Story By: RON SZCZERBA / FONDA SPEEDWAY – FONDA, NY – It was a good night for Cody Clark Saturday night at the Fonda Speedway, as Clark took the win in the Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman.
Other winners on Supply Wagon Rentals Night at Fonda were Zach Dufel (Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman), Nick Stone (Algonkin Motel Pro Stocks), Kerrie Hollenback (DOHC) and Ken Hollenback (SOHC) in the Fonda Fair Four Cylinders.
Fonda Speedway announcer Chris Moore said the prayer before Mimi Lazzaro sang the Canadian National Anthem and Stephanie May the National Anthem to start the evening’s festivities.
Congratulations to John from Little Falls who won the 50/50 worth $2,820! Great job as always by Julie, Rose, and Heather selling all of those tickets!
Michael Ballestero and Harry Shaffer started the 25-lap Swagger Factory Apparel 602 Crate Sportsman feature on the front row with Ballestero taking the early lead. At the completion of lap one the yellow flag was out for Tanner Warner who stopped on track to bring out the caution then drove to the hot pit to change a broken right rear shock. Cody Clark moved into the top five on the restart after starting 10th and two laps later got by Brett Mortensen for the fourth position.
By lap ten Clark was the new second place car after getting by McCallion for the spot and two laps later Clark went to the outside of Ballestero in turn two to take the lead away. At the halfway point the top five consisted of Clark, Ballestero, McCallion, Kurtis Hohensheldt, and 15th place starter Brian Calabrese. Chad Edwards started the event in the 12th position and moved up one position at a time into the second spot with three laps to go.
Lap traffic came into play in the closing laps of the event, but Clark was able to take the win in the Upstate Motorsports #4 DKM car followed by Edwards, 11th place starter Payton Talbot, Ballestero, and McCallion.
“This year has been a roller coaster ride for us,” Clark said in victory lane. “We have been consistent this year but not able to get to victory lane until tonight, so we hope to be able to keep things going for the rest of the year.”
Bob Rowback led at the drop of the green flag in the 15-lap Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. feature event with Ryan Sweet in tow. The red flag was out with no laps competed for Lance Hill who hit the implement tire protecting one of the poles on the backstretch. Hill was able to continue on in the feature event, but the red was thrown for debris scattered around the racetrack.
Rowback continued to lead on the restart with seventh place starter Zach Dufel in the second position on lap four after getting by Sweet for the spot. On the outside of turn four on lap seven, Dufel took the lead away from Rowback and led the remaining laps for his first career win in the division in the Miracle Ear sponsored #1H. Last weeks winner Josh Kane finished second after starting ninth and was followed by Tom D’Angelo, Rowback, and Sweet.
Scott Towslee led at the drop of the green in the 20-lap Algonkin Motel Pro Stock feature but when lap one was completed it was Slater Baker in the race lead with fourth place starter Jason Morrison now second. Morrison was the new race leader on a lap three restart with Nick Stone up to the fourth position after starting eighth.
Stone was the new race leader on lap six after getting by Morrison for the spot with Kenny Gates, Luke Horning, and Shane Playford running three wide for the third position on lap eight. At the halfway point the top five consisted of Stone, Playford, Gates, Morrison, and eighth place starter Beau Ballard.
After two consecutive cautions on lap 10, a single file restart saw Horning get by Playford for the second position with Horning immediately pressuring Stone for the lead. With five laps to go, Horning made a slide job pass in turn four to take the lead only to have Stone make a cross over move to maintain the lead at the completion of the lap.
Horning made the same move again in turn two on the next lap with Stone able to cross over and maintain the lead again and from that point on Stone pulled away to his fourth consecutive win and the 63rd of his career in the division at Fonda over Horning, Ballard, Playford, and Josh Coonradt.
“Slide jobs are a lot of fun,” Stene said in victory lane. “He (Horning) is not the guy that you want to see in front of you when you’ve got two thin lines on the track to work with. Once I got the lead back it took me a few laps to get away from him. If he gets a little better well, we don’t really want to see that.”
Dale VanAllen led the first four laps of the Fonda Fair Four Cylinder feature event before John Napoli took over the top spot-on lap five. Napoli led two laps before 11th place starter Kerrie Hollenback took over the lead and went on to the overall win for his 24th career victory in the division. Ken Hollenback was declared the SOHC winner after finishing the event in the second position for the 72nd win of his career in the division.
Napoli finished in the third position but was disqualified for a ball joint infraction moving Zach McSpirit, Christopher Jennings Sr., and Len St. Andrews into the top five at the checkered flag.
Next Saturday, May 21 the Fonda Speedway will be back in action with all regular divisions in action along with the Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Series (MVVDMS). Gates will open at 4:00 p.m. next Saturday with Hot Laps at 6:00 p.m. and Racing at 7:00 p.m.
If you are a race fan that gets to the track early, be sure to check out the Fonda Speedway Museum & Hall of Fame which is located on the Fonda Fairgrounds at the rear of the parking area going down towards turn four. The museum is open from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on race days and admission is free!
SWAGGER FACTORY APPAREL CRATE 602 SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 25-laps – CODY CLARK, Chad Edwards, Payton Talbot, Michael Ballestero, Michael McCallion, Kurtis Hohensheldt, Brian Calabrese, Chip Constantino, Brett Mortensen, Brendan Gibbons, Tony Farone, Harry Shaffer, Troy Palmer, Clayton DuMond, Mark Mortensen, Troy Zilles, Greg Havlichek, Carter Gibbons, Tanner Warner, Jason Reome, Jeremy Tyrrell, Dan Santabarbara, Tim Dwyer, Cory White, Griffen Mansmith
14th career win in the division for Clark
LAP LEADERS – 1-11 Ballester, 12-25 Clark
HEAT RACE WINNERS – Ballestero, Brett Mortensen, McCallion
GRECO’S NAPA HARD CHARGER AWARD – Edwards from 12th to 2nd
ALGONKIN MOTEL PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-laps – NICK STONE, Luke Horning, Beau Ballard, Shane Playford, Josh Coonradt, Jason Morrison, Devon Camenga, Kenny Gates, Randy Cosselman, Steve Cosselman, Caden Dumblewski, Slater Baker, Chuck Dumblewski, Gary Silkey, John Holmes, Scott Towslee, Ivan Joslin, Don Collins
4th win in a row and the 63rd of his career in the division for Stone
LAP LEADERS – 1-2 Baker, 3-5 Morrison, 6-20 Stone
HEAT RACE WINNERS – Ballard, Towslee
MONTGOMERY COUNTY OFFICE FOR AGING INC. LIMITED SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 15-laps – ZACH DUFEL, Josh Kane, Tom D’Angelo, Bob Rowback, Ryan Sweet, Mark Lighthall, Kyle Dingman, Michael Kalkbrenner, Walter Cook, Wesley Sutliff, Craig Wholley, Lance Hill, Timmy Wilmot, Nate Bedell, Harol Robitaille (DNS), Connor Prokop (DNS)
1st career win in the division for Dufel
LAP LEADERS – 1-6 Rowback, 7-15 Dufel
HEAT RACE WINNERS – Wholley, Sweet
FONDA FAIR FOUR CYLINDER FEATURE – 12-laps – KERRIE HOLLENBACK (DOHC), KEN HOLLENBACK (SOHC), Zach McSpirit, Christopher Jennings Sr., Len St. Andrews, Heath Bush, Dale VanAllen, Chad Hoffman, David Peek-Britten, Gina Voris, TJ Marlitt, Shawn Hemstreet, John Napoli (DQ)
3rd win of 2022 and the 24th of his career in the division for Kerrie Hollenback
4th win of 2022 and the 72nd of his career in the division for Ken Hollenback
LAP LEADERS – 1-4 VanAllen, 5-6 Napoli, 7-12 Kerrie Hollenback