, John McAuliffe, Mike Ballestero, Ryan Odasz, Tim Mayne, Drew Fallis, Mike Frasier, Tony Farone, Steve Akers, Jeff Holt, Bob Perry, Jason Otty, Jessica Zemken, Josh Pieniazek, Mike Ketchum, George Audi Jr., Billy Osta, John Constantino, Steve Jaszeboski, Jeremiah Munson, Jimmy Burton, Pat O’Hanlon, John LeClair, Ray Zemken.
PRO-STOCKS: JIM NORMYLE, Dave Bayes, Kenny Gates, Jay Resch, Scott Govertsen, Rob Noviczski, Brian Jordan, Mark Lighthall, Jay Ingersoll, Jeff Patrick, Chuck McSpirit, Nick Stone, Hndo Carpenter, Chris Morris, Dan Rickard, Tom Laplante, Luke Klob, Brian Jordan, Mike Fritz, Dave Viall, Mark Sullivan, Steve Vrooman, No. 24, Fred Little, Bob Gile, Brent Hollenback.
IMCA MODIFIEDS: JOEY WILLIAMS, Cory Fachini, George Catanzano, Keith Ackerknecht, Jimmy Duncan, Kevin Buff, Danny Ballard, Kevin Priest, Steve Hough, Steve Bidwell, Willie Reed, Darcy Volans, Kurt Olsen, Travis Stevens, Skip Pabis, Joe Hollenback, Bill Ward, Aaron Jacobs, Lou Gancarz, Pete Knapp.
STREET STOCK A: JIMMY OLSEN, Buck Gasner, Cort Laport, Scott Wells, Jeff Crosier, Joe Donato, Luke Horning, Jerry Pepper, Wayne Gaige, Tim smith.
STREET STOCK B: JOHN BABCOCK, Steve Cosselman, Don Warner, Rick Anderson, No. 3, Erik Harper, Lester Moore, Joe Smith, Sean Cosselman, Rich Walters, Luke Horning.
STREET STOCK C: JEFF DAVIS, Ken Barth, Dave Hewitt, Rob Van Aernam, Shawn Simmons, Dave Horning Sr., Randy Moore, Bob Van Aernam, Dave Horning Jr., Rod Slater, John Johnson.