Ronnie Johnson Takes His 2nd Fonda Speedway Modified Championship
RJ CLAIMS FEATURE WIN AND SECOND CAREER CHAMPIONSHIP AT FONDA
Story By: RON SZCZERBA / FONDA SPEEDWAY MEDIA
Photos By: RACERSGUIDECOM PHOTO STAFF
Fonda, NY –August 21, 2016- The hype and pressure of “Championship night” were evident at Fonda on Saturday evening with drivers in the point battle looking to put an exclamation point on the 2016 season with a championship. Coming in to the night, Rocky Warner (sportsman), Kenny Gates (pro stock), and Josh Coonradt (street stock) had already sewed up their track championships but the other divisions were close enough that anything could happen.
At the completion of the 50-lap, $2,527 to win Harry Peek Tribute feature event it was Ronnie Johnson who not only claimed the feature win but also his second career championship after winning it back in 2011. The win and championship came in the Jake & Nancy Spraker owned #1RJ who also were the car owners of the sportsman track championship car driven by Rocky Warner.
“I couldn’t be prouder of this Jake & Nancy Spraker owned race team,” Johnson told Paul Szmal in victory lane while celebrating the feature win and the championship. “My crew worked hard on this car all week and Jake & Nancy have rejuvenated my career and gave me everything I could ever ask for so I didn’t want to let anyone down.”
Other winners on Saturday evening at Fonda were John McAuliffe (sportsman), David Manchester (rookie sportsman), Kenny Gates (pro stock), and Josh Coonradt (street stock).
Celebrating championships for 2016 besides Johnson were Rocky Warner who is now a three time champion in the sportsman division with three consecutive championships coming in 2014, 2015, & 2016; David Manchester who was a first time champion in the rookie sportsman division in 2016, Kenny Gates who is now a five time champion with championships in 2004, co-champion in 2007, 2008, 2009, & 2016; and Josh Coonradt who was a first time champion in 2016.
The 50-lap Harry Peek tribute feature was paced at the start by one of Peek’s #27 coupes and when Joe Kriss threw the green flag to start the event it was Troy Palmer leading from his pole starting spot. When Jeff Rockefeller spun in between turns one and two just after the event had started the yellow came out with Palmer leading the way again on the restart.
Ronnie Johnson started the event in the eighth position and moved all the way to second by the time lap one was completed. On lap two Palmer and Johnson came to the start/finish line side by side with Johnson leading the lap by a nose. By lap four Johnson held a straightaway advantage over the new second place car of Bobby Varin with another yellow flag out on lap six.
On this restart 10th place starter Danny Johnson and ninth place starter Jeremy Wilder moved into the third and fourth positions respectively before another caution on lap 13 for Josh Hohenforst who slowed on the backstretch. He would go to the hot pit area and return to the rear of the field for the restart.
Danny Johnson and Wilder were having a see saw battle for the third position as they swapped the spot many times before the caution was out again on lap 17 for Bodie Bellinger who spun on the backstretch and was facing traffic with the field bearing down on him but everyone did a great job with no other cars coming in contact with Bellinger. He would pit for a new tire and restart at the rear of the field.
At the halfway point in the event Ronnie Johnson held a commanding lead over Varin, Wilder, Danny Johnson, and 16th place starter Jessey Mueller now in the top five. Ronnie Johnson was in lap traffic on lap 27 but one lap later the caution was out again for Mueller who came to a stop in turn four while running fifth. He would go to the hot pit area and return to the rear of the field for the restart.
Wilder had a terrible restart, falling back to fifth just before slowing in between turns one and two bringing out yet another caution. Wilder would drive to the hot pit area for attention from his crew and restart at the rear of the field.
On this restart Varin stayed close behind Ronnie Johnson and wasn’t letting him get away as he had done on the other restarts. Varin seemed to be better in the turns late in the event while Ronnie Johnson was faster in the straightaways as the battle for the track championship came down to the wire.
With five laps to go in the event Varin began to slow on the track allowing Ronnie Johnson to stretch out his advantage and as the checkered flag flew Fonda announcing legend Jim King said “RJ is on the way” a statement that King has used for many years at Fonda.
Johnson crossed the line first for his fifth win of the season and the 30th of his career at Fonda over Hohenforst who came all the way back up through the field after his flat tire to take the second position on the final lap, Danny Johnson, Bellinger who also made his way back to the front after his spin, and Craig Hanson. Varin unfortunately fell back to 10th in the finishing order.
“There was a lot of pressure tonight, Jeremy (Wilder) and Bobby (Varin) are both so good,” Johnson said in victory lane. “We left nothing on the table tonight but towards the end of the race I started getting loose and really had to search around a little bit to find a line on the track that worked for me.”
John McAuliffe started the sportsman feature on the pole position, took the lead at the drop of the green flag and was never seriously challenged in the event on his way to his third win of the season and the eighth of his career in the division in the McAuliffe Trucking #23. The racing behind him was great however as fourth and fifth place starters Harry Shaffer and Mark Mortensen battled for most of the feature event for the third spot.
As McAuliffe held a straightaway lead by lap four, Shaffer and Mortensen started their battle with a clean side by side battle with Mortensen originally getting by Shaffer for the first time on lap 10. Shaffer would reclaim the spot on lap 15 only to have Mortensen regain it three laps later. Brian Calabrese was in the second position for the entire race as McAuliffe went on for the win followed by Calabrese, Mortensen, 13th place starter and 2016 champion Rocky Warner, and 10th place starter Chad Edwards.
“There was a lot of bite on the bottom tonight so I just stayed there,” McAuliffe said after the win. “I was using all the brown that I could find running over tires and everything else.”
“I’m the only champion that didn’t win his feature tonight,” Warner said with a laugh in victory lane as he celebrated his championship. “We had a real good car tonight and I have to thank my crew for that. It fired off at the end but by then it was a little too late.”
Tyler Bobar would cross the finish line first at the conclusion of the 12-lap rookie sportsman event only to be disqualified in post-race inspection for being light on the scales. David Manchester was declared the winner of the event after the disqualification and was followed in the top five by Travis Billington, Josh Neal, Mike Peek, and Kyle Gray. Kaydon Hohensheldt was the actual fourth place finisher before he was also disqualified for being light at the scales.
The pro stock feature began with an eight car pileup in turn four followed by Justin Knight taking the lead on the original restart with sixth place starter Kenny Gates in second and seventh place starter Luke Horning in third. Gates took the lead on a lap four restart and never looked back as he maintained a straightaway lead for most of the event as Horning and ninth place starter Chuck Dumblewski battled for the second spot.
Gates went on for his fifth win of the season and the 63rd of his career in the division over Horning, Dumblewski, 11th place starter Pete Broderson, and Knight.
“I wanted to finish strong tonight and it was a relief to be leading the points by enough of a margin that I could just go for the win,” Gates said in victory lane. “Once I missed that big wreck on the first lap I was aggressive and raced hard after that for the win.”
Josh Coonradt continued his dominance of the street stock division as he took the lead on lap 13 of the 15-lap feature and went on to his 12th win of the season and the 15th of his career in the division in just two seasons at the track. Johnny Young, Cliff Haslun, Ellis Shaffer, and Steve Cosselman completed the top five in the event.
The Fonda Speedway is now closed for the Fonda Fair with the next racing event coming on Saturday, September 17 with the running of the “Sowle Showdown” featuring triple 20 lap features in the modified, sportsman, and pro stock divisions.
News about the “Track of Champions” can be found by going to their website www.fondaspeedway.com
HARRY PEEK TRIBUTE MODIFIED FEATURE – 50-LAPS – RONNIE JOHNSON, Josh Hohenforst, Danny Johnson, Bodie Bellinger, Craig Hanson, Jessey Mueller, Jimmy Davis, Jeremy Wilder, Jeff Rockefeller, Bobby Varin, Darwin Greene, Korey Wilder, Ed Harris, Mike Maresca, Harry Shaffer, Kenny Sparks, Scott Huber, Troy Palmer, Mark Kislowski
A-VERDI SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 25-LAPS – JOHN MCAULIFFE, Brian Calabrese, Mark Mortensen, Rocky Warner, Chad Edwards, Brian Pessolano, Tim Hartman Jr., Billy Gray, Chris Schaffer, Dave Constantino, Aaron Burton, Josh DeMagistris, Jack Lehner, Jason Greco, AJ Filbeck, Don Bellen, Harry Shaffer, David Manchester, Nick Scavia, Kurtis Hohensheldt, Adam McAuliffe (DNS), Chris Curtis (DNS)
ROOKIE SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 12-LAPS – DAVID MANCHESTER, Travis Billington, Josh Neal, Mike Peek, Kyle Gray, Kathy Bellen, Tyler Bobar (DQ weight), Kaydon Hohensheldt (DQ weight)
PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-LAPS – KENNY GATES, Luke Horning, Chuck Dumblewski, Pete Broderson, Justin Knight, Shane Henderson, AJ Walters, Jay Casey, Dennis Joslin, Jim Normoyle, Cassidy Wilson, Ivan Joslin, Jeff McPhail, Jason Casey, Randy Cosselman, Malcum Warner, Jamie Warner, Jason Samrov, James Normoyle Jr., Frank Twing (DNS)
STREET STOCK FEATURE – 15-LAPS – JOSH COONRADT, Johnny Young, Cliff Haslun, Ellis Shaffer, Steve Cosselman, Jim Groncki, Robert Handy, Harold Chadderon, Ashley Celebucki, Jason Baird
