Short Track Super Series’ Back With $10,000-To-Win Firecracker 50 Sunday At Fonda

Story By: CHRIS MOORE / SHORT TRACK SUPER SERIES – FONDA, NY – The Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco is back.

After a quiet month of June, the month of July kicks off with a $10,000-to-win ‘bang’ on Independence Day at Fonda Speedway.

The big-block/small-block Modifieds of the STSS will race for 50 laps around the historic ‘Track of Champions’ on Sunday, July 4 in the third annual Fuccillo Autoplex of Nelliston ‘Firecracker 50.’

A $32,770 total purse is up for grabs, with several other bonuses and certificates on the line for competitors in what has become one of the ‘crown-jewel’ events of the STSS.

The ‘Firecracker 50’ will serve as the fourth round of the Hurlock Auto & Speed North Region $12,000 championship chase.

In each of the past two seasons, Sprakers, N.Y.’s Stewart Friesen has taken the checkered and the accompanying $10,000 payday to go with it.

Friesen’s 2019 triumph came in dramatic fashion, with a last-lap, last-turn pass of Savannah, N.Y.’s Matt Sheppard to claim the first ever ‘Firecracker 50’ for the STSS.

Friesen passed a strong-running Adam McAuliffe at the midway point last July and never looked back.

This year, Friesen again enters the weekend as the heavy favorite, having won seven of his eight Fonda Speedway appearances in 2021.

Middletown, N.Y.’s Anthony Perrego and Kings Ferry, N.Y.’s Mike Mahaney and Sheppard have set the pace on the STSS tour in 2021, occupying the top-three spots in both the North and South Regions.

In North Region competition, Perrego holds a one-point advantage over Mahaney, with Sheppard just 14-points off Perrego’s pace.

Also on the card, the Crate 602 Sportsman will race in round No. 2 of the Precision Hydraulic & Oil North Region. The Sportsman race for 25-laps in a $2,000-to-win feature event.

The North Region Crate 602 Sportsman last ran on May 11 at the ‘Battle of the Bullring’ at Accord Speedway.

A huge fireworks display will cap off the Fourth of July spectacular.

For the July 4 event, all gates open at 4 p.m. Hot laps begin at 6 p.m. with racing following at 7 p.m.

Adult grandstand admission is $24 and $22 for Seniors (ages 65 and over). Kids 11 and under get in FREE.

Pit Admission is $35 for Non-Members and $30 for Fonda Speedway Members.