By: Ron Szczerba

Fonda, NY – Earlier this week on both the Fonda and Utica Rome Speedway Facebook pages, a post appeared stating “𝗜𝗧’𝗦 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬, 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗪𝗘’𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗬 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗗𝗨𝗟𝗘𝗦” for both the Fonda Speedway and the Utica-Rome Speedway. First up, something new. The wingless USAC East Coast Sprint Cars make their debut at both the Home of Heroes and Track of Champions on Friday, July 5 and Saturday, July 6.

According to information from their website usaceastcoastsprintcars.myracepass.com in 1955, the United States Auto Club sanctioning body was born. Since then, the club has grown to sanction a National 410 Series, West Coast 360 Series, Champ Cars, Quarter Midgets, Full Size Midgets, Pavement Sprint Cars, and more.

The wingless USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series is run by husband and wife, Curt and Jenn Michael, and it debuted back in 2018 with an inaugural 10 race season. In 2023, the Rapid Tire USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series presented by Capital Custom Trailers ran a 22 event schedule, stretching from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, Delaware, and Virginia beginning in April and ending in October.

USAC-EC works in conjunction with winged 360 series, the United Racing Club, to give 360 car owners, teams, and drivers the best schedules possible.

The 2023 racing season for the USAC East Coast Sprint Cars didn’t start out too well as the opening event of the season at the Bridgeport Speedway on April 1 was rained out. The 22 event schedule suffered a total of seven rained out or postponed events while the series was able to get in a total of 15 events, ending at the Bridgeport Speedway on October 28.

The 15 events run were won by nine different drivers at a total of 11 different racetracks stretching from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, Delaware, and Virginia. Leading the way with three wins apiece were Kenny Miller III and Alex Bright while Steven Drevicki and Briggs Danner both had two feature wins apiece. Single event wins went to Joey Amantea, Tim Buckwalter, Carmen Perigo Jr., Preston Lattomas, and Mike Thompson.

By virtue of his runner up finish at the Bridgeport Speedway on October 28 and Steven Drevicki’s sixth place finish, Briggs Danner was crowned the 2023 Driver Champion while Hogue Racing was crowned the 2023 Owners Champion!

Stay informed on upcoming plans for the 2024 racing season at the “Track of Champions” as they become available by going to the Fonda Speedway website or social media outlets.

Since 1953, the “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway has hosted the best in stock car racing. Under the management of BD Motorsports Media LLC, the speedway will operate weekly on Saturday nights from April through August plus several special events. Fonda Speedway is located on the Montgomery County Fairgrounds off New York State Thruway Exit No. 28 at 21 S. Bridge Street Fonda, NY 12068.

Fonda Speedway is on the web at www.thefondaspeedway.com. To learn more, call the office at 518.915.4395, like Fonda Speedway on Facebook or follow the speedway on Twitter and Instagram: @thefondaspdwy.

By: Ron Szczerba

Fonda, NY – After the 2022 racing season at the “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway had no rained out events, the 2023 season was much different with a total of six rain outs. One thing the rain outs didn’t affect was the competition, with the 2023 Track Champions decided unfortunately by one of the six rain outs, with only a few points deciding who got the titles in their respective divisions.

At the end of the regular season the Fonda Speedway Track Champions for 2023 were Demetrios Drellos (1^st career title in the Amsterdam Truck Center Modifieds), Payton Talbot (2^nd career title in the Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman), Ivan Joslin (1^st career title in the Below Zero Ice Cream Pro Stocks), Kyle Dingman (1^st career title in the Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman), Ken Hollenback (10^th title in the Fonda Fair Four Cylinder SOHC class), and Kerrie Hollenback (3^rd title in the Fonda Fair Four Cylinder DOHC class).

A total of 14 events were held in the Amsterdam Truck Center Modified division with 11 different drivers winning those events. Stewart Friesen led the way with three feature victories including the Dave Lape Memorial event and the Fonda 200. Rocky Warner was a two time winner with single event wins going to Tim Fuller who won the Jack Johnson Memorial event, Ronnie Johnson, Max McLaughlin, Demetrios Drellos, Cody Clark, Matt Sheppard who won the Firecracker 50, Matt DeLorenzo, Bobby Hackel IV, and Danny Varin.

For McLaughlin, Clark, and Hackel it was their first career wins in the Modified division at Fonda. The All-Time Win List at Fonda now consists of 1432 racing events with 143 different drivers winning those events.

Thirteen total events were held in the Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman division with seven different drivers winning those events led by 2023 Track Champion Payton Talbot with seven feature wins. Talbot was the only driver with more than one victory with single event wins going to Mark Mortensen, Zach Dufel, Dan Santabarbara, Butchie Irwin, Clayton DuMond, and Brett Mortensen.

The wins for Dufel and Irwin were the first of their careers in the division with the All Time Win List now showing 51 different winning drivers in a total of 264 events.

2023 was the first season that the Fonda Speedway was NASCAR Sanctioned with a special accomplishment achieved by Payton Talbot as he was also crowned the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division II Champion!

Kenny Gates led the way with six wins in the Below Zero Ice Cream Pro Stock division in a total of 12 events that were run. Track Champion Ivan Joslin and Beau Ballard were both two time winners in the division while Luke Horning and Shane Playford won single events making up the list of five different winning drivers in the division.

Playford was the only first time winner in the Pro Stock division which now shows a total of 99 different drivers winning a total of 761 feature events at Fonda.

Kyle Dingman was crowned the Track Champion in the Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman division without the benefit of a feature win. A total of 12 events were run in the division with a total of nine different feature winners led by Jonathan Feagles with three feature victories. AJ Greco was a two time winner with single event winds going to Connor Prokop, Zack Welch, Lance Hill, Mike Hill, Tyler Bobar, Tim Wilmot, and Michael Arnold.

Welch, Greco, Feagles, Mike Hill, Bobar, Wilmot, and Arnold were all first time winners in the division which now has a total of 49 different winning drivers in 117 events.

Twelve events were held in the Fonda Fair Four Cylinder SOHC division with Ken Hollenback (10 wins) and Wayne Russell Jr. (two wins) the only two drivers to go to victory lane. In the DOHC class Kerrie Hollenback led the way with seven wins while Brandon Ely (two wins), Corey Valade (two wins), and Jay Ingersol (one win) took the wins in the other events.

Valade and Ingersoll were first time winners in the division with the All Time Win List now featuring a total of 27 different drivers winning the 136 total events.

Qualifying positions are getting more and more critical with the importance of getting qualified into a handicap position week after week making a big difference in a drivers success. The Modified division featured 27 different drivers winning heat and consolation events while the 602 Crate Sportsman division had 24 different winners, the Pro Stock division had 10 different winners, and the Limited Sportsman division had 20 different winners.

Leading the way with a total of five qualifying event wins in the Modified division was JaMike Sowle while Chad Edwards led the way with seven qualifying event wins in the Crate 602 Sportsman division. Luke Horning led the way in the Pro Stock division with four qualifying event wins while five different drivers tied for the most qualifying event wins in the Limited Sportsman division with three including Chris Kugler, Bob Rhinehardt, Kyle Dingman, Kirsten Swartz, and AJ Greco.

Stay informed on upcoming plans for the 2024 racing season at the “Track of Champions” as they become available by going to the Fonda Speedway website or social media outlets.

Since 1953, the “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway has hosted the best in stock car racing. Under the management of BD Motorsports Media LLC, the speedway will operate weekly on Saturday nights from April through August plus several special events. Fonda Speedway is located on the Montgomery County Fairgrounds off New York State Thruway Exit No. 28 at 21 S. Bridge Street Fonda, NY 12068.

Fonda Speedway is on the web at www.thefondaspeedway.com. To learn more, call the office at 518.915.4395, like Fonda Speedway on Facebook or follow the speedway on Twitter and Instagram: @thefondaspdwy.

By: Ron Szczerba

Fonda, NY – On Saturday September 16 before the running of the Fonda 200, the 2023 Fonda Speedway Track Champions were honored for their achievement on victory lane. This was the first time that the champions could be honored due to a rain out on championship night back on Augst 12 before the track was closed for the annual Fonda Fair.

2023 Fonda Speedway Track Champions were as follows: Demetrios Drellos (Amsterdam Truck Center Modifieds), Payton Talbot (Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman), Ivan Joslin (Below Zero Ice Cream Pro Stocks), Kyle Dingman (Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman), Ken and Kerrie Hollenback (SOHC & DOHC respectively) in the Fonda Fair Four Cylinders.

Not only were the drivers mentioned named as the 2023 Fonda Speedway Track Champions but with Fonda being sanctioned by NASCAR they were also named as “NASCAR Advanced Auto Parts Weekly Series Track Champions”. For the Drellos team it was their first ever title at Fonda despite having different drivers drive the family owned #111 throughout the history of the Fonda Speedway.

For those of you who may have not been present for the championship ceremony here is a recap of what the champions had to say to Mimi Lazzaro during the ceremony at Fonda in their own words. Please note that the Hollenback brothers were not present for the ceremony.

DEMETRIOS DRELLOS

“It’s everything, its everything that we worked for, it was the goal at the beginning of the season,” Drellos said. “I’ve never been in this position before, so it means a whole lot. We have a lot of history here and its cool to etch yourself on a short list of champions at this place, not only is it so important getting a Track Championship here, but I got my first Modified Championship at the Track of Champions and everyone in racing knows how hard it is to get that at this place.”

“It means a whole lot to me, it means a whole lot to my family, its everything. The old timers know about our family history at Fonda, the younger generation doesn’t, but if you look back at the whole Fonda 200 lineup you can see the #111 & #111A back in the 60’s. It means a lot to bring the #111 to the championship level here and to be able to etch my name into it it’s just huge.”

“We set our goal at the beginning of the year to do this, and we were able to execute and do a good job doing it. Week three or four we definitely had our goal set on what we had to do; the mentality of our racing changed about a month in, and we said okay lets hunker down and start playing it not safe, keep doing what we’re doing, but don’t be ridiculous about it.”

“I think we finished out of the top five just one time, that’s huge. Look how close it came between me and Matty (DeLorenzo), its awesome to do it with him, he’s a fierce competitor, we’re good friends and now we park next to each other. Its just crazy how that worked out and we had a great time doing it.”

PAYTON TALBOT

“Yeah our car was real good,” Talbot said. “We had those six wins and that really helped us out a lot. We fell off a little bit the last two or three weeks and had a couple of unfortunate races, we blew up the one night other than that we tried to be consistent. The car has been good this year. I can’t thank everybody that has been behind us this year enough and we’ll see how tonight goes.”

“Consistency is key at both tracks (Utica Rome & Fonda), it is really important. We struggled at Utica Rome this year and ran second to Matt (Janczuk) for the championship but we’re slowly figuring that place out, its just time. I can’t wait to get back here next year and hope that we can finish out tonight real good we’ll see what happens.”

“I figured it would be two or three maybe even four years before we even got close to a championship. We got lucky with the championship here last year, picked up the Thunder on the Thruway Series title again this year and last year so we’ve made some huge strides with the #14T team.”

IVAN JOSLIN

“It’s been a long time, putting the time and effort into this,” Joslin said. “Twenty-one years of racing and we finally got one (championship). To get a win here at Fonda is something but to get a championship is even better. We started off the year with a win and that set everything into place. Momentum kept us going with only two finishes outside the top five.”

“That is what you need is consistency. We had fast guys we had to compete against, Kenny Gates and all of the others, the All-Time winningest driver who had six wins this year. To be able to beat him and the other guys too it’s something you can’t imagine. Kenny (Gates) told me consistency is key, that’s what we had to do, and that is what I was focused on this year, focusing on one track weekly, and doing what we had to do. Fonda is a great place to race, I love Fonda.”

KYLE DINGMAN

“It’s just a lot better competition really,” Dingman said to Mimi Lazzaro about the move up from Limited Sportsman to regular Sportsman competition which he will do next year. “All these guys show up and they are on their “A” Game every week, so it makes us have to step our game up a little bit better and we’re excited to switch over to coils over the winter, that’s gonna be a big learning curve in its own but we’re excited.”

“We were gonna move up this year, but we were like lets go for a Limited Sportsman Championship one more time. We were so close last year, and our main goal was to be consistent as we possibly could this year. Our worst finish this year was seventh, we kept our heads clean, worked together, everything pretty much worked out, and we were lucky enough to get the job done. It’s a huge family team effort.”

9/19/2023 DAY 3 OF FONDA 200 WEEKEND

STSS MODIFIED FONDA 200 FEATURE – 200-LAPS – $53,000 TO WIN – STEWART FRIESEN, Matt Sheppard, Tyler Dippel, Mat Williamson, Tim Fuller, Anthony Perrego, Jessica Friesen, Matt DeLorenzo, Brian Calabrese, Danny Bouc, Max McLaughlin, Bobby Varin, Marc Johnson, Dillon Steuer, Steve Bernier, Cody Clark, Ancel Collins, Chris Curtis, Michael Parent, Alex Yankowski, Andy Bachetti, Mike Mahaney, Dave Constantino, Bobby Hackel IV, Billy Decker, Demetrios Drellos, Ronnie Johnson, Rocky Warner, Tucker O’Connor, Pep Corradi, David Schilling, JaMike Sowle, Darren Smith, Dave Camara, Ryan Odasz, JR Hurlburt, Danny Varin, Cory Costa, Brian Pessolano, Michael Trautschold, Neil Stratton

3^rd win of 2023 and the 88^th of his career in the division for Stewart Friesen

LAP LEADERS – 1-14 Bernier, 15-90 Stewart Friesen, 91 Sheppard, 92-95 Stewart Friesen, 96-100 Sheppard, 101-128 Marc Johnson, 129-149 Stewart Friesen, 150-175 Sheppard, 176-200 Stewart Friesen

CONSOLATION RACE WINNERS – Perrego, Clark

DID NOT QUALIFY – Dan Santabarbara, Stephen Gray, George Foley, Derek Bornt, Ajay Potrzebowski Sr., Jason Reome, Matt Sobiech

STSS CRATE 602 SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 25-LAPS – $2,000 TO WIN – PAYTON TALBOT, Chad Edwards, Joe Toth, Tyler Peet, Tim Hartman Jr., Brian Calabrese, Chip Constantino, Troy Zilles, Michael McCallion, Brendan Gibbons, Jeremy Tyrrell, Tanner Warner, Michael Ballestero, Stephen Gray, Clayton DuMond, Dylan Madsen, Mike Kalkbrenner, Donovan Lussier, James Friesen, Blaine Klinger, David Hackett Jr., Chris Crane Jr., Kaydon Hohensheldt, Greg Crooker, John DuMond, Josh Kane, Tavien Blowers, Jeff Higham, David Manchester, Brett Mortensen

7^th win of 2023 and the 11^th of his career in the division for Talbot

LAP LEADERS – 1-13 Calabrese, 14-25 Talbot

HEAT RACE WINNERS – Zilles, Higham, John DuMond, Toth, Constantino, Ballestero

CONSOLATION RACE WINNERS – Edwards, Tyrrell, Kane

DID NOT QUALIFY – Roger Hummer, Mike Hill, Kyle Dingman, Zack Welch, Connor Prokop, Brandon Tyler, Mark Mortensen, Dylan Eldred, Josh Coonradt, Mike Arnold, John Santolin, Tim Deffer, Cody Clark, Tyler Bobar, Dave DiPietro, Jean-Francois Tessier, Wesley Sutliff, Chris Kugler, Keith Buckhart, Walter Cook, Zach Dufel, Connor Crane, Seth Martin, John Feagles, Clyde Peek, Karl Barnes, John Anderson, Dale Van Allen, Collin Williams, Harry Shaffer, Dan Santabarbara, Michael Wagner-Fitzgerald, Donnie Campbell, Robert Perry

GRECO’S NAPA HARD CHARGER AWARD – Edwards +17

By: Ron Szczerba

Fonda, NY – Day two of the 2023 edition of the Fonda 200 weekend took place on Friday evening at the “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway. Four heat races were on the schedule to qualify for the $53,000 Fonda 200 on Saturday with Alex Yankowski, JaMike Sowle, Stewart Friesen, and Steve Bernier taking the wins in the four 15-lap events. Each of the winners received $500 thanks to sponsorship from Fastline Performance, DKM Fabrications, Upstate Auto, and SHR Scott Hamlin Racing.

Other winners on Friday evening included Kenny Gates (Below Zero Ice Cream Pro Stocks), Ken Hollenback (SOHC) and Jay Ingersoll (DOHC) Fonda Fair Four Cylinders, Jordan Hutton (CRSA Sprints), and Jason Meltz (Street Stocks).

Greg Nitz started opening ceremonies with a prayer followed by the singing of the Canadian Anthem by Stephanie May and then the National Anthem by Mimi Lazzaro. Congratulations to Cathy from Conklin who won the $3,029 50/50 and special thanks to the 50/50 sellers for all their hard work to benefit the drivers point fund.

STSS Modified Fonda 200 Qualifier #1 presented by Fastline Performance saw Alex Yankowski lead every lap to go on for the win and the $500 bonus from Fastline Performance.

“Really we’ve just busted our butts all year long,” Yankowski said after the win. “Murray is doing a heck of a job with the engine program, he saw something he didn’t like when doing motor maintenance, so we did what we thought was best, took it out of the car on Monday, stripped it down to the block, and rebuilt it on Tuesday and Wednesday and put it back in the car.”

“I’ve had years where I’ve won a race but wasn’t really that great and I feel like we are a lot more deserving of it now,” Yankowski continued to say. “But we’re just gonna keep plugging away at it and if its meant to be its meant to be. All we can do is to keep putting ourselves in position, bringing fast race cars to the track, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

“I have to thank the people that are able to make this possible for me, Cory Wilcox with Wilcox Construction, Ryan Wilcox with Wilcox Sealing & Paving, Jason Broedel with Broedel Fuel Group, Training Tails, Murray, Joe, my dad, Kevin Bates, they are all awesome and they all know who they are. I’m super grateful to have them all,” Yankowski concluded.

STSS Modified Fonda 200 Qualifier #2 presented by DKM Fabrications was won by JaMike Sowle who led every lap on his way to the $500 bonus from DKM Fabrication.

“It’s a great bunch of guys and girls on our team that Carole and Alton set us up with for success,” Sowle said. “I guess that we had a valve cover gasket leaking thank God, that caused the smoke on the last few laps.”

Stewart Friesen led every lap in STSS Modified Fonda 200 Qualifier #3 and won the $500 bonus presented by Upstate Auto.

“This is our home, we love racing here at Fonda,” Friesen said after the win. “Feels good to get a good draw obviously to start off the night and finish it off with a heat race win. Thanks to Upstate Auto for sponsoring the heat race, thanks to the whole Halmar Team, Ferris, Bart Contracting, all of our sponsors and product sponsors, and everyone watching on Flo we appreciate the support.”

“We’ll go tune on this thing and hopefully get it a little better for tomorrow,” Friesen continued. “This is our first time out with this car, we had this car put together for Jess with some different motor situations as the season progressed it was ready to go, and we had a fresh motor to go in it for this race so everything kind of went together.”

“Alex (Yankowski) shook it down for us last night (Thursday) and its pretty good,” Friesen concluded. I think we’ve got a couple of tweaks to work on it for tomorrow. This is one of our favorite weekends of the year and we’re proud to be here.”

Steve Bernier led every lap in STSS Modified Fonda 200 Qualifier #4 and won the $500 bonus presented by SHR Scott Hamlin racing.

“I think I have a good car for this weekend,” Bernier said. “Thanks to Brandon Plank and Randy Williamson, he helped me this week to have a good setup for Fonda and I’m very happy.”

The 20-lap Below Zero Ice Cream feature began with Johnny Rivers Jr. leading at the drop of Joe Kriss’ green flag from his pole position start. 2023 Fonda Speedway Pro Stock Track Champion Ivan Joslin started the event in row two in the fourth position and moved to the front quickly, taking the lead from Rivers on lap two with a pass on the outside of turns three and four.

Also moving up quickly was Fonda Speedway All-Time Pro Stock wins leader Kenny Gates who started in the sixth position and by lap three Gates was already in the second position after getting by both Beau Ballard and Rivers. The top two of Joslin and Gates pulled away from the rest of the field on lap six with the yellow flag coming out at that point closing up the field.

Joslin chose the outside groove on the restart with Gates and Ballard making it a three wide race for the lead on lap 11. Joslin was able to hold on to the lead at that point but two laps later Gates was able to get underneath both Joslin and Ballard in turns three and four and took over the lead. Gates led the remaining laps for his sixth win of the season and the 92^nd of his career in the division at Fonda followed in the top five by Joslin, Ballard, Jim Normoyle, and Steve Cosselman.

“Well, I thought when there was a little pressure on the outside where Beau (Ballard) kind of came up there I could hear someone was out there and I thought well Ivan would move up to protect the high groove and it would open the door for me,” Gates said after the $1,000 race win. “It did and we were able to hold him off. The car was on a rail all night and luckily we held together, there were a couple of tricky spots off of turn two and we were able to bring it home.”

A big field of 20 Fonda Fair Four Cylinders were on hand for a 15-lap feature event starting off with Rudy King Jr. taking the lead at the drop of the green flag. 2023 Fonda Fair Four Cylinder SOHC Track Champion Ken Hollenback started the event in the 15^th position and by lap four he was already up to the third position.

On lap five, Hollenback went from third to first with a pass in turns three and four and led the remaining laps for his 11^th win of the season and the 95^th of his career in the SOHC class. Jay Ingersoll was the winner in the DOHC class with a second place overall finish for his first career win in the division at Fonda. Damien Ward, Kyle Coley, and Shawn Hemstreet completed the top five finishers in the event.

“I like racing here, its my favorite track of any I’ve ever raced,” Hollenback said in victory lane. “Fonda Speedway means a lot to me, next year I probably won’t be here the whole year but probably pretty close.”

“This is awesome,” Ingersoll said after his first career win in the division at Fonda. “Twenty-five years ago, I raced here with a Hobby Stock (he has one career win in the Hobby Stock division) and now I started out all over again. We’ve got a championship to win on Sunday, so we brought the backup car out to see what it would do, and it got us here.”

The Street Stocks made their one and only appearance of the season at Fonda on Friday with Stone Motorsports/Online Performance sponsoring the $500 to win event. Adam Tranka led at the start of the 20-lap event and was never seriously challenged despite many caution flags slowing the event.

Tranka led through lap 18 when he slowed in turn three to bring out the 10^th caution of the event handing the lead over to Jason Meltz. One more lap was run with another caution coming out and the race was checker flagged at that point with Meltz taking the victory followed by Chris Murray, PJ Cram, Andrew Fitzgerald, and Lou Gancarz.

“That was a quick race, I mean we took the green and it felt like we took the checkered flag right away,” Meltz joked in victory lane. “Too bad it was a wreck fest; I would have liked to put on a better show here at Fonda for the Street Stocks. I fell bad for Adam (Tranka), he had that one covered, I couldn’t get him, but he broke on the last lap.”

Mike Kiser led at the start of the 20-lap CRSA Sprint main event after starting on the outside pole and was already in lap traffic on lap six when the red flag came out for Tyler Chartrand who flipped his car in turn two while running fifth. Chartrand was not injured in the wreck with Kiser continuing to lead on the single file restart.

The yellow flag was out again on the restart for Cory Sparks who slowed in turn three with Kiser again leading after another single file restart with Blake Warner, Jordan Hutton, Billy VanInwegen, and Tomy Moreau completing the top five at the halfway point. On lap 11, Kiser slowed to a stop on the frontstretch bringing out the caution and handing the lead over to Warner with Hutton now the second place car.

Warner and Hutton raced side by side for two laps until Hutton took over the point on lap 13 and went on to the win followed by Warner, VanInwegen, Dalton Herrick, and Moreau.

“I love this place inside and out,” Hutton said after his CRSA Sprint win. “When you get here to Fonda its always racy, always fun. He (Blake Warner) gave me a heck of a run, he was better than me towards the end, and he is gonna make a hell of a driver out here someday. I’m very confident here at Fonda and know the track after racing here before. This is a dream come true, win number eight on the year.”

“It was very fast,” second place finisher Blake Warner said. “I was very happy with my crew, Ricky, my dad, Jeff, Grandma, and everybody that comes and helps us and helped us have a really good car. Me and Jordan are good friends so its always fun doing that we just fell one spot short tonight.”

“We had everything going our way all night,” VanInwegen said after his third place finish. “Drew the pole, I just hate stuff like this getting away. We’ll take tomorrow off, go camping, and shake this off. Gotta work harder I guess, I’m definitely frustrated but congrats to those guys (Hutton and Warner) they did a great job. On to the next one.”

The 2023 Fonda 200 weekend concludes today (Saturday) with the running of the Fonda 200 along with the Swagger factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman.

Fonda Speedway Weekly Report

Miss any action from last week’s racing? The Fonda Speedway weekly report can take care of that. A 90 second summary of the previous Saturday racing action will air throughout the week across seven local radio stations including:

WCSS 1490 & 106.9 in Amsterdam/Schenectady

WIZR 930 & 102.9 in Johnstown/Fonda/Gloversville

WKAJ 1120 & 97.9 in St. Johnsville/Canajoharie

WYVS 96.5 in Speculator and the North Country

If you are a race fan that gets to the track early, be sure to check out the Fonda Speedway Museum & Hall of Fame which is located on the Fonda Fairgrounds at the rear of the parking area going down towards turn four. The museum is open from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on race days and admission is free!

All races at Fonda Speedway – will be broadcast live on FloRacing (www.floracing.tv) as part of the $150 annual subscription.

Since 1953, the “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway has hosted the best in stock car racing. Under the management of BD Motorsports Media LLC, the speedway will operate weekly on Saturday nights from April through August plus several special events. Fonda Speedway is located on the Montgomery County Fairgrounds off New York State Thruway Exit No. 28 at 21 S. Bridge Street Fonda, NY 12068.

Fonda Speedway is on the web at www.thefondaspeedway.com. To learn more, call the office at 518.915.4395, like Fonda Speedway on Facebook or follow the speedway on Twitter and Instagram: @thefondaspdwy.

FONDA 200 STSS QUALIFYING HEAT 1 $500 TO WIN FROM FASTLINE PERFORMANCE 15-LAPS 7 QUALIFY 3 REDRAW – ALEX YANKOWSKI, Demetrios Drellos, Mat Willaimson, Marc Johnson, Rocky Warner, Pep Corradi, Tucker O’Connor, Michael Trautschold, Brian Calabrese, Neil Stratton, Dave Camara, Ancel Collins

FONDA 200 STSS QUALIFYING HEAT 2 $500 TO WIN FROM DKM FABRICATION 15-LAPS 7 QUALIFY 3 REDRAW – JAMIKE SOWLE, Jessica Friesen, Matt Sheppard, Bobby Varin, Bobby Hackel IV, Michael Parent, Cory Costa, Dillon Steuer, Darren Smith, George Foley, Derek Bornt, Ajay Potrzebowski Jr.

FONDA 200 STSS QUALIFYING HEAT 3 $500 TO WIN FROM UPSTATE AUTO 15-LAPS 7 QUALIFY 3 REDRAW – STEWART FRIESEN, Andy Bachetti, Danny Bouc, Tyler Dippel, David Schilling, Max McLaughlin, Mike Mahaney, Anthony Perrego, Ryan Odasz, JR Hurlburt, Dan Santabarbara, Stephen Gray

FONDA 200 STSS QUALIFYING HEAT 4 $500 TO WIN FROM SCOTT HAMLIN RACING 15-LAPS 7 QUALIFY 3 REDRAW – STEVE BERNIER, Billy Decker, Matt DeLorenzo, Dave Constantino, Ronnie Johnson, Brian Pessolano, Chris Curtis, Cody Clark, Tim Fuller, Danny Varin, Jason Reome, Matt Sobiech

BELOW ZERO ICE CREAM PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-LAPS – KENNY GATES, Ivan Joslin, Beau Ballard, Jim Normoyle, Steve Cosselman, Randy Cosselman, Shawn Perez Jr., Johnny Rivers Jr., Michael Achzet, Dennis Joslin, Nick Santuccione, Slater Baker, Mike Dianda, Dan Krajewski, Jordan Modiano

6^th win of 2023 and the 92^nd win of his career in the division at Fonda for Gates

LAP LEADERS – 1 Rivers, 2-12 Joslin, 13-20 Gates

HEAT RACE WINNERS – Ballard, Gates

FONDA FAIR FOUR CYLINDER FEATURE – 12-LAPS – KEN HOLLENBACK (SOHC), JAY INGERSOLL (DOHC), Damian Ward, Kyle Coley, Shawn Hemstreet, Pat McSpirit, Tom Hill, Todd Morey, Brittany Ladd, Robert Burch, TJ Marlitt, Rudy King Jr., John Napoli, Kerrie Hollenback, Kamrin Krause, Luke Sheldon, Len St. Andrews, Keith Tesiero Jr. (DNS), Jordan Ryder (DNS), Wayne Russell Jr. (DNS)

11^th win of 2023 and the 95^th win of his career in the division at Fonda for Ken Hollenback

1^st career win in the division at Fonda for Ingersoll

LAP LEADERS – 1-4 King Jr., 5-15 Ken Hollenback

STREET STOCK FEATURE $500 TO WIN SPONSORED BY STONE MOTORSPORTS/ONLINE PERFORMANCE – SHORTENED TO 19-LAPS – JASON MELTZ, Chris Murray, PJ Cram, Andrew Fitzgerald, Lou Gancarz, Wayne Russell Jr., Adam Tranka, Matt Moshier, Josh Samrov, Rob VanAernam, Keri Vandenburg, Chris Stalker, Bob Gibson, Jason Barrett, James Dellea, Rowdy Burch, Ray Pierre Jr., Jason Samrov, Matt Wells, Donald Kennedy, Michael Martindale (DNS)

1^st career win in the division at Fonda for Meltz

LAP LEADERS – 1-18 Tranka, 19 Meltz

HEAT RACE WINNERS – Murray, Stalker

CRSA SPRINT CAR FEATURE – 20-LAPS – JORDAN HUTTON, Blake Warner, Billy VanInwegen, Dalton Herrick, Tomy Moreau, Bobby Parrow, John Cunningham, Ray Preston, Timmy Lotz, Tyler Graves, Mark Taylor, Aaron Shelton, Ronnie Greek, Dustin Sehn, Jeremiah Munson, Trevor Years, James Layton, Steve Glover, Kirsten Dombrowski, Jerry Sehn Jr., Fred Proctor, Mike Kiser, Tyler Chartrand, Cory Sparks

3^rd career CRSA Sprint car win at Fonda for Hutton

LAP LEADERS – 1-11 Kiser, 12 Warner, 13-20 Hutton

HEAT RACE WINNERS – VanInwegen, Preston, Taylor

CONSOLATION RACE WINNER – Glover

DAY 2 OF FONDA 200 WEEKEND

FONDA 200 STSS QUALIFYING HEAT 1 $500 TO WIN FROM FASTLINE PERFORMANCE 15-LAPS 7 QUALIFY 3 REDRAW – ALEX YANKOWSKI, Demetrios Drellos, Mat Willaimson, Marc Johnson, Rocky Warner, Pep Corradi, Tucker O’Connor, Michael Trautschold, Brian Calabrese, Neil Stratton, Dave Camara, Ancel Collins

FONDA 200 STSS QUALIFYING HEAT 2 $500 TO WIN FROM DKM FABRICATION 15-LAPS 7 QUALIFY 3 REDRAW – JAMIKE SOWLE, Jessica Friesen, Matt Sheppard, Bobby Varin, Bobby Hackel IV, Michael Parent, Cory Costa, Dillon Steuer, Darren Smith, George Foley, Derek Bornt, Ajay Potrzebowski Jr.

FONDA 200 STSS QUALIFYING HEAT 3 $500 TO WIN FROM UPSTATE AUTO 15-LAPS 7 QUALIFY 3 REDRAW – STEWART FRIESEN, Andy Bachetti, Danny Bouc, Tyler Dippel, David Schilling, Max McLaughlin, Mike Mahaney, Anthony Perrego, Ryan Odasz, JR Hurlburt, Dan Santabarbara, Stephen Gray

FONDA 200 STSS QUALIFYING HEAT 4 $500 TO WIN FROM SCOTT HAMLIN RACING 15-LAPS 7 QUALIFY 3 REDRAW – STEVE BERNIER, Billy Decker, Matt DeLorenzo, Dave Constantino, Ronnie Johnson, Brian Pessolano, Chris Curtis, Cody Clark, Tim Fuller, Danny Varin, Jason Reome, Matt Sobiech

BELOW ZERO ICE CREAM PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-LAPS – KENNY GATES, Ivan Joslin, Beau Ballard, Jim Normoyle, Steve Cosselman, Randy Cosselman, Shawn Perez Jr., Johnny Rivers Jr., Michael Achzet, Dennis Joslin, Nick Santuccione, Slater Baker, Mike Dianda, Dan Krajewski, Jordan Modiano

6^th win of 2023 and the 92^nd win of his career in the division at Fonda for Gates

LAP LEADERS – 1 Rivers, 2-12 Joslin, 13-20 Gates

HEAT RACE WINNERS – Ballard, Gates

FONDA FAIR FOUR CYLINDER FEATURE – 12-LAPS – KEN HOLLENBACK (SOHC), JAY INGERSOLL (DOHC), Damian Ward, Kyle Coley, Shawn Hemstreet, Pat McSpirit, Tom Hill, Todd Morey, Brittany Ladd, Robert Burch, TJ Marlitt, Rudy King Jr., John Napoli, Kerrie Hollenback, Kamrin Krause, Luke Sheldon, Len St. Andrews, Keith Tesiero Jr. (DNS), Jordan Ryder (DNS), Wayne Russell Jr. (DNS)

11^th win of 2023 and the 95^th win of his career in the division at Fonda for Ken Hollenback

1^st career win in the division at Fonda for Ingersoll

LAP LEADERS – 1-4 King Jr., 5-15 Ken Hollenback

STREET STOCK FEATURE $500 TO WIN SPONSORED BY STONE MOTORSPORTS/ONLINE PERFORMANCE – SHORTENED TO 19-LAPS – JASON MELTZ, Chris Murray, PJ Cram, Andrew Fitzgerald, Lou Gancarz, Wayne Russell Jr., Adam Tranka, Matt Moshier, Josh Samrov, Rob VanAernam, Keri Vandenburg, Chris Stalker, Bob Gibson, Jason Barrett, James Dellea, Rowdy Burch, Ray Pierre Jr., Jason Samrov, Matt Wells, Donald Kennedy, Michael Martindale (DNS)

1^st career win in the division at Fonda for Meltz

LAP LEADERS – 1-18 Tranka, 19 Meltz

HEAT RACE WINNERS – Murray, Stalker

CRSA SPRINT CAR FEATURE – 20-LAPS – JORDAN HUTTON, Blake Warner, Billy VanInwegen, Dalton Herrick, Tomy Moreau, Bobby Parrow, John Cunningham, Ray Preston, Timmy Lotz, Tyler Graves, Mark Taylor, Aaron Shelton, Ronnie Greek, Dustin Sehn, Jeremiah Munson, Trevor Years, James Layton, Steve Glover, Kirsten Dombrowski, Jerry Sehn Jr., Fred Proctor, Mike Kiser, Tyler Chartrand, Cory Sparks

3^rd career CRSA Sprint car win at Fonda for Hutton

LAP LEADERS – 1-11 Kiser, 12 Warner, 13-20 Hutton

HEAT RACE WINNERS – VanInwegen, Preston, Taylor

CONSOLATION RACE WINNER – Glover