By ED & BETTY BIITIG
Josh Kane is new to the 602 Sportsman ranks at Fonda this season but not new to racing. He’s been racing for eight years, beginning in 2015 in the Mini Stock class at Glen Ridge. Josh honed his skills in the division and made continuous improvement while picking up 25 wins and taking the Track Championship in 2020. Josh also has one win in Fonda’s Four Cylinder division.
With some prompting by Uncle Rich his next step was the Limited Sportsman at Fonda where he raced for two years and picked up two wins before moving to the 602 Sportsman division this season.
Josh drives the DKM chassis No. 8 at Fonda and has the support of some dedicated sponsors, KMS Racing, Amsler Auto, Holmes & Kugler Towing, DH Graft and Mangino Mitsubishi. And of course like many weekend racers Josh also has a dedicated crew of friends and family; Uncle Rich, his wife Nichole and sons, Brantley and Preston and his daughter, Sadie, crew members, Eric, EJ and Chris.
Josh’s No. 8 has a unique story behind it. Originally the No. 89, when he first began racing, there wasn’t money to have someone vinyl the car for him so his wife tackled the job, she ran out of vinyl after the 8 went on the car and they decided to stick with it. That’s why his 602 Sportsman remains the No. 8 today.
This past week, Josh ventured to Utica-Rome for the first time and says he loved racing there. He finished the feature in 15th, a good finish for the first time on the track and there were many top notch racers in the field.
The Fonda Modified feature was won by Matt DeLorenzo on Saturday, his first this season and his 43rd career win at the track. With the win he took over the point lead in the division by two points over Demetrios Drellos who finished third.
Clayton Dumond recorded his second career win in the 602 Sportsman and Johnathan Feagles was the winner in Limited Sportsman. Four Cylinder winners were Ken Hollenbeck, single cam and Kerrie Hollenbeck, dual cam.
The special of the night was the 18th Annual Hondo Classic for the Pro Stock division and Kenny Gates of West Winfield was the winner. Gates a veteran racer and most winning driver in the Pro Stock division at Fonda with 90 wins has also won the Hondo Classic four times.
This annual event is organized each season by Kelley and Kaitlyn Keefe to honor the memory of Hondo Carpenter who was a fan favorite to many Fonda faithful. The Hondo Classic paid a $375 bonus to the winner and much more plus money was given in lap money and other finishing positions.
Also on the card to honor the memory of Hondo’s car owner and racing videographer, Bob James was the BOBCO Dash for Cash featuring the top two finishers in each heat running for a top prize. This the second year of this event organized by Mark Krosky. Gates was also the winner of the dash and took home $1119. He was followed by Josh Coonradt who took $759; Nick Stone, $509; Luke Horning, $409; Devon Camenga, $209; and Beau Ballard, $159.
At Glen Ridge on Sunday there were several extra events to make up for the rain outs that the track has suffered. This made for a high number of competitors showing up, 125 filled the pit area as officials scurried to make room.
Winners on Sunday were Jordan McCreadie, 358 Mods; Andrew Buff, 602 Sportsman: Kirsten Swartz, Limited Sportsman (first win); Ian Bressett, Pro Stocks, Robert “Fluff” Hagen Memorial; Jason Samrov, Street Stocks; Billy Hillman, dual cam, Mini Stocks, Daryl Hillman Memorial; Kyle Lanfear, Jr., single cam; Dave Viall, All Star Slingshots and Bodie Marks, JR Slingshots.
Prior to the action at Glen Ridge on Sunday the track held the annual Hall of Fame inductions and those honored this year were: Clem DaBiere, Elmo Reckner, Bob James, Swartz family and Jerry Sampson and family.
A new Pro Stock team to look for at Glen Ridge on Sunday nights will be Pro Stock division sponsor Bill Yurkewecz along with Assemblyman, Chris Tague and will be known as the “Tague Team”. The car is owned by Yurkewecz and Assemblyman, Tague will supply the fuel each week. And tapped as driver is Ivan Joslin who will drive the car at Glen Ridge. Joslin will continue to drive his own No. 49 at Fonda on Saturdays where he holds the point lead in the division with only three weeks left in the tightly contested points battle. Joslin’s record at Glen Ridge shows 11 wins, the first on August 19, 2016 and the most recent, August 30, 2020.
Kenny Tremont, Jr., announced his retirement from racing this week, bringing back many memories for us. Our brother, Rich, was a big fan of Tremont’s and spent much time in the garage. We were at Lebanon Valley when Kenny won his first race there on May 29, 1982. He now has 141 wins on the high banks. We expect to be at Lebanon Valley for his final race there for Mr. Dirt Track USA on September 2, 2023.
Until next week please send all news and/or comments to biittig@yahoo.com
