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HISTORY MADE AT THE FONDA SPEEDWAY FOR THEIR “12A OPENING DAY” 75TH SEASON OPENER

By: Ron Szczerba

FONDA, NY – HISTORY MADE

There were two checks in victory lane at the Fonda Speedway with the Amsterdam Truck Center Modified feature winner.

One was the size of a check that was actually the tale of two different seasons as one side of it had a photo of the Tadd Parks #1 car on it, which Stewart Friesen won the first feature of his career at Fonda with back on 7/27/2010. The other side of the check had the Halmar #44 on it, which is the car that Friesen won the 100th feature of his career with at the “Track of Champions” on Saturday evening.

In victory lane after getting out of the car, Friesen waved a flag honoring Jumpin’ Jack Johnson instead of the normal checkered flag.

“This is just as much for the Lape Family as it is for ours,” Friesen said in FX Caprara Car Companies Victory Lane. “My dad, the wrench, and all these guys that came from Canada, they have been coming to the last couple of races to try to get 100, they were all buddies with Lapey, grew up with Lapey, this is just as much about them as crossing the milestone. Just a special day, Jumpin’ Jack, Lapey, a lot of great supporters family and friends here. Just really, really cool.”

The other check was the winning check for the “12A Opening Day”, Jumpin’ Jack Johnson Tribute event. It was the fourth win in the special event for Friesen who was the winner of the event back in 2015, 2022, last year in 2025, and 2026.

With the win, Friesen moved past Dave Lape into the third position on the Fonda Speedway All-Time Modified Win List with 100. Jack Johnson leads the way on the win list with 149 followed by Lou Lazzaro with 113, Friesen with 100, and Lape with 99.

Other winners on Advanced Restoration and Cleaning Night at Fonda were Tyler Bobar (Swagger Factory Apparel Sportsman), Nick Stone (Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stocks), Chayton Young (Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman), Josh Reome (DOHC) and Dave Reedy (SOHC) in the Fonda Fair Pro Stocks. For Young, Reome, and Reedy it was the first wins of their career at Fonda.

A draw for starting positions placed Brian Pessolano and Jack Lehner on the front row for the 32-lap Jumpin’ Jack Johnson Tribute event with Pessolano the early race leader. Stewart Friesen started the event in the sixth position and was up to third by lap three with an early caution out one lap later. Lehner took the lead on the restart with seventh place starter Danny Varin going three wide around both Friesen and Pessolano for the second position.

Lehner was in lap traffic just before the caution came out again for Jessica Friesen who had spun around into the fourth turn wall while running just outside of the top ten. She pitted and continued at the rear of the field without going down a lap. Stewart Friesen moved into the second position on the restart with the leader in lap traffic by lap 20 and when the Yurkewecz Auto Crushers lap counter clicked on lap 21, Stewart Friesen went between both Lehner and a lap car to get the lead. From that point on he held that position despite two more caution flags and one red flag that slowed the event.

“Super-fast race track, we were rippin some fast laps, it was wild, and I knew that Jack (Lehner) was going to be tough,” Stewart Friesen said afterwards.

Lap 25 saw Cody Clark hitting the wall in turns one and two bringing out the caution while he was running fifth. A yellow on the restart found Varin spun into the frontstretch wall while running third, and the red flag flew with three laps to go when Eric Mack hit the end of the wall at the pit exit by the Cow Palace and flipped his car high in the air. Fortunately, he was okay after the wreck.

Stewart Friesen led the remaining laps for his milestone victory in the Halmar #44 with some hard chargers behind him finishing in the top five. Lehner ended up second, Robert Bublak third, defending Track Champion Alex Yankoeski fourth after starting 19th, and Michael Maresca fifth after starting 27th.

“Thanks to Chris Larson at Halmar, Tadd Parks, this is just special,” Friesen said in victory lane. “So thankful to be here, thanks to all the great race fans at Fonda, everybody watching on Flo that supports this place, it was wild and got wild today. There are a lot of great race fans supporting me and pulling for me, pushing me along. Without that I’d still be laying in that bed (after his wreck in Canada last year) if it weren’t for all of the support from so many people, Parker and everyone.”

“I love this place, a big special day, thanks to everyone for being here,” Friesen continued to say to Mimi Lazzaro in victory lane. “Just a wild feature, an afternoon show, guys on the top, blasting the top around this place is like none other. Pretty cool day, a lot of love here today, hopefully we can be around here for another twenty years.”

Harry Shaffer led lap one after starting on the pole in the 25-lap Swagger Factory Apparel Sportsman feature with fourth place starter Tyler Bobar in tow. On lap two, on the outside of turn four, Bobar took the lead away from Shaffer and led the remaining laps in the Shults Auto Center #12B with only one caution flag slowing the event, leading by as much as a straightaway at times, and encountering lap traffic with three laps to go.

Garrett Chillot finished second after starting sixth followed by Tyler Peet who advanced 11 position after starting 14th, Chad Edwards who advanced seven positions after starting 11th, and Matt Perry who started fifth. Ironically, Bobar carries the car #12B, the same number that Jack Johnson drove when he drove for car owner Jim Bobar back in the day.

“Wow, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen earlier on the with the track, it was a little dusty and marbly out there,” Bobar said after his win. “I like running the top, but I wasn’t sure, so we got out there and the track is absolutely phenomenal they did an excellent job on it. I could run anywhere on the track and the car would stick. I can’t thank Todd Hoffman enough and everyone who puts money and effort into this thing to make it the hot rod that we have. $1212 to win on 12B Night.”

Nick Stone started on the pole in the 20-lap Leatherstocking Credit Union feature and took the lead at the drop of Joe Kriss’ green flag with third place starter and defending Track Champion Beau Ballard second. By lap eight, Stone was a straightaway ahead of Ballard, but a caution flag one lap later closed up the field.

When the green flag flew to restart the race, Stone didn’t pull way from Ballard who stayed close to the leader as he and Kenny Gates battled for the second position. Stone went on for his 72nd career win at Fonda in the Stone Motorsports #8N followed in the top five by Ballard, Gates, Jason Morrison, and Andy Graves who recovered after a spin in turn four on lap nine, restarting at the rear of the field and getting up to the fifth spot.

“We’ve run quite a few years here now, Stone said after his win. “We had a good run for awhile there then everybody started catching up. We do something and were fast then everyone else gets on the same page and it makes it tougher to win. We’re always going to stay on top of things and try to get here every so often,”

“As a chassis builder I’m not going to say if I see somebody doing something different and they are faster I’m going to do it too, that’s the name of the game. We’re not going to sit there and let them beat us, you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. Thanks to Todd Hoffman for building us a new car for this year and for staying with me, putting his time, money, and effort into this.”

Chayton Young started on the pole in the Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman feature and led all 15-laps for his first career win in the division at Fonda in the CDY Racing #48. John West, Brian Nelson, Lance Hill, and Josh Persse competed the top five in the event.

“After eight years of racing I finally got to park it and I’m excited,” Young said after his victory.

There were two first time winners in the Fonda Fair Four Cylinder division as Josh Reome led the final eight laps of the 12-lap event for his first career win in the DOHC class while Dave Reedy finished sixth but was the first SOHC car across the finish line giving him his first career win as well.

“This is about the only track that I have never won at and now I have,” Reome said after his first career win at Fonda.

“First time ever, I’ve never drove one of these before, this is exciting,” Reedy said in victory lane after his victory.

Next Saturday April 25 all divisions will be in action along with the Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Series with a starting time of 6:00 p.m. on Adirondack Mechanical Night.

If you are a race fan that gets to the track early, be sure to check out the history of the Fonda Speedway at 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!

Fonda Speedway weekly feature winners, their race teams, and sponsors are invited the following week to display their cars at the museum and watch their feature win on Flo before the races. The victorious car display can begin as early as 3:00, and you are welcome to arrive and stay as late as your schedule allows.

Please message the Fonda Speedway Hall of Fame and Museum Facebook page to RSVP or with any questions!

All Fonda Speedway events are broadcast LIVE on FloRacing (www.floracing.tv).

The “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway has hosted the best in stock car racing for 75 years. 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.

29 Entrees
Amsterdam Truck Center Modifieds
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 44-Stewart Friesen[6]; 2. 85-Jack Lehner[2]; 3. 6B-Robert Bublak[10]; 4. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[19]; 5. 7MM-Michael Maresca[27]; 6. 1-Rocky Warner[22]; 7. 24P-Brian Pessolano[1]; 8. 21C-Brian Calabrese[18]; 9. 25P-Michael Parent[11]; 10. 24-Dylan Madsen[3]; 11. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[16]; 12. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[28]; 13. 6-Matt Stangle[23]; 14. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[20]; 15. 06-Jackson Gill[17]; 16. 63-Chip Constantino[4]; 17. 76-Jamike Sowle[8]; 18. ONE-Felix Roy[21]; 19. 21P-Luciano (Pep) Corradi[5]; 20. 8M-Tim Mayne[26]; 21. 71-Eric Mack[9]; 22. 93-Danny Varin[7]; 23. 4-Cody Clark[14]; 24. 20C-Craig Hanson[13]; 25. 82S-Will Shields[29]; 26. 1G-Darwin Greene[24]; 27. 7M-Paul Mancini[25]; 28. 18-Tony Farone[15]; 29. 27-Jason Reome[12]

MODIFIED BONUSES

PALMER’S SERVICE CENTER POWER POSITION – $100 Gift Certificate to Online Performance/Stone Motorsports – Brian Calabrese

LEXIE & DONNIE DELUREY/JACK LEHNER JLR TECHNOLOGIES 10TH PLACE WEEKLY BONUS – $75 – Dylan Madsen

358-MODIFIED BONUS – $250 – Chip Constantino

32 entries
Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 12B-Tyler Bobar[4]; 2. 349-Garrett Chillot[6]; 3. 9G-Tyler Peet[14]; 4. 10%-Chad Edwards[11]; 5. 74-Matt Perry[5]; 6. 78-Tanner Warner[7]; 7. 1H-Harry Shaffer[1]; 8. 70X-Josh Coonradt[12]; 9. 314-Clayton Dumond[9]; 10. 1M-Mark Mortensen[17]; 11. 12AJ-AJ Greco[21]; 12. 7-Dave Constantino[19]; 13. 44-Rocco Constantino[18]; 14. 84-Ricky Quick[25]; 15. 15-Greg Havlicek[10]; 16. 2K-Mike Kalkbrenner[8]; 17. 25-Stephen Gray[2]; 18. 38S-Sean Imbeault[15]; 19. 28-Dylan Eldred[22]; 20. 13J-Jim Mallia[16]; 21. 1B-Brett Mortensen[23]; 22. 31J-John Dumond[20]; 23. 797-Corky Warner[13]; 24. 98-Cameron Hotaling[3]; 25. 7J-Dan Santabarbara[24]

SPORTSMAN BONUSES

PALMER’S SERVICE CENTER POWER POSITION – $50 Gift Certificate to Online Performance/Stone Motorsports – Josh Coonradt

GRECO’S AUTO & TRUCK CENTER HARD CHARGER AWARD – $100 Gift Certificate to Greco’s Auto & Truck Center – Tyler Peet & Ricky Quick +11

IN MEMORY OF JEANETTE REOME – $100 to race winner – Tyler Bobar

13 entries
Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stocks
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 8N-Nick Stone[1]; 2. 15-Beau Ballard[3]; 3. 35-Ken Gates[5]; 4. 715-Jason Morrison[2]; 5. 96-Andy Graves[6]; 6. 2H-Luke Horning[4]; 7. 13-George Cushman[7]; 8. 1D-Nick Santuccione[8]; 9. 24V-Jason Samrov[9]; 10. 39-Hayleigh Gates[12]; 11. 909-Kailey Jaycox[13]; 12. 24N-Josh Samrov[10]; 13. 49-Ivan Joslin[11]

18 entries
Montgomery County Office for Aging Limited Sportsman
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 48-Chayton Young[1]; 2. 18-John West[2]; 3. 647-Brian Nelson[4]; 4. 22L-Lance Hill[6]; 5. 11-Josh Persse[3]; 6. 32-Owen Mormile[8]; 7. 7A-Steve Wagoner[12]; 8. 16H-Dylan Hutson[7]; 9. 27R-Rusty Baumes[9]; 10. 24-Kirsten Swartz[10]; 11. 5S-Cameron Snell[11]; 12. 16-Andrew Millard[14]; 13. 4-Cole Comrad[18]; 14. 19Z-Destry Scribner[13]; 15. 96B-Jimmy Beach[15]; 16. 23-Nick Ryder[17]; 17. (DNS) 22-Mike Hill; 18. (DNS) 4M-Zach McSpirit

LIMITED SPORTSMAN BONUSES
PALMER’S SERVICE CENTER POWER POSITION – $50 Gift Certificate to Online Performance/Stone Motorsports – John West

GRECO’S AUTO & TRUCK CENTER HARD CHARGER AWARD – $50 Gift Certificate to Greco’s Auto & Truck Center – Steve Wagoner & Cole Conrad +5

SWAGGER FACTORY APPAREL HARD CHARGER AWARD – $50 Gift Certificate to Swagger Factory Apparel – Steve Wagoner $ Cole Conrad +5

24 entries
Fonda Fair Four Cylinders
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 129D-Josh Reome[12]; 2. 97JD-Jay Ingersoll[20]; 3. I75D-William Cook[6]; 4. 666D-Rudy King Jr[19]; 5. 8D-Stephen Burka[5]; 6. 244S-Dave Reedy[9]; 7. 29JD-John Ray[4]; 8. 126D-Nichole Decker[14]; 9. 26D-Len St Andrews[11]; 10. 47S-Bruce Liddle[7]; 11. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[22]; 12. 16JD-Jason Samrov Jr[16]; 13. 420S-Tim Warner[1]; 14. 11D-Tomek Kowalczyk[13]; 15. 6D-Joshua Leonard[3]; 16. 78KD-Jacob Kimball[23]; 17. 22D-Tony Frezzo[24]; 18. 78D-Blake Smart[8]; 19. 9D-David Frame[21]; 20. 51S-Paul Bateholts[15]; 21. K1S-William Liberatore[10]; 22. 777S-Chris Hemstreet[17]; 23. (DNS) 212S-TJ Marlitt; 24. (DNS) 9BD-Blaze Post

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