Those “Damn Kids” Have Gone And Done It Now
Column By: RAY ROGERS / RPW – FONDA, NY – Those Damn Kids have done it now. Stewart Friesen’s victory Saturday at Fonda Speedway officially marks the first Big Block win for a DKM Cyclone at the “Track of Champions”.
With a busy week of racing ahead, my lovely girlfriend demanded I spend some quality time with her, so, I dragged her to the races on Saturday night. Luckily, I have friends like Randy Colegrove who plays a huge role at the Fonda Speedway museum.
Randy, and his son Travis, along with the Lape family have done a super job acquiring memorabilia and putting artifacts on display for the fans to enjoy. They also made my girlfriend feel right at home and have even adopted her to be one of their own. That’s just another reason as to what makes the “Track of Champions” so special to me.
After spending some “quality” time with the “Friends of the Fonda Speedway,” it was time for some heat race action.
First to roll off were the Pro Stocks. Luke Horning, Chuck Dumblewski and Cassidy Wilson all took top spots.
Modifieds made the first of three appearances tonight and those winners were Josh Hohenforst and Bobby Varin.
Sportsman heats were claimed by Tim Hartman, Jr, Aaron Burton and Cody Clark.
The Limited Sportsman feature winner on Saturday was lady racer Kathy Bellen. Kathy stunned the boys again and brought the crowd to its feet with another win at the historic 1/2 mile oval this season.
The Cruiser feature went to Kerrie Hollenback.
Bill Ag Elimination race winners were:
Round 1) Tim Fuller over Stewart Friesen
Round 2) Tim Fuller over Jeremy Wilder
Round 3) Tim Fuller over Bobby Varin
Round 4) Tim Fuller over Josh Hoenforst
In the final round, Ronnie Johnson took some of what Dad taught him and stunned the fans with the upset over Fuller, keeping it locked to the bottom forcing Fuller to loose momentum coming off of three to claim the $$$ .
Chuck Dumblewski had his Camaro-bodied Pro Stock rolling well Saturday night, taking the checkers over Jason Casey, Luke Horning, Ivan Joslin, and Randy Cosselman.
As I stated in my opening paragraph, those Damn Kids finally did it, as Stewart Friesen brought the young chassis builder their first career Big Block win at the speedway. Friesen was followed by Elimination race winner Ronnie Johnson, Bobby Varin, Josh Hohenforst and Tim Fuller.
Second-generation driver Aaron Burton picked up his first win in the Sportsman division with Nick Scavia, Adam McAuliffe, Rocky Warner and Cody Clark rounding out the top five.
With a bit of convincing, my companion agreed to take a trip into the pit area after the races. Once she was under the wing of her Big Brother BOB, I slipped away to see the night’s Sportsman feature winner
When I got there, Aaron was clowning around with Modified driver Josh Hohenforst.
“You were the first person I saw coming off the track,” he said with a laugh. “It was awesome man.”
“You busted your cherry,” Hohenforst replied. “Congrats man.”
Hohenforst has been having a breakthrough season this year, with two wins already at Fonda and is looking forward to tonight’s Big Show at Malta.
Burton, on the other hand, had the surface figured out Saturday.
“I found some nice bite on the bottom, and if I stayed smooth, I had this one,” Burton said.
It was then that I starting to get the “eye” so it was time to head home.
Sunday started out on the lazy side with a quick storm soaking the Mohawk Valley around 2pm. I was starting to feel confident things would be just fine as the skies cleared. However, on my way up the Ridge, I noticed the sky becoming quite gray. Once we crested, ominous clouds were beginning to surround us, and after a quick trip through the pits, it began to rain
Good news for Glen Ridge fans, though. The pit area had a very healthy number of cars from every division…a new era at the little track on the hill is upon us and I think Ray Sefrin and Mike Parillo may be on to something up there. You may want to come check out the fastest 1/4 mile on dirt..
Racing Starts at 6 pm every Sunday night!
