Trombley Sunoco Series winner
Jeff Trombley knows Fonda Speedway like the back of his hand.
But to Frankie Caprara, driving at Fonda is liking going down a country road at night with your lights off.
That home-track advantage paid off for Trombley, the 2001 Fonda track champion, Saturday night, as he drove to an easy victory in the 50-lap Sunoco Super DIRT Series race at the Track of Champions.
Trombley picked up $3,000 for the victory, which was his first 358 win ever at his home track.
Caprara was just as quick as Trombley, but wasn’t up on the nuances of getting through traffic in the turns at Fonda, and that allowed Trombley, driving the Roger Savoie-owned Hilltop Collision TEO car, to get the lead for good on lap 34. Ronnie Johnson, back behind the wheel of the Sweeteners Plus ride he picked up at Super DIRT Week, won the first heat and started on the pole in the heads-up alignment for the feature, with Caparara on the outside.
It was Johnson who got the lead, and by lap 14, the leaders were already in traffic. A pair of restarts on lap 14 cost Johnson the lead, as Caprara got a big jump off the outside on the second restart, and took over the No. 1 position.
Brett Hearn, one of the top drivers on the series, pulled out when his motor went sour on lap 16, and at almost the same time, the yellow came out when Dave Camara had a brake rotor lock up.
On the next restart, Trombley got around Johnson for second and then followed Caprara for the next 10 laps.
By lap 29, Caprara and Trombley were in heavy traffic, and Trombley was biding his time, watching the pattern of lapped cars and looking for the right place to get the lead.
He made his first move on lap 31, when he tried to pinch Caprara behind the lapped car of Tim Clemons. But when Trombley tried to make the pass, he couldn’t stick on the outside.
So he pulled back behind Caprara, waited a couple of more laps, and then made the pass for the lead on lap 34 when the Caprara found himself behind two lapped cars in the fourth turn.
The only problem Trombley had the rest of the way was with the lapped car of Vince Quenneville Jr., as Trombley repeatedly banged on the back bumper of the Vermont driver’s car before he finally pulled out of the way.
Capara settled for second, his best run ever in his four appearances at Fonda, while Johnson third. Steve Paine was fourth, with series point leader Alan Johnson fifth. Completing the top 10 were Ken Tremont Jr., Matt DeLorenzo, Matt Sheppard, Danny Johnson and Todd Burley.
Clemons was probably a little tired in the Sunoco series race, as he drove a hard 50 laps in the Dig Safely New York 50-lap Sportsman feature that was run right before the Sunoco event.
Clemons and Ryan Odasz put on a crowd-pleasing show in the sportsman feature, with Clemons coming away with his third victory of the season in the Jake Spraker Used Cars small block.
Odasz, driving the Chet’s Flooring sponsored 12A that Jack Johnson had campaigned for most of the season, started on the outside pole and went right to the front while Clemons, who started fourth, was locked in a battle for second with Jimmy Davis. Clemons won his battle with Davis on lap 10 and four laps later, caught Odasz in traffic.
Clemons got his first lead on the night on lap 17, but the battle between he and Odasz was far from over, thanks to the traffic problem, which was worse than a construction holdup on the Northway in the middle of summer.
On lap 28, Odasz cut under Clemons in the second turn to regain the lead, and this time, it looked like Odasz had the race under control.
By lap 35, smoke was starting to come out of Clemons’ car, but whatever the problem was, it didn’t affect the performance of the Jake Spraker small block, as Clemons kept dogging Odasz all around the track.
Davis, who was running third, brought out the yellow on lap 43 when he blew a tire, and that was the break Clemons needed. Three laps later, Odasz made a little mistake in the fourth turn, and Clemons shot to the inside to get the lead for good, leaving Odasz to settle for second.
Track champion John McAuliffe finished third, with Drew Fallis, who had started 15th, charging up to finish fourth. Randy Chrysler was the first invader across the finish line, coming in fifth.
Butchie Irwin dominated the 20-lap pro-stock feature, leading flag-to-flag to get his second win of the season. Rob Noviczski was second, with Chris Morris third.
Joey Williams won a good battle with Travis Stevens and Steve Bidwell to pick up his fourth win of the year in the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. Bidwell started third and set the early pace, but lost the lead to Williams on lap eight.
Bidwell regained the lead on lap 10, with Williams falling to third, behind Stevens, and Stevens then grabbed the No. 1 spot when Bidwell went high in the fourth turn on lap 16.
But a restart with two laps to go cost Stevens the win, as he also drifted out of the groove in the fourth turn on lap 18, allowing Williams to get the lead for good. Stevens came across the finish line second, with Bidwell third, Pete Knapp fourth and Steve Hough fifth.
The 15-lap street stock feature, which had to be red-flagged twice, was won by Rod Slater. One of the red flags was caused by track champion Dave Horning Jr., who climbed the second turn wall and flipped four times with three laps to go. Gary Michaud , an invader from Albany-Saratoga Speedway, finished second, with Jim Dellea third. But Dellea was later disqualified, moving Shawn Simmons up to the no. 3 position.
During intermission, the recipients of the Fonda Speedway Most Popular Drivers were announced. They were Dave Lape (modified), Clemons (sportsman), Hondo Carpenter (pro-stocks) and Dave Horning Jr. (street stocks).
The marathon day of racing began with the first heat at 1:15 p.m., and the final checkered flag dropped at 10 p.m.
MODIFIEDS (50 LAPS): JEFF TROMBLEY, Frankie Caprara, Ronnie Johnson, Steve Paine, Alan Johnson, Ken Tremont Jr., Matt DeLorenzo, Matt Sheppard, Danny Johnson, Todd Burley, Bobby Varin, Tommy Sears, Tony Pepicelli, Vic Coffey, Craig Criscone, Rich Ricci Jr., Pat Ward, Jason Barney, Mike Fusco, Jerry Pennock Jr., Don Scarborough, Pierre Dagenais, Kevin Crave, Bob Vedder, Vince Quenneville Jr., Tim Clemons, Mike Ricci, Harry Shaffer, John McAuliffe, Brian Borst, Randy Hotaling, A.J. Romano, Brett Hearn, Dave Camara, Ryan Baye, Ron Proctor.
SPORTSMAN (50 LAPS): TIM CLEMONS, Ryan Odasz, John McAuliffe, Drew Fallis, Randy Chrysler, Carl Comfort, Mike Ballestero, Justin Hares, Paul Carey, Jimmy Burton, Tim Sears, Sparky Lowe, Stewart Friesen, Jimmy Davis, Jeff Holt, Bobby Hackel, John Constantino, David Van Horn, Steve Akers, Jeff Jones, Alan Houghtaling, Frank Harper, Joe Bennett, Dick Park, Chad Brachmann, Jeremiah Munson, Tony Farone, Mike Ketchum, Willy Decker, Joe Geniti, Ray Zemken, Eldon Payne.
IMCA MODIFIEDS: JOEY WILLIAMS, Travis Stevens, Steve Bidwell, Pete Knapp, Steve Hough, Jimmy Duncan, Dennis Cooper, Tony Finch, Darcy Volans, Jason Miller, Kurt Olsen, Rich Countryman, Rob Ridgeway, Joe Hollenback, Johnny Bell, Dave Krakowski, Danny Ody, Billy Ward, Keith Ackerknecht, George Catanzano, Eric Stumpf, Skip Pabis, John Thayer, Jim Rajczi, Skip Pabis, Mike Chilson.
PRO STOCKS: BUTCHIE IRWIN, Rob Noviczski, Chris Morris, Frank Twing, Steve DeVoss, Mark Sullivan, Kenny Gates, Fred Little, Dave Viall, Mark Lighthall, Rob Van Aernam, Scott Govertsen, Henry Warner, Mike Fritz, Kerry Jordan, Bob Duzlak, Steve Burega, Ed Pieniazek, Ray Hall, Rick Fosby, Joe Petrowicz, Dave Bayes, Mark Shultz, Joe Mottoshiski.
STREET STOCKS: ROD SLATER, Gary Michaud, Shawn Simmons, Vinnie Santoro, Chris Reckner, Randy Moore, Don Warner, Dave Horning Sr., Larry Morgan, Todd Dunston, D.J. Mabb, Bob Palmer, Fran Marchand, Dave Horning Jr., Brian Houghtaling, Jeff Crosier, Mike Davis, Rick Demsey, Rich Harkins, Randy Myers, Carol Parker, Justin LaBombard, Steve Hatch, Bob Van Aernam, Lee Zimmerman, Chris Streeter, Joe Donato. DQ: Jim Dellea.