12/31/2024
Fonda Speedway
FONDA SPEEDWAY 2024 SEASON REVIEW
By: Ron Szczerba
Fonda, NY – The 2024 season at the “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway was the 73rd consecutive year of competition at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds facility. It was a shortened season of sorts due to weather and other factors, but that never took anything away from the history of the track and its competitors as there were many special moments with first time winners adding their names to the All-Time Win List in all divisions along with a few memorial events celebrating people from the past who had such a big effect on the half mile racing facility.
AMSTERDAM TRUCK CENTER MODIFIEDS
The Amsterdam Truck Center Modifieds competed in a total of 16 events with eight different competitors winning those events. Stewart Friesen led the way with six victories followed by Michael Maresca, Brian Pessolano, and Matt Sheppard each with two wins, while Demetrios Drellos, Jack Lehner, JaMike Sowle, and Max McLaughlin all had one win apiece.
The win on 6/8 was a prestigious one for Pessolano, not only because it was his first career win in the Modified division at Fonda but because it came in an event honoring his idol, the Dave Lape Memorial event.
“Brian was one of the hugest Dave Lape fans, he used to come up to the house when he first started and I am so proud of him,” Jackie Lape said as she congratulated Pessolano in victory lane.
“This is crazy to win on this night, Dave Lape was my idol growing up, he was my favorite race car driver,” Pessolano told Mimi Lazzaro in victory lane. “Crazy, ironic isn’t it being my first career Modified win. I think Tucker (O’Connor) had us all covered, but he got out of the rubber down in one and two and I said this is my opportunity and I’ve gotta capitalize on it.”
Sheppard’s two wins were in two of the marquee events of the season at Fonda, the $10,000 to win “Firecracker 50” and the $53,000 to win “Fonda 200”.
Alex Yankowski was crowned the 2024 Amsterdam Truck Center Modified Track Champion and added his name to the list of drivers to win a Track Championship at Fonda without the benefit of a feature win. The list includes Jim Luke – 1955, Don Hendenburg – 1956, Pete Corey – 1965, Ray Dalmatta – 1979, and Michael Maresca – 2020. Special thanks to Ed Biittig Sr. for sharing that statistic.
At just 20 years of age, Yankowski was crowned as the youngest Modified Track Champion in the history of the “Track of Champions”.
“For sure, we worked real hard coming up here to New York a few years ago just trying to get better racing with Stew, Sheppard, or whoever it may be,” Yankowski said during the “Championship Celebration at Fonda. “Definitely a lot of miles from Pennsylvania, we’re not from New York like everyone else here. We definitely logged the miles, just really proud of everybody.”
“To win any kind of Track Championship takes a really good maintenance program so hats off to Kevin Bates, Bruce, Dave, Petey, Ryan, and everybody else that I bugged, sending them texts at 1:00 A.M. asking them to do something for me. Just really proud of everything. It’s definitely not easy to win here at Fonda, especially when you aren’t running consistently good and get handicapped to the back of the pack.”
“We’re gonna keep working at it, we’ll get it here eventually. We’re gonna enjoy this and come back for the Fonda 200. Been a tough year for a lot of reasons and we just wanted to get better. Jess and Stew we’re a big part of that, letting me hang out at the One Zee Tees camp. That was our home base in New York so living as far away as we do, they were a huge help. We would get home from Utica Rome at 1:00 A.M. and Jess would be cooking steak, so we have fun with it and enjoy it.”
“As of now I plan to be back here at Fonda next year, haven’t thought about it much, one day at a time, one race at a time. It was great having Jason Broedel here tonight; he was instrumental in my plan to move up here and race in New York.”
SWAGGER FACTORY APPAREL CRATE 602 SPORTSMAN
A total of 14 events were held in the Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman division with seven different winners led by 2024 Track Champion Payton Talbot with five feature wins. Chad Edwards was next in line with three feature wins followed by Brendan Gibbons with two wins, his win on 7/6 being the first of his career in the division.
Clayton DuMond, Mike Kalkbrenner, Tyler Peet, and Mark Mortensen all had one feature win apiece in the division with the wins by Kalkbrenner and Peet the first of their careers in the division at Fonda.
The win for Mark Mortensen was also a milestone win for the Mortensen Motorsports #1M Racing Team as it placed him on top of the All-Time Win List in the division with 27.
The Track Championship for Talbot was his third consecutive in the division with titles won in 2022, 2023, & 2024.
“This car has been awesome, I can’t thank Andy Belmont enough for giving us a stout ride,” Talbot told Mimi Lazzaro as he celebrated his Track Championship on Championship Night. “I don’t know, its been kind of an up and down year here for us, we were either winning, running top three, or wrecking. I was more inconsistent this year than I have been in years past, but we still got it done and I just can’t thank everybody enough.”
“It’s a huge mental game but having Mike Walton behind me brings me a lot of confidence. When you have people behind you like that, it gives you car confidence that when the car rolls out its gonna be good. Its an amazing feeling to have not only Mike but everybody behind me, it’s a great feeling.”
LEATHERSTOCKING CREDIT UNION PRO STOCKS
Kenny Gates led the way in a 13 race season for the Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stock division with six wins on his way to his eighth Track Championship at Fonda (2004, Co-Champion 2007, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2024). Gates is first on the Fonda Speedway All-Time Win List in the Pro Stock division with 98, only two away from the century mark. Five other drivers scored victories in 2024 including Ivan Joslin and Luke Horning with two wins apiece, Jason Morrison, AJ Walters, and Nick Stone all with one win apiece.
The win for Walters was the first of his career in the division at Fonda while the win on 7/20 was another milestone in Horning’s career with the win in the “Hondo Classic”, an event named after the late Hondo Carpenter. It was the second win in the prestigious event for Horning after winning the “Hondo Classic” back in 2021. In conjunction with the “Hondo Classic” the third annual “Bobco Dash” was held with Walters winning that event as well.
“Think about the next one,” Gates said on Championship Night when asked about what he had left to do in his racing career. “Its all about the next one now. Its really been a great car and we’ve really honed in on running better on the top so I can put the car pretty much wherever I need it, and I hope it just keeps going that way for the rest of the year. Utica Rome is next on Saturday trying to bring home the Thunder on the Thruway title after that Brookfield, then wherever the next one is. I’m pretty excited, I really wanted this one.”
MONTGOMERY COUNTY OFFICE FOR AGING INC. LIMITED SPORTSMAN
AJ Greco led the way in the Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman division with five wins on the way to his first career “Track Championship.” Rocco Constantino was next in line with two wins, the first win on 6/8 the first of his career in the division while Josh Coonradt was a first time winner back on 6/1 before moving up to the regular 602 Sportsman class. Corky Warner, Steve Wagoner, Bobby Rhinehardt, Tim Wilmot, and Mason Gray were all single event winners in the division, the wins for Warner, Rhinehardt, and Gray the first of their careers.
There was a total of 13 events run in the division with eight different winning drivers.
Constantino, Warner, and Gray added to their family legacies at Fonda with their wins, Rocco Constantino joining his father Dave and Uncle Chip as winners at the “Track of Champions;” Corky Warner joining his Grandfather Don, his father Rocky, and his brother Tanner as winners at Fonda; and Gray joining his brother Steven as a winner at the “Track of Champions.”
“Usually, I get a whole range of what age people think I am,” Greco said on Championship Night in August. “People think that I’m 12 or 14 but I’m really 20. We came into this year and that was our main goal the Track Championship. We’ve got some other goals to cross off the bucket list, but we’ll get there. Right now, we’re gonna enjoy this one, this is definitely the main one and we’ll just look forward to next year.”
“It means the world to bring this to my family, I really hope that I make them proud with everything I do. I always come in every night just trying to do my best to make sure that I make my whole family proud, its so much work and its gotta be worth it in the end.”
FONDA FAIR FOUR CYLINDERS
There were 13 events held in the Fonda Fair Four Cylinder division with Ken Hollenback leading the way in the SOHC class with nine wins while Jay Ingersoll led the way in the DOHC class with eight, both on their way to the 2024 season championships in their respective classes. For Ingersoll it was his first championship at Fonda while for Hollenback it was the 11th of his career after winning it in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Ken Hollenback’s win on 7/6 was the 100th of his career in the Four Cylinder division, and at seasons end after his nine win season leads the way on the Fonda Speedway Four Cylinder All-Time Win list with a total of 104 victories.
There were six other four cylinder winners in 2024 including Kerrie Hollenback with three, Wayne Russell Jr. with two, Adam Montville, Haleigh Gates, Josh Beals, and Bruce Liddle each with one win. For Gates, Beals, and Liddle it was the first wins of their careers in the division.
“It was a good decision to come down here to Fonda,” Ingersoll told Mimi Lazzaro on Championship Night in August. “I like running here, the competition is good, everybody gets along pretty good, Ken and Kerrie (Hollenback) are great, I had a lot of fun. Its great to have the Palmer name on the car (sponsor Palmer’s Service Center), and to be associated with the people that they had driving for them. It’s been great.”
“I’ve been coming here since I was a little kid, and a Track Championship is something I’ve always dreamed of. I never really thought it would ever happen, but an opportunity came up, we took advantage of it, and we are super happy. We’re gonna take what we learned this year, put it in a new car, and hopefully keep on going.”
“Yeah it feels pretty good,” Hollenback said as he celebrated his 11th championship at Fonda. “Next year I’ll probably venture out to other places other than here. I’m not really happy here anymore, people can think what they want. I think I’ve raced here for so long that its time for a change, time to make me happy.”
OTHER SPECIAL EVENTS
Rocky Warner was the winner of the Bill Ag Memorial Match Races back on 7/3 while Demetrios Drellos was the winner of a single Late Model event back on 8/3. Thanks to Nick Stone & Jamie Spraker of Online Performance Parts/Stone Motorsports two special races were held in the Street Stock division, which were won by Chris Stalker (career first at Fonda) and Jason Samrov. The CRSA Sprints ran one race at Fonda in 2024 with Jordan Hutton winning the event.
The Empire Super Sprints (ESS) ran one special event at Fonda in 2024, the Earl Halaquist Memorial. Danny Varin was the winner of the event, his eighth career win in the history of ESS Sprint events held at Fonda through the years. It was also Varin’s fifth win in the Earl Halaquist Memorial event after winning it back in 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2023.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2025
The 74th consecutive season of racing will begin on March 21-23, 2025 at the ViaPort Rotterdam with the Season Kickoff Racecar Show. The full schedule for the 2025 season will be available on New Years Eve according to the Fonda Speedway Facebook page.
Fonda Speedway, boasting an all-new clay surface for the upcoming campaign, kicks off with an Open Practice on April 12 and an April 19 opener.
Since 1953, the Track of Champions Fonda Speedway has hosted the best in stock car racing. The speedway operates 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: @thefondaspdwy or Instagram: @fondaspeedway.
Submitted By: Brett Deyo