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By: Ron Szczerba
FONDA , NY – Fonda Speedway was finally able to open on Saturday afternoon with the running of the annual Ice Jam which was originally scheduled to open the season one week prior. Weather caused the cancellation of the event on Saturday, April 7 and came very close to doing it again for the second week in a row after less than favorable weather in the northeast this past week.
Fonda Speedway promoter Ric Lucia and his track crew weren’t about to let it happen again this week and worked feverishly for most of the day to handle the very wet and soft track conditions that they were dealt with. In the end racing went on with “The Doctor” Danny Johnson taking home the $4,000 victory.
The win wasn’t without controversy however as Johnson used a questionable move in turn one to try to get in between a lap car and race leader Pat Ward for the lead on lap 10. When Johnson made the move the front end of his car dug into the very soft and tacky racetrack in turn one and jumped to the right, hitting Ward and putting him in the wall ending his day.
Before it was all said and done, Matt DeLorenzo gave Johnson a run for his money before a flat tire cost him the race with only two laps to go. Johnson went on to the win and in victory lane the crowd showed their displeasure with him as a loud chorus of “boo’s” came from the grandstand.
“I thought that they put drivers to the rear for taking out the leader,” Johnson said in victory lane. “I have to thank the track crew for the job they did to try and make the racing surface as good as possible. In the end, it turned into a surface that reminded me of the moon.”
The race was originally scheduled to be a 50-lap event but the drivers voted to shorten the event to 35 laps in the interest of safety due to the track conditions. It was the opening event of the Race of Champions (RoC) Dirt Tour in the North Region.
Other winners on opening day at the Track of Champions were John McAuliffe (sportsman), Kenny Martin Jr. (pro stock), and Dave Horning Jr. (street stock).
Ward took the lead at the drop of the green flag in the modified feature from his third place starting position and was on cruise control for the first few laps. Johnson moved into the second spot on lap three as he was “tri-cycling” his way around the speedway, picking up the left front wheel in every turn.
Johnson was the new leader after his controversial move with DeLorenzo in the second spot at that point after starting fifth. When Johnson lost the front end of his car again in turn one on lap 14, DeLorenzo was the new leader. Ronnie Johnson battled Danny for the second spot at the mid point in the event as the two swapped the position many times before Danny took it over for good with 10 laps to go.
DeLorenzo was having problems with lap traffic throughout the event while he was leading as he almost made contact with the lap car of Josh Pieniazek going into turn one on lap 19 and it looked like he actually did make contact with Elmo Reckner on lap 24 in turn four. Each time DeLorenzo was able to get control of his car and continue on after almost spinning out.
On lap 25, the yellow was out for Dan Hartgraves who broke in turn two and under caution DeLorenzo had a flat left front tire. On the restart, Danny Johnson got back by for the lead and went on to the win followed by Ronnie Johnson, DeLorenzo, Stewart Friesen, and Dave Camara.
For Danny Johnson it was his ninth career modified feature win at Fonda.
“I was able to get by Danny a couple of times but that man can drive a race car,” Ronnie Johnson said afterwards. “He made some unbelievable moves out there. My team was not satisfied with last year and we stepped things up during the winter on these Josh Plue owned racecars.”
“Running a small block I was probably able to get through the rough spots in turns one and two a little better than everyone else,” DeLorenzo said. “But I was getting killed on the restarts with the small block. I definitely think that my motocross experience helped me get through turns one and two today though.”
DeLorenzo earned a $500 bonus for being the first small block car across the finish line.
A heads up start in the sportsman feature put John McAuliffe and David Towns on the front row with McAuliffe taking the lead at the drop of the green flag. Two early cautions slowed the field on laps two and three with Towns taking the lead on the restart. Going down the backstretch shortly after he took the top spot, Towns was forced to retire from the race as he headed for the pit area handing the lead back to McAuliffe.
Defending track champion John Scarborough started the event back in the 15th starting spot but moved quickly to the front sitting in the third spot at the halfway point. Scarborough took the second spot from Alan Barker with two laps to go but McAuliffe had a comfortable lead and went on to the win over Scarborough, Barker, Tony Farone, and Dave Constantino.
For McAuliffe it was his 29th career sportsman feature win at Fonda.
“I’m sore,” McAuliffe said in victory lane. “It was pretty rough in turns one and two but everything stayed together and we were able to take the win.”
Kenny Martin Jr. started the pro stock feature event from the pole and took the lead at the start followed by new Fonda Speedway regular Rob Yetman. Martin held the lead through two restarts during the event which set up an incredible finish between himself and Yetman.
Coming out of turn four, Yetman got under Martin as the two cars raced side by side to the finish line. The finish was close enough that the winner had to be decided by timing and scoring with Martin taking the win by 0.06 sec over Yetman.
For Martin it was his 37th career pro stock feature win at Fonda
Roy Fifield, Kenny Gates, and Nick Stone completed the top five in the event.
After doing donuts at the end of the old pit road in the center of the speedway, Martin talked about his win.
“We definitely had our hands full in turns one and two,” he said. “The track crew worked hard today to get the track as good as they could and I have to thank them for that.” When asked about Yetman coming to Fonda this year and being a threat to win Martin said, “If he wants to come in here and play, let’s play.”
The caution plagued street stock feature turned out to be a battle of the Horning’s with Dave Jr. taking the lead at the drop of the green flag from his pole position start. When Horning Jr. lost the front end of his car going into turn one, Horning Sr. took over the lead with the caution coming out shortly afterwards.
On the restart, Horning Jr. retook the lead from his dad with Duke Misprint taking over the second spot on lap eight after starting 12th. McSpirit pressured Horning Jr. the rest of the way but at the checkered flag Horning Jr. was able to take home his 48th career street stock feature win over McSpirit, Rocky Warner, Horning Sr., and Neil Cosselman.
For McAuliffe, Martin Jr., and Horning Jr. it was a great day to win as it was the first race towards the 2007 Track Championship’s in the sportsman, pro stock, and street stock divisions. Next week the first race towards the modified and IMCA Track Championships will take place as point’s start for those divisions.
Next Saturday a regular show in all divisions is on the racing card along with the annual 360 Sprint Open. Starting time on Saturday, April 21 will be 6:00 p.m.
MODIFIED QUALIFYING – 39 total cars – 5 qualify – top three redraw
HEAT 1 – Pat Ward, Ronnie Johnson, Bobby Varin, Dave Lape, Dave Camara
HEAT 2 – Jim Davis, Stewart Friesen, Alton Palmer, Floyd Billington, Elmo Reckner
HEAT 3 – Danny Johnson, Alan Johnson, Jack Johnson, Donnie Corellis, Ray Zemken
HEAT 4 – Jamie Christian, Matt DeLorenzo, Josh Hohenforst, Tim Clemons, John Ramsey
MODIFIED CONSOLATIONS – 2 qualify
CONSI 1 – Mitch Gibbs, Jerry Higbie Jr.
CONSI 2 – Dan Hartgraves, Josh Pieniazek
ICE JAM MODIFIED FEATURE – 35-laps – DANNY JOHNSON, Ronnie Johnson, Matt DeLorenzo, Stewart Friesen, Dave Camara, Alan Johnson, Mitch Gibbs, Jamie Christian, Ray Zemken, Tim Clemons, Josh Hohenforst, Elmo Reckner, Bobby Varin, Donnie Corellis, Dan Hartgraves, Josh Pieniazek, Pat Ward, Jim Davis, Jack Johnson, Alton Palmer, Floyd Billington, Jerry Higbie Jr., Dave Lape, John Ramsey
SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING – 24 total cars – heads up start or feature
HEAT 1 – John McAuliffe, Derrick McGrew, Tony Farone, Dave Constantino, Alan Barker, Jason Memrick, Anthony Denny, John Scarborough, Pete Sisler, Chad Edwards
HEAT 2 – David Towns, Luke Monroe, Ricky Quick, Jeremy Wilder, Mark Kislowski, Danny Varin, Dan Clark, John Constantino, Vinnie Sanganetti
SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20-LAPS – JOHN MCAULIFFE, John Scarborough, Alan Barker, Tony Farone, Dave Constantino, Jeremy Wilder, Justin House, Luke Monroe, Mark Kislowski, Casey Williams, Derrick McGrew, Robert Perry, John Constantino, Vinnie Sanganetti, Jason Memrick, Danny Varin, Chad Edwards, Anthony Denny, Dan Clark, David Towns, Mark Mortensen, Pete Sisler, Ricky Quick
PRO STOCK QUALIFYING – 15 total cars – heads up start for feature
HEAT 1 – Kenny Martin Jr., Roy Fifield, Chip Smith, Jim Burton, Ed Thompson, Phil Pearson
HEAT 2 – Rob Yetman, Nick Stone, Dean Charbonneau, Kenny Gates, Jason Brownell, Pete Broderson, Tony Stone
PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-LAPS – KENNY MARTIN JR., Rob Yetman, Roy Fifield, Kenny Gates, Nick Stone, Dean Charbonneau, Chip Smith, Phil Pearson, Pete Broderson, Ed Thompson, Jim Burton, Tony Stone, Jason Brownell, Ivan Joslin
STREET STOCK FEATURE – 15-LAPS – DAVE HORNING JR., Duke McSpirit, Rocky Warner, Dave Horning Sr., Neil Cosselman, Jeff Crosier, Chuck McSpirit, Dan Pollock, Cassidy Wilson, Luke Horning, Reuben Kennedy, Randy Moore, Warren Pollock, Eric Sbrega, Sean Bonner, Cody Bleau, Dave Sullivan, Brian Cosselman, Howie Clark, Chris Reckner, Dave Cook, Roger Newkirk Jr., Don Warner, Joe Smith, Lee Horning
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