RPW Exclusive: Stewart Friesen Was Unstoppable At Fonda Saturday; Amazing Week Of Racing Ahead

Column By: RAY ROGERS / RPW – FONDA, NY – Stewart Friesen was unstoppable at Fonda Saturday night, picking up win #7 of the season. Add to that word that a week of champions is set to kick off August 11th at the “Track of Champions” and you have what made for an exciting Saturday night at the speedway.

When I arrived at the Fonda last weekend, the place was abuzz with word that one of the seasons biggest events, “The Jack,” had been rescheduled. Later that evening, track promoter Pete Demitraszek confirmed to me that event had indeed been rescheduled for Monday, August 13. The Hondo Classic has also been rescheduled for that night as well as the Street Stock Challenge.

With that addition to the schedule on August 13th, fans will have the opportunity to catch four races in eight days at Fonda. It all kicks off with a regular Saturday night show for Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro Stocks, Limited Sportsman and Street Stocks this coming Saturday. Then on Monday, August 13th the much anticipated Jack Johnson tribute event. That will be a 100-lap Super DIRTcar Series race which will take over the famed half-mile. Who will take the checkers in this prestigious event and claim the 12th place starting spot for the main event at Super DIRT Week.

On August 15th, the speedway welcomes back The King of Dirt 358-Modified Series for a 40-lap 2,000-to-win feature event and The Crate 602 Granddaddy Sportsman Championship in honor of Brian Hanaburgh. All of this is leading up to a night of features on August 18th when the final points will be tallied and the champions will be crowned in all divisions.

This will surely be Fonda’s Week of Champions…one jam-packed period of racing that will have something for everyone. It’s going to be a great time for racing in the Mohawk Valley next week.

Now that all of that is out of the way, let’s take a look back at last week at the “Track of Champions.”

Hot laps and heat races got things going Saturday and the first qualifiers to roll away where Pro Stocks. Luke Horning and Kenny Gates each took those top spots with the Modifieds races going to Shaun Pangman, Stewart Friesen and Scott Huber. Sportsman heats went to David Manchester, Rick Quick and Mike Jackson while the Limited Sportsman heat winner was Michael McCallion.

Saturday’s Street Sock main event went to Jonny Young, who currently holds the point lead in the division. He was followed to the checkers by former Lebanon Valley racer Jeff Meltz Jr., Dave Horning Sr., Cliff Haslun, and Steven Young.

After a slow start, the Pro Stocks got things rolling for the next feature of the evening and once again the #35 of Kenny Gates would snatch the lead early and ran away from the rest of the field.

Nick Stone, behind the wheel of the Hoffman 8k, battled up front with Horning and Chuck Dumblewski until lap 10 when Josh Coonrandt would join the party. He was able to get past all three to secure the second spot but just could not catch Gates, who went on to collect his sixth win of the season. He now holds a 50-point lead going into the final night of points.

Coonrandt who currently sits second in points would finish in the runner-up spot followed to the line by Stone, Horning and Dumblewski.

The Modifieds fired next and as the field came to Joe Achzet’s green flag, all hell broke loose. Cars just started piling in at the entrance of turn one. Bobby Varin, Josh Hohenforst, Tim Fuller and Stewart Friesen were just a few of those involved, ut everyone walked away uninjured.

Once the speedway safety crew had everything cleaned up, things got rolling again. Unfortunately, many cars were unable to rejoin the field including Demetrios Drellos, Craig Hanson and defending track champion Tim Fuller.

Cody Bleau jumped out to the early race lead with Scott Huber moved into second after another quick caution.

By lap eight, Stewart Friesen, who suffered some minor front-end damage in the first lap melee but was able to rejoin the field, made his presence known. First moving past Huber and then Bleau on lap nine for the lead…yes, I said the lead in nine laps. Friesen then just powered away from the field once again leaving the race to be settled behind him.

Huber would regain the second spot and in the closing laps, Josh Hohenforst, who was behind the wheel of the Laudy Hoyenga back-up machine after engine problems sidelined his #6h, slipped past both Pangman & Bleau for the third spot.

In the end, however, it was Friesen as he wasn’t to be denied on this night. The Halmar #44 was followed by Huber, Hohenforst, Bleau, and Pangman.

Think about this. Stewart Friesen has completed a total of eight times this season at Fonda. Of those eight starts he has seven wins and one-second place finish. Can Stew shut out the invaders from the Super DIRTcar series on Monday for ‘the Jack’ or will a DIRTcar Series regular come into his home track and steal his thunder?

Charlie Tibbitts jumped out to the early lead in the Sportsman feature with Chad Edwards in hot pursuit. On lap eight, Edwards would get past Tibbitts and begin to pull away from the field. However two late race cautions regrouped the field with the hard-charging cars of Tony Farone, Nick Scavia and Brian Calabrese joining the two leaders.

The final caution would fly with one to go, but at the finish, it was Chad Edwards who would be the man in victory lane. Farone would have another great run finishing second and taking over the point lead in the process, by three markers, over Nick Scavia. Calabrese got to third with Scavia grabbing fourth and Tibbitts sliding back to fifth.

The Limited Sportsman closed out the night with 15 laps of action. Bill Port held off the charge from Derrick McGrew Jr. to score the win with Thomas VanVorst crossing the line third followed by Dylan Eldred and Cory White.

I headed down pit road after things wrapped up in search of Josh Hohenforst who seemed to be the story of the night.

Hohenforst started out the evening in his 6h machine but during his heat race, he would suffer engine troubles.

“I thought we were done,” he said.” Then Shaun Pangman came over and said they were gonna pull the 3j off the hauler and let you run it tonight.”

Both the Hoyenga and Hohenforst crews sprung into action swapping tires and strapping Josh into the seat.

“Once we started trashing, I forgot about our troubles and just went into race mode,” he said.

Hohenforst was involved in the opening lap pileup but suffered only minor sheet metal damage. His solid performance in the Hoyenga back-up car, finishing third, was enough for him to wrangle the points lead back in the Modified division. Bobby Varin sits just 10 points behind heading into the final two races of the season.

It’s shaping up to be a real barn burner of a points race at the Track of Champions. Can the young buck Hohenforst hold off one of the track’s all-time best wheelmen Varin and put his name in the record books, or will the veteran show the young up and coming star the way to the finish line?

Don’t forget folks. The Fonda Speedway Hall of Fame and Museum is open every race day, including special events, all season so make sure you stop by and check things out. If you make it to any of the four races next week, be sure to help support the museum during your visit to Fonda.

I am really looking forward to all the upcoming events at “The Track of Champions.” It’s going to be great to be a race fan in the Mohawk Valley and I hope to see you all there!