VARIN WINS INCREDIBLE FEATURE AT FONDA
The McDonald’s 100-lap Race of Champions (Roc) Dirt Tour event at the Fonda Speedway on Sunday was one of attrition as 12 caution flags slowed the event. Actually Mother Nature kicked in and also slowed the racing program which started nearly four hours late due to rain just as warm-ups began around noon.
With all of the laps that were run under caution, all of the attrition in the feature event was not only caused by wrecks. It was also caused by fuel mileage as six cars ran out of fuel in the last ten laps of the event. The suspense of the race held everyone’s attention throughout the event as you never knew what was going to happen next. In the end it was one of the drivers involved in a crash early in the event that ended up on victory lane after scoring the win.
After getting turned around while leading on lap 14 in turn two which relegated him to the rear of the field, Bobby Varin got back up into the top five by the lap 88 point of the event only to run out of fuel on lap 90 bringing out the 10th caution of the event.
Under yellow, Varin pitted for fuel and came out of the pits still on the lead lap. When Jeff Trombley ran out of fuel while leading the event on lap 98, Varin was in the second spot and was handed the lead. From that point on Varin led the remaining two laps to get his seventh win of the season and the 26th of his career in the modified division at Fonda. The win was worth $7,500.
Only three cars were left on the lead lap when the checkered flag fell with a total of 10 cars finishing the event out of the 31 that started the feature.
“I got turned around in turn two early in the event and spun around,” Varin said in victory lane. “I kept my foot in the gas trying to keep the wheels turning so that I wouldn’t come to a full stop and cause a big wreck and when I did I shot back across the track and caused a big pileup. My front end was all messed up after that and this win was pure luck.”
With the win, Varin now leads the RoC combined modified point standings (north and south regions combined) with only one race remaining after already winning the north region title. Varin was undefeated in the north region feature events this summer, winning all four races that were held at Fonda and Utica Rome who held two events at each racetrack.
Trombley took the lead from his outside front row starting spot in the Ronnie Johnson small block car (the same car that Johnson runs at Albany Saratoga on Friday nights) at the drop of the green flag with the yellow coming out before lap one was completed for a multi car pileup in turn two. When Steve Akers got sideways in turn one it caused everyone behind him to check up which caused the big wreck. On the original restart, Trombley again took the lead at the drop of the green flag with Steve Hough and Varin side by side for second.
With Trombley out to a half straightaway lead by lap seven, Varin got by Hough for the second spot with Jack Johnson also getting by for the third spot after starting fifth. When Jim Davis spun around in turn three on lap 14 to bring out the caution, Varin got his shot at Trombley which he took full advantage of on the restart. Coming out of turn four on the restart, Varin slid the Jake Spraker No. 1J in front of Trombley to take over the lead but as the two went into turn two another multi car pileup brought out the caution again.
Going into the turn, Trombley just barely got into the back of Varin causing him to spin. When Varin kept his foot in the gas he shot across the track and caused a number of cars to wreck in turn two including Jack Johnson who was very upset with Varin after the accident. Also involved were Matt DeLorenzo, Ronnie Johnson, and many others with most able to continue on except for Jack Johnson.
Steve Hough who moved up to the modified division at Lebanon Valley a couple of years ago after racing in the IMCA class at Fonda for a couple of seasons was in the second spot and was doing a great job holding off Tom Sears for the position for many laps before Sears took over the spot on lap 36. Hough was able to retake the second position on lap 39 with Ronnie Johnson now in the third spot after getting by Sears with Trombley out for a Sunday drive in the lead. Varin and DeLorenzo were back in the top ten by lap 47 after restarting in the rear after the crash on lap 14.
Ronnie Johnson was the new second place car on lap 48 after getting by Hough for the spot with Varin up to third on lap 73. When the caution came out on lap 82 there were only five cars left on the lead lap as Trombley was just dominating the event. Under the yellow flag things started to get interesting as Hough ran out of fuel while running fifth. At that point Varin also ran out of fuel under caution while in the third spot handing the spot back over to Sears with Trombley and Ronnie Johnson ahead of him.
Varin pitted for fuel and returned to the event on the lead lap with another yellow coming out on lap 95 when Brian Weaver ran out of fuel. Under caution, Ronnie Johnson was the next victim of fuel mileage as he also ran out of fuel as the race of attrition continued with only 12 cars left in the event at that point. Before the green flag fell to restart the event, Trombley also ran out of fuel giving the lead to Varin who was one of only three cars left on the lead lap at the time. Varin hung on for what had to be one of the strangest races ever held at Fonda.
Drivers were told in the drivers meeting that all of the lap cars would go to the bottom of the track while lead lap cars would start on the outside row which is why some of the drivers that ran out of fuel were able to pit and return to the field on the lead lap.
Sears, Ronnie Johnson who was able to pit for fuel and rejoin the field on the lead lap, DeLorenzo, and Gibbs completed the top five. Three small block bonuses were handed out for the first three small block cars across the line with DeLorenzo receiving $750, Jeff Trombley $500, and Jeff Hoetzler $250.
“When I ran out of fuel I said to myself I can’t be out of fuel after making my way back to the front,” Varin said. “I thought that maybe the magneto went bad or something. This win is for Nancy and Jake Spraker my car owners. They gave me all that I asked for this year and me getting this ride has definitely been a dream come true.”
The 30-lap $750 to win pro stock feature was led by Kenny Martin at the drop of the green flag to start the event with Kenny Gates in tow. Nick Stone started the event in the 10th spot and by lap five was already up to the fourth position. On lap five the second of nine caution flags in the event flew for Chucky Dumblewski who suffered a flat tire and that gave Stone the break that he needed.
On the restart, Stone got by both Robert Langevin and Gates for the second spot and set out to catch Martin who was still in the lead. Using his traditional line on the outside of the speedway on lap six, Stone got by Martin for the lead. During a lap eight caution, Stone was stopped on the track by a track official for a safety issue as he had something stuck in his wind screen. Because he was stopped by a track official Stone was able to go back to the front of the pack as the green flag flew to restart the event.
On the restart, Butchie Irwin and Jim Burton both got by Martin for the second and third positions as something broke on Martin’s car causing a tire rub that lasted for the remainder of the event. Just as Burton was going for the second spot something broke on his car as sparks started to fly from under the car in turn four as he spun across the track and brought out the yellow once again.
Stone and Irwin were side by side at times over the final three laps but Stone was able to hold on for his fifth win of the season at Fonda and ninth of his pro stock career at the Track of Champions. “I don’t really know what happened but my tires went away towards the end of the race,” Stone said in victory lane. “I just kept looking straight ahead and tried to hold my line.”
Irwin, Gates, Martin, and Jim Normoyle completed the top five.
Many bonuses were handed out to the pro stock drivers in memory of Hondo Carpenter as each heat race winner (Martin, Gates, Dumblewski, and Speed Felon) received $50 from Custom Bob, the leader of lap 9 (Nick Stone) received $99 from Krash Mender, and the ninth place finisher in the feature (John Turco) received $50 from the New York State Stock Car Association (NYSSCA).
Mike Fusco was the winner of the 20-lap non qualifiers race, taking the lead on lap 11 of the event with Ryan Bartlett finishing second. Both drivers had a choice to either take the money for the top two spots or transfer to the tail end of the feature event. Both chose to take spots at the rear of the field for the feature.
The only event left on the 2005 Fonda Speedway schedule is the annual awards banquet and for more information on that you can go to the Fonda Speedway website www.fondaspeedway.com
MODIFIED QUALIFYING – 48 total cars – 3 qualify – 2 redraw
HEAT 1 – A.J. Romano, Jack Johnson, Tom Sears
HEAT 2 – Danny Johnson, Willy Decker, Dana Wagner
HEAT 3 – Steve Akers, Elmo Reckner, Ryan Odasz
HEAT 4 – Jeff Trombley, Steve Poirier, David Towns
HEAT 5 – Tim Clemons, Steve Hough, Robert King
HEAT 6 – Bobby Varin, Matt DeLorenzo, Jim Davis
MODIFIED CONSOLATIONS – 2 qualify
CONSI 1 – Tony Pepicelli, Alton Palmer
CONSI 2 – Jerry Higbie Jr., Ted Lamb
CONSI 3 – Ronnie Johnson, Mitch Gibbs
MODIFIED NON-QUALIFIERS RACE – 20-LAPS – top 2 have choice of taking the money for the non-qualifiers event or transferring to the rear of the feature field – MIKE FUSCO, Ryan Bartlett, Billy Osta, Mike Gular, Ray Zemken, Bob Vedder, Billy Pauch, Josh Pieniazek, Gus Schmidt, Eric Mack, Robert Perry, Todd Morey, J.R. Crouse, John Alberti, Chris Shultz, Jason Barney, Jerry Pennock Jr., Brian Weaver, Frank Jashembowski
MCDONALD’S MODIFIED FEATURE – 100-LAPS – BOBBY VARIN, Tom Sears, Ronnie Johnson, Matt DeLorenzo, Mitch Gibbs, Jerry Higbie Jr., Danny Johnson, Jeff Trombley, A.J. Romano, Brian Weaver, Jeff Heotzler, Ryan Odasz, Steve Hough, Alton Palmer, Jim Davis, J.R. Crouse, Ted Lamb, Dana Wagner, Willy Decker, Tony Pepicelli, Jason Barney, Mike Fusco, Tim Clemons, Jack Johnson, Steve Poirier, Robert King, Steve Akers, Ryan Bartlett, Mike Gular, David Towns, Elmo Reckner
DID NOT QUALIFY – Bob Vedder, Billy Osta, Frank Jashembowski, Gus Schmidt, Jerry Pennock Jr., Robert Perry, John Alberti, Ray Zemken, Chris Shultz, Todd Morey, Erik Nelson, Josh Pieniazek, Eric Mack, Billy Pauch, Bob McCreadie, Mario Clair, Craig Hanson
PRO STOCK QUALIFYING – 37 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – Kenny Martin, John Turco, Rich Colesanti, Adam Haas, Chad Ray
HEAT 2 – Kenny Martin, Robert Langevin, Nick Stone, Frank Twing, Jim Normoyle
HEAT 3 – Chucky Dumblewski, Butchie Irwin, Jason Brownell, Lori Cary, Rob Rowe
HEAT 4 – Speed Felon, Don Williams, Jim Burton, Joe Mottoshiski, Jim Eaton
PRO STOCK CONSOLATIONS – 4 qualify
CONSI 1 – Bob Schmidt, Scott Liese, Les Gillette, Rob Seavy
CONSI 2 – Dean Charbonneau, Dan Rickard, Bill Trego, Dave Blanchard
MCDONALD’S PRO STOCK FEATURE – 30-LAPS – NICK STONE, Butchie Irwin, Kenny Gates, Kenny Martin, Jim Normoyle, Rob Rowe, Rich Colesanti, Scott Liese, John Turco, Les Gillette, Rob Seavy, Bob Schmidt, Dave Blanchard, Lori Cary, Dan Rickard, Robert Langevin, Speed Felon, Frank Twing, Don Williams, Jim Burton, Jimmy Eaton, Chucky Dumblewski, Jason Brownell, Chad Ray, Dean Charbonneau, Joe Mottoshiski, Bill Trego, Adam Haas
by Fonda Speedway