Fonda Speedway To Host “Fan Appreciation Night” Saturday Featuring $5 GA & Bill Ag Memorial

Story By: RON SZCZERBA – FONDA, NY – This Saturday, June 28 at the “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway a special “Fan Appreciation Night” with $5 grandstand admission for all of the fans will take place at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds track presented by Shepherd Communication & Security.

All regular divisions will be in action including the Amsterdam Truck Center Modifieds, the Swagger Factory Apparel Sportsman, the Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stocks, the Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman, and the Fonda Fair Four Cylinders.

A special event on the racing program called the “Bill Ag Modified Elimination Races” will honor the late Bill Anagnostopoulos, who was the owner of the Winners Circle, which is a restaurant in Fonda, NY that is located just around the corner from the Fonda Speedway. Bill was a great friend to racing and sponsored many drivers at the speedway through the years and sponsored events at the track as well. On a typical Saturday evening, he would get away from the restaurant to attend the races at Fonda where he had many friends in both the pit area and the grandstands.

Current point leader (as of 6/21/2025) Jack Lehner is automatically entered in the event as well as the rest of the top five in points including Alex Yankowski, Bobby Hackel IV, Ronnie Johnson, and last week’s winner Rocky Warner.

Brian Calabrese, Jessica Friesen, Danny Varin, Cody Clark, and Pep Corradi all have a chance to race into the event as well based on their sixth through tenth positions in points, with the driver who has the fastest time in hot laps being added to the event! Over $10,000 will be paid out to the drivers in the “Bill Ag Modified Elimination Races” by various sponsors and people who have donated to the event.

Last year Rocky Warner won the event for the first time, winning a total of $1,100 for two laps! Afterwards Warner told Mimi Lazzaro in victory lane:

“I’ve been begging to win a round in this event, and we won the right one this time,” Warner said last year. “I always watched Ronnie (Johnson) change gears for this race and he would have me by two car lengths going into turn one. This week I said to Tadd (car owner Tadd Parks) can we get gears for this thing, and we did. I always thought just run what we’ve got but it bit us in the butt a few times. Two laps you’ve got to get that jump into turn one.”

This years Bill Ag Memorial will be the 10th annual event with previous winners including Bobby Varin (2014), Ronnie Johnson (2016, 2017, 2021, and 2023), Tim Fuller (2018), Stewart Friesen (2019), Demetrios Drellos (2022), and Rocky Warner (2024).

Some quotes from previous winners of the “Bill Ag Memorial Modified Elimination Races” event:

“It’s pretty cool to see this event get bigger and bigger every year,” Johnson said after his win in 2023. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Bill was a great guy, and it shows who he was with all of this support of this event. It’s just something special. This race has been great to us; it’s an honor to support Bill and his whole family.”

“It feels great to be back here in victory lane at Fonda for the 2022 Bill Ag event,” Demetrious Drellos said in victory lane after the win over Craig Hanson. “Hopefully, we can get another one later on in the regular feature, but it was cool to win $1,000 it was a fun race. After being pushed to victory lane for the ceremonies for the Bill Ag event, Drellos said “I gotta figure out what’s wrong with the car, I think I broke the driveshaft, but I rather it happened now than during the regular feature.”

“This is a very special event honoring Bill from the Winners Circle,” Stewart Friesen said in victory lane after his win in 2019. “This is a cool mid-summer special race that has become a big event so thanks to all the sponsors and the organizers for their efforts.”

“When Josh (Hohenforst) got lane choice for the last race I thought that I was in trouble,” Tim Fuller said after his win in 2018. “I was real concerned because he is fast here at Fonda on a heavy track. This event is a little different, it has a lot of pizzazz, and racing needs more of that.”

2025 BILL AG MEMORIAL SPONSORS – OVER $10,000 TO BE GIVEN TO THE MODIFIED DRIVERS PARTICIPATING!

Round 1 -$800

Swagger Factory Apparel – $300

Rick &Tom Kietlinski – $250

Brian Wisler from Mac Tools – $100

Ken Hanson Paving Inc. – $100

The Hazzard family In memory of Wayne Hazzard -$50

Round 2 – $900

Melissa Rava- $250

Royal Mountain Ski Area – $200

Chris & Erin Abele -$100

DVR Portables – $100

One Zee Tees – $100

Chrissy & Holly Ag – $100

Alan Hosbach -$50

Round 3- $1,000

Happy Harry Shaffer & Shelly – $350

Auspelmyer Excavating & Paving -$250

Macek’s Garage – $200

Louise & Tom Carville – $100

Chrissy & Holly Ag – $100

Round 4- $1,026

Mikey & Alex Jackson – $301

Pro-Tech Scale Service – $300

Sherry & Eric Gifford – $200

Chrissy & Holly Ag – $100

Corbett Family – $50

In Memory of Amsterdam Fire Department Battalion Chief J. Michael Mancini – $50 Martin Kelly – $25