News Director 
Story By: RON SZCZERBA / FONDA SPEEDWAY – FONDA, NY – Kenny Gates led every lap of the Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stock feature for his sixth win of the season and the 98th of his career in the division at Fonda Speedway Friday night while Bruce Liddle (SOHC) and Jay Ingersoll (DOHC) celebrated feature wins in the Fonda Fair Four Cylinder division.
Gates, the 2024 Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stock Track Champion, won heat race number one and drew the outside pole for a starting position for the 20-lap feature event. Luke Horning started the event on the pole and took the early lead after Joe Kriss’ dropped the green flag. Horning held the lead until turn four of the first lap when Gates went around the outside of him and took the lead as lap one was completed.
Third place starter Nick Stone and sixth place starter AJ Walters were next to get by Horning for the second and third positions. At the halfway point in the event, Gates led with Stone, Walters, fifth place starter Ivan Joslin, and eighth place starter Andy Graves in the top five. Only one yellow slowed the event on lap 17 when Joslin suffered mechanical issues and slowed on the frontstretch with a burst of flames coming from underneath the car. Joslin was okay but done for the evening.
Gates led at the drop of the green flag on the single file restart and crossed under the checkered flag first for his sixth win of the 2024 season and the 98th of his career at Fonda. Stone, Walters, Graves, and fourth place starter Chuck McSpirit completed the top five. Gates and Stone were the two heat race winners and each received $125 from Checkered Dreams.
“I don’t ever think they will get me confused with the high side hustler,” Gates said jokingly after the win. “We ran pretty good up there tonight and luckily this car, unlike cars that I have had in the past, is better everywhere. Of course I set it up for the bottom, but there was bite on the top tonight, we just had to go where the bite was and we brought it home.”
“I guess we try for 100 wins now that’s what’s next,” Gates continued to say. “It’s the “Track of Champions” and there is such history here. I know it’s not a Modified, but I run against guys like Nick (Stone) and Luke (Horning) so to be able to compete against those guys and win here means the world to me. I love this track, I love being here, and I love supporting the Fonda Speedway.”
Jordan Ryder led the first three laps of the Fonda Fair Four Cylinder feature until lap four when 2024 Fonda Speedway DOHC Track Champion Jay Ingersoll took the lead away on a restart. Ingersoll led the remaining laps for the overall win in the 15-lap event as a SOHC, his eighth victory of the 2024 season and the ninth of his career at Fonda.
Bruce Liddle was the first SOHC car across the finish line in the second position and took the win in that class for his first career win at Fonda in the division. John Napoli, Wayne Russell Jr., and Rudy King Jr. completed the top five.
The single and dual cam winners each received $100 from Team Kar-Fab and $50 each from Swagger Factory Apparel. Team Kar-Fab also gave a $50 bonus to each of the single and dual cam second place finishers.
“Pretty awesome,” Ingersoll said after his win. “The track was amazing so kudos to the track team it was beautiful. I didn’t know where the lap cars were going to go so I was playing it very cautious when I got to them.”
“I didn’t expect this,” Liddle said after his win. “I’ve never been on victory square down here; I’ve tried it a few times but just couldn’t pull it out. Tonight, it worked, and it feels great.
TRACK CHAMPIONS THOUGHT DURING THE CHAMPIONSHIP CEREMONY
Before the racing program began, the 2024 Fonda Speedway Track Champions were honored on victory lane. Getting their hardware for the 2024 season were Alex Yankowski (Amsterdam Truck Center Modifieds), Payton Talbot (Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman), Kenny Gates (Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stocks), AJ Greco (Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman), Ken Hollenback (SOHC Fonda Fair Four Cylinder), and Jay Ingersoll (DOHC Fonda Fair Four Cylinder).
“It is a big team effort,” Amsterdam Truck Center Modified Track Champion Alex Yankowski said. “A lot of things need to go your way and I’m really proud of the whole effort. Super proud to have reliable equipment that’s what wins championships, so we’ll keep digging at it and try to get better.”
“A lot of it is just seat time, the more seat time you get in a racecar the better you’re gonna be,” Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman Track Champion Payton Talbot said. “We had an up and down year here; we’ve had a good car, and this is huge because there is so much history here. Definitely a cool feeling being our third or fourth year here its really cool, different for sure.”
“We’re pretty good here at Fonda around the bottom, that’s where I’m comfortable, that’s where I set my car up for and it works really well,” Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stock Track Champion Kenny Gates said. “A lot of times the guys like to run high, so the bottom is the open lane and that’s where we go. It takes patience to run down there, but when the guys get in the turns a little hot and slide up I just say thank you.”
“All year I talked about that race after the championship,” Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman Track Champion AJ Greco told Mimi Lazzaro during the Championship celebration on victory lane. “The goal was five wins this year, we had a real good year, and it was fun. My dad is my coach through it all and has taught me everything I know. He’s the first one to critique me when I do something wrong, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without him.”
“It was a tough decision to run here at Fonda, but it worked out better for the team and I’m really glad we did it,” DOHC Fonda Fair Four Cylinder Track Champion Jay Ingersoll said. “It’s a dream come true, I dreamed of it as a kid and I’m here.”
Pro Stocks
Pro Stock A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 35-Ken Gates[2]; 2. 8N-Nick Stone[3]; 3. 22W-AJ Walters[6]; 4. 96-Andy Graves[8]; 5. 57-Chuck McSpirit[4]; 6. 13-George Cushman[7]; 7. 99-Buck Gasner[9]; 8. 413-Tom Dean[11]; 9. 75-Gary Silkey[14]; 10. 28G-Gus Gould[10]; 11. 36-Pete Vila[13]; 12. 62-Nick Danna[15]; 13. 49-Ivan Joslin[5]; 14. 2H-Luke Horning[1]; 15. 101-Ed Kotary[12]; 16. (DNS) 74N-Jim Normoyle
Pro Stock Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 35-Ken Gates[1]; 2. 22W-AJ Walters[3]; 3. 49-Ivan Joslin[4]; 4. 13-George Cushman[2]; 5. 99-Buck Gasner[5]; 6. 413-Tom Dean[7]; 7. 36-Pete Vila[8]; 8. 62-Nick Danna[6]
Pro Stock Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 8N-Nick Stone[5]; 2. 2H-Luke Horning[1]; 3. 57-Chuck McSpirit[2]; 4. 96-Andy Graves[6]; 5. 28G-Gus Gould[7]; 6. 101-Ed Kotary[3]; 7. 75-Gary Silkey[8]; 8. (DNS) 74N-Jim Normoyle
Pro Stock Hot Laps 1: 1. 96-Andy Graves, 00:23.764[7]; 2. 22W-AJ Walters, 00:24.250[16]; 3. 2H-Luke Horning, 00:24.403[8]; 4. 75-Gary Silkey, 00:24.423[13]; 5. 57-Chuck McSpirit, 00:24.559[11]; 6. 35-Ken Gates, 00:24.725[5]; 7. 49-Ivan Joslin, 00:25.372[9]; 8. 413-Tom Dean, 00:25.713[3]; 9. 36-Pete Vila, 00:26.079[15]; 10. 28G-Gus Gould, 00:26.238[6]; 11. 99-Buck Gasner, 00:26.691[4]; 12. 101-Ed Kotary, 00:26.805[10]; 13. 62-Nick Danna, 00:27.472[2]; 14. (DNS) 13-George Cushman; 15. (DNS) 74N-Jim Normoyle; 16. (DNS) 8N-Nick Stone
Fonda Fair Four Cylinders
4 Cylinder A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 97JD-Jay Ingersoll[6]; 2. 47S-Bruce Liddle[8]; 3. 3D-John Napoli[12]; 4. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[11]; 5. 666D-Rudy King Jr[18]; 6. 42S-Damian Ward[13]; 7. 11D-Jordan Ryder[2]; 8. K1S-William Liberatore[7]; 9. 42D-Dan Valade[15]; 10. 77S-Jamie Warner[16]; 11. 126D-Nichole Decker[5]; 12. 212S-TJ Marlitt[20]; 13. 509S-Stephen Walters[1]; 14. 38S-Ben Ladd[17]; 15. 777S-Chris Hemstreet[19]; 16. 57S-Jeremiah Paro[4]; 17. 420XS-Dakota Sweet[10]; 18. 98S-Stephanie Maille[21]; 19. 29JD-John Ray[9]; 20. 4S-Todd Morey[14]; 21. (DQ) 7D-Adam Montville[3]
4 Cylinder Hot Laps 1: 1. 11D-Jordan Ryder, 00:25.957[16]; 2. 3D-John Napoli, 00:25.985[12]; 3. 7D-Adam Montville, 00:26.174[10]; 4. 42S-Damian Ward, 00:26.401[20]; 5. 4S-Todd Morey, 00:26.565[11]; 6. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr, 00:27.210[15]; 7. 777S-Chris Hemstreet, 00:27.661[2]; 8. 126D-Nichole Decker, 00:28.522[1]; 9. 29JD-John Ray, 00:29.022[14]; 10. 57S-Jeremiah Paro, 00:29.355[13]; 11. 509S-Stephen Walters, 00:29.677[19]; 12. 212S-TJ Marlitt, 00:30.292[9]; 13. 42D-Dan Valade, 00:33.058[18]; 14. (DNS) 97JD-Jay Ingersoll; 15. (DNS) 666D-Rudy King Jr; 16. (DNS) 38S-Ben Ladd; 17. (DNS) K1S-William Liberatore; 18. (DNS) 47S-Bruce Liddle; 19. (DNS) 98S-Stephanie Maille; 20. (DNS) 420XS-Dakota Sweet; 21. (DNS) 77S-Jamie Warner
