Story By: RON SCZCERBA / FONDA SPEEDWAY – FONDA, NY – On any given night at the “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway, qualifying in a handicapping position can either make or break a night for a driver in all divisions of racing that use the heat race process to qualify for the main event.
With large car counts in all divisions in 2021 at Fonda there were a total of 64 qualifying heat races, consolation races, and B-Main events in the Go Sunoco Racing Fuels distributed by Insinger Performance sponsored Modified division with 33 different drivers winning those events.
With even larger car counts in the Swagger Factory Apparel sponsored Crate 602 Sportsman division there were a total of 88 qualifying events with 33 different drivers winning those events. In the Algonkin Motel sponsored Pro Stock division there were 44 total qualifying events that were won by 13 different drivers. The Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. sponsored Limited Sportsman division had a total of 28 qualifying events with eight different drivers winning those events.
Rocky Warner and JaMike Sowle led the way in the Modified division with seven qualifying event wins apiece followed by Adam McAuliffe with five. Craig Hanson and Mike Mahaney were next in line with four wins apiece followed by David Schilling and Jessica Friesen with three wins apiece; Ancel Collins, Pep Corradi, Stewart Friesen, Josh Hohenforst, and Tyler Dippel all with two wins apiece.
Single qualifying event wins in the Modified division went to Alan Johnson, Bobby Varin, Brian Gleason, Brian Pessolano, Cale Ross, Danny Tyler, George Foley, Jack Lehner, Michael Maresca, Ronnie Johnson, Tim Fuller, Dave Constantino, Billy Decker, Alex Yankowski, Anthony Perrego, Chris Curtis, Brett Haas, Cody Clark, Matt Sheppard, Danny Varin, and Darren Smith.
Tim Hartman Jr. led the way in the Crate 602 Sportsman division with a total of eight qualifying event wins followed by Brett Mortensen with seven. Addison Bowman, Mark Mortensen, Cody Clark, and Brian Borst all had five qualifying event wins while Jason Greco and Dan Santabarbara both had four victories. Aaron Burton, Tim Dwyer, Troy Zilles, Michael McCallion, and Kurtis Hohensheldt were next in line with three wins apiece.
Drivers with two qualifying event wins were Brendan Gibbons, Mike Ketchum, Nick Scavia, Jason Reome, Tony Farone, Jeremiah Munson, Brian Calabrese, Tanner Warner, Payton Talbot and Tucker O’Connor while Dylan Eldred, Finch Fenton, William August, Joey Brunning, Kyle Dingman, Ricky Quick, Corey Cormier, David Manchester, Troy Palmer, and Will Shields all had one qualifying event win.
2021 Pro Stock Track Champion Nick Stone and Kenny Gates both had six qualifying event wins while Gary Silkey, Josh Coonradt, Jason Morrison, and Luke Horning all had four wins apiece. Bill Knapp, Chuck Dumblewski, and Beau Ballard all had three wins apiece while Andy Graves, Steve Cosselman, and Jim Normoyle all had two wins apiece. One single qualifying event win also went to Shane Playford.
Taylor LaPlante led the way with qualifying event wins in the Limited Sportsman division with six followed by John Young with five, Jeremy Tyrrell and Stephen Gray with four, Clayton DuMond and Kyle Dingman with three, Carter Gibbons with two and Lance Hill with one.