Jeremy Wilder Brought Friday Night Momentum To Fonda Saturday
-Column By: RAY ROGERS / RPW – FONDA, NY – It seems that every generation witnesses greatness. Last Wednesday, we celebrated the career of the great Jack Johnson at the Fonda Speedway. The fans were out in full force, showing the orange in full support of the now-retired veteran who amassed 427 career Modified wins and is Fonda’s all-time Modified wins leader.
On Friday, this generation was once again reminded of greatness when Brett Hearn hit the 900 career win mark at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. That’s a feat that may never be surpassed. Congratulations to “the Corporate Jet” for breaking another barrier.
On Saturday, as I made my way around the grounds at Fonda, I realized that the place still had that “festive” feel leftover from Wednesday. I began to wonder if we will be witnessing greatness in the next few weeks.
With only three points races left in the season, who will be claiming the Modified title at the ‘Track of Champions.’ Can Tim Fuller hold on to the top spot or will one of the Fonda veterans snatch the championship away?
I then got to my seat and settled down for the night and prepared to watch the heat races. The Pro Stock winners were AJ Walters, Chuck Dumblewski and Nick Stone. Modified heats went to Bob Vedder, Jeremy Wilder and Ryan Odasz while the Sportsman qualifiers went to Tim Hartman Jr, Harry Shaffer and Cody Clark.
Saturday’s Street Stock feature went off first and Ellis Shaffer claimed the top spot. William August took the checkers in the Novice Sportsman and the 4-Cylinder feature went to Ben Righi.
The Pro Stocks took to the well-groomed speedway next and Nick Stone went on to collect his second win of the week at Fonda. He won the Hondo Classic on Wednesday as well. On Saturday, he was followed to the line by AJ Walters, Jim Normoyle, Kenny Gates and the “Wild Thing,” Frank Twing.
The mighty Modifieds took center stage next and Jeremy Wilder brought some of his Friday night momentum to the ‘Track of Champions.’ He ran his family-owned #22j during the night and scored his second win of the season.
Bobby Varin was second and silently climbed a little in the point standings. Stewart Friesen is still in the hunt for the title and took home a third place finish. Point leader Tim Fuller was fourth and Ronnie Johnson, the defending champion, finished fifth.
Cody Clark is not going down with out a fight int he Sportsman points battle, scoring his third win of the season on Saturday. Current point leader Rocky Warner was a solid second with Chad Edwards, Tony Farone and Harry Shaffer rounding out the top five.
As I made my way thru the pit area I caught up with Cody.
“We’ve been good all season long, but I think we found something,” he said. “We just never give up and it’s paying off.”
Cody also thanked his folks and crew for all their support.
As I strolled up to Nick Stone’s trailer, the Pro Stock winner was very upbeat. He recently hung a new white body on the 27 now has picked up two wins in one week.
“That’s what happens when I have some help,” he said with a laugh. “It’s nice to have some help around the shop. That’s all it took.”
After chatting with Nick, I made the long haul to the front gate. On my way, as I often do, I stopped at the turn four bleachers and pondered, can Stewart Friesen once again turn up the wick and claim his fifth championship? Can first year regular Tim Fuller have his roof hung in the Fonda Speedway Museum in lights, or will we witness greatness from a crafty Fonda veteran like Bobby Varin or Ronnie Johnson?
You will just have to be there to find out. Racing starts at 7pm and this week, the Empire Super Sprints will be on hand along with all weekly divisions. Hope to see you there!!!
