A Late Night At The Races Is Better Than No Racing At All

Column By: RAY ROGERS / RPW – FONDA, NY – Saturday started out on the sunny side, but as the day went on, some unfavorable weather began to move in on the Mohawk Valley, so I decided to take in the Camping World Truck Series race from Michigan on the tube.

Our home track hero, Stewart Friesen, had a solid run finishing 13th.  He then jumped on a plane and headed for Fonda for a night in his Halmar International #44 Big Block.

When I arrived at Fonda’s museum, we were in a holding pattern with some nuisance rain showers in the area.  Soon things turned around and the sun was peeking through.

Pete Demitraszek and his crew never gave up on the racing surface and their efforts paid off shortly after 8pm as a great crowd filled in the grandstands. With the rain delay, management made the decision to cut the program and run heats for only the Empire Super Sprints and Big Blocks.  All other divisions would run features only.

Modified heat race winners were Jimmy Davis, Bobby Varin, and Shaun Pangman.  ESS heats went to Alex Vigneault, Jeff Cook, and Josh Pieniazek.  The ESS dash winner was Dalton Herrick.

William August scored his fourth Limited Sportsman feature Saturday while the Street Stock feature went to Johnny Young.  Ken Hollenback took the Cruiser feature.

The ESS B-Main was all in the hands of Chuck Hebring who took the lead early and never looked back.

Jim Normoyle grabbed the early race lead in the Pro Stock feature and claimed the victory. Kenny Gates was again on the move but just ran out of laps, having to settle for second. Jason Casey, Gus Hollner and AJ Walters rounded out the top five.

Stewart Friesen had some time to catch a few ZZZ’s during the rain delay and came out of his trailer refreshed and ready to race. He took the lead on lap 20 from his 11th starting spot and picked up another win at the “Track of Champions.”

Point leader Tim Fuller worked his way to a solid second place finish, moving another step closer to claiming the 2017 track championship. Shaun Pangman, Scott Huber and Justin Boehler completed the top five in the Mods.

The Empire Super Sprint A-Main took to the super fast 1/2 mile for the final race of the night and Danny Varin posted another win for the family with a dominating performance. Cory Sparks, Paulie Colagiovanni, Jonathan Preston and Jeff Cook rounded out the top five for the night.

With the sprints starting well past Fonda village curfew, Saturday’s Sportsman feature will be held over until this week, joining the Modifieds for double features.

Even though the racing action ended a bit late, I was happy to have gotten the show in.  After all, a late night at the races is better than no racing at all.

On Sunday I hitched a ride with my RPW teammate Bill McGaffin to the fastest 1/4 mile on dirt, the Glen Ridge Motorsports Park.  It’s been a few weeks since I had been to “the Ridge” and the sun was shining so there was no doubt I was in for some great racing action.

Young ARCA pilot Dalton Sargeant was on the hill turning some laps in Kenny Martin’s Pro Stock preparing for some upcoming races on dirt.

Matthew Backus took the checkers first in the Jr Slingshot feature, holding off Derrick McGrew Jr., Garrett Poland, Blake Mahieu and Connor Hill.

Sr. Slingshot feature went to Mike Hill.  Jim Pollard was second.  Brian Tobey Jr., Brett Putnam and Jim Gaige rounded out the top spots.

The 4-Cylinder feature was a good one as always with Andy Graves collecting another win. He was followed to the line by Cole Lawton, Pat McSpirit Robert Garney and Damon Anderson.

Street Stock’s took to fast little track on the ridge for 20 laps and Chase Aussicker was first to the line. Brian Cosselman Joey Wilson, Matt Mosher, and John Young were Sunday night’s top 5.

Bill August collected win #2 of the weekend in the Limited Sportsman division.  He was followed by Dave Richer, Vinny Visconti, Marty Kelly and Mikey Jackson.

Luke Horning used some of his “Horning Horsepower” to hold off hard-charging Justin Knight for the win.  Kyle Hoard would take third with Jason Samrov and Sargeant making up the rest of the top 5.

The Sportsman Modifieds took over for the final 25 laps of the night and Jeremy Pitts would score his first feature win at The Ridge.  Brian Calabrese was second and Dave Constantino, who was caught up in an early race melee, battled his way to third .  Tim Hartman Jr. fourth with Don Bellen in fifth.

I caught up with Pitts just after the race to talk about his win.

“I picked up two wins here in a Pro Stock a few years back and won a Rookie Sportsman race,” he said.  “But this is my first Sportsman Modified win.  I love running here.  It’s so much fun.”

I also came across Luke Horning who was signing some photos for a young fan. He was pleased with his second Pro Stock win of the season.

“We’ve been so close this season here, but just haven’t been able to seal the deal so this one is nice,” he said.  “We just started working on our Owesego car.  We’re looking forward to a good run out there this year.”

Before we start talking Super DIRT Week, Tuesday night, the Short Track Super Series brings their horsepower to the Albany-Saratoga Speedway for a 50-lap feature.  Some of the best drivers from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and even possibly Delaware will be invading “the Great Race Place” looking for the $5’000 first place payout.

Also on hand will be the Capital District’s premier Sportsman racing series, The King Of Dirt Series, who will run 30-Laps with $1,000 to the first driver to cross the line.

It’s gonna be a great night of racing.  Hope to see you there.