ROMANO BEATS ROMANO
For the second time this season, the Romano brothers finished one-two in the modified feature at Fonda Speedway, but this time, the little brother put a whoopin’ on big brother.
A.J. Romano, running the outside of the speedway like he was attached to a long string, blew by his older brother Mike with three laps left and picked up his third win of the season Saturday night at the Track of Champions.
The win was the second in as many weeks for the younger of the Racing Romanos, as he won the first half of the double features on July 7. The last time the Romanos finished in the top two spots was June 9, when Mike beat A.J. to the finish line.
There was no question that this was Mike Romano’s race. After sidestepping through an early accident in the third turn, he took the lead away from Matt DeLorenzo and was sailing along with a comfortable advantage.
A.J. Romano’s Troyer was the fastest car on the race track, clicking off the best laps of the night, as he charged from his 13th starting position. But even when he finally got into second, taking that spot away from DeLorenzo, he was so far behind his brother that the only thing that would change the race was a caution flag.
And that’s exactly what happened. On lap 27, Harry Shaffer’s car came to a stop outside the second turn, forcing starter Claude Riley to throw the yellow. On the restart, A.J. Romano maintained the high line he had been running, and as they went past Riley to complete lap 27, he rocketed off the fourth turn and snatched the lead away from his brother.
Even in the last three laps, A.J. was flying, and he pulled away for an easy win, leaving his brother to settle for second. Jack Johnson, who suffered motor problems two weeks in a row, finished third, followed by DeLorenzo and Jeff Trombley. The rest of the top 10 was made up of Ronnie Hot Shoes Holmes, Floyd Billington, Bobby Varin, Tony Pepicelli and Bob Vedder.
The 20-lap pro-stock race was decided on the final turn of the final lap, as Scott Govertsen overhauled Rob Noviczski to come away with his second win of the season.
The race got off to an inauspicious start, when Mark Sullivan slammed into the fourth turn wall on the first lap. After jumping into the pits to have a load of sheet metal torn off his car, Sullivan came back out on the track, only to come to a stop of the front straightaway, which forced a number of cars coming out of the fourth turn to take evasive action. Jim Normyle, who went into the night second in points, was a victim of circumstance, as he and Dave Bayes hit hard under caution, ending Normyle’s night prematurely.
Noviczski first got the lead on lap six, with a pass of Mark Lighthall, but Govertsen took over the No. 1 spot on lap 11 going down the backstretch. Noviczski, the defending point champion, regained the lead on a restart on lap 17, but Govertsen got a good run off the fourth turn on the final lap and registered the victory.
Noviczski padded his point lead with a second place finish, while Butch Irwin had a great run and finished third. Bob Gile was fourth, with Kenny Gates fifth.
Ryan Odasz showed his poise in winning the 20-lap sportsman feature. Although he had point leader Jim McAuliffe banging on the backdoor for the final couple of laps, Odasz never bobbled, and drove to his second victory of the 2001 campaign. Bob Perry set the pace for the first three laps, but Odasz took the No. 1 spot away on lap four, and tried to pull away. But McAuliffe, who had used a couple of early cautions to get through traffic, pulled into the No. 2 position on lap six, and set his sights on Odasz and the Orange Crate.
Odasz had his hands full, as he also had to contend with a couple more restarts, but each time, he was able to withstand McAuliffe’s pressure. On the last two laps, McAuliffe even tried a couple of bump-and-run moves in the second turn, but Odasz had enough power to pull clrea going down the backstretch, and he finished a half-a-car length ahead of McAuliffe at the finish.
Jimmy Davis used a late charge to get up for third, with Jeff Holt fourth and Bobby Hackel fifth.
George Catanzano, who had dominated the IMCA Modified division in the first month of the season, finally broke out of his slump and notched his fourth victory of the season.
Catanzano had won the first three features of the season in the IMCA division, but a suspension, the result of a postrace altercation, took some of the wind out of Catanzano’s sails. Then, engine problems took their toll on the Z1 Racing Team. But everything appears to be back on track now.
Joey Williams, looking for his second win of the year, had the early lead, but Catanzano took over the No. 1 spot and held off Williams the rest of the way. Catanzano had been up to second on lap three, but a little hesitation on lap five cost him. Going into the third turn, Catanzano looked up and saw the pace car turn on its yellow lights. He got out of the throttle, but the track caution lights never came on, leaving the rest of the field racing under green. But Catanzano later made up for the miscue. Williams raced Catanzano hard the rest of the way, but was a little too eager on the final lap, when he spun around in the fourth turn, dropping from second to eighth in the final running order. Steve Bidwell came across the finish line second, followed by Steve Hough, Cory Fachini and Travis Stevens.
Once again, the street stock division was broken up into three features, with Dave Hewitt, Dick Nichols and Rob Van Aernam getting the wins. Hewitt actually finished second in the first feature. Wayne Gaige and Joe Donato came out of the final turn dead even and made contact, with Donato bouncing off the wall and Gaige taking the checkered flag. But officials set Gaige down for roughriding, giving the win to Hewitt and moving Donato up to second.
Nichols came back from a hard crash the previous week to come away with his first win of the year in street stock B. It was an easy win for the veteran, who really had no serious challenge. Scott Wells finished second.
All the top cars in the division were put in street stock C, and Rob Van Aernam notched his third win of the year in the all-star event. Dave Horning Jr. came through traffic to get up for second, but he never got a good shot at the leader, Jeff Davis was third.
Earline Varin powered Tom Laplant’s pro-stock to victory in the powder puff race. Bobby Varin's wife made up ground after being involved in an incident early in the race, and beat Laurie Fallis to the finish line.
MODIFIED: A. J. ROMANO, Mike Romano, Jack Johnson, Matt DeLorenzo, Jeff Trombley, Ronnie Holmes, Floyd Billington, Bobby Varin, Tony Pepicelli, Bob Vedder, Craig Criscone, Bob Savoie, Ken Hanson, Randy Hotaling, Brian Borst, Mike Fusco, John Marsh, John Marsh Jr., Rob Enright, Ansel Collins, John Wood, Harry Shaffer, Craig Hanson, Jerry Pennock Jr., Ron Proctor, Bobby Albert, Dave Lape, Alton Palmer.
SPORTSMAN: RYAN ODASZ, John McAuliffe, Jimmy Davis, Jeff Holt, Bobby Hackel, Mike Frasier, Jimmy Burton, Bob Perry, Steve Akers, Mike Ketchum, Jeremiah Munson, Drew Fallis, Tim Clemons, Jason Otty, Pat O’Hanlon, Tony Farone, Derrick McGrew, Jeff Jones, Josh Pieniazek, Doug Hutchinson, Billy Osta, John Constantino, Dennis Pennock, Paul Dunham Jr., Darren Keyser, Frank Greco, Craig Boehler, George Audi Jr.
PRO-STOCKS: SCOTT GOVERTSEN, Rob Noviczski, Butch Irwin, Bob Gile, Kenny Gates, Phlan Hart, Chris Morris, Dave Bayes, Mark Lighthall, Dave Viall, Jay Resch, Kerry Jordan, No. 83, Hondo Carpenter, Brett Hollenbeck, Mike Holachek, Luke Klob, Ed Bradt, Frank Guffrie, Wayne Patrick, Frank Earley Jr., Nick Stone, Mark Sullivan, Tom Laplante, Joe DeSieno, Jim Normyle, Jerry Pepper, Chuck McSpirit.
IMCA MODIFIEDS: GEORGE CATANZANO, Steve Bidwell, Steve Hough, Cory Fachini, Travis Stevens, Jim Rajczi, Joey Williams, Joe Hollenbeck, Dan Ballard, Willie Reed, Kevin Priest, George Proctor Jr., Kevin Buff, Keith Ackerknecht, Jimmy Duncan, Steve Healey, Pete Knapp, Lou Gancarz, Dennis Vrooman, Kurt Olsen, Aaron Jacobs, Bill Ward, Walter Cook.
STREET STOCK A: DAVE HEWITT, Joe Donato, Don Warner, Mike Walters, John Anderson, Steve Skinner, Joe Smith, No. 24, Wayne Gaige, Tim Smith, Mike Budka Jr.
STREET STOCK B: DICK NICHOLS, Scott Wells, Shawn Simmons, No. 19, Mike Holvak, Buck Gasner, Wayne Crosier, Todd Dunston, Rich Anderson, Luke Horning, Chris White.
STREET STOCK C: ROB VAN AERNAM, Dave Horning Jr., Jeff Davis, Bob Van Aernam, Ken Barth, John Johnson, Dave Horning Sr., Steve Cosselman, Jim Olsen, Randy Moore.
POWDER PUFF: EARLINE VARIN, Laurie Fallis, April Smith, Lynn Dunlevy, Billy Jo Skinner, Sandy Ferrera, Jeannie Anderson, Kelly Ketchum, Kelly Keefe, Tina Manchester, Nancy Walters, Jaunita Vandusen, Keri Vanderburg, Melissa Gray, Cindy McLaskey, April Rickard, Dorene Pepicelli, Sue Mullaryk.