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By: Ron Szczerba
FONDA, NY – Fonda Speedway was back in action on Sunday afternoon after the break for the annual Fonda Fair and Ryan Odasz was in mid-season form even though it is almost the end of the 2007 racing campaign as he took his third win of the season and the seventh of his career at the Track of Champions in the 30-lap, $2500 to win Modified feature event.
“This is definitely the biggest win and the biggest payday of my racing career,” Odasz said in victory lane. “This was only supposed to be a part time deal with Wayne Podbielski (owner of the Chet’s Floor Covering car #14R) this year but he did the setup on the car today and even though I wanted to second guess him I am glad that I didn’t. This is a sweet deal.”
Other winners on “Back to School Student’s Night” were Mark Kislowski (sportsman), Frank Hoard III (Budget Sportsman), Kenny Martin Jr. (Pro Stock), Jeremy Cramer (IMCA), and Dave Horning Sr. (Street Stock). Hoard’s win in the Budget Sportsman feature was the first time that the division has ever raced at the “Track of Champions”. All feature events were lined up by a redraw except for the IMCA division.
Jim Davis who was in the Alton Palmer #76 for the day took the early lead at the drop of the green flag from his third place starting position but it was Odasz who was the leader at the line when lap one was completed. For the first four laps Odasz and Davis remained side by side for the lead with Odasz running the inside groove while Davis was running the outside of the speedway in a great battle for the lead.
On lap five, Davis got a good run coming out of turn four to take the lead with Dave Camara now third after starting fifth and Bobby Varin in fourth. When invader Jeff Hoetzler spun in turn one on lap 10 it collected Erik Nelson and brought out the caution. On the restart, Kory Gurney ended up in the turn three wall with Elmo Reckner getting some damage in the wreck. Under the caution Jeff Trombley was forced to pit with a flat left front tire while running in the top five.
On the restart, Varin went from fourth to second but while running side by side with Davis for the second position the two cars came together resulting in Dan Hartgraves and Harry Shaffer piling in to the two stopped race cars. Both Davis and Varin were able to continue at the rear of the field.
As Odasz continued to lead on the restart, Craig Hanson, Dave Camara, and Brett Hearn were running three wide for the fourth spot with Hanson eventually taking over the second position in the process. That left Camara and Hearn fighting for the third position as the two ran side by side with Camara getting the position after getting his left front air born going into turn four as he was racing as low on the track as he possibly could and went over the hill at the end of the old drag strip.
At that point both Mike Fusco and Varin also got by Hearn to get into the top five with the final caution coming out on lap 28 when Camara brought his smoking car to a stop on the front stretch while running third. On the restart, Odasz continued to lead as Varin got by Fusco for third and then Hanson for second before the checkered flag flew.
At the conclusion of the event, Odasz was the winner followed by Varin, Hanson, Hearn, and Fusco.
“Dirt track racing fans are the best,” Odasz said. “There is no other form of racing that gets your blood flowing and your heart pumping as dirt track racing. With five laps to go I started to lose focus so I was actually glad that the caution came out. It gave me a chance to re-collect my thoughts and get here to victory lane.”
Mark Kislowski started the Sportsman feature from the pole position and immediately took the lead at the drop of the green flag to start the event. By lap three, Josh Hohenforst was in the second position after starting fourth with Danny Varin third. The top three stayed that way until lap 12 when Varin made his way by Hohenforst for the second spot with 2007 Track Champion David Towns now third after starting sixth.
Lap after lap Towns tried to no avail to get by Varin but on lap 12 Varin was able to advance his position after getting by Hohenforst for the second spot. On lap 18, Towns also got by Hohenforst for the third position with the yellow coming out afterwards for Matt Depew who was into the turn three wall. Under yellow Towns suffered a flat left rear tire from the contact with the wall earlier in the event but he was able to continue on to the finish.
On the final lap Hohenforst was able to get back by Varin for the second position but Kislowski had his car on rails and went on to his first win of the season and the third of his career in the Sportsman division at Fonda. Varin ended up third followed by Towns and Mike Ketchum. The win for Kislowski was worth $700.
“We debated on putting a new right rear tire on for the feature but ended up getting pretty good tire wear with the old one that we had on,” Kislowski said in victory lane. “My crew definitely took care of me tonight. I was trying to stay as low on the track as I could and if anyone could get to the outside of me God Bless them. It took all year to get this win; it has been a long time.”
Kislowski’s last Sportsman feature win at Fonda came on 6/17/06.
For the first time in the history of the Fonda Speedway the Budget Sportsman cars were in action with John Turco leading the 15-lap feature event at the start until Frank Hoard III took the lead coming out of turn four to complete lap one. The one and only yellow in the event came out on lap five of the event when Howard Gage slowed on the backstretch.
Hoard continued to lead on the restart with Alex Bell in the second position one lap later after starting second but falling back early. At that point Hoard was a full straightaway ahead and maintained that margin until the checkered flag to take his first career win at Fonda.
Bell finished second followed by Frank Hoard Jr., Fred Proctor, and Turco.
“I have been to this race track many times but this was my first time here as a driver,” Hoard III said after the $400 win. “I like this track and hope to be able to race here more next season.”
Nick Stone took the lead in the Pro Stock main event at the drop of the green flag with Chucky Dumblewski in tow. At the line to complete lap two, Dumblewski was the new leader but that was short lived as Chip Smith was able to get the lead away one lap later.
Kenny Martin Jr. started the event in the sixth position and on lap four took the third spot away from Dumblewski while Stone was retaking the lead from Smith on the inside of turn four. On lap 11, Martin and Kenny Gates swapped the second spot twice before Martin was able to get the position for good on lap 12.
Lap after lap Martin pressured Stone for the lead, tapping the rear bumper of Stone in the process many times but never hard enough to get Stone sideways. While Martin seemed to have the faster car he just couldn’t get by Stone until lap 14 when he was able to take the lead on the inside of turn three.
Gates was able to get by Stone for the second position shortly afterwards but didn’t have anything for Martin who went on to his sixth win of the season and the 42nd of his career followed by Gates, Stone, Smith who actually went across the finish line sideways to finish the race, and Roy Fifield completing the top five.
“I need to thank Walt Markert for getting the motor done for us so that we could have it in the car today,” Martin said after the $500 win. “With the rules the way they were for today we had the option of putting a four barrel carburetor on but we chose not to and stuck with a two barrel. I knew that I was faster than Nick (Stone) and kept bumping him a little but I had confidence in the car that we could get the job done. I tried the top for awhile but there was nothing there so I went back down to the bottom of the track.”
The IMCA feature event was led by Jim Cramer at the start with George Catanzano in tow. On lap two, Catanzano was the new leader after getting around Cramer on the outside in turn one and for the next few laps these two drivers ran side by side for many laps in different areas on the track.
Jeremy Cramer started the event in the seventh position and by lap eight he was the new second place car after getting by Kevin Buff. Five laps later there was a three car battle for the lead between Catanzano and the two Cramer brothers with Catanzano taking the lead briefly on lap 17.
Jeremy Cramer took the lead on the inside of turn two with two laps to go in the 20-lap event and went on to his sixth win of the season and the 11th of his career in the IMCA division at Fonda. Catanzano, Jim Cramer, Buff, and Aaron Jacobs completed the top five in the $500 to win event.
“This is the best race that I have ever run,” Jeremy Cramer said. “To be the champion this year and to get the wins that I had was really special. I have always wanted a shot at running with Catanzano here at Fonda and today I told him that it was my turn to win. I always wanted to run door to door with him and today I got the chance to do it and came out on top.”
The 15-lap Street Stock feature began with Eric Sbrega as the early leader with Rob VanAernam in tow. VanAernam was the new leader on lap two after getting by Sbrega on the inside of turn three with Dave Horning Sr. making his way up to the second position on lap three after starting fifth.
On lap five on the inside of turn four, Horning Sr. was the new leader with 2007 Track Champion Rocky Warner bringing out a caution on lap seven after losing a left rear tire and axle. Horning Sr. held on to the lead to the checkered flag and went on to his fourth win of the season and the 16th of his career at Fonda over VanAernam, Chuck McSpirit, Cody Bleau, and Lou Ganzer.
“The bottom of the track was the place to run tonight,” Horning Sr. said. “I knew that if I ever got off the bottom that I was in trouble.”
Next weekend the 2007 racing season comes to a close at Fonda with a two day event on both Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday, September 22 there will be a 358-Modified Open, a Pro Stock Open, a Street Stock Open, the IMCA Nationals, and a Budget Sportsman Championship event on the racing card. Gates will open at 11:00 a.m. with in your face racing action beginning at 1:00 p.m.
Then on Sunday, September 23 the McDonald’s 100-lap Race of Champions (RoC) Dirt Tour event along with a 30-lap RoC Sportsman Tour event on the racing card starting at 1:00 p.m. The “Vegas Voyage” Reality Show will also be filming a segment called “Nerves of Steel” on Sunday at Fonda at approximately 5:00 p.m. There will also be a Halloween Costume Party for the kids on Sunday.
MODIFIED QUALIFYING – 27 total cars – 6 qualify – 4 redraw
HEAT 1 – Tony Pepicelli, Erik Nelson, Elmo Reckner, Jim Davis, Craig Hanson, Alan Barker
HEAT 2 – Bobby Varin, Ryan Odasz, Mike Fusco, Jeff Heotzler, Robert King, Paul Cirincione
HEAT 3 – Brett Hearn, Todd Morey, Dave Camara, Jeff Trombley, Ancel Collins, Kory Gurney
MODIFIED FEATURE – 30-LAPS – RYAN ODASZ, Bobby Varin, Craig Hanson, Brett Hearn, Mike Fusco, Erik Nelson, Paul Cirincione, Marc Johnson, Ray Zemken, Jeff Trombley, Jim Davis, Robert King, Ancel Collins, Dan Hartgraves, Tim Hartman, Dave Camara, Kyle Sheldon, Todd Morey, Jeff Heotzler, Elmo Reckner, Harry Shaffer, Kory Gurney, Brett Graham, Link Pettit, Alan Barker, Tony Pepicelli
SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING – 29 total cars – 6 qualify – 4 redraw
HEAT 1 – David Towns, Dave Constantino, Robert Perry, Danny Varin, Jason Herrington, Pep Corradi
HEAT 2 – Mike Ketchum, Mark Kislowski, Tony Farone, Neil Erickson, Dick Bisson, Robert Bublac
HEAT 3 – John Scarborough , Steve Vrooman, Derrick McGrew, Josh Hohenforst, Danny Ody, Andy Boniewski
SPORTSMAN CONSOLATION – 8 qualify – Bill Wilder, Kolby Schroder, Stan Lemiesz, Adam Tranka, P.J. Bleau, Matt Depew, Keith Shoemaker, John Constantino
SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20-LAPS – MARK KISLOWSKI, Josh Hohenforst, Danny Varin, David Towns, Mike Ketchum, John Scarborough , Neil Erickson, Dave Constantino, Tony Farone, Dick Bisson, Bill Wilder, Jason Herrington, Danny Ody, Stan Lemiesz, Kolby Schroder, Pep Corradi, Adam Tranka, Andy Boniewski, Robert Bublac, Kale Groff, P.J. Bleau, Robert Perry, Matt Depew, Keith Shoemaker, Derrick McGrew, Steve Vrooman, John Constantino
BUDGET SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING – 16 total cars – 5 qualify – 4 redraw
HEAT 1 – Alex Bell, Shawn Pangman, Brian Jones, Paul Dunham, Rick Lamont
HEAT 2 – Frank Hoard III, Jeremiah Munson, Frank Hoard Jr., John Turco, Howard Gage
BUDGET SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 15-LAPS – FRANK HOARD III, Alex Bell, Frank Hoard Jr., Fred Proctor, John Turco, Paul Dunham, Shawn Pangman, Jeremiah Munson, Howard Gage, Ralph Denison, Brian Jones, Dick Allen, Angela Hoard, Mike Visconti, Rick Lamont, Steve Richardson
PRO STOCK QUALIFYING – 18 total cars – 5 qualify – 4 redraw
HEAT 1 – Chip Smith, Kenny Martin Jr., Dean Charbonneau, Chuck Townslee, Jason Brownell
HEAT 2 – Kenny Gates, Nick Stone, Chucky Dumblewski, Mark Lighthall, Ed Thompson
PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-LAPS – KENNY MARTIN JR., Kenny Gates, Nick Stone, Chip Smith, Roy Fifield, Chucky Dumblewski, Dean Charbonneau, Ed Thompson, Louis Jackson, Mark Lighthall, Rocky Warner, Shane Henderson, Rod Slater, John Santolin, Chuck Townslee, Jason Brownell. Tony Stone, Nelson Passino, Walt Brownell, Bill Dona
IMCA QUALIFYING – 12 total cars – 3 qualify
HEAT 1 – George Catanzano, Kevin Buff, George Proctor
HEAT 2 – Jim Cramer, Jeremy Cramer, Aaron Jacobs
IMCA FEATURE – 20-LAPS – JEREMY CRAMER, George Catanzano, Jim Cramer, Kevin Buff, Aaron Jacobs, Danny Ballard, Beau Ballard, George Proctor III, Bill Casey, Carol Parker, J.J. Corsey John Rohacevich
STREET STOCK FEATURE – 15-LAPS – DAVE HORNING SR., Rob VanAernam, Chuck McSpirit, Cody Bleau, Lou Ganzer, Cassidy Wilson, D.J. Brundage, Nick Lussier, Eric Sbrega, Joe Smith, Brev Hayes, Katie Becker, Dan Pollock, Roger Newkirk Jr., T.J. Marlett, Chris Reckner, Rocky Warner, Brian Haas, Luke Horning
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