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By: Ron Szczerba
FONDA , NY – On Saturday afternoon at the Fonda Speedway the quest for the 2008 Track Championships began in all divisions with the first point race of the season taking place. Three time Modified Track Champion Bobby Varin who won the title back in 2000, 2005, and 2006 served notice that he is a serious threat to win his fourth title in 2008 with a dominating win in the 30-lap Modified feature in the Jake & Nancy Spraker owned #1J.
“It is great to bring one home early in the season for car owners Jake & Nancy Spraker,” Varin said in victory lane. “It was a great run for us and it is amazing what good equipment can do for you. We were fortunate to start on the front row today because we were able to pick and choose a line on the speedway.”
For Varin it was his 34th career Modified feature win at Fonda.
Other winners at Fonda on Saturday were John Scarborough (Sportsman), Nick Stone (Pro Stock), Danny Ballard (IMCA), and Cassidy Wilson (Street Stock).
With a heads up format deciding starting positions on the grid for the Modified feature, Varin started on the pole position after winning the first Modified heat race with Alton Palmer alongside on the front row. At the drop of the green flag Varin rocketed away to a big lead while Palmer lost a few spots at the start when Alan Barker, Ronnie Johnson, and Pat Ward all got by for positions two through four by the time lap one was completed.
By lap four Varin was out to a straightaway advantage while Jack Johnson was making a three wide move around both Donnie Corellis and Dave Camara just out of the top ten after both Johnson and Camara were forced to qualify in the consolation event. Varin was already lapping cars by the lap eight mark in the event while Ward was pressuring Ronnie Johnson for the third position.
On lap nine Ward got by Ronnie Johnson for the third position and five laps later he was able to get by Barker for the second spot. At the halfway point in the event the top five consisted of Varin, Ward, Barker, A.J. Romano who started seventh, and last weeks winner and defending Modified Track Champion Matt DeLorenzo.
By the lap 18 point in the event Varin had built up a half a track lead while Ward was making three wide moves around lap cars in order to try to gain ground on the leader. Romano got by Barker for the third position on lap 23 while Varin was lapping cars into the top ten.
When Brett Graham crashed into the wall in turn three with only one lap to go the caution was out for the first time in the event. Under yellow Jack Johnson started smoking heavily and was done for the evening at that point after completing lap 29. With nine lap cars between Varin and Ward on the restart there wasn’t much hope that Varin could be caught so Ward and Romano decided to put a little race on of their own.
Going into turn three on the white flag lap, Romano got by Ward for the second spot but when the checkered flag flew it was Varin taking home the win followed by Ward who was able to retake the second position from Romano at the line, DeLorenzo, and Barker.
Ronnie Johnson finished sixth with seventh place finisher Ryan Odasz the last car on the lead lap in seventh after the blistering pace to the feature that Varin had set. Jack Johnson, Camara, and Palmer completed the top ten.
“You never want to see the yellow flag while leading because you never know where the second place car is behind you,” Varin said. “You can’t let your guard down at all with guys like Matt DeLorenzo who is always there at the end and Pat Ward who started fourth in the event around you.”
After his horrifying crash last summer, John Scarborough made a return to racing late in the 2007 season and actually won the Sportsman B-Main at the Night of Features last August. Last Saturday he got back to victory lane in a regular feature event in a very special win for the driver of the Pizza Logs #61S.
Scarborough and Luke Munroe started the Sportsman feature on the front row but it was the third place car of last week’s winner and defending Track Champion David Towns who went from third to first at the drop of the green flag to take the lead. By the time lap one was completed, Scarborough was able to get the lead away from Towns with John McAuliffe now third after getting by Munroe.
On lap four, McAuliffe got under Towns on the frontstretch and going into turn one McAuliffe took Towns right out to the wall to take over the second position. McAuliffe was running the outside groove on the track and when Scarborough got into lap traffic on lap 13 McAuliffe was able to close in.
Lap after lap Scarborough would take McAuliffe’s outside line away from him in turns one and two to hang on to the number one position as McAuliffe tried everything in his bag of tricks in order to get by. On the final lap, Towns got underneath both McAuliffe and the lap car of Mark Bishop going into turn four and was able to wrestle the second position away from McAuliffe at the line.
Scarborough took the win, the sixth of his career in the Sportsman division at Fonda followed by Towns, McAuliffe, Tony Farone, and Mark Kislowski. After the checkered flag flew Scarborough drove his car down the frontstretch and came to a stop right next to the fence. After a celebration on top of the car he took a page out of Tony Stewart’s book and climbed the fence much to the delight of the crowd.
“Now the score is settled between Fonda Speedway and me,” Scarborough said in victory lane. “It was a great run for us and now I can forget about the crash last year because now we’re even. I am surrounded by a lot of good people and sponsors on my race team and I am very thankful for that.”
Shane Henderson and Nick Stone started on the front row of the 20-lap Pro Stock feature with Stone taking the lead at the drop of the green flag. Kenny Martin Jr. started the event in the seventh position and by lap two he was making a three wide move around Dean Charbonneau and Henderson for the fourth spot.
By lap three Stone was out to a straightaway lead over Roy Fifield with Martin Jr. now third after getting by Charbonneau. Just before the yellow came out on lap six for the spun car of Sheldon Martin, Charbonneau and Chip Smith were able to get by Martin Jr. for the third and fourth positions.
The caution period gave Martin Jr. a chance to regroup and on the restart he was able to get by Smith, Charbonneau, and Fifield for the second position while Stone was on cruise control with a straightaway lead already built up. Fifield wasn’t about to give up the second position without a fight however as he and Martin, Jr. were side by side for the spot when a debris caution came out on lap nine.
Stone chose the outside lane for the restart with Martin Jr. down low and when the green flag flew the two drivers raced side by side for the lead for an entire lap before Stone finally cleared Martin Jr. From that point on Stone pulled away for the win as the outside groove was working well for him with Fifield, Martin Jr., Kenny Gates, and Smith completing the top five.
The victory for Stone was the 20th of his career in the Pro Stock division at Fonda and came in a brand new EMS Race Car Chassis that was purchased earlier this year out at the Gater Racing News car show in Syracuse .
“This is a brand new car and motor and everything worked real well,” Stone said in victory lane. “I want to thank my crew for helping me get this car ready to race as with new equipment you just never know whether or not it is going to stay together but tonight it did for us.”
The 20-lap IMCA feature began with Danny Ballard in the lead from his outside front row starting position with Jim Cramer second. Defending Track Champion Jeremy Cramer started the event in the fifth position and was picking off cars one by one to get the third spot away from Jeff Jones on lap six.
Ballard was out to a straightaway advantage at the halfway point with Jim Cramer, Jeremy Cramer, Beau Ballard, and Jones completing the top five. Jeremy Cramer got by his brother Jim for the second position on lap 11 while Beau Ballard and Jones were side by side for the fourth position.
On the final lap Kevin Buff got by both Jones and Beau Ballard for the fourth position as Danny Ballard went on to his 21st career IMCA feature win at Fonda followed by Jeremy Cramer, Jim Cramer, Buff, and Beau Ballard.
“I wasn’t aware of how much of a lead I had but I just tried to stay steady and consistent and hold my line,” Ballard said in victory lane. “I have to thank my crew as they made four changes to the car between the heat races and the feature.”
Luke Horning was the early leader of the 15-lap Street Stock feature with Cassidy Wilson second. As the cars were coming down the frontstretch to complete lap one cars were four wide trying to advance their positions in the field. Rob VanAernam started the event in the seventh position and on lap nine in between turns one and two he took over the lead after getting by both Wilson and Horning.
Horning retired from the event shortly afterwards while VanAernam and Wilson were waging a side by side battle for the lead. Going into turns one and two on the final lap VanAernam slowed with Wilson taking advantage as he took over the lead and went on for the win followed by Neil Cosselman, Chuck McSpirit, VanAernam who was able to crawl across the line, and Chris Reckner.
In post race inspection Wilson was disqualified for having roller rockers in the motor but according to Laura Lucia on Sunday there was a pit meeting after the racing card on Saturday with all of the Street Stock drivers and it was decided that roller rockers were allowed and the original finish was reinstated. Therefore Wilson took home his second career Street Stock feature win at Fonda followed by Cosselman, McSpirit, VanAernam, and Reckner completing the top five.
Next Saturday a regular show in all divisions plus a 360 Sprint Open are on the racing card beginning at 6:00 p.m.
CLARIFICATION OF JACK JOHNSON’S EIGHTH PLACE FINISH
On Sunday morning scorer Bryan Davis submitted this explanation as to why Jack Johnson finished eighth after only completing 29 laps in the Modified feature due to a blown motor.
Jack Johnson blew up with one to go and still finished eighth. The finish is correct and here is the explanation. The same thing kind of happened with Jeff Trombley a couple of years ago when Fonda last ran the 200 lap events at the end of the year.
You have to score every lap as if it were the last lap. A race consists of laps, and laps consist of times. Jack Johnson completed 29 laps in 29 laps. The drivers that finished ninth on back completed 29 laps in 30 laps. Jack Johnson completed 29 laps before the drivers who placed behind him in the finish.
You do not need to take the checkered flag to be in a finish. On the 29th lap, Bobby Varin was the first to click it off. Jack Johnson blew up on the front stretch and coasted across the line as the last car on the lead lap on lap 29. Everyone behind Jack was a lap down. Everyone behind Jack in the finish completed the race and got their 29th lap as Varin completed his 30th, which is the end of the race. Jack Johnson completed 29 laps before the others who placed ninth on back.
I can understand that it is confusing, but let me give you an example. Say we have a 30 lap race, okay. Car A completes three laps then pulls in. Car B completes eight laps then pulls in. Right now Car B would finish before car A. But say that Car A comes back out on the 28th lap and Car B has stayed in the pits not completing any remaining laps. Car A finishes the race completing six laps where Car B completed eight laps. Even though Car B did not finish the race while car A did, car B would finish ahead of car A because car B completed more laps, eight compared to six. The same ideas go along not only with laps, but with times of the laps.
MODIFIED QUALIFYING – 31 total cars – 6 qualify
HEAT 1 – Bobby Varin, Pat Ward, A.J. Romano, Mike Fusco, Erik Nelson, Jim Davis
HEAT 2 – Alton Palmer, Todd Morey, Elmo Reckner, Matt DeLorenzo, Ray Zemken, John Marsh
HEAT 3 – Alan Barker, Ronnie Johnson, Ryan Odasz, Paul Cirincione, Donnie Corellis, Dave Lape
MODIFIED CONSI – 6 qualify – Jack Johnson, Dave Camara, Craig Hanson, John Gibson, Dan Burl, Robert Perry
MODIFIED FEATURE – 30-LAPS – BOBBY VARIN, Pat Ward, A.J. Romano, Matt DeLorenzo, Alan Barker, Ronnie Johnson, Ryan Odasz, Jack Johnson, Dave Camara, Alton Palmer, Todd Morey, Donnie Corellis, Jim Davis, Elmo Reckner, Dan Burl, Paul Cirincione, Craig Hanson, Ray Zemken, Mike Fusco, John Marsh, Robert Perry, Ed Harris, Brett Graham, Dave Lape, John Gibson, Erik Nelson
SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING – 22 total cars – 5 qualify
HEAT 1 – John Scarborough , John McAuliffe, Dave Constantino , Chad Edwards, Ricky Quick
HEAT 2 – Luke Munroe, Tony Farone, Jeremy Wilder, Neil Erickson, Kris Savoie
HEAT 3 – David Towns, Mark Kislowski, Justin House, Mark Mortensen, Pete Sisler
SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 20-LAPS – JOHN SCARBOROUGH, David Towns, John McAuliffe, Tony Farone, Mark Kislowski, Luke Munroe, Jeremy Wilder, Chad Edwards, Neil Erickson, Dave Constantino, Kris Savoie, Ricky Quick, Mark Mortensen, D.T. Pickard, Pete Sisler, Jim Meka, Justin House, Mark Bishop, Dan Papa, Vinny Sanganetti, Howard Gage, Tom Funk (DNS)
PRO STOCK FEATURE – (12 TOTAL CARS - FEATURE ONLY NO HEAT RACES WERE RUN) 20-LAPS – NICK STONE, Roy Fifield, Kenny Martin Jr., Kenny Gates, Chip Smith, Dean Charbonneau, Jim Normoyle, Shane Henderson, Luke Klob, Don Warner, Sheldon Martin, Rocky Warner, John Babcock, Tony Stone (DNS)
IMCA QUALIFYING – 12 total cars – all qualify
HEAT 1 – Jim Cramer, Kevin Buff, Howard Smith, Dennis Vrooman, Danny Ody, JoJo Donato
HEAT 2 – Jeremy Cramer, Beau Ballard, Jeff Jones, Danny Ballard, Bob Banks Jr., Dan Hartgraves
IMCA FEATURE – 20-LAPS – DANNY BALLARD, Jeremy Cramer, Jim Cramer, Kevin Buff, Beau Ballard, Jeff Jones, Aaron Jacobs, Bob Banks Jr., Dan Hartgraves, Howard Smith, Dennis Vrooman, JoJo Donato (DNS), Danny Ody (DNS)
STREET STOCK FEATURE – 15-LAPS – CASSIDY WILSON, Neil Cosselman, Chuck McSpirit, Rob VanAernam, Chris Reckner, Dan Pollock, Cody Bleau, Roger Newkirk Jr., Luke Horning, Mike Jeske, Brian Haas, Matt Johnson, Dave Cook, Randy Cosselman, Steve Oleksak, Malcum Warner, Pete Jeske
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