By Mark Kane
For Capital Region Independent Media
Another season has come and gone at the “Track of Champions,” Fonda Speedway, and promoter Brett Deyo sure saved the best for last. Well, if that was possible.
Since taking over Fonda Speedway, Brett has brought new life back to the old girl that sits along the Mohawk River by remembering its rich history, as well as looking to the future of the sport for both fans and teams.
That track has had a mind of her own no matter who the promoter has been over the years. Sure, they might think they had a handle on her, but the next week it would be a whole different animal.
For the 2022 Fonda 200 Weekend, Brett and his track crew had the upper hand or maybe she just decided to behave as it was smooth and oh, was it fast. With the great track conditions came great wheel-to-wheel racing action for all three days of the event. Along with the great track came the new lighting that was put up after the last point race that made a huge improvement on the entire track.
It was a whole different atmosphere for fans as they mingled around during the down time, just plain and simple enjoying themselves and doing what race fans do — have fun with their big racing family. The weekend went off with great weather and it seemed to go rather smoothly from getting campers to their site and ticket holders in their right seats, and even the parking went smoothly and that never happens.
A big thank you has to go out to Brett and his entire staff on a job well done. Ohhhhhh, and who can forget the 50/50 girls who on Saturday started selling tickets at 10 a.m. and by the end of the day had sent one happy race fan home with over $13,000!
There was no doubt that Mr. David Lape was on the minds of many. How could he not be? Everyone who knew him had a good story to tell and there was always someone to listen. The Dave Lape Tribute was something very special and emotional. We have lost another of the Fonda Speedway greats, but he will never be forgotten. There will always be stories to tell, pictures to look at and the memories we hold deep to our hearts of our heroes, those memories we made one lap at a time.
FONDA 200 WEEKEND
Many of the teams had an up and down weekend. Some for the good and for some not so good. The weekend kicked off on Thursday with the Ultimate Underdog “33” for non-winning modified drivers during the 2022 racing season with some names in the race you would not expect to see.
Last year’s winner, Brett Haas, was back but did not fare as well, finishing 27th. It was Jimmy Horton with the early lead only to have the caution out for Ryan Odaz, who waded up his new racer, hitting the wall between turns 3 and 4 and ending his weekend. Back to green and it was Bobby Hackel, the new leader, who quickly opened up a comfortable lead on a smooth fast racing surface.
On the move was JaMike Sowle with a great move to work his way to second around Chris Curtis and Jack Lehner. After a restart on lap 8, Lehner and last year’s Fonda Speedway Modified co-champion Ronnie Johnson, who was on the move, worked their way around Sowle with Hackle still out front. Out front the top 3 were pulling away as they closed in on lap traffic. Behind the leaders there was some great 2 and 3 wide racing action taking place as Tanner Warner was on the move, getting his feet wet in the Simmons 98 Modified.
With a great drive Warner worked his way into the top 5 by the halfway point as Hackle, Johnson, Lehner, and Sowle were out front and working lap traffic and each other in the battle for the lead as Hackle would continue to hold a narrow lead. The caution was out as the great run for Warner came to an end as he brought out the caution on lap 18 to bring the field back to the leaders as Tyler Dipple, making his first start in 2022, was coming to the front on the top.
Back to green and the top 3 went right back at it, racing hard and clean for the win as Lehner would work his way to second putting Johnson back to third. Quickly, Lehner was on the back deck of the 97 of Hackle and would make an impressive move to be the new leader on lap 27 and cruised to win No. 1 of the 2022 racing season. This was Lehner’s second win at the track, picking up the win in the Nelson 85 ride in 2021. Following Lehner to the line was Hackel, Johnson, Sowle and Dipple from 18th.
Remember the up and down part? Well, in the Fonda 200 Jack took a hard hit in the very early stages of the event, going head on into the turn 3 wall, ending his day early as well as destroying a new car. For the 1Z of Jessica Friesen, she went up in a big puff of smoke on the back stretch. Great to see Jeff Trombley back in a Modified, and how about Payton Talbot making his first Modified start in the 23T DKM Modified, finishing 10th, one spot behind Trombley in 9th.
In the Limited Sportsman feature it was Kyle Dingman in for the win over local racer Butchie Irwin, Zach Dufel, another local racer Mike Arnold and Michael Kalkbrenner.
DAY TWO
Night 2 found an action-packed night of racing with everything from the STSS SUNOCO Modified 200 heats to 4 Cyl. and a few classes in between making for five divisions in all. Did you say you wanted an action-packed day of racing, and entertainment as well? You were at the right place with music after the races.
The STSS SUNOCO qualifiers found Billy Decker, Stewart Friesen, Max McLaughlin and Bobby Hackel picking up the four, 15-lap heats where 7 qualified and 3 went to the redraw. With the quality of STSS cars in the pits each heat was like mini features with plenty of action again on a smooth and fast surface.
In heat 1, rookie Payton Talbot found the outside to his liking as he worked his way to fourth at the checker. Heat 2 found Jessica Friesen back in the pits after losing the motor Thursday, finishing second. Surprise entry found Danny Johnson aboard the 55J ride. Heat 3 found Tyler Dipple behind the wheel of the 7D for his first outing of the season. This heat was filled with many multi-time winners and track champions. Heat 4 had Bobby Hackle show he was here to win with an impressive run the night before backed up with the strong heat performance. Veteran driver and former Fonda champion Jeff Trombley picked up the seventh spot and was now in for the 200-lap event.
It was great to see veteran drivers like Danny and Alan Johnson, Jimmy Horton and Bobby Varin in the pits to take on the young guns of the sport. For Varin, he had some problems and came back to the track with an older Dover Brake ride.
In other action it was Kenny Gates in for the popular Pro Stock win, his first of the year and 86th of his career and he shows no signs of slowing down. The Pro Stocks had a tough time getting things going with a red flag and then a caution before they got down to some serious Pro Stock feature action.
On the move early, Gates moved from his seventh starting spot into the top 3 as Beau Ballard was using the high side and horse power out front with Slater Baker in a solid second. The battle up front found Baker as the new leader as Gates moved into second place, buy was not done yet as 2 laps later Gates got a great drive out of turn 2 on the bottom and became the new leader out of turn 4 with the Gates faithful having something to cheer about. Behind Gates you could throw a blanket over the intense battle for second with Baker, Ballard and Josh Coonradt, with Ivan Joslin driving hard and working his way into the top 5. Out front Gates was able to hold off Ballard through numerous restarts the last coming with just five laps to go and once again Gates was up to the task and cruised on for the popular win with Ballard, Coonradt, Joslin as Baker held on for fifth.
In the CRSA 305 Sprints it was Mike Kiser in for the win over Jeff Trombley, Jordan Hutton, Thomas Radivoy and Dalton Herrick rounding out the top 5 in a great race that found the 305 Sprints with their foot to the motor plate and holding it there. Word from CRSA that driver Ron Greek who took a nasty ride in turn one and had to be removed from the car by the Fonda Safety Crew is very sore but has no broken bones.
DAY 3
It was day 3 of the Fonda 200 Weekend, the day race fans have been waiting for since last year at this time. Fans started to make their way to the track early and soon the parking lot was full and race fans were filling the fair grounds. On the card for the day was the STSS 602 Crates for their entire program, along with the two last chance qualifiers for the mods to complete their 41-car field that would be going 200 grueling laps at the “Track of Champions” that took its toll on equipment as well as the driver.
It would be Tyler Dipple and the sensational one, Jimmy Horton, picking up the Modified B Mains. In the Sportsman it took six heats and twp B Mains to narrow down the field from 60 to 30 starters for the 25-lap feature.
It was race time as the 41 STSS cars rolled to the track, a track that had held up to all the laps it had seen over the last 2 days and it was still smooth and proved to be once again fast. With the cars on the track the drivers walked down through the crowd shaking hands and signing autographs as they made their way to the track to take on 40 other drivers for 200 laps. It was the Vintage Modifieds of the 22, 12A, and 61 leading the troops to battle 200 laps for the Southside Beverage, STSS Sunoco, 200 lap feature and the $53,000 paycheck that would go to the winner. The 9 of Marc Johnson would not fire and would be pushed to the hot pit where they would get the car started and Johnson then started from the rear.
As the green flag dropped, the mighty Modifieds powered their way into turn 1, with Stewart Friesen, Bobby Hackel and Max McLaughlin powering their way into turn one with Friesen coming out the leader as the caution was out before the lap was complete and Jack Lehner made heavy contact in the turn 3 tire barrier ending his night early. Back to green with the lap counter on lap 3, Friesen was back to the front as Mike Mahaney was on the move and was now second from his third row starting spot, putting Hackle to third. With the large starting field it did not take long for Mahaney to close in on the leader.
Behind the leaders, teams were slicing and dicing for position throughout the field running 2 and 3 wide, with third solid grooves on the racing surface. Again, the caution was out this time for Jeff Trombley, who slowed in turn 2 as Danny Creeden and Tim Fuller got into the wall in turn 3, ending their day as Friesen, Mahaney Hackel, McLaughlin and Anthony Perrego held down the top 5 early as 11th place starter Matt Sheppard worked his way to sixth. Back to green on lap 14 and the caution was again out just two laps later as Craig Hanson made contact with the front stretch wall ending his day.
Back to green, Friesen continued to lead as Billy Decker was now in the top 5, working his way around Sheppard as Friesen continued to lead, running the middle to the top. Mahaney was on the bottom and pressuring the leader as they were back in lap traffic by lap 26. The top 3 were now running close as Mahaney became the new leader with Perrego taking over second and Friesen back to third.
It was Perrego who had the upper hand as he worked his way to the lead, only to have Friesen go 3 wide down the back chute, becoming the new leader. Once again the leaders were putting on a show for the fans, swapping positions and the lead. Lap 36 found Mahaney back to the lead as McLaughlin, Decker and Sheppard were having a battle of their own and closing on the leaders. The race was slowed as J.R. Hubert brought out the yellow on lap 39, with Mahaney in the lead.
With 50 down and 150 to go, it was still Mahaney with the lead with Perrego, McLaughlin, Friesen and Decker holding down the top 5 as Sheppard, Ryan Godown, Matt Williamson, Demetrios Drellos and 20th place starter Alex Yankowski held down the top 10. Out front Mahaney was starting to put some distance on Perrego and Friesen as their battle continued for second. Lap 65 found Brett Haas bring out the yellow. Heading to the hot pit were Ryan Godown, Billy Decker, and Alan Johnson.
The ensuing restart found a parking lot on the top side of turn 2 with 2022 NAPA Fonda Modified champion Matt DeLorenzo and Ryan Godown getting the worst of it and were done for the day. Once back to green, Friesen fell out of the top 5 and almost out of the top 10 as he was now ninth, as Mahaney continued to lead over Perrego, McLaughlin, Sheppard and Drellos running in the top 5.
Lap 87 found A.J. Slideways Alan Johnson slow in turn 1 with a right rear flat as Mahaney gave up the lead and headed to the pits along with Drellos and Marc Johnson. The top 5 were Perrego, Sheppard, McLaughlin, Danny Varin, who started 23rd, and Williamson. Lap 93 found back-to-back yellows for the 16 of Aaron Jacobs and Rocky Warner, who ran out of gas as Williamson, Bachetti and Bobby Varin made their way to the hot pit. Back to green it was Perrego, Sheppard, McLaughlin, Friesen back in the top 5 and Danny Varin. On the restart Varin worked his way to fourth.
Lap 100 found the halfway break as drivers had the choice to go to infield for gas and air pressure or go to the hot pit to work on their cars while work began on the track that was starting to lock down. The top 5 going back to green would be Billy Decker, Jessica Friesen, Marc Johnson, Mike Mahaney, and Brian Pessolano. Once back to green it was Decker with the lead as Marc Johnson worked his way to second and then battled Decker for the lead. On the move was Sheppard after coming out of the pits 13th, making up ground quickly. Getting a great run out of turn 4 Johnson would be the new leader as J. Friesen and Mahaney battled. Lap 115 found Decker get the run to become the new leader only to have Johnson come right back to regain the top spot as Sheppard worked his way to third past Mahaney.
Decker would be the next to fall victim to Sheppard as Johnson had powered to a comfortable lead. The caution flew as Allison Ricci slowed, bringing the field back to the rear deck of Johnson’s #9 as Sheppard, Mahaney, S Friesen, and Perrego had worked their way back to the top 5. On the restart it was Sheppard with the run becoming the new leader using the high side out of turns 3 and 4.
With 150 laps in the books and 50 to go, David Schilling would be the next car to bring out the yellow as Sheppard, Johnson, Mahaney, Perrego and S. Friesen headed to the hot pit. Back to green and the yellow was right back out as the Halmar 44 of Friesen went up in a puff of smoke on the front chute and was done for the night. Once back to green Sheppard remained the leader as Mahaney and Perrego worked their way past Johnson as D. Varin was having a solid run back to the front. As the laps clicked away the final caution would fly with 10 to go for Warner, who was once again out of gas, tightening up the field.
Once back to green it was all Sheppard as he cruised to the win over Perrego, Mahaney, D. Varin, and Demetrios Drellos rounding out the top 5. However, Drellos came up light at the scales handing fifth over to Marc Johnson. In the STSS 602 Sportsman it was Cody Clark in for the win over Troy Zillies, Tim Hartman, Michael Ballestero, and Payton Talbot rounding out the top 5.
STSS SUNOCO MODIFIED “FONDA 200” FEATURE – 200-LAPS – $53,000 TO WIN – MATT SHEPPARD, Anthony Perrego, Mike Mahaney, Danny Varin, Marc Johnson, Billy Decker, Andy Bachetti, Jessica Friesen, Max McLaughlin, Brian Gleason, Bobby Varin, Rocky Warner, David Schilling, Tyler Dippel, Chris Curtis, Alex Yankowski, JaMike Sowle, Brian Pessolano, Mat Williamson, Jimmy Horton, Payton Talbot, Stewart Friesen, Alan Johnson, Dave Constantino, Ronnie Johnson, Nick Heywood, Allison Ricci, Bobby Hackel IV, Aaron Jacobs, Matt DeLorenzo, Ryan Godown, Brett Haas, JR Hurlburt, Tucker O’Connor, Jeff Trombley, Craig Hanson, Darwin Greene, Danny Creeden, Tim Fuller, Jack Lehner, Demetrious Drellos (DQ Weight) .
Well folks, Fonda’s racing season has finished out the 2022 season with a bang. What a great weekend of racing. Once again, thanks to all the fans for their dedication and support of the Track of Champions as well as all the sponsors who help make all this possible. A big thank you goes out to Brett Deyo and his staff for a great season!
