|
By: Ron Szczerba
FONDA , NY – Earlier this season Ryan Odasz and car owner Wayne Podbielski proved that they were a potent combination of driver and car owner at the Track of Champions, Fonda Speedway after winning the modified feature event. Last Saturday evening they proved it again as the Chet’s Floor Covering #14R visited victory lane at Fonda for the second time this season and the sixth time of Odasz’s career at the Track of Champions.
“You Saturday night dirt track race fans are the greatest in the world,” a very excited Odasz said in victory lane. “With all of the racing organizations that are in trouble out there you have to keep coming out and supporting us to keep it all going.”
Other winners on Morris Ford Mercury Night at Fonda were David Towns who continues to dominate in the sportsman division, Kenny Martin Jr. who went back to back in the pro stock division, Kevin Buff in the IMCA division, Rocky Warner and Rob VanAernam who both scored back to back wins in the street stock division.
Erik Nelson started the 30-lap modified feature event on the pole position and took the lead at the drop of the green flag with Alton Palmer going from his fourth place starting spot to second by the time lap one was completed. An early caution on lap two slowed the field and on the restart Palmer was the new race leader while Odasz also got by Nelson for the second spot.
When lap three was completed, Odasz was the new race leader after getting by Palmer on the outside of the front stretch. Jack Johnson started the event in the seventh position as he is still looking for his first win of the 2007 season at Fonda and on lap five he got by Palmer for the second spot.
“I really hate to get to the front early because once you get up front you don’t know what to do or who is behind you,” Odasz said. “This past week I picked up a little something from Alan Johnson on what to do in that situation, applied it tonight, and it worked.”
Two consecutive cautions slowed the event on lap five and on the last restart defending track champion Bobby Varin moved into the third position as Johnson was racing side by side with Odasz for the lead going into turn one, Johnson on the inside and Odasz on the outside.
Johnson drifted up high in between turns one and two taking Odasz up high on the track to avoid making contact and with no contact made Odasz maintained the top spot. Dave Camara got by both Matt DeLorenzo and Palmer for the fifth position on lap eight and one lap later was the new fourth place car after getting by Ray Zemken with Odasz now out to a straightaway lead.
The final caution of the event came out on lap 13 for a car that spun in turn four with Pat Ward forced to pit under the caution for a flat left rear tire. He pitted to change the tire and continued at the rear of the field. On the restart, Camara slid high in turn four allowing DeLorenzo to get by for the fourth position with Ronnie Johnson also getting by Camara for the fifth spot by lap 18.
A close call for the leader occurred on lap 22 as going into turn three in lap traffic the lap car of Brett Graham decided to go to the pit area. Odasz was alongside of him on the outside when Graham decided to do that so Odasz was forced to take drastic measures as he tried to stay out of the turn three wall.
Odasz somehow got by Graham safely and drifted way up high in turn three allowing Jack Johnson to close in. The same thing happened a couple of laps later as two lap cars were going to the pit area but this time they were far enough ahead that Odasz saw them headed to pit road and again got by safely.
Odasz went on to a straightway victory over Jack Johnson, Varin, DeLorenzo, and Ronnie Johnson.
“The top of the track dusted off and there was some bite on the bottom but once I got to the front I just stayed on the outside,” Odasz said. “I was flat footing it around turns three and four but had to lift a little in turns one and two. Winning one feature a year just isn’t enough anymore and it was great to get our second win of the season tonight.”
The 20-lap sportsman feature began with Bill Wilder in the lead from his pole position start with John Scarborough in the fourth position by lap three after starting eighth. Scarborough was picking off cars one by one and by lap five he was in the second spot after getting by Mark Kislowski for the position.
When Chad Edwards slowed on the track with a flat tire on lap five the yellow flag came out and on the restart Scarborough took the top spot from Wilder with current point leader David Towns making his way to the front from his 12th place starting position.
On lap six, Towns went between two cars to get into the top five and by lap 12 he was second after a hard fought battle with Kislowski for the spot. At that time Scarborough held a half straightaway lead but it didn’t take too long for Towns to close the gap as he was on Scarborough’s rear bumper with five laps to go in the event.
After a side by side battle on the back stretch on lap 16, Towns took over the lead but a caution flag with one lap to go would set up a one lap shootout for the win. The caution was for Ricky Quick who went straight into the turn one wall and although the car sustained heavy damage Quick was not injured.
Towns maintained the lead on the restart and led the final lap to take his ninth win of the season and the 25th of his career in the sportsman division at Fonda over Kislowski, Scarborough, Danny Varin, and John McAuliffe.
“This car has been sticking good all year long,” Towns said in victory lane. “Tonight we put new tires on the car and it paid off. The last caution kind of gave us a little break but this car was good on both the top and the bottom of the speedway. John ( Scarborough ) is a good friend and it was great to race with him as he is a clean driver who you know that you can race hard with. I have to thank my crew and my sponsors because without them I wouldn’t have the success that I have had so far this year.”
The caution plagued pro stock feature began with Dean Charbonneau in the lead with Shane Henderson in tow after both shared the front row to start the event. Henderson pressured Charbonneau for the lead starting on lap three as the two raced side by side in a great battle.
The first of five yellow flags in the event came out on lap four when Phil Pearson made contact with point leader Kenny Gates on the front stretch resulting in Gates spinning and making contact with the wall on the inside of the speedway. Gates pitted to repair the damage and rejoined the field four laps down.
Just before the yellow came out, Henderson took over the lead but when the race was restarted Charbonneau retook the lead position. Charbonneau and Henderson continued their side by side battle for the lead on laps six and seven while Jim Burton and Rob Yetman were making their way to the front. Both Burton and Yetman got by Henderson for the second and third positions by lap eight but shortly after that they were hooked together in the front stretch wall.
Coming out of turn four on lap nine, Burton drifted up high with Yetman ducking under him at that point while Yetman tried the slide job on Burton only to make contact with the rear of Burton’s car as he wasn’t clear. The two cars hooked together and rode the wall down into turn one with the car of Burton actually climbing on top of the wall with his front end before coming to a stop. Yetman remarkably continued on in the event while Burton was done for the night. Fortunately nobody was injured in the grinding wreck.
As the race was restarted, Kenny Martin Jr. was the new second place car after starting 16th with the caution out again on the restart when Jason Brownell spun in turn two. On this restart, Martin took over a lead that he would not relinquish for the remainder of the event as he went on to his fifth win of the season and the 41st of his career in the pro stock division at Fonda.
Nick Stone finished the event in the second position followed by Yetman who made his way all the way back up to the third spot, Charbonneau, and Roy Fifield. Gates ended up with an 11th place finish after his earlier wreck with Pearson.
It was a Hawaiian theme for the Bob James and Kelley Keefe owned #93 as the entire crew was dressed in Hawaiian shirts as they celebrated their win.
“The track crew went out before our feature and did some track maintenance to make the track better for us,” Martin said. “We are just going to keep going here, keeping track of all of the wins, and let the points fall where they may.”
Bill Casey got his car back together after a grinding wreck last week and shared the front row with JoJo Donato at the start of the 20-lap IMCA feature event. Donato took the lead at the drop of the green flag with Kevin Buff making his way into the third position on lap five after starting sixth.
On lap seven, Buff was the new second place car with Danny Ody third on lap nine after starting fifth. On the inside of turns three and four on lap 10, Buff took the lead from Donato with Ody also getting by Donato for the second spot one lap later.
Going down the front straightaway on lap 16, Ody’s car showed a puff of smoke and slowed going into turn one. Ody drove to the pit area at that point as he was done for the night along with Donato who retired from the event after his great start.
Ody’s misfortune gave Danny Ballard the second position as Buff was now out to a straightway lead and with no cautions throughout the event it allowed Buff to go on to the straightaway victory over Danny Ballard, point leader Jeremy Cramer, Casey, and Aaron Jacobs.
Joe Smith led lap one of street stock feature number one with Cassidy Wilson in tow. On lap two on the inside of turn two, Wilson took the lead with Luke Horning in the second position after also getting by Smith for the position. Rocky Warner was the new second place car after getting by Horning on lap three and one lap later Wilson and Warner were side by side for the lead.
Warner took the lead on lap five with a move under Wilson in turn one and led the remaining laps for his eighth win of the season and the 23rd of his career in the street stock division at Fonda. Dave Horning Sr. who held the point lead going into the night finished second position followed by Wilson, Luke Horning, and Duke McSpirit.
“Early in the season we were getting split up in the feature events with our competitors who we were in the points chase with but tonight it was good to finish in front of them,” Warner said after capturing the back to back win.
The second 12-lap street stock feature was led by Randy Moore at the start from his pole position spot with Chuck McSpirit in tow. On lap four, McSpirit was the new race leader after getting by Moore on the inside of turn two while Rob VanAernam was making his way to the front after starting way back in the field.
VanAernam was the new second place car on lap five and two laps later he was pressuring McSpirit for the lead. On lap eight on the inside of the backstretch, VanAernam took over the lead in the event and led the remaining laps to score a back to back win, his second win of the season and the 19th of his career in the street stock division at Fonda over Dave Horning Jr., Reuben Kennedy, Neil Cosselman, and Moore.
“We are getting some real good power from this motor right now,” VanAernam said in victory lane.
Randy Davis was the 4-cylinder feature winner with Bud Hinman taking the win in the Atlantic Coast Old Timers (ACOT) feature event.
Next week the 2007 regular season comes to a close at Fonda with the running of the traditional Night of Features. Track champions will be determined in all divisions as it will be the final night of points at the Track of Champions. Twin features will be held in the modified, sportsman, and pro stock divisions while the IMCA and street stock divisions will run a regular show.
Banner Night will also be held on Saturday, August 18 at Fonda with trophies awarded for the best banners. You do not have to be a member of the Fonda Futures Kid’s Club to participate in Banner Night. There will also be a Drivers Memorabilia Raffle with autographed prizes from different drivers in all divisions available. Proceeds from the raffle will go to the drivers point fund. Starting time next Saturday will be 6:00 p.m.
MODIFIED QUALIFYING – 28 total cars – 6 qualify – 4 handicapped
HEAT 1 – Dave Camara, Erik Nelson, Ryan Odasz, Matt DeLorenzo, Todd Morey, Donnie Corellis
HEAT 2 – Dustin Purdy, Ed Pieniazek, Ray Zemken, Bobby Varin, Elmo Reckner, Mike Fusco
HEAT 3 – Alton Palmer, Jack Johnson, Paul Cirincione, Ronnie Johnson, Pat Ward, Tony Pepicelli
MORRIS FORD/MERCURY MODIFIED FEATURE – 30-LAPS – RYAN ODASZ, Jack Johnson, Bobby Varin, Matt DeLorenzo, Ronnie Johnson, Dave Camara, Jim Davis, Mike Fusco, Ray Zemken, Tony Pepicelli, Craig Hanson, Pat Ward, Donnie Corellis, Alton Palmer, Steve Akers, Elmo Reckner, Ancel Collins, Ed Pieniazek, Todd Morey, Paul Cirincione, Erik Nelson, Ed Harris, Kory Gurney, Dustin Purdy, Brett Graham, Mike DePalma, Donnie Wilson, Alex Summer
SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING – 22 total cars – 5 qualify – 4 handicapped
HEAT 1 - Jason Memrick, Danny Varin, John McAuliffe, Robert Perry, Tony Farone
HEAT 2 – Bill Wilder, Mark Kislowski, John Scarborough , Chad Edwards, Vinnie Sanganetti
HEAT 3 – Jeremy Wilder, David Towns , Anthony Denny, Dave Constantino, Pete Sisler
MORRIS FORD/MERCURY SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20-LAPS – DAVID TOWNS, Mark Kislowski, John Scarborough , Danny Varin, John McAuliffe, Luke Munroe, Dave Constantino, Jason Memrick, Tony Farone, Mark Mortensen, Anthony Denny, Robert Perry, Chad Edwards, Bill Wilder, John Constantino, Vinnie Sanganetti, Randy Meka, Ricky Quick, Pete Sisler, Jeremy Wilder, Derrick McGrew, Jamie Yannone (DNS)
PRO STOCK QUALIFYING – 17 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – Nick Stone, Roy Fifield, Rob Yetman, Shane Henderson, Chucky Dumblewski
HEAT 2 – Kenny Gates, Jim Burton, Dean Charbonneau, Phil Pearson, Jason Brownell
MORRIS FORD/MERCURY PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-LAPS – KENNY MARTIN JR., Nick Stone, Rob Yetman, Dean Charbonneau, Roy Fifield, Chucky Dumblewski, Pete Broderson, Shane Henderson, Jason Brownell, John Santolin, Kenny Gates, Tony Stone, Phil Pearson, Bill Dona, Jim Burton, Frank Twing Jr., Chip Smith
IMCA QUALIFYING – 13 total cars – 4 qualify
HEAT 1 – JoJo Donato, Kevin Buff, Bob Banks Jr., Bill Casey
HEAT 2 – Danny Ballard, Danny Ody, Beau Ballard, Aaron Jacobs
MORRIS FORD/MERCURY IMCA FEATURE – 20-LAPS – KEVIN BUFF, Danny Ballard, Jeremy Cramer, Bill Casey, Aaron Jacobs, Bob Banks Jr., Howard Smith, Jim Cramer, Carol Parker, JoJo Donato, Eric Stumpf, Danny Ody, Beau Ballard
MORRIS FORD/MERCURY STREET STOCK FEATURE #1 – 12-LAPS – ROCKY WARNER, Dave Horning Sr., Cassidy Wilson, Luke Horning, Duke McSpirit, Eric Sbrega, Steve Oleksak, Chad Luman, Mike Wilbur, Brian Cosselman, Joe Smith
MORRIS FORD/MERCURY STREET STOCK FEATURE #2 – ROB VANAERNAM, Dave Horning Jr., Reuben Kennedy, Neil Cosselman, Randy Moore, Lou Ganzer, Cody Bleau, Randy Myers, Chuck McSpirit, Ron Hoyt, Jason Casey, Josh Coonradt, A.J. Horning
|
|
