Friesen & Trombley win on Wilcox Construction Night at Fonda

COLUMN BY: Ron Szczerba – FONDA SPEEDWAY – FONDA, NY  – Fonda Speedway welcomed back the CRSA Sprints on Saturday evening on Wilcox Construction LLC Night with a full racing card in all divisions. When the checkered flag flew to end the CRSA Feature event, a very familiar face to the “Track of Champion” sat in victory lane.

Jeff Trombley, a 35 time winner in the Modified division at Fonda and a two time Modified Track Champion in 2001 and 2002, took the lead on lap 11 of the 25-lap event and went on to his fourth career CRSA victory at Fonda.

“I love coming back here to race,” Trombley told CRSA announcer Marty Czekala in victory lane. “I love these guys (pointing to the crowd), I miss this place, I had a lot of good times here.”

Stewart Friesen started the 30-lap Amsterdam Truck Center Modified feature in the 12th position and just past the halfway point of the race took the lead and went on to his 102nd career win in the division and his third of the 2026 season at Fonda.

“Great crowd tonight, I know it’s cold and we appreciate everybody,” Friesen told Mimi Lazzaro in victory lane. “We had a rocket ship of a race car tonight.”

Other winners on Wilcox Construction LLC Night at Fonda were Stephen Gray (Swagger Factory Apparel Sportsman), Luke Horning (Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stocks), Steve Wagoner (Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman), Wayne Russell Jr. (SOHC) and Blake Smart (DOHC) Four Cylinders.

The 30-lap Amsterdam Truck Center Modified feature began with Darwin Greene leading at the drop of Joe Kriss’ green flag from his outside pole position start. By lap five, Greene held a straightaway advantage with the yellow out three laps later for the second place car of Jason Reome who had issues with the rear end of his car.

Greene restarted on the inside and maintained the lead on the restart with Dylan Madsen and Jessica Friesen taking over the second and third positions behind the leader. Stewart Friesen moved up to the fourth position on lap 11 with another yellow out just before the halfway point on lap 14.

Another wreck on the restart caused a yellow flag with no laps completed so a single file restart followed with Stewart Friesen taking over the second position once the green flag flew. Racing side by side with Greene as lap 16 was completed, Stewart Friesen took over the number one position as the Yurkewecz Auto Crushers lap counter clicked off another lap.

Stewart Friesen maintained the lead for the remaining laps and despite lap traffic with seven laps to go won the event in the Halmar #44 by a straightway margin over Greene, Madsen, Jessica Friesen, and 13th place starter Robert Bublak.

“The bottom latched up there and Darwin (Greene) as the leader didn’t see it,” Friesen said. “I snuck a little bit of a run off of turn two and it wasn’t latched up in three and four, it was grippy all the way across. The Halmar #44 worked real good in the third lane, so it was a good run for us.”

“I started out on top and went to the bottom,” Friesen continued to say. “I saw that Alex (Yankowski) was struggling up there. I was following Robert (Bublak), and I think that we both clipped the tire in turn two, but we were able to skate over it and keep on going.”

It took three tries to get the 25-lap Swagger Factory Apparel Sportsman feature started with Bob Rhinehardt the early race leader. The caution was out on lap two for Mark Mortensen who was clipped by another car in turn one, forcing him head on into the turn one wall. Mortensen was not injured in the wreck.

Rhinehardt continued to lead on the restart with Rocco Constantino the new second place car on lap four with ninth place starter Chad Edwards now third. Under caution on lap 11, Edwards was forced to the hot pit with a flat tire, his crew got it changed and he was able to restart at the rear of the field.

At the halfway point the top five consisted of Rhinehardt, Constantino, eighth place starter Stephen Gray, 12th place starter Tyler Peet, and 11th place starter Tyler Bobar. On a restart with ten laps to go, Gray and Peet both moved past Constantino for the second and third positions with Gray taking the lead on the inside of the backstretch with five laps to go.

Gray led the remaining laps for his first win of the season and the third of his career in the division in the O’Connor Towing #25 over Peet, seventh place starter AJ Greco, Rhinehardt, and 17th place starter Clayton DuMond.

“That was a real good race for us,” Gray said. “I really wasn’t sure; I didn’t think that we had enough at the beginning but as the race went on it started to get better. It was a real long race and like I said I wasn’t sure we had enough, but we ended up having enough.”

Luke Horning and Jason Morrison started the 20-lap Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stock feature on the front row with Horning taking the early lead. Fourth place starter Kenny Gates moved into the second position on lap five and began pressuring the leader three laps later.

At the halfway point, Horning was the race leader followed in the top five by Gates, Morrison, Andy Graves, and Ivan Joslin. While Morrison had a great race going with Graves and Joslin for the third position, Gates placed heavy pressure on Horning for the lead, ducking under the leader many times only to have Horning maintain the lead position.

At the checkered flag it was Horning taking his first win of the season and the 32nd of his career in the division in the Lucas Out Loud #2H over Gates, Morrison, sixth place starter Nick Stone, and Graves.

“You can see pretty good with Joe (Kriss) with the flags,” Horning said in victory lane after his win. “I knew the gap and I knew they were close. I caught the lap traffic, and I was like I don’t think that anybody can really run the top. So, I figured I’d stay on the bottom and let Kenny (Gates) be the guy to have to have to worry about it.”

Rusty Baumes led the first four laps of the Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman feature until lap five when fourth place starter Steve Wagoner took over the lead on a restart. At the halfway point, Wagoner was the race leader followed in the top five by seventh place starter Lance Hill, eighth place starter Brian Nelson, 12th place starter Nick Ryder, and sixth place starter Mike Hill.

Wagoner led the remaining laps for his first win of the season and the third of his career in the division at Fonda in the Doug’s Pool & Hot Tub #7A over Nelson, Mike Hill, Lance Hill, and Ryder.

“It’s been a year since our last win,” Wagoner said in victory lane. “A lot of hard work and now were back. I had a good school teacher from 30 years ago watching Bob (Savoie). A lot of watching, a lot of learning, it just never goes away. I gave my last winners hat to Jeff Holt. Now I wat to give Jeff Fonda this winners hat. One other thing my brother Jeff has never been to victory lane at Fonda. It took me a long time, he’s not unlucky like he thinks he is, so here you go brother this win is for you.”

Blake Smart (DOHC) was the overall winner of the 12-lap Fonda Fair Four Cylinder feature event while second place finisher Wayne Russell Jr. won the SOHC class. Seventh place starter Nichoel Decker, 21st place starter William Liberatore, and 12th place starter Jay Ingersoll completed the top five.

John Scarbrough led lap one of the 25-lap CRSA Sprint feature until Tomy Moreau took over the top spot on a lap two restart. Dalton Herrick was the new race leader on lap nine after getting by Moreau on the inside of turn two with ninth place starter Jeff Trombley the new second place car.

Trombley made his move for the lead on lap 11 when he got by both Herrick and a lap car for the top spot. After a caution on lap 15, Trombley pulled away on the restart and with five to go held a straightaway advantage over Herrick. Lap traffic never slowed the leader with three laps to go as Trombley went on to the race win, his fourth career CRSA win at Fonda in the Warren’s Auto Body #3A.

Herrick finished second followed in the top five by Moreau, sixth place starter Dave Axton, and 10th place starter Timmy Lotz.

“I knew I had to get some stuff done early,” said in victory lane. “The guys set up the care real good and the track was awesome.”

For a complete press release on the CRSA event at Fonda please go to www.crsasprints.com for a recap by Marty Czekala.

Next Saturday June 6, Shepherd Communication & Security Night presents racing at Fonda with all divisions in action plus New York State Stock Car Association (NYSSCA) Awards Night. Grandstand Admission: $15 (Adults) – $13 (Seniors ages 65 and over) – Kids 11 and under FREE

Infield Parking: $65 (includes four passes)

Pit Admission: $40 (Non-Members) – $35 (Members) – $10 (Kids 11 and under.

Event Times

Pits Open4:00 PM

Gates Open4:00 PM

Hot Laps At6:00 PM

Racing Starts7:00 PM

DATE – 5/30/2026 WILCOX CONSTRUCTION NIGHT

Amsterdam Truck Center Modifieds

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 44-Stewart Friesen[12]; 2. 1G-Darwin Greene[2]; 3. 24-Dylan Madsen[5]; 4. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[9]; 5. 6B-Robert Bublak[13]; 6. 85-Jack Lehner[11]; 7. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[10]; 8. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[7]; 9. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[15]; 10. 76-Jamike Sowle[3]; 11. B24-Brendan Gibbons[16]; 12. 21C-Brian Calabrese[17]; 13. 93-Dave Constantino[18]; 14. 7M-Paul Mancini[23]; 15. 16-Aaron Jacobs[25]; 16. 82S-Will Shields[22]; 17. 8M-Tim Mayne[24]; 18. 63-Chip Constantino[4]; 19. 21P-Luciano (Pep) Corradi[6]; 20. 71-Eric Mack[21]; 21. 1-Rocky Warner[20]; 22. 06-Jackson Gill[8]; 23. 4-Cody Clark[19]; 24. 6S-Matt Stangle[14]; 25. 27-Jason Reome[1]

 

Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 25-Stephen Gray[8]; 2. 9G-Tyler Peet[12]; 3. 12AJ-AJ Greco[7]; 4. 618-Bobby Rhinehardt[1]; 5. 314-Clayton Dumond[17]; 6. 78-Tanner Warner[10]; 7. 12B-Tyler Bobar[11]; 8. 10%-Chad Edwards[9]; 9. 33M-Bodie Marks[24]; 10. 1H-Harry Shaffer[16]; 11. 44-Rocco Constantino[4]; 12. 1D-Kyle Dingman[21]; 13. 98-Cameron Hotaling[13]; 14. 70X-Josh Coonradt[20]; 15. 28-Dylan Eldred[19]; 16. 15-Greg Havlicek[22]; 17. 31J-John Dumond[3]; 18. 797-Corky Warner[14]; 19. 5C-Randy Cosselman[2]; 20. 84-Ricky Quick[5]; 21. 74-Matt Perry[25]; 22. 349-Garrett Chillot[23]; 23. 1M-Mark Mortensen[6]; 24. 1B-Brett Mortensen[15]; 25. 26-Mason Gray[18]

 

Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stocks

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 2H-Luke Horning[1]; 2. 35-Ken Gates[4]; 3. 715-Jason Morrison[2]; 4. 8N-Nick Stone[6]; 5. 96-Andy Graves[3]; 6. 49-Ivan Joslin[5]; 7. 13-George Cushman[7]; 8. 39-Hayleigh Gates[8]; 9. 24V-Jason Samrov[10]; 10. 1D-Nick Santuccione[9]; 11. 62-Nick Danna[12]; 12. 909-Kailey Jaycox[13]; 13. 24N-Josh Samrov[11]

 

Montgomery County Office for Aging Limited Sportsman

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 7A-Steve Wagoner[4]; 2. 647-Brian Nelson[8]; 3. 22M-Mike Hill[6]; 4. 22L-Lance Hill[7]; 5. 23-Nick Ryder[12]; 6. 48-Chayton Young[13]; 7. 27R-Rusty Baumes[2]; 8. 4-Zach McSpirit[1]; 9. 24-Kirsten Swartz[9]; 10. 77K-Kathy Bellen[14]; 11. 11-Josh Persse[18]; 12. 4C-Cole Conrad[10]; 13. 32-Owen Mormile[11]; 14. 18-John West[5]; 15. 5S-Cameron Snell[3]; 16. 16-Andrew Millard[15]; 17. 16H-Dylan Hutson[16]; 18. 96B-Jimmy Beach[17]

 

Fonda Fair Four Cylinders

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 78D-Blake Smart[5]; 2. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[17]; 3. 126D-Nichole Decker[7]; 4. K1S-William Liberatore[21]; 5. 97JD-Jay Ingersoll[12]; 6. 244S-Dave Reedy[20]; 7. 420S-Tim Warner[19]; 8. 29JD-John Ray[6]; 9. 23D-Lucas Condon[13]; 10. 11D-Tomek Kowalczyk[8]; 11. 25S-ANTHONY POWERS[22]; 12. 47S-Bruce Liddle[18]; 13. 9D-David Frame[1]; 14. 57S-Jeremiah Paro[23]; 15. 12D-Len St Andrews[2]; 16. 212S-TJ Marlitt[15]; 17. 16JD-Jason Samrov Jr[4]; 18. I75D-Bubba Cook[9]; 19. 26D-Kendra St Andrews[10]; 20. 129D-Josh Reome[11]; 21. (DNS) 6D-Joshua Leonard; 22. (DNS) 191D-Chris Danylieko; 23. (DQ) 777S-Chris Hemstreet[16]

 

CRSA Sprint Cars

A Main (25 Laps): 1. 3A-Jeff Trombley[9]; 2. 29-Dalton Herrick[3]; 3. 2-Tomy Moreau[1]; 4. 2A-Dave Axton[6]; 5. 18-Timmy Lotz[10]; 6. 25G-Tyler Graves[20]; 7. 99K-Mike Kiser[19]; 8. 88C-Chad Miller[17]; 9. 27W-Nick Webb[5]; 10. 61-Johnny Scarborough[2]; 11. 5T-Mark Taylor[12]; 12. 31C-Maverick Coffey[11]; 13. 10SR-Paul Colagiovanni Sr[7]; 14. 30-Kirsten Dombroski[13]; 15. 55-Michael Hart[16]; 16. 21B-Blake Warner[8]; 17. D9-Dustin Sehn[14]; 18. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[18]; 19. (DNS) 28-Ron Greek; 20. (DNS) 3V-Zach Virkler