RPW Column: Roger Henion Jr. Races To First-Ever 358-Modified Win At Orange County

Column By: MIKE TRAVERSE / RPW – MIDDLETOWN, NY – As drivers, owners, crew and fans all started looking at the weekend forecast early this past week, there seemed to be little hope for any racing at the Orange County Fair Speedway on Saturday.

All the metro NY weather forecasters and weather apps painted a pretty bleak outlook for Saturday.

But as Saturday grew closer, it started to look like there might be a slight possibility of some late day clearing and a possible window for racing. OCFS officials decided to wait it out and even with rain not stopping until around 4pm Saturday, the speedway moved ahead with the racing program and the track crew did a great job with the surface.

And it was Roger Henion Jr. who took advantage of this kind of unexpected night of racing as he drove his #19JR to his first ever H.O. Penn 358 Small Block win over Allison Ricci and Jimmy Spellmon. Henion Jr. made $3,000 for his 30 lap victory.

Chris Shultz and Chris Stevens made up the front row as the green flag flew. Shultz jumped out to the lead and with Stevens, they ran 1-2 for the first 13 laps while Henion Jr., Ricci and Spellmon were working their way forward. Allison moved into 3rd on lap 8, passing Mike Kolka. Henion Jr. dropped some spots at the start, but he was on the move quickly, racing from his 9th starting spot to 6th by lap 7. He took 5th on lap 10. When Ricci passed Stevens for 2nd on lap 14, Roger moved into 3rd the same lap. Ricci was pressuring Shultz for the lead when the first caution flag of the race flew on lap 16 for a wheel coming loose on Charlie Loiodice’s car.

On the restart, Shultz held onto the lead, but the red flag flew before the lap was scored. Ryan McCartney and Gary Edwards Jr. crashed hard going into turn 3 with Edwards Jr. ending up on his side. It was the 2nd rough crash of the night for Edwards Jr. as he had an earlier roll over in the Sportsman feature. On the next restart, Shultz maintained the lead with Henion Jr. moving to 2nd. Henion Jr. passed Shultz on lap 18 to take the lead. Both Ricci and Spellmon passed Shultz on lap 21 to take 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Once out front, Henion Jr. stretched the lead over Ricci who lengthened her advantage over Spellmon. Anthony Perrego was tied up in traffic early on in the race, but made it into the top 5 by lap 20 and he passed Shultz for 4th on lap 24. The laps ran out as Henion Jr. took the win by 3 1/2 seconds over Ricci with Spellmon 3rd, Perrego 4th and Shultz 5th. Kolka was 6th, with Tyler Boniface racing from 20th starting spot to finish 7th. Stevens was 8th, Leo Fotopoulos 9th and Danny Creeden 10th.

Henion Jr,’s win was at a most opportune time as the night’s events were co-sponsored by his main sponsor, Interstate Batteries of Goshen. Texas Roadhouse was also sponsoring the racing on this Saturday night.

“I still can’t believe I won,” said Roger in Victory Lane. “I have to thank my crew and everybody who came out tonight. I have to thank all my sponsors, my mom and my grandmother who cheer me on every weekend. We didn’t make any changes after the heat, we just got faster. Hopefully, the track stays like this. I thank everyone who comes out to support me every week. To win on Interstate Batteries night is awesome for Jeff (Desharnais). We needed this.”

Earlier heat races were won by Henion Jr, Spellmon. Rich Eurich and Perrego. John Lieto won the consi.

Josh Allen has shown tremendous speed throughout the early 2021 season, but circumstances had kept him from getting the good finishes that would reflect the speed he was showing. But the 14 year old put it all together Saturday night as he raced to a dominating win in the Arkel Motors 20 lap Sportsman feature.

Ryan Walther and Dylan Smith made up the front row as the feature got underway. Walther raced out to the lead as Allen quickly moved up from 8th starting spot to take 2nd by lap 3. Allen started moving in on Walther and he made the pass of Ryan on lap 7th. Caution flew on lap 9 for Trevor Arnold in the 4th turn. Jared LaBagh and Tighe Sherlock pitted at this caution. LaBagh returned, Sherlock did not.

A red flag ensued on the restart as Bobby Waters spun and Gary Edwards Jr did a slow roll over. Both second in points, Joey Bruning and third in points Joe Bonetti were also involved and retired to the pits. No injuries reported. The halfway top 5 were Allen, Walther, Ryan Neiger, Bobby Flood and Charles Loiodice.

With 5 to go, Flood brought out the caution with a flat. A crash coming out of turn 4 brought out the red flag with Frank Frasco flipping and landing on Jake Bedell’s car. Jason Armstrong was also heavily damaged. Fortunately, there were no injuries reported.

The final laps ran out with Ryan Neiger passing Walther for 3rd. Labagh had raced back into the top 5 after his earlier pit stop and Jeff Hulseapple was doing like he has done all season, racing his was from deep in the pack up to 6th. At the finish, it was Allen for the win by 2 1/2 seconds over Neiger. Walther crossed the finish line in 3rd. but an issue in tech disqualified him. LaBagh credited with 3rd with Kevin Stevens 4th and Hulseapple made it 6 for 6 in the top 5 with his 5th place finish. Rounding out the top 10 were Loiodice, Flood, Aidan Elliott, John Bockhorn and Everett Haubrich.

“We had a really good car, we finally figured it out,” Allen said. “I’ve had too much trouble the last couple of weeks. I just wanted to keep the tires warm, but those red flags came out. But we got good restarts.”

Preliminary action saw heat wins for Bedell, Bruning, LaBagh and Allen. Cody Higbie won the consi.

In the Precision Hydraulic and Oil Rookie Sportsman 15 lap feature, it was The Deerpark Diva, Isabella Van Orden, racing her way to her first ever OCFS win. She was extremely fast, setting fast time in both Rookie practice sessions and and the feature. In fact, OCFS announcer Tim Pitts noted in Victory Lane that Isabella’s fast lap was faster than the fast lap in the Sportsman feature. It’s just is a glimpse into the talent and speed her team is developing as she will make her move into the regular Sportsman division in late June.

Alyssa Fogel and Joey Minette were the front row as the feature got underway. Minette led the first 2 laps with Bob Jashembowski taking the lead on lap 3. Mark Connoly had a spin after 3 were down which brought out the yellow. Van Orden quickly took the lead on the restart and pulled out to a comfortable lead.

Dylan Madsen moved into 3rd on lap 7 and passed Jashembowski for 2nd on lap 9. With 4 to go, caution waved. Brett Weslowski passed Jashembowski for 3rd on lap 12. Even though Madsen kept it close, Van Orden was far too fast to be passed and she took the checkered 1/2 second over Madsen with Weslowski 3rd, Jashembowski 4th and Tyler Banks 5th. Finishing 6th through 10th were Michael Giuliano, Alan Cote, Nick Giardini, Minette and John Farrissier.

“I just can’t thank everyone enough. My father, I couldn’t do it without him,” Isabella said. “The late nights in the shop, we all work together, it’s just amazing, I can’t thank everybody enough. This car was unreal tonight.”

It is amazing that OCFS got this night of racing in. A credit to the staff and track crew for all their hard work in putting on a very good night of racing.

There were many additions made to the purses in the Joey Falanga Memorial Race last week. I tried to mention them all, but I missed a some people that deserve credit for what they did to enhance last week’s event.

Richard Burrows Trucking added money to the top finishers in the Big Block Race. Kim Forcellina and Danny Carlough added to the Street Stock race. Well done by Richard, Kim and Danny.

Racing returns to OCFS on May 15th with the H.O. Penn 358 Small Blocks, Arkel Motors Sportsman and NAPA North East Parts Group Street Stocks on the schedule.