Yankowski takes win on Legends Night – 75th Anniversary Night at Fonda Speedway
COLUMN BY: Ron Szczerba – FONDA SPEEDWAY – FONDA, NY – Saturday evening at the “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway was a special evening for many reasons. Many racing legends that made the track famous were part of the 75th anniversary celebration, which featured an autograph session under the grandstands where a commemorative 75th poster designed by Jeff and Brittany Karabin of JK Signworks was signed.
Special thanks to Eric Mack for making the 75th anniversary celebration possible.
When the racing action took the green flag, Alex Yankowski made a move on his mentor and great friend Stewart Friesen on a restart in turn four with seven laps to go to take the win in the 30-lap Amsterdam Truck Center Modified feature.
The win came after a two position penalty for jumping a restart at the halfway point in the event but that didn’t deter what Yankowski set out to do, win the event. The win was Yankowski’s third career win at Fonda and his first of the 2026 season in the Wilcox Construction #84Y and it was worth $3,075.
“It definitely pissed me off,” Yankowski said in F.X. Caprara Car Companies victory lane about the penalty. “But these guys worked really hard to have a good show. I’m sure I’ll talk to the officials, and we’ll get on the same page. That’s the beauty of racing, the call puts you back, you get mad and try to make up for it. We’ll be here all year, so I just want to be clear on what we feel is fair.”
Brett Hearn, who was on hand for the 75th Anniversary celebration event, was up in the announcers tower with Fonda Speedway announcers Todd Morey and Mimi Lazzaro for both the Modified heat races and the feature event. After Yankowski’s win, Hearn paid the young driver a great compliment.
“Alex continued the great season he has had so far this year and kept his head together to come back after the penalty,” Hearn said. “I believe that Alex is the future of the sport.”
Other winners on Todd Cipperly Agency Legends – 75th Anniversary celebration night at Fonda were Chad Edwards (Swagger Factory Apparel Sportsman), Nick Stone (Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stocks), Nick Ryder (Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman), William Liberatore (SOHC) and Jay Ingersoll (DOHC) Four Cylinders,
The Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Series (MVVDMS) were also in action with Jimmy Fugel (Antiques), Anthony Cardamone (Modified), Don Briggs (Sportsman), Curtis Condon (Late Model), and Scot Straight (Mystiques) winning those events.
Jackson Gill and Stewart Friesen started the 30-lap Amsterdam Truck Center Modified feature on the front row with Friesen taking the lead at the drop of Joe Kriss’ green flag, After two consecutive cautions on lap two, Friesen led on the single file restart with Alex Yankowski gaining three positions on the restart after starting ninth on the field.
Friesen held a straightaway lead on lap six and was in lap traffic when the Yurkewecz Auto Crushers lap counter clicked on lap nine. At the halfway point, Friesen was the leader followed by Yankowski who was now second, Gill, Ronnie Johnson, and Jessica Friesen. Under the yellow flag on lap 15, Yankowski was penalized two positions for jumping a restart putting him back to the fourth position on the next restart.
The penalty did not deter Yankowski one bit as he was already back up to the second position two laps later. The lap times between Friesen and Yankowski were back and forth, with Friesen a half second faster at times and other times Yankowski ran a better lap. When Bobby Hackel IV brought out the final caution on lap 22, it closed up the field with Friesen taking the outside lane for the restart.
Coming out of turn four after the green flag flew on the backstretch restart, Yankowski used a slide job pass to nose out front of Friesen for the lead and pulled away as he was the fastest car on the track after taking the lead. Lap cars came into play with one lap remaining, but Yankowski had a big enough lead that they weren’t a factor as he went on for the win in the Wilcox Construction #84Y.
Stewart Friesen ended up second followed by Jack Lehner who moved into the third position on the last restart after starting fifth, Gill, and Jessica Friesen.
“Obviously I’m all too aggressive on the restarts because they do so much,” Yankowski said. “Thanks to all the fans, it is super cool, to get a win here is tough, tough to get here to victory lane especially with Stew. I hope that I cleared him there, it was pretty aggressive. He’s done a lot for me. Over the years I’ve seen him make up a lot of hay coming out of turn four, I’m just really proud. Hopefully, we can keep it going and get more wins.”
“It is tough here, a lot of good guys,” Yankowski continued to say. “That’s good old Fondega right there, you can rip the lip or throw it in on the bottom. We really enjoy coming here.”
Two early cautions slowed the field in the 25-lap Swagger Factory Apparel Sportsman event, the first for AJ Greco and Randy Cossleman in turn one followed by a red flag on lap two when Clayton DuMond, Mason Gray, and Cosselman wrecked in turn one, with Cosselman going over the wheel of Gray and ending up over the wall. All drivers were okay after the wreck.
When things finally settled down, John DuMond led the race with Brett Mortensen the new second place car after getting by Mathew Parry for the spot. After starting ninth, Chad Edwards was the new third place car as Mortensen started to pressure the leader by lap ten.
Three laps later the top three of DuMond, Mortensen, and Edwards were nose to tail racing for the top spot, which Edwards was able to get on lap 14 as he got by Mortensen first and then DuMond for the race lead. Edwards led the remaining laps for his first win of the season in the Kollar Motorsports #10%.
The front row of George Cushman and Jason Morrison ran the entire first lap of the 20-lap Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stock feature side by side with Cushman leading the first lap by a nose. When Cushman got out of shape in turn two on lap four, Morrison was the new race leader with Nick Stone the new second place car after he also got by Cushman.
The halfway point saw Morrison in the lead followed in the top five by Stone, Kenny Gates, Luke Horning, and Ivan Joslin. Morrison and Stone were side by side at the line to complete lap 12 with Stone leading by a nose at the completion of the lap. Stone led the remaining laps for his third win of the season and the 74th of his career in the division at Fonda in the Stone Motorsports #8N.
Gates ended up second followed in the top five by Morrison, Horning, and Joslin.
“We’re starting off good I guess,” Stone told Mimi Lazzaro in victory lane. “We’ve got a good car, we always have. We’ve got things figured out this year. The track crew, they did a heck of a job between the heats and features, giving us two lanes to work with where we could race side by side. Thanks to all my guys for getting the car back together after a jingle in the heat race and to Jamie for working the parts trailer while I am racing and working on the car.”
Zack McSpirit led the first three laps of the Montgomery County Office for Aging Limited Sportsman event with sixth place starter taking the lead away on lap four with a pass on the outside of turn three, Ryder had the dominant car and went on to his first career win in the division in the FPI Mechanical #23 over Cole Conrad, Lance Hill, John West, and Mike Hill.
“It is a cool thing to be here,” Ryder said after his first career win after a hard wreck started his season. “We had a good car tonight.”
Jay Ingersoll (DOHC) was the overall winner in the 12-lap Fonda Fair Four Cylinder event with William Liberatore the winner in the SOHC class after finishing second. The top five was completed by Dave Reedy, Chris Hall, and John Ray.
Next Saturday, June 20 will feature a regular show at Fonda on Parks Companies Night along with an Enduro. It will also be New York State Stock Car Association (NYSSCA) Night with monetary awards given out to members in all divisions.
If you are a race fan that gets to the track early, be sure to check out the history of the Fonda Speedway at 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!
Fonda Speedway weekly feature winners, their race teams, and sponsors are invited the following week to display their cars at the museum and watch their feature win on Flo before the races. The victorious car display can begin as early as 3:00, and you are welcome to arrive and stay as late as your schedule allows.
Please message the Fonda Speedway Hall of Fame and Museum Facebook page to RSVP or with any questions!
All Fonda Speedway events are broadcast LIVE on FloRacing (www.floracing.tv).
The “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway has hosted the best in stock car racing for 75 years. The speedway operates weekly on Saturday nights from April through August plus several special events. Fonda Speedway is located on the Montgomery County Fairgrounds off New York State Thruway Exit No. 28 at 21 S. Bridge Street Fonda, NY 12068.
Fonda Speedway is on the web at www.thefondaspeedway.com. To learn more, call the office at 518.915.4395, like Fonda Speedway on Facebook or follow the speedway on Twitter: @thefondaspdwy or Instagram: @fondaspeedway.
DATE – 6/13/2026 LEGENDS NIGHT – CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF THE FONDA SPEEDWAY
Amsterdam Truck Center Modifieds
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[9]; 2. 44-Stewart Friesen[2]; 3. 85-Jack Lehner[5]; 4. 06-Jackson Gill[1]; 5. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[6]; 6. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[4]; 7. 3D-Matt DeLorenzo[11]; 8. 1-Rocky Warner[3]; 9. 6B-Robert Bublak[19]; 10. 21C-Brian Calabrese[15]; 11. 93-Dave Constantino[8]; 12. 1G-Darwin Greene[7]; 13. 82S-Will Shields[17]; 14. 24-Dylan Madsen[16]; 15. 63-Chip Constantino[21]; 16. 76-Jamike Sowle[20]; 17. 71-Eric Mack[18]; 18. 19-Todd Ryan[26]; 19. 27-Jason Reome[24]; 20. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[10]; 21. 27J-Danny Johnson[22]; 22. B24-Brendan Gibbons[13]; 23. 24P-Brian Pessolano[14]; 24. 8M-Tim Mayne[23]; 25. 20C-Craig Hanson[12]; 26. 4-Cody Clark[25]
Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 10%-Chad Edwards[9]; 2. 1B-Brett Mortensen[5]; 3. 31J-John Dumond[2]; 4. 9G-Tyler Peet[12]; 5. 74-Matt Perry[1]; 6. 78-Tanner Warner[13]; 7. 2K-Mike Kalkbrenner[3]; 8. 25-Stephen Gray[11]; 9. 349-Garrett Chillot[10]; 10. 33M-Bodie Marks[8]; 11. 12AJ-AJ Greco[22]; 12. 44-Rocco Constantino[4]; 13. 70X-Josh Coonradt[23]; 14. 13J-Jim Mallia[19]; 15. 15-Greg Havlicek[17]; 16. 314-Clayton Dumond[16]; 17. 1H-Harry Shaffer[21]; 18. 66-Don Bellen[18]; 19. 12B-Tyler Bobar[6]; 20. 84-Ricky Quick[15]; 21. 1M-Mark Mortensen[25]; 22. 618-Bobby Rhinehardt[7]; 23. 7J-Dan Santabarbara[14]; 24. 26-Mason Gray[24]; 25. 5C-Randy Cosselman[20]
Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stocks
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 8N-Nick Stone[3]; 2. 35-Ken Gates[4]; 3. 715-Jason Morrison[2]; 4. 2H-Luke Horning[5]; 5. 49-Ivan Joslin[6]; 6. 13-George Cushman[1]; 7. 15-Beau Ballard[7]; 8. 7N-AJ Walters[8]; 9. 39-Hayleigh Gates[9]; 10. 81A-Michael Achzet[10]; 11. 62-Nick Danna[11]; 12. 1D-Nick Santuccione[13]; 13. 24N-Josh Samrov[12]; 14. 24V-Jason Samrov[14]; 15. 909-Kailey Jaycox[15]
Montgomery County Office for Aging Limited Sportsman
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 23-Nick Ryder[6]; 2. 4C-Cole Conrad[1]; 3. 22L-Lance Hill[7]; 4. 18-John West[4]; 5. 22M-Mike Hill[8]; 6. 7A-Steve Wagoner[9]; 7. 647-Brian Nelson[10]; 8. 24-Kirsten Swartz[11]; 9. 9J-James Galarneau[12]; 10. 77K-Kathy Bellen[13]; 11. 16H-Dylan Hutson[14]; 12. 11-Josh Persse[16]; 13. 96B-Jimmy Beach[15]; 14. 23Z-Zach Mecca[19]; 15. 4-Zach McSpirit[2]; 16. 27R-Rusty Baumes[3]; 17. 32-Owen Mormile[20]; 18. 48-Chayton Young[5]; 19. 16-Andrew Millard[17]; 20. 5S-Cameron Snell[18]
Fonda Fair Four Cylinders
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 97JD-Jay Ingersoll[10]; 2. K1S-William Liberatore[20]; 3. 244S-Dave Reedy[15]; 4. 4HD-Chris Hall[13]; 5. 29JD-John Ray[5]; 6. 11D-Tomek Kowalczyk[7]; 7. 78D-Blake Smart[11]; 8. 16JD-Jason Samrov Jr[4]; 9. 25S-ANTHONY POWERS[17]; 10. 51S-Keith Burkhart[21]; 11. 14S-Garrett Sieg[22]; 12. 212S-TJ Marlitt[14]; 13. 420S-Tim Warner[19]; 14. 23D-Lucas Condon[9]; 15. 12D-Len St Andrews[1]; 16. 6D-Joshua Leonard[2]; 17. 9D-David Frame[3]; 18. I75D-Bubba Cook[6]; 19. 126D-Nichole Decker[8]; 20. 8D-Stephen Burka[12]; 21. 47S-Bruce Liddle[16]; 22. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[18]
