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SPRAKER RACING SWEEPS FONDA EVENTS FOR THE SECOND TIME IN 2016

Story By: RON SZCZERBA / FONDA SPEEDWAY MEDIA          Photos By:RACERSGUIDE.COM PHOTO STAFF

1-IMG_8761-X3Fonda, NY –July 17, 2016- On the second week of racing in 2016 at the “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway, the Jake & Nancy Spraker owned cars swept feature events in both the modified and sportsman divisions. Last Saturday evening they did it again with Ronnie Johnson and Rocky Warner sweeping events in their respective divisions

For Johnson in the modified division it was his fourth win of the season and the 29th of his career at Fonda while for Warner in the sportsman division it was his third win of the season and the 16th of his career in the division placing him on top of the all-time win list in that class.

In other divisions on Saturday the winners were David Manchester (rookie sportsman), Nick Stone in the Hondo Classic for pro stocks, Josh Coonradt (street stock), and in a special “Bill Ag” Elimination race for the modifieds Johnson took home a total of $2037 after winning all five elimination match races vs. his other competitors.

The “Bill Ag” event was the first main event on the schedule with a total of $2037 on the line for the top five drivers in the modified point standings which were in no specific order Bobby Varin, Johnson, Jeremy Wilder, Josh Hohenforst, and Danny Johnson with the driver chosen by a random draw being Justin Boehler. Danny Johnson opted out of the event allowing Jessey Mueller to compete in his place.

Ronnie Johnson and Mueller drew to complete in the first two lap elimination race with Johnson the winner. Johnson chose both his lane to start the races on and his next competitor which was Hohenforst. Race after race Johnson chose the inside line to defeat his competitors one by one with victories over Boehler, Wilder, and Varin to follow as he swept all of the $2037 in prize money.

The event was held in honor of the late Bill Anagnostopulos who was the owner of the Winners Circle, a restaurant in Fonda where many drivers and fans frequent after the races on Saturday evening. Dirt Track Digest owners George Smith, GT Smith, and Mike Mallett spearheaded the event with Scott Friers also heavily involved.

Sponsors who came on board to sponsor prize money for the event along with Dirt Track Digest included Michael Jackson/Sign Action Productions, Chrissy Anagnostopulos, Tadd Parks, Eric & Sherry Gifford, Harry & Shelly Shaffer, Camp Can Opener (Pat Rose, Bill Rose, James Yesse, Brad Scanlon, and Chris Brown), Greg Duesler of Trackside Auto Body, Fonda Speedway, and Ed & Betty Biittig.

FON_3939b-XLPep Corradi led early at the drop of Joe Kriss’ green flag to start the 35-lap modified feature but by the time lap one was completed fourth place starter Darwin Greene was the race leader. Corradi’s night came to an end way to early as he came to a stop in turn four on lap two and was done for the night while running second.

Greene held the lead on the restart and by lap six he had already built up a straightaway advantage over the second place car of Mark Kislowski who was followed at that point by Jeff Rockefeller, Ronnie Johnson who started 10th, and seventh place starter Josh Hohenforst. While Greene was in lap traffic on lap 13, Johnson had made his way by Kislowski for the second spot.

Greene was a straightaway ahead of Johnson at that point but when the yellow came out on lap 17 it brought the field back to Greene for the restart. Greene maintained the lead on the restart with the top five at the halfway point consisting of Greene, Johnson, Kislowski, ninth place starter Jeremy Wilder, and Hohenforst. Greene was using the extreme outside of the track to maintain the lead with Johnson fishing around in different grooves on the track to find a way to overtake the leader.

Johnson tried to go down low under Greene many times in the turns to no avail and then decided to track Greene’s every move for a couple of laps to see exactly where Greene was running on the track. On lap 23 Johnson made his move to the inside of Greene and as the lap was completed Johnson was the new race leader.

FON_0596b-LJohnson and Greene stayed side by side for one more lap before Johnson finally cleared Greene for good for the lead. Johnson held a straightaway lead on lap 27 and was in lap traffic but his car was so good that it didn’t matter as he went on to an easy victory over Greene, Wilder, Kislowski, and Hohenforst.

“My race car was very fast tonight,” Johnson told Ed Biittig Sr. in victory lane. “And tonight the race track was good enough to be able to show just how good it was. When we started the season Jake and Nancy gave me the best race car that money could buy and the best car that I have had at Fonda in many years. I want to thank all of my fans and I am very proud to be in victory lane here at the Fonda Speedway.”

The 25-lap sportsman feature started out slow with three yellow flags slowing the event in the first three laps. The first caution was for a wreck in turn three involving John McAuliffe, Brian Calabrese, Chad Edwards, Mark Mortensen, Nick Scavia, and others with McAuliffe, and Scavia done for the night at that point. The other two cautions were for Tony Farone and Aaron Burton who came to a stop on track with Burton able to continue on.

At that point after the three early cautions, race director Joe Achzet had seen enough and ordered a single file restart with outside pole position starter Chris Curtis the race leader as the green flag flew again. With all of the caution flags that flew, 13th place starter Rocky Warner had worked his way up to the second position on lap four as he began to pressure Curtis for the lead.

Warner got around the outside of Curtis in turns one and two on lap six to take the lead and from that point on he stretched out his advantage to a straightaway which is the margin he would win the event by over the top five of Curtis, 14th place starter JaMike Sowle, sixth place starter Dan Santabarbara, and fifth place starter Chris Schaffer.

FON_4017b-XL“Having two lanes to race on tonight was very beneficial for us,” Warner said in victory lane. “We made some changes to the car this week and the car and the track both came to us. Even though our car has been good this year we are always trying to get faster.”

Saturday evening was also tribute to the Romano’s Night honoring Andy, Mike, and AJ with Warner saying this after his win: “The Romano’s were my heroes growing up and it is an honor to win here at Fonda on their night”

David Manchester led all 12 laps of the rookie sportsman feature to take his first career win in the division over Josh Neal, Mike Peek, Bobby Gage, and Kaydon Hohensheldt.

The 11th Annual Hondo Classic in honor of the late Hondo Carpenter was a 29-lap event with a 30 car starting field taking honorary starter Joe Achzet’s green flag. Before the green flag flew however a four wide salute to Hondo was done by the starting field while Hondo’s favorite song “Thunderstruck” was played over the sound system and purple and gold balloons were released in the air.

Outside pole sitter Frank Twing took the early lead while fourth place starter Luke Horning made his way up to the second position on lap four. A yellow flag on lap six slowed the field with Tom Denton the new second place car on the restart while Horning, Bill Knapp, and Chuck Dumblewski who started 12th now in the top five.

Another restart after a lap eight caution put Horning back into the second position and he pressured Twing heavily until lap 10 when Horning made his move on the inside of turn two to take the lead over Twing. Two more yellow flags flew on laps 11 and 12 and on the last restart Dumblewski was the new second place car and looked to be one of the quickest cars on the track.

At the halfway point in the event Horning was the leader followed by Dumblewski, 10th place starter Pete Broderson, seventh place starter Nick Stone, and Denton. The yellow flag was out again on lap 17 and under this caution Dumblewski was being pushed down the old drag strip in the middle of the track after mechanical issues took him out of the event.

FON_4058b-XLStone made the most of the restart as he moved up to the second position past Broderson and on lap 18 Stone got by Horning for the lead on the outside of turn four. Horning was trying so hard to get back by Stone for the lead that he almost spun himself out going into turns one and two on lap 22 after throwing his car hard in the turns to try to get underneath Stone for the lead. Horning somehow straightened himself out and continued on.

One final caution on lap 27 took away the straightaway lead that Stone had built up and set up a fantastic two lap dash to the checkered flag. Horning took the lead back on the restart but on the final lap Stone got a run on the inside of Horning going down the backstretch and by the time they approached turns three and four Stone was the leader and went on for the win while Horning dropped all the way back to fifth.

Broderson ended up second while 18th place starter Kenny Gates was third and Denton fourth following Stone across the finish line.

It was Stone’s third win in the “Hondo Classic” event after also winning the event back in 2007 & 2008.

“I miss racing weekly here at the Fonda Speedway,” Stone said as he is not a regular at the track in 2016. “I just wanted to go out there and try other stuff at other tracks which is actually good for my pro stock chassis building business. The track was actually good tonight and gave us something to work with. You don’t have to have the best car when the track is like this.”

Hondo Classic event organizer Kelley Keefe who along with her daughter Kaitlyn puts on the event said afterwards: “It is a labor of love putting on this event in honor of Hondo.”

Jason Samrov led the first eight laps of the 12-lap street stock event until seventh place starter Josh Coonradt took over the lead on lap nine. Coonradt went on to his ninth win of the season and the 12th of his career at Fonda in just two short seasons over Bill Yager, Jerry Cohn, Johnny Young, and Dave Horning Sr.

Action continues at Fonda on Saturday, July 23 with a regular show in all division on Dave Camara Tribute Night! A regular show in all divisions is on the racing card which will begin at 7:30 p.m. The Fonda Speedway Museum will also be open from 3:00 p.m. up until race time with displays honoring Camara for his achievements at the “Track of Champions”.

It will also be Autograph Night and a Hot Rod Show will also be held on the grounds starting at 12 noon! For more information about the Fonda Speedway you can go to www.fondaspeedway.com

MODIFIED FEATURE – 35-LAPS – RONNIE JOHNSON, Darwin Greene, Jeremy Wilder, Mark Kislowski, Josh Hohenforst, Jessey Mueller, Bodie Bellinger, Bobby Varin, Jeff Rockefeller, Danny Johnson, Justin Boehler, Scott Huber, Kenny Sparks, Ed Harris, Craig Hanson, Jeff Holt, Pep Corradi, Korey Wilder DNS, Troy Palmer DNS

SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 25-LAPS – ROCKY WARNER, Chris Curtis, JaMike Sowle, Dan Santabarbara, Chris Schaffer, Adam McAuliffe, Chad Edwards, Dave Constantino, Tim Hartman Jr., Jack Lehner, Brian Pessolano, Ray Zemken, Aaron Burton, Ricky Quick, Kurtis Hohensheldt, Doug Hancock, Josh DeMagistris, Jason Greco, Harry Shaffer, David Manchester, Mark Mortensen, Tony Farone, James Introne Jr., Brian Calabrese, Doug Flynn, Nick Scavia, John McAuliffe, Billy Gray

ROOKIE SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 12-LAPS – DAVID MANCHESTER, Josh Neal, Mike Peek, Bobby Gage, Kaydon Hohensheldt, Travis Billington, Chris Kugler

PRO STOCK FEATURE “HONDO CLASSIC” – 29-LAPS – NICK STONE, Pete Broderson, Kenny Gates, Tom Denton, Luke Horning, Jason Casey, Shane Henderson, Frank Twing, Dan Older, Robbie Speed, Jay Casey, James Normoyle Jr., AJ Walters, Jeff McPhail, Danny Wood, Gus Hollner, Cassidy Wilson, Don Kennedy, Randy Cosselman, Jamie Warner, Dennis Joslin, Ivan Joslin, Chuck Dumblewski, Jim Normoyle, Jim Morrison, Rob VanAernam, Justin Knight, Adam Warner, Bill Knapp, Walt Brownell

STREET STOCK FEATURE – 12-LAPS – JOSH COONRADT, Bill Yager, Jerry Cohn, Johnny Young, Dave Horning Sr., Jason Samrov, Steve Cosselman, Jim Groncki DNS

 

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