SPECIAL VICTORY FOR VARIN AT FONDA
Story By: RON SZCZERBA / FONDA SPEEDWAY MEDIA Photos By:RACERSGUIDE.COM PHOTO STAFF
Fonda, NY –June 4, 2016- Every race car driver has a victory or victories that they call “special victories” during their racing careers. Last Saturday evening Bobby Varin scored his 53rd career win at the “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway moving him within one win of tying Kenny Shoemaker for fourth on the all-time win list. But in victory lane that wasn’t why Varin called it a “special win”, he called it a special win because it came on the night of a tribute to a special friend of his. That was Bill Wimble.
“Bill Wimble was a special friend of mine,” Varin told Paul Szmal in victory lane. “When he used to come up north from Florida every year he used to stop to see me in the pit area at Fonda and to win on his night holds a special place in my heart.”
The modified feature was checker flagged on lap “33” in honor of Wimble’s car number with the sportsman feature starting field joining the modifieds for a single file, final two laps of the event in honor of Wimble.
Other winners on C & C Plumbing & Heating Night were Tim Hartman Jr. (sportsman), Dave Block (rookie sportsman), Chuck Dumblewski (pro stock), and Josh Coonradt (street stock). C & C Plumbing & Heating who are the sponsors on the Chris Curtis #35 sportsman car added $50 to the purse for finishing positions two through five in the 25-lap sportsman feature event.
Jeff Rockefeller beat Vinnie Sanganetti to turn one after Joe Kriss’ green flag flew to start the 33-lap Bill Wimble Tribute event and by lap four fifth place starter Bobby Varin had already moved into the second position. Rockefeller and Varin quickly moved out to a full straightaway advantage of the third place car of Alton Palmer just before the first caution flag in the event came out.
The first of six caution flags in the event came out on lap five and on the restart 14th place starter Ronnie Johnson moved into the top five after going three wide around both Jeff Trombley and Bodie Bellinger for the position. Johnson moved by Bellinger for the fourth position on lap eight with a red flag to follow one lap later for Alton Palmer who crashed in turn four at the pit exit. Palmer was okay but was done for the night at that point.
On the restart the third place car of Danny Johnson got sideways in turn four but managed to straighten the car and kept going despite losing positions which placed him out of the top 10. Benefitting from that was Ronnie Johnson who moved up to third and on the next restart two laps later Ronnie Johnson moved into the second position behind Rockefeller who was running a great race in the lead.
Varin and Ronnie Johnson had a great battle going for position as Varin was back in the second position on lap 12 just before another caution came out for last week’s winner Pep Corradi and Josh Hohenforst who spun in turn four. On this restart, both Ronnie Johnson and Bellinger got by Varin for the second and third positions forcing Varin to regroup as he tried to get back to the front.
With Rockefeller still running a great line on the track in the lead, Varin began his move to the front as he got by Bellinger for the third position on lap 15 with 19th place starter Jeremy Wilder also getting by Bellinger for the fourth spot. Trombley and Jessey Mueller brought out the next caution on lap 22 setting up a lead changing restart.
Rockefeller led at the drop of the green flag with Ronnie Johnson second but coming out of turn two Varin used the outside groove to first take away the second position from Ronnie Johnson and stayed on the outside to next take the lead away from Rockefeller by the time they got to turn three. Varin stretched out his advantage quickly and held a straightaway advantage to the checkered flag in the Dover Brake #00 over Rockefeller, Ronnie Johnson, Wilder, and Danny Johnson.
“That was our big block car that we used to win tonight,” Varin said after the race. “The #816 (Rockefeller) was running a beautiful line and then RJ got into the mix with us making it a tough race and forcing me to search around a little bit on the track.”
The 25-lap sportsman feature began with a caution and on the original restart third place starter Kurtis Hohensheldt led the way with the outside pole starter Jack Lehner in second. Tim Hartman Jr. started the event in the seventh position in the John Kollar owned #10% and by lap six he was the new third place car.
Two laps later Hartman Jr. was the new second place car after getting by Lehner with Hohensheldt out to a straightaway lead by lap 11. The yellow flag brought the field back to Hohensheldt with the top five on the restart consisting of Hohensheldt, Hartman Jr., Lehner, Chris Curtis, and 10th place starter Dave Constantino.
On lap 18 Hartman Jr. ducked to the inside of Hohensheldt in between turns one and two with the two running side by side going into turns three and four when Hartman Jr. was able to clear Hohensheldt and take the lead away. Chris Schaffer and 27th place starter Rocky Warner both got by Hohensheldt who continued to lose positions but nobody had anything for Hartman Jr. who went on to his third career win in the division in the Kollar #10% over Curtis, Schaffer, Warner, and Hohensheldt.
“It’s too bad John (car owner John Kollar who is in his 50th year of racing) isn’t here for this as he is in Florida,” Hartman Jr, said in victory lane. “I am so proud to drive this car and glad to get this win for these guys who have been working so hard on this car. I was running the top but that went away and as soon as I went to the bottom the car got better.”
David Manchester led all 12-laps in the rookie sportsman feature but was disqualified for being underweight in post-race inspection handing the win over to Mike Block for his first career win. Seventh place starter Brian Calabrese finished second followed by A.J. Miller, Dan Boni, and Tom Princiotta.
Justin Knight led the 20-lap pro stock feature early on after starting on the pole but at the completion of lap one fifth place starter Jason Casey somehow made his way through the top five to lead the event after Knight slid up high in turns three and four. Sixth place starter Chuck Dumblewski moved into the third position on lap two with the yellow coming out at that point for Ivan Joslin who crashed into the tire wall in turn four. He drove away to restart in the rear.
On the restart Casey continued to lead with Dumblewski the new second place car on the restart with ninth place starter Luke Horning now in the top five. Another caution ended Horning’s charge to the front as he ended up in the front stretch wall after contact with Jay Casey. Both cars were heavily damaged but both drivers were not injured.
Dumblewski ducked to the inside of Casey for the lead in turns one and two on lap four and after three laps side by side Dumblewski finally cleared Casey for the lead in turn three. Tenth place starter Kenny Gates started his move to the front at this point, moving into the fourth position on lap seven and three laps later into the third position after getting by Knight for the spot.
Gates moved past Casey for the second position on lap 12 and from that point on the top two of Dumblewski and Gates pulled away making it a two car race to the checkered flag. Lap after lap Gates moved in closer to the leader and when Dumblewski got loose in turn four coming to the checkered flag it allowed Gates to duck under him with Dumblewski winning the event by about a half a car length in the NAPA Auto Parts, Frank’s Heavy Duty Truck Repair #7.
Gates, Knight, 12th place starter Pete Broderson, and Casey completed the top five in the event.
“We’ve been struggling this year,” Dumblewski said in victory lane. “We are pretty close now but still have a little more to go.”
Johnny Young led at the start of the 15-lap street stock feature from the outside of the front row with front row starting mate Bill Yager in second. Ninth place starter Josh Coonradt moved into the top five on lap two just before the yellow flag came out for Yager who lost a right rear tire/hub assembly in turn four while running in the second position.
The next yellow came out on lap 10 for Dave Horning Sr. who ended up in the tire wall in turn four but was able to drive away to restart at the rear of the field. Just before that yellow came out Coonradt had taken the lead from Young after Young got out of shape in turn two with 11th place starter Joey Wilson moving into the second position on lap 12.
The yellow came out with one lap to go and Wilson pressured Coonradt to the checkered flag with Coonradt winning his sixth straight feature event over Wilson, sixth place starter Jerry Cohn, Young, and 10th place starter Steve Cosselman.
On Saturday, June 11 West End Towing will sponsor the nights racing activities at the Fonda Speedway with a regular racing program in all divisions plus the Vintage race cars on the schedule. It will also be tribute to Pete Corey Night at Fonda with the racing program beginning at 7:30 p.m. Also the Fonda Speedway Museum will be open from 3:00 p.m. up until race time as the history of the Fonda Speedway and its drivers is brought back to life in the museum.
For more information about the “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway you can go to their website www.fondaspeedway.com
MODIFIED FEATURE – 33-LAPS – BOBBY VARIN, Jeff Rockefeller, Ronnie Johnson, Jeremy Wilder, Danny Johnson, Bodie Bellinger, Mark Kislowski, Josh Hohenforst, Darwin Greene, Pep Corradi, Korey Wilder, Scott Huber, Brandon Walters, Jeff Trombley, Jessey Mueller, Alton Palmer, Vinnie Sanganetti, Shea Montgomery, Justin Boehler, Craig Hanson, Adam McAuliffe (DNS), Kenny Sparks (DNS)
SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 25-LAPS – TIM HARTMAN JR., Chris Curtis, Chris Schaffer, Rocky Warner, Kurtis Hohensheldt, Cody Clark, Adam McAuliffe, Jack Lehner, Dave Constantino, JaMike Sowle, Chad Edwards, Billy Gray, Tony Farone, Mike Ketchum, Aaron Burton, Connor Cleveland, Ricky Quick, David Towns, Mark Mortensen, Brian Pessolano, Floyd Billington, Greg Pessolano, Harry Shaffer, Aaron Jacobs, Justin Smith, Mike Block, Doug Flynn, John McAuliffe (DNS)
ROOKIE SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 12-LAPS – MIKE BLOCK, Brian Calabrese, A.J. Miller, Dan Boni, Tom Princiotta, Travis Billington, David Manchester (DQ weight)
PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-LAPS – CHUCK DUMBLEWSKI, Kenny Gates, Justin Knight, Pete Broderson, Jason Casey, Jim Normoyle, A.J. Walters, Tom Denton, Ivan Joslin, Shane Henderson, Jim Morrison, Cassidy Wilson, Jamie Warner, James Normoyle Jr., Jay Casey, Luke Horning, Randy Cosselman, Todd Hoffman (DNS), Jeff McPhail (DNS)
STREET STOCK FEATURE – 15-LAPS – JOSH COONRADT, Joey Wilson, Jerry Cohn, Johnny Young, Steve Cosselman, Cliff Haslun, Bubby Shaffer, Dave Horning Sr., Jason Samrov, Jim Groncki, Bill Yager
