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M2 METALS PRESENTS CRATE LATE MODELS AT THE FONDA SPEEDWAY THIS SATURDAY, AUGUST 3

By: Ron Szczerba

Fonda, NY – The first racing program of the month of August will take place at the “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway this Saturday, August 3 with M2 Metals presenting a $1,000 to win Crate Late Model event.

Along with the Crate Late Models all regular divisions will be in action at Fonda as well including the Amsterdam Truck Center Modifieds, the Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman, the Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stocks, the Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman, and the Fonda Fair Four Cylinders.

Pit pass sales on Saturday, August 3 begin at noon, with all other gates opening at 4:00 p.m., hot laps at 6:00 p.m., and racing at 7:00 p.m.

The Fonda Speedway Kid’s Club will have their ever popular “Backpack Night” at Fonda Speedway this Saturday, August 3. No time to shop?! Give the Fonda Speedway Kids Club your budget & Ashley will do the shopping for you! Please reach out to the Kids Club if you plan to donate so they can know how many to expect. Their goal is 50 backpacks. The Kid’s Club is located underneath the grandstand at gate two.

There have been four previous visits to the Fonda Speedway by the “new style” Late Models with two different series promoting those events, the Lucas Oil Late Model Series and the World of Outlaw Late Model Series. Below is a summary of those four events.

LUCAS OIL LATE MODELS
7/27/2010 Jimmy Owens started on the outside pole but quickly dropped outside the top five early on as Don O’Neal led the event from the drop of the green flag after starting on the pole. As his tires started to come in Owens moved to the front and by lap 25 he got by Billy Decker for the second spot.

With 10 laps to go Owens was able to take the lead from O’Neal on the front stretch as the lap was completed and from that point on he pulled away to an easy win. Vic Coffey, O’Neal, Scott Bloomquist, and Billy Decker completed the top five.

“Fonda is one of the fastest tracks that we have been on this year,” Owens said after the win. “It was great to have a track that we could run three and four wide on.”

7/27/2011 Jimmy Owens debuted a new car and led 40 of the A-main’s 50 laps to claim his fourth Lucas Oil Late Model Series victory of the season.

“I really like this track,” Owens said about the Fonda Speedway. “To come here two years in a row and win is just fantastic,. There are a lot of fans who don’t get to see us race much. The car was good right from the start, once we got by Scott [Bloomquist], I knew it would be tough for him to get back by us.”

WORLD OF OUTLAW LATE MODELS
6/19/2013 Experience paid off for Tim McCreadie Wednesday night at Fonda Speedway. McCreadie has a pair of big block modified wins at the Track of Champions (7/17/2003 & 4/10/2004) and now he can add a third feature win to the list, only this time it came in a late model. The Watertown native received a positive redraw and started on the pole for the 50-lap main event. He wasted little time getting to the front and led green-to-checkers to cash in on a $10,650 payday.

“I think in the race it [experience] mattered a lot,” McCreadie said in Victory Lane. “In qualifying or a heat race it doesn’t really matter. Just knowing that if I stayed low down the straightaways I could get a good launch. On most modified tracks if you stay low you are going to get some traction. I know to stay low here on my entry, roll up in the middle and try to diamond off. That probably helped me a little bit.”

6/18/2015 After taking the lead from outside polesitter Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., on lap eight, Shane Clanton cruised through the remainder of the 40-lap race in his Weldbank Energy-sponsored Capital Race Cars house car for the $8,550 win. He pulled away on each of the race's four restarts and built leads of more than a straightaway on the sprawling half-mile oval before ultimately crossing the finish line nearly seven seconds ahead of Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa.

"Maybe we can get on another roll here and just win all of them," said Clanton whose fifth World of Outlaw Late Model Series victory of the season marked the 25th series triumph of his career. "We're working on stuff we've been doing all year long and just making minor adjustments. Tonight, really suited our race car. Hopefully this is a sign of more things to come."

AN “OLD STYLE” LATE MODEL HISTORY LESSON
With the “new style” Late Models mentioned above, there were also what I’ll call the “old style” Late Models that ran at Fonda between the years of 1963, 1968-1982 according to the book Fonda. During those years there were a total of 243 feature events held with 45 different drivers winning those events. Without going through the entire win list Dick Schoonover was the overall leader in wins with 32.

As far as Track Champions go there were 15 Fonda Speedway Late Model Track Championships awarded with Dick Schoonover leading the way with four titles (1974, 1975, 1976, 1980), Norm Moyer with three titles (1968, 1970, 1971), and Keith Tesiero with two titles (1977, 1978). Single Late Model Track Championships at Fonda were also won by Harry Peek (1969), Harvey Brundage (1972), Earl Mewhorter (1973), Jack Cottrell (1979), Randy Glenski (1981), and Paul Jensen (1982).

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.

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