RPW Exclusive: Brian Pessolano & Demetrios Drellos Split 22-Lap Dave Lape Tribute Features At Fonda

Column By: MIKE TRAVERSE / RPW – FONDA, NY – It was a night to remember 99-time Fonda Speedway feature winner Dave Lape Saturday night with a pair of 22-lap Modified features.

In the end of each, Brian Pessolano (race one) and Demetrios Drellos (race two) were standing on Checkered Board Square with big check in hand.

In feature #1, Pessolano picked up his first career Modified win as he made the pass of Dave Constantino while in traffic with 4 laps to go.

It was fitting for Pessolano to take a win on the Lape tribute night as he was a longtime fan of Dave growing up.

“Brian Pessolano was one of the biggest Dave Lape fans and he used to come up to the house,” said Jackie Lape after the race. “It’s so cool to see him win this race.”

“Crazy, very ironic,” said a very soft-spoken Pessolano after the race.

Tucker O’Connor led the first half of the race and looked to be totally in control until just past halfway when he pulled into the infield.

“Tucker had us all covered. But when he dropped out and Dave slipped up, we went by.”

Jessica Friesen finished 2nd to Pessolano. Roger Henion Jr. had his best ever Fonda Speedway finish with a 3rd. Ronnie Johnson finished 4th and Rocky Warner 5th.

Completing the top 10 were Demetrios Drellos 6th, Constantino 7th, Stewart Friesen 8th, Bobby Hackel iV 9th and Chris Curtis 10th.

With the top 6 inverted for the 2nd feature, it was Drellos immediately taking the lead at the green flag and he was never challenged, withstanding a couple of restarts, on his way to his 4th career Fonda Speedway Modified win.

With both feature winners receiving very nice popcorn machines from the Lape family, Drellos was quite happy to be able to take one home.

“Yeah, I like popcorn, that’s a really cool trophy,” said Drellos in Victory Lane. “It was a very good night here for Fonda legends. I had a lot of fun.”

Drellos felt that the car was quite fast in the race, but he really had no idea how far out front he was.

“I wish I had a rear view mirror sometimes. I felt that I had a pretty good lead, so I backed it down a bit and got through the traffic.”

Warner finished 2nd and Johnson scored his 2nd 3rd place of the night. Jessica Friesen was 4th and Constantino was 5th.

Rounding out the top 10 were Hackel IV 6th, Alex Yankowski 7th, Henion Jr. 8th, Stewart Friesen 9th and Brian Calabrese 10th.

In a Crate 602 feature held over from May 25th, Clayton Dumond picked up the win. Payton Talbot was 2nd, Dylan Madsen 3rd, Tanner Warner 4th and Stephen Gray 5th.

Ricky Quick was 6th, Dan Santabarbara 7th, Blaine Klinger 8th, Butchie Irwin 9th and Mark Mortensen 10th.

In the regular scheduled 602 feature, it was Mike Kalkbrenner grabbing his first ever Crate 602 Sportsman win. Dylan Madsen was the early leader, slipped back to 4th but rebounded to finish 2nd. Stephen Gray led some and finished 3rd. Tanner Warner was 4th and Jeremy Tyrelol 5th.

Completing the top 10 in this one were John Dumond 6th, Josh Kane 7th, Mortensen 8th, Matt Perry 9th and Santabarbara 10th.

In the Pro Stocks, Ivan Joslin had things pretty much his own way as he cruised to the win. Devon Camenga was 2nd, Nick Stone 3rd, Luke Horning 4th and Caden Dumblewski 5th.

The Limited Sportsman had a makeup feature from April 27th and AJ Greco was the winner. Josh Coonradt was 2nd, Ryan Sweet 3rd, Jim Mallia 4th and Timothy Wilmot 5th.

The regularly scheduled Limited Sportsman feature saw 3rd generation racer Rocco Constantino taking the checkers for the win. Wilmot was 2nd, Greco 3rd, Corky Warner 4th and Walter Cook 5th.

Jay Ingersoll was the winner in the 4 Cylinders. Ken Hollenbeck finished 2nd and was the single cam winner. Jeff Connolly was 3rd, Hayleigh Gates 4th and Wayne Russell 5th.

Next Saturday at Fonda Speedway will be Thunder on the Thruway Series Modifieds ($4,000 to win), Crate 602 Sportsman ($1,500 to win), Pro Stocks ($1,000 to win) – All divisions* – April 27 Modified & May 25 Pro Stock.

AMSTERDAM TRUCK CENTER MODIFIEDS

Twin 22 No. 1 (22 Laps): 1. 24P-Brian Pessolano[2]; 2. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[5]; 3. 19JR-Roger Henion Jr[7]; 4. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[6]; 5. 1-Rocky Warner[9]; 6. 111-Demetrios Drellos[11]; 7. 34-Dave Constantino[3]; 8. 44-Stewart Friesen[14]; 9. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[13]; 10. 35-Chris Curtis[16]; 11. 7MM-Michael Maresca[12]; 12. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[10]; 13. 85-Jack Lehner[8]; 14. 21P-Luciano (Pep) Corradi[4]; 15. 76-Jamike Sowle[18]; 16. 20C-Craig Hanson[20]; 17. 3-Jeff Trombley[21]; 18. 1G-Darwin Greene[19]; 19. 96-Andy Graves[23]; 20. 66-Don Bellen[15]; 21. 21C-Brian Calabrese[17]; 22. 42-Tucker O’Connor[1]; 23. 85R-Jason Reome[24]; 24. 4-Cody Clark[22]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[3]; 2. 24P-Brian Pessolano[2]; 3. 7MM-Michael Maresca[8]; 4. 111-Demetrios Drellos[7]; 5. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[5]; 6. 35-Chris Curtis[6]; 7. 1G-Darwin Greene[4]; 8. 4-Cody Clark[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 42-Tucker O’Connor[1]; 2. 34-Dave Constantino[2]; 3. 1-Rocky Warner[6]; 4. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[3]; 5. 44-Stewart Friesen[8]; 6. 21C-Brian Calabrese[5]; 7. 20C-Craig Hanson[4]; 8. 96-Andy Graves[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21P-Luciano (Pep) Corradi[2]; 2. 85-Jack Lehner[5]; 3. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[6]; 4. 19JR-Roger Henion Jr[4]; 5. 66-Don Bellen[1]; 6. 76-Jamike Sowle[3]; 7. 3-Jeff Trombley[7]; 8. 85R-Jason Reome[8]

Twin 22 No. 2 (22 Laps): 1. 111-Demetrios Drellos[1]; 2. 1-Rocky Warner[2]; 3. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[3]; 4. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[5]; 5. 34-Dave Constantino[7]; 6. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[9]; 7. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[12]; 8. 19JR-Roger Henion Jr[4]; 9. 44-Stewart Friesen[8]; 10. 21C-Brian Calabrese[21]; 11. 85-Jack Lehner[13]; 12. 76-Jamike Sowle[15]; 13. 21P-Luciano (Pep) Corradi[14]; 14. 24P-Brian Pessolano[6]; 15. 35-Chris Curtis[10]; 16. 1G-Darwin Greene[18]; 17. 85R-Jason Reome[23]; 18. 66-Don Bellen[20]; 19. 96-Andy Graves[19]; 20. 7MM-Michael Maresca[11]; 21. 3-Jeff Trombley[17]; 22. 20C-Craig Hanson[16]; 23. 4-Cody Clark[24]; 24. (DNS) 42-Tucker O’Connor

Hot Laps: 1. 7MM-Michael Maresca, 00:18.004[17]; 2. 111-Demetrios Drellos, 00:18.383[7]; 3. 84Y-Alex Yankowski, 00:18.426[23]; 4. 44-Stewart Friesen, 00:18.489[9]; 5. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson, 00:18.518[15]; 6. 35-Chris Curtis, 00:18.699[6]; 7. 1-Rocky Warner, 00:18.725[22]; 8. 42-Tucker O’Connor, 00:18.791[18]; 9. 1Z-Jessica Friesen, 00:18.817[8]; 10. 76-Jamike Sowle, 00:18.819[20]; 11. 34-Dave Constantino, 00:18.935[4]; 12. 20C-Craig Hanson, 00:18.959[13]; 13. 97-Bobby Hackel IV, 00:18.976[12]; 14. 21P-Luciano (Pep) Corradi, 00:19.024[5]; 15. 24P-Brian Pessolano, 00:19.036[19]; 16. 1G-Darwin Greene, 00:19.271[11]; 17. 96-Andy Graves, 00:19.282[10]; 18. 21C-Brian Calabrese, 00:19.291[2]; 19. 19JR-Roger Henion Jr, 00:19.390[14]; 20. 3-Jeff Trombley, 00:19.420[21]; 21. 66-Don Bellen, 00:19.959[1]; 22. 85-Jack Lehner, 00:23.316[16]; 23. 85R-Jason Reome, 00:23.620[24]; 24. (DNS) 4-Cody Clark

SWAGGER FACTORY APPAREL CRATE 602 SPORTSMAN

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2K-Mike Kalkbrenner[3]; 2. 89-Dylan Madsen[4]; 3. 25-Stephen Gray[2]; 4. 78-Tanner Warner[7]; 5. 14J-Jeremy Tyrrell[9]; 6. 31J-John DuMond[1]; 7. 8-Josh Kane[11]; 8. 74-Matt Perry[13]; 9. 1M-Mark Mortensen[8]; 10. 7J-Dan Santabarbara[6]; 11. 117N-Butchie Irwin[14]; 12. 84-Ricky Quick[5]; 13. 63-Chip Constantino[15]; 14. 9K-Blaine Klinger[18]; 15. B24-Brendan Gibbons[12]; 16. 10%-Chad Edwards[19]; 17. 42H-Kadon Hohensheldt[26]; 18. 88-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald[24]; 19. 12B-Tyler Bobar[22]; 20. 1H-Harry Shaffer[23]; 21. 314-Clayton DuMond[17]; 22. 1B-Brett Mortensen[16]; 23. 19-Floyd Billington[25]; 24. 14T-Payton Talbot[21]; 25. 12T-Tyler Peet[10]; 26. 12P-Connor Prokop[20]; 27. 99-Clyde Peek[27]

GRECO’S NAPA HARD CHARGER – Kadon Hohensheldt +9

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1M-Mark Mortensen[4]; 2. 31J-John DuMond[1]; 3. 7J-Dan Santabarbara[3]; 4. 8-Josh Kane[5]; 5. 74-Matt Perry[8]; 6. 1B-Brett Mortensen[6]; 7. 10%-Chad Edwards[9]; 8. 12B-Tyler Bobar[2]; 9. 19-Floyd Billington[10]; 10. 99-Clyde Peek[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 89-Dylan Madsen[2]; 2. 14J-Jeremy Tyrrell[4]; 3. 25-Stephen Gray[1]; 4. B24-Brendan Gibbons[6]; 5. 117N-Butchie Irwin[3]; 6. 314-Clayton DuMond[5]; 7. 12P-Connor Prokop[7]; 8. 1H-Harry Shaffer[8]; 9. 21-Destry Scribner[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 2K-Mike Kalkbrenner[1]; 2. 84-Ricky Quick[2]; 3. 78-Tanner Warner[3]; 4. 12T-Tyler Peet[4]; 5. 63-Chip Constantino[5]; 6. 9K-Blaine Klinger[6]; 7. 14T-Payton Talbot[7]; 8. 88-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald[9]; 9. 42H-Kadon Hohensheldt[8]

5/25 Makeup Feature (25 Laps): 1. 314-Clayton DuMond[2]; 2. 14T-Payton Talbot[14]; 3. 89-Dylan Madsen[4]; 4. 78-Tanner Warner[11]; 5. 25-Stephen Gray[5]; 6. 84-Ricky Quick[1]; 7. 7J-Dan Santabarbara[3]; 8. 9K-Blaine Klinger[21]; 9. 117N-Butchie Irwin[15]; 10. 1M-Mark Mortensen[18]; 11. 2K-Mike Kalkbrenner[12]; 12. 1B-Brett Mortensen[24]; 13. B24-Brendan Gibbons[20]; 14. 14J-Jeremy Tyrrell[9]; 15. 8-Josh Kane[6]; 16. 1H-Harry Shaffer[25]; 17. 63-Chip Constantino[19]; 18. 31J-John DuMond[8]; 19. 12T-Tyler Peet[7]; 20. 99-Clyde Peek[23]; 21. 74-Matt Perry[16]; 22. 12P-Connor Prokop[13]; 23. 12B-Tyler Bobar[10]; 24. 42H-Kadon Hohensheldt[22]; 25. 10%-Chad Edwards[17]; 26. (DNS) 21E-Gary Edwards III; 27. (DNS) 1D-Kyle Dingman

GRECO’S NAPA HARD CHARGER – Blaine Klinger +13

Hot Laps: 1. 314-Clayton DuMond, 00:19.719[4]; 2. 14T-Payton Talbot, 00:19.849[25]; 3. 25-Stephen Gray, 00:19.882[8]; 4. 12P-Connor Prokop, 00:19.954[20]; 5. B24-Brendan Gibbons, 00:19.958[7]; 6. 84-Ricky Quick, 00:19.971[21]; 7. 9K-Blaine Klinger, 00:19.995[13]; 8. 7J-Dan Santabarbara, 00:20.008[22]; 9. 14J-Jeremy Tyrrell, 00:20.017[26]; 10. 42H-Kadon Hohensheldt, 00:20.024[9]; 11. 63-Chip Constantino, 00:20.077[3]; 12. 89-Dylan Madsen, 00:20.082[14]; 13. 12B-Tyler Bobar, 00:20.141[2]; 14. 10%-Chad Edwards, 00:20.214[6]; 15. 1B-Brett Mortensen, 00:20.270[15]; 16. 12T-Tyler Peet, 00:20.330[18]; 17. 31J-John DuMond, 00:20.343[5]; 18. 88-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald, 00:20.457[27]; 19. 1H-Harry Shaffer, 00:20.476[24]; 20. 78-Tanner Warner, 00:20.819[28]; 21. 1M-Mark Mortensen, 00:20.865[16]; 22. 19-Floyd Billington, 00:20.894[1]; 23. 74-Matt Perry, 00:21.421[19]; 24. 21-Destry Scribner, 00:28.446[23]; 25. (DNS) 117N-Butchie Irwin; 26. (DNS) 2K-Mike Kalkbrenner; 27. (DNS) 8-Josh Kane; 28. (DNS) 99-Clyde Peek

LEATHERSTOCKING CREDIT UNION PRO STOCKS

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 49-Ivan Joslin[3]; 2. 110-Devon Camenga[7]; 3. 8N-Nick Stone[4]; 4. 2H-Luke Horning[5]; 5. 7C-Caden Dumblewski[1]; 6. 75-Gary Silkey[2]; 7. 715-Jason Morrison[9]; 8. 35-Ken Gates[6]; 9. 13-George Cushman[11]; 10. 1D-Nick Santuccione[10]; 11. 80-Dan Krajewski[8]; 12. 44-Ray Richer[13]; 13. 62-Nick Danna[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 8N-Nick Stone[3]; 2. 110-Devon Camenga[5]; 3. 75-Gary Silkey[2]; 4. 7C-Caden Dumblewski[1]; 5. 715-Jason Morrison[4]; 6. 13-George Cushman[6]; 7. 44-Ray Richer[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 49-Ivan Joslin[2]; 2. 35-Ken Gates[4]; 3. 2H-Luke Horning[3]; 4. 80-Dan Krajewski[5]; 5. 1D-Nick Santuccione[1]; 6. 62-Nick Danna[6]

Hot Laps: 1. 35-Ken Gates, 00:22.269[5]; 2. 49-Ivan Joslin, 00:22.277[7]; 3. 75-Gary Silkey, 00:22.322[12]; 4. 110-Devon Camenga, 00:22.332[1]; 5. 7C-Caden Dumblewski, 00:22.685[4]; 6. 13-George Cushman, 00:23.365[2]; 7. 1D-Nick Santuccione, 00:23.726[11]; 8. 44-Ray Richer, 00:26.492[10]; 9. 62-Nick Danna, 00:34.005[3]; 10. (DNS) 2H-Luke Horning; 11. (DNS) 80-Dan Krajewski; 12. (DNS) 715-Jason Morrison; 13. (DNS) 8N-Nick Stone

MONTGOMERY COUNTY OFFICE FOR AGING LIMITED SPORTSM

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 44-Rocco Constantino[1]; 2. 14W-Timothy Wilmot[3]; 3. 12AJ-AJ Greco[12]; 4. 797-Corky Warner[7]; 5. 47-Walter Cook[6]; 6. 22L-Lance Hill[15]; 7. 24-Kirsten Swartz[14]; 8. 11B-Jeff Bobilin[20]; 9. 13J-Jim Mallia[13]; 10. 32-Steve Wagoner[22]; 11. 538-Gus Kamburelis[17]; 12. 26B-Maddy Broedel[18]; 13. 11-Josh Persse[16]; 14. 37-Ryan Sweet[9]; 15. 57-Ben Balzer[27]; 16. 4-Zach McSpirit[21]; 17. 2-Brandon Tyler[4]; 18. 216-Phil Arnold[2]; 19. 618-Bobby Rhinehardt[5]; 20. 5C-Randy Cosselman[8]; 21. 62-Shawn Gibbons[11]; 22. 00X-Josh Coonradt[10]; 23. 85R-Bob Rowback[19]; 24. 14-Ginger Billy[23]; 25. 21-Destry Scribner[28]; 26. 16H-Dylan Hutson[26]; 27. (DNS) 0-Kyle Coley; 28. (DNS) 44J-Steve Jones

GRECO’S NAPA HARD CHARGER – Jeff Bobilin +12

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 44-Rocco Constantino[1]; 2. 797-Corky Warner[4]; 3. 12AJ-AJ Greco[8]; 4. 37-Ryan Sweet[5]; 5. 13J-Jim Mallia[2]; 6. 11-Josh Persse[3]; 7. 85R-Bob Rowback[7]; 8. 32-Steve Wagoner[6]; 9. (DNS) 44J-Steve Jones

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 216-Phil Arnold[1]; 2. 5C-Randy Cosselman[4]; 3. 2-Brandon Tyler[2]; 4. 618-Bobby Rhinehardt[3]; 5. 24-Kirsten Swartz[6]; 6. 538-Gus Kamburelis[7]; 7. 11B-Jeff Bobilin[8]; 8. 14-Ginger Billy[9]; 9. 16H-Dylan Hutson[5]

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 14W-Timothy Wilmot[1]; 2. 62-Shawn Gibbons[7]; 3. 47-Walter Cook[3]; 4. 00X-Josh Coonradt[6]; 5. 22L-Lance Hill[4]; 6. 26B-Maddy Broedel[8]; 7. 4-Zach McSpirit[5]; 8. 0-Kyle Coley[9]; 9. 57-Ben Balzer[2]

4/27 Makeup Feature (15 Laps): 1. 12AJ-AJ Greco[2]; 2. 00X-Josh Coonradt[3]; 3. 37-Ryan Sweet[1]; 4. 13J-Jim Mallia[5]; 5. 14W-Timothy Wilmot[7]; 6. 797-Corky Warner[6]; 7. 22L-Lance Hill[19]; 8. 47-Walter Cook[4]; 9. 216-Phil Arnold[8]; 10. 32-Steve Wagoner[10]; 11. 618-Bobby Rhinehardt[11]; 12. 24-Kirsten Swartz[17]; 13. 11B-Jeff Bobilin[13]; 14. 2-Brandon Tyler[16]; 15. 44-Rocco Constantino[18]; 16. 11-Josh Persse[12]; 17. 57-Ben Balzer[15]; 18. 44JX-Adam Tranka[20]; 19. 16H-Dylan Hutson[9]; 20. (DNS) 87J-Joel Knudsen Jr

GRECO’S NAPA HARD CHARGER – Lance Hill +12

Hot Laps: 1. 62-Shawn Gibbons, 00:20.012[10]; 2. 00X-Josh Coonradt, 00:20.130[8]; 3. 12AJ-AJ Greco, 00:20.338[11]; 4. 5C-Randy Cosselman, 00:20.453[9]; 5. 22L-Lance Hill, 00:20.546[12]; 6. 14W-Timothy Wilmot, 00:20.749[26]; 7. 797-Corky Warner, 00:20.766[25]; 8. 26B-Maddy Broedel, 00:20.935[5]; 9. 47-Walter Cook, 00:21.076[7]; 10. 37-Ryan Sweet, 00:21.080[22]; 11. 538-Gus Kamburelis, 00:21.177[15]; 12. 13J-Jim Mallia, 00:21.184[16]; 13. 216-Phil Arnold, 00:21.368[1]; 14. 32-Steve Wagoner, 00:22.410[24]; 15. 44-Rocco Constantino, 00:22.969[6]; 16. 11B-Jeff Bobilin, 00:22.983[4]; 17. 85R-Bob Rowback, 00:23.020[20]; 18. 16H-Dylan Hutson, 00:24.740[13]; 19. 11-Josh Persse, 00:24.936[18]; 20. 57-Ben Balzer, 00:26.114[2]; 21. 4-Zach McSpirit, 00:30.595[17]; 22. (DNS) 14-Ginger Billy; 23. (DNS) 44J-Steve Jones; 24. (DNS) 618-Bobby Rhinehardt; 25. (DNS) 24-Kirsten Swartz; 26. (DNS) 2-Brandon Tyler

FONDA FAIR FOUR CYLINDERS

Feature (12 Laps): 1. 97JD-Jay Ingersoll[9]; 2. 12S-Ken Hollenbeck[10]; 3. 31D-Jeff Connolly[12]; 4. 42D-Hayleigh Gates[3]; 5. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[8]; 6. K1S-William Liberatore[1]; 7. 212S-TJ Marlitt[4]; 8. 420XS-Tim Warner[2]; 9. 57S-Jeremiah Paro[13]; 10. 37D-Billy Hillman[15]; 11. 26D-Len St Andrews[5]; 12. 7D-Adam Montville[11]; 13. 98S-Stephanie Maille[7]; 14. 33D-Kerrie Hollenbeck[6]; 15. 23S-Lucas Condon[14]

Hot Laps: 1. 33D-Kerrie Hollenbeck, 00:24.453[6]; 2. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr, 00:25.326[13]; 3. 7D-Adam Montville, 00:25.368[11]; 4. 42D-Hayleigh Gates, 00:25.458[3]; 5. 37D-Billy Hillman, 00:25.674[4]; 6. 212S-TJ Marlitt, 00:28.617[10]; 7. 57S-Jeremiah Paro, 00:28.892[12]; 8. 98S-Stephanie Maille, 00:29.933[9]; 9. (DNS) 23S-Lucas Condon; 10. (DNS) 31D-Jeff Connolly; 11. (DNS) 12S-Ken Hollenbeck; 12. (DNS) 97JD-Jay Ingersoll; 13. (DNS) K1S-William Liberatore; 14. (DNS) 26D-Len St Andrews; 15. (DNS) 420XS-Tim Warner