HOLMES ENDS WINLESS STREAK
FONDA - When Ronnie Holmes drove to his first career victory last season at Fonda Speedway, he was behind the wheel of a car owned by Andy Romano. If Holmes can overtake Jeff Trombley to win his first point title at the Track of Champions this season, Romano will again get the assist. Holmes kept his hopes for the point title alive Saturday night by overhauling Bobby Varin in the 30-lap modified feature at Fonda. The car that Holmes drove to victory, and will be driving for the rest of the 2001 season, is the same small block that Romano campaigns at Utica-Rome on Sundays.
When Holmes destroyed his own car at Utica-Rome early in July, Romano convinced Sam and Linda Smith, who own the 72VT, to let Holmes use it on Saturday nights. Holmes made his first appearance in the car in the Advance Auto Parts Series 100-lapper on July 18, and in the two weeks since, has been constantly making changes to get the car right for Fonda. On Saturday, he finally found the right combination.
Varin had taken the lead away from Tony Pepicelli on lap 12, and was running a smooth line around the high side of the speedway. But Holmes, who gave an indication of just how strong his car was on a restart on lap 16, when he flew past Trombley, kept running the bottom, and steadily gained ground on Varin, who was looking for his third win of the season. Varin, who said after the race that he never knew Holmes was coming, was stunned when Holmes went flying by on lap 25, and could only watch as Holmes pulled away to become the 11th different winner in the modified division this season. The win also allowed Holmes to pull to within 35 points of point leader Trombley, who finished fifth. Mike Romano, driving his third new Bicknell car of the season, put on a late-race charge to get third, with Pepicelli fourth and Trombley fifth. The rest of the top 10 consisted on A.J. Romano, Craig Criscone, Jack Johnson, Bob Vedder and Floyd Billington.
If anyone had been handing out a hard charger award, Jumpin’ Jack would have earned it. After losing the left rear wheel during his heat race and failing to qualify, Johnson started 25th in the bulky 28-car field. The feature wasn’t even a lap old when Rob Enright and John Marsh Jr. tangled in the first turn, setting the tone for a night when the modified feature would be slowed by six caution flags.
Mike Ballestero ended his run of bad luck and cruised to an easy win in the 20-lap sportsman feature. Ballestero, who is seventh in points because of his consistency, finally made his way to victory lane for the first time this season. A good starting position really paid off, as Ballestero had the lead on the second lap, and never looked back. If he had, he would have seen a good battle between John McAuliffe and Tim Clemons. The first three laps took forever to get completed because of a number of cautions, but once the field got sorted out, Ballestero was in complete control. Clemons held down the No. 2 position until lap 10, when McAuliffe once again showed his muscle. But Ballestero was just too strong, and McAuliffe finished a distant second. But the win did allow McAuliffe to get one step closer to winning his first career sportsman title at the Track of Champions. Clemons finished third, with Tony Farone fourth and Ryan Odasz fifth.
Chris Morris survived a late restart, and held off Rob Noviczski for his third win of the year in the 20-lap pro-stock feature. Charging Chuck McSpirit, who can’t cash in on his front-row starting positions, took the lead away from Mark Lighthall on lap five, but the caution flew two laps later for a tangle that involved Jay Resch, Hondo Carpenter and Dave Bayes, who were charging through the field together. On the restart, Morris jumped past McSpirit into the lead and started to pull away. But on lap 14, Resch’s night took another bad turn, as he went sailing off the second turn, bringing out another caution. That allowed Noviczski to pull right up on Morris’ rear bumper, but Morris had too many horses under the hood of the Saxton Signs 619, and hit the checkered flag ahead of Noviczski. Kenny Gates finished third, with Scott Govertsen fourth and Mark Sullivan fifth, after spinning out early in the feature.
Last week, Steve Bidwell finished the IMCA modified feature on his top. This week, he stayed on all four wheels and recorded his second win of the season. Bidwell climbed the wall in the first turn and rolled over after last week’s feature, so he went to his backup car this week, a move he probably should have made weeks ago.
Travis Stevens was the early leader, but a wreck on the 11th lap changed the complexion of the race. On lap 11, George Catanzano and Dan Ballard, who were running second and third, tangled between the first and second turns, taking both of those veterans out of contention and allowing Bidwell to move into the No. 2 hole. Stevens was able to hang onto the lead for another three laps, but another restart on lap 14 proved to be his downfall. Going into the second turn, he got out of shape, went too high and Bidwell ducked under to get the lead. One lap later, he was also the first car under starter Claude Riley’s checkered flag. Steve Hough, who followed Bidwell through the hole that Stevens left, finished second, with Stevens third, George Proctor Jr. fourth in his best ride of the season and Kevin Buff fifth. Joey Williams, who has two wins under his belt, didn’t even make the feature, as he did heavy damage to his car during a heat race accident.
Justin Barger played a game of give-and-take before getting the victory in the 20-lap Eastern Limited Sprints feature. Barger started on the front row and led the first six laps before Dan Kaszubinski, who also campaigns on the Empire Super Sprints tour, used a restart to rocket into the lead. But Kaszubinski later fell victim to mechanical problems, which allowed Barger to regain the lead on lap 14, and he held off Rick Hart to get the win. Hart, who was never far from the lead, finished ahead of Russ Bennett, John Karklin and Bobby Podolak.
Scott Wells and Jeff Davis won the two street stock features Saturday night. The win was Wells’ first of the season, while Davis made his way to victory lane for the second time.
Wells jumped into the lead in the street stock A feature on lap four and quickly pulled away, leaving a good battle for second between Joe Donato and Luke Horning. Wayne Crosier soon joined that tussle, and wrestled the No. 2 spot away on a restart with one lap to go. That left the final running order of Wells, Crosier, Donato, Horning and Shawn Simmons.
Steve Cosselman had the early lead in the street stock B feature, but pulled into the pits with mechanical problems on lap four, which gave the lead to Davis. Dick Nichols brought out the caution on lap 11, which gave Bob Van Aernam a run at Davis, but the younger of the racing Davis brothers came away with the victory, with Van Aernam second and Kenny Barth third.
MODIFIEDS: RONNIE HOLMES, Bobby Varin, Mike Romano, Tony Pepicelli, Jeff Trombley, A.J. Romano, Craig Criscone, Jack Johnson, Bob Vedder, Floyd Billington, Ron Proctor, Matt DeLorenzo, Mike Fusco, Brian Borst, Jeremy Matthies, Harry Shaffer, Craig Hanson, Link Pettit, Ansel Collins, Elmo Reckner, Rob Enright, Jerry Pennock Jr., Alton Palmer, Randy Hotaling, Rich Pennock, Dave Lape, John Marsh Jr., John G. Wolfe.
SPORTSMAN: MIKE BALLESTERO, John McAuliffe, Tim Clemons, Tony Farone, Ryan Odasz, Bobby Hackel, Jimmy Davis, Jeff Holt, Bob Perry, Billy Osta, Otto Sitterly, John Constantino, Dennis Pennock, Paul Dunham Jr., Doug Hutchinson, Bob Rees, Jason Otty, Jimmy Burton, Mike Frasier, Steve Akers, Frank Greco, Mike Ketchum, Craig Boehler, Jeremiah Munson, Drew Fallis, Josh Pieniazek.
PRO-STOCKS: CHRIS MORRIS, Rob Noviczski, Kenny Gates, Scott Govertsen, Mark Sullivan, Chuck McSpirit, Dave Viall, Mark Lightall, Frank Guffrie, Shawn Laport, Dave Bayes, Luke Klob, Jay Resch, Mike Holachek, Brent Hollenbeck, Jeff Patrick, Cory Laport, Butch Irwin, Jerry Pepper, Jim Normyle, Kerry Jordan, Bob Gile, Hondo Carpenter, Tom Laplante.
IMCA MODIFIEDS: STEVE BIDWELL, Steve Hough, Travis Stevens, George Proctor Jr., Kevin Buff, Willie Reed, Cory Fachini, Jim Rajczi, Dan Ballard, Darcy Volans, Kevin Priest, Keith Ackerknecht, Lou Gancarz, Joe Hollenbeck, Dennis Vrooman, Aaron Jacobs, No. 12M, George Catanzano, Skip Pabis, Walter Cook.
STREET STOCK A: SCOTT WELLS, Wayne Crosier, Joe Donato, Luke Horning, Shawn Simmons, Erik Harper. Rick Anderson, Tim Smith, Mike Walters, Lee Carroll, Chris White, Bill Karp, No. 19, Steve Skinner.
STREET STOCK B: JEFF DAVIS, Bob Van Aernam, Ken Barth, Dave Horning Sr., John Johnson, Dave Horning Jr., Randy Moore, Dave Hewitt, Dick Nichols, Rob Van Aernam, Buck Gasner, Jimmy Olsen, Steve Cosselman, Wayne Gaige.
EASTERN LIMITEDS SPRINTS: JUSTIN BARGER, Rick Hart, Russ Bennett, John Karklin, Bobby Podolak, Mike Miller, Warren Alexson, Billy White, Bill Bailey, Floyd Billington, John Lieto, Mike Lauterborn, Bob Wade, Jimmy Senzio, Curt Bradshaw, Billy Wolfe, Bill Guertin, Bill Vivian, Dan Kaszubinski, Carmen Carnibucci, George Ely, Rich Zagata, Brian Grisel, Tommy Allen.