5/17/2026
Fonda Speedway
CLARK SCORES THE WIN ON METRO FORD DOLLAR NIGHT AT FONDA
By: Ron Szczerba
Fonda, NY – One of, if not the most popular events of the 75th anniversary season took place at the Fonda Speedway on Saturday evening, “Dollar Night” sponsored by Metro Ford of Schenectady, NY. When Joe Kriss waved the checkered flag in the 30-lap Amsterdam Truck Center Modified feature, it was Cody Clark who stood in F.X. Caprara Car Companies victory lane with his Hoyenga Racing #4.
For Clark it was his first win of the 2026 season and the fourth of his career in the division with his last win coming last year on 8/2/2025.
“We showed some speed in the beginning of the year, but I just couldn’t catch a break,” Clark told Mimi Lazzaro in victory lane. “Two weeks ago, we blew two left rear tires and on opening night the first week I just ran out of talent and hit the fence in turn one so this is a good rebound back. This is just a testament to this team, we’re all in and hopefully we can keep it going from here.”
Other winners on Metro Ford Night were Tyler Peet (Swagger Factory Apparel Sportsman), Nick Stone (Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stocks), Mike Hill (Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman), Bruce Liddle (SOHC) and Jay Ingersoll (DOHC) in the Fonda Fair Four Cylinder division, and Matt Novotny (Enduro).
The first night of handicapping for the 2026 season placed Eric Mack and Craig Hanson on the front row with Mack taking the early race lead. Clark started the event in the fourth position and was up to the second position by lap three after getting by Hanson for the spot. Two consecutive caution flags flew on lap six with Clark taking the lead on one of them but because no laps were completed the pass for position never counted.
Mack held the lead on the third try to restart the race with Clark and Hanson swapping the second position before Clark took it over again for good on lap 11 when light rain started to fall. Hanson slowed in turn four while running third, bringing out the caution and ending his night early. Clark took the lead away from Mack on lap 12 with three drivers making big moves at that point.
Those three drivers were Rocky Warner who went from sixth to second, defending Track Champion Alex Yankowsi who gained five positions up to fifth, and Stewart Friesen who was now third after running 12th at the lap 11 caution. With three laps remaining, Clark caught up to lap traffic and tried to protect the lead by running low behind the lap car with Warner and Friesen closing in quickly.
Clark managed to maintain his lead to the checkered flag as Warner stayed right behind the leader while Friesen tried the outside to no avail with Yankowski and Pep Corradi completing the top five at race end.
“At the beginning of the race I didn’t know if we were going to be good or if we were just out to lunch,” Clark said. “I tried the middle a couple of times, and it was just all dirty and wasn’t cleaned off yet. I knew the bottom was the place to be, but I was pretty sure Eric (Mack) wasn’t going to come off the bottom, so I had to do something to get around him because he wasn’t moving.”
Bobby Rhinehardt and Randy Snyder started the 25-lap Swagger Factory Apparel Sportsman feature on the front row with Rhinehardt taking the early lead at the drop of the green flag. The top three of Rhinehardt, Corky Warner, and Seth Martin pulled away from the fourth place running car of Snyder by lap five with the red flag out two laps later for Snyder who went into the tire barrier in turn four and ended up over the wall. He was okay after the hard wreck.
Martin got by Warner for the second position on the restart with Tanner Warner also getting by his brother for the third spot. After a caution on lap ten, Martin took the lead away from Rhinehardt with 12th place starter Tyler Peet now the new second lace car. On lap 15 on the inside of turn three, Peet got under Martin for the lead and pulled away to his second win of the season and the eighth of his career at Fonda in the Woodframe Structures LLC # 9G.
Tanner Warner was second followed in the top five by 14th place starter Stephen Gray, 11th place starter Garrett Chillot, and Martin.
“It is pretty cool to be able to drive this car, it is kind of just driving itself,” Peet said after the win. “We started 12th there and I really didn’t think it was going to be too easy to get to the front. I found myself in fifth pretty quick and that was pretty cool, so I just kept plugging away. I feel like I’m kind of a hard nosed driver, if I won ten weeks in a row I would still find something I did wrong.”
Haleigh Gates led the first six laps of the 20-lap Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stock feature after starting on the pole on the with outside pole position starter George Cushman and fifth place starter Jason Morrison swapping the second position back and forth on lap five. Sixth place starter Nick Stone the new second place car on lap six after getting by both Morrison and Cushman.
On the outside at the line to complete lap seven, Stone was the new race leader with Ivan Joslin third on lap eight after starting seventh. With three laps to go, Joslin got by Gates for the second position but with no cautions to close up the field, Stone was home free and took his second win of the 2026 season and the 73rd of his career in the division in the Stone Motorsports #8N.
Joslin, third place starter Andy Graves, Haleigh Gates, and Cushman completed the top five.
“Haleigh (Gates) did a great job tonight, she’s progressing quickly and that is great to see,” Stone said in victory lane. “Hopefully, that will encourage other people to want to come race with us. She is proof that you don’t have to do it long to improve pretty quickly. The track conditions were phenomenal tonight, you could use the whole race track if you needed to, it was smooth and that’s what we want. No tire wear this is perfect.”
“Thanks to Todd Hoffman, we lost a motor the last time we raced, and he got another one back in here,” Stone continued to say. We are never lacking for anything with him; he always has us covered.”
Mike Hill took the lead from Zach McSpirit on lap four of the Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman feature and went on to his first win of the season and the second of his career in the division in the Pizza Plus of Grand Gorge #22. Eighth place starter Lance Hill ended up second followed in the top five by sixth place starter Nick Ryder, 16th place starter Chayton Young, and 17th place starter Steve Wagoner.
Jay Ingersoll (DOHC) was the overall winner in the 12-lap Fonda Fair Four Cylinder feature with Bubba Cook in second, Blake Smart third, Bruce Liddle fourth and the winner of the SOHC class, and William Liberatore fifth. For Ingersoll it was his first win of the 2026 season and the 23rd of his career in the division while for Liddle it was his first of the 2026 season and the third of his career in the division.
Next Saturday come and celebrate the Memorial Day weekend at the Fonda Speedway with Harvest Homes sponsoring a Memorial Day spectacular, with all divisions in action plus the Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Series (MVVDMS). Racing starts at 7:00 P.M.
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.
DATE – 5/16/2026 METRO FORD PRESENTS DOLLAR NIGHT - $1 GRANDSTAND ADMISSION
22 Entrees
Amsterdam Truck Center Modifieds
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 4-Cody Clark[4]; 2. 1-Rocky Warner[9]; 3. 44-Stewart Friesen[12]; 4. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[10]; 5. 21P-Luciano (Pep) Corradi[3]; 6. 85-Jack Lehner[11]; 7. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[8]; 8. 71-Eric Mack[1]; 9. 82S-Will Shields[5]; 10. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[6]; 11. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[16]; 12. 06-Jackson Gill[7]; 13. 21C-Brian Calabrese[15]; 14. 7M-Paul Mancini[19]; 15. 63-Chip Constantino[13]; 16. 1G-Darwin Greene[14]; 17. 76-Jamike Sowle[20]; 18. 6B-Robert Bublak[17]; 19. 20C-Craig Hanson[2]; 20. 6S-Matt Stangle[18]; 21. 27-Jason Reome[22]; 22. 24-Dylan Madsen[21]
MODIFIED BONUSES
PALMER’S SERVICE CENTER POWER POSITION – $100 Gift Certificate to Online Performance/Stone Motorsports – Position 4 – Alex Yankowski
LEXIE & DONNIE DELUREY/JACK LEHNER JLR TECHNOLOGIES 10TH PLACE WEEKLY BONUS – $75 – Ronnie Johnson
34 entries
Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 9G-Tyler Peet[12]; 2. 78-Tanner Warner[10]; 3. 25-Stephen Gray[14]; 4. 349-Garrett Chillot[11]; 5. 621-Seth Martin[3]; 6. 797-Corky Warner[4]; 7. 26-Mason Gray[9]; 8. 12AJ-AJ Greco[15]; 9. 1H-Harry Shaffer[7]; 10. 314-Clayton Dumond[18]; 11. 84-Ricky Quick[20]; 12. 33M-Bodie Marks[22]; 13. 2K-Mike Kalkbrenner[24]; 14. 10%-Chad Edwards[17]; 15. 1B-Brett Mortensen[8]; 16. 15-Greg Havlicek[16]; 17. 13J-Jim Mallia[19]; 18. 31J-John Dumond[6]; 19. 5C-Randy Cosselman[5]; 20. 70X-Josh Coonradt[23]; 21. 7-Dave Constantino[13]; 22. 618-Bobby Rhinehardt[1]; 23. 50-Bill August[21]; 24. 15S-Randy Snyder[2]; 25. 1M-Mark Mortensen[25]
SPORTSMAN BONUSES
PALMER’S SERVICE CENTER POWER POSITION – $100 Gift Certificate to Online Performance/Stone Motorsports – Position 8 – AJ Greco
GRECO’S AUTO & TRUCK CENTER HARD CHARGER AWARD – $100 Gift Certificate to Greco’s Auto & Truck Center – Tie – Tyler Peet, Stephen Gray, Mike Kalkbrenner all +11
15 entries
Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stocks
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 8N-Nick Stone[6]; 2. 49-Ivan Joslin[7]; 3. 96-Andy Graves[3]; 4. 39-Hayleigh Gates[1]; 5. 13-George Cushman[2]; 6. 35-Ken Gates[15]; 7. 1D-Nick Santuccione[12]; 8. 24V-Jason Samrov[10]; 9. 24N-Josh Samrov[11]; 10. 62-Nick Danna[9]; 11. 715-Jason Morrison[5]; 12. 2H-Luke Horning[4]; 13. (DNS) 35B-Steve Gates; 14. (DNS) 909-Kailey Jaycox; 15. (DNS) 4M-Jordan Modiano
18 entries
Montgomery County Office for Aging Limited Sportsman
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 22M-Mike Hill[2]; 2. 22L-Lance Hill[8]; 3. 23-Nick Ryder[6]; 4. 48-Chayton Young[16]; 5. 7A-Steve Wagoner[17]; 6. 24-Kirsten Swartz[11]; 7. 32-Owen Mormile[10]; 8. 18-John West[14]; 9. 77K-Kathy Bellen[18]; 10. 16-Andrew Millard[15]; 11. 11-Josh Persse[7]; 12. 96B-Jimmy Beach[13]; 13. 16H-Dylan Hutson[5]; 14. 27R-Rusty Baumes[4]; 15. 4M-Zach McSpirit[1]; 16. 647-Brian Nelson[9]; 17. 5S-Cameron Snell[12]; 18. (DNS) 4-Cole Conrad
LIMITED SPORTSMAN BONUSES
PALMER’S SERVICE CENTER POWER POSITION – $50 Gift Certificate to Online Performance/Stone Motorsports – Position 3 – Nick Ryder
GRECO’S AUTO & TRUCK CENTER HARD CHARGER AWARD – $50 Gift Certificate to Greco’s Auto & Truck Center – Tie – Chayton Young & Steve Wagoner both +13
21 entries
Fonda Fair Four Cylinders
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 97JD-Jay Ingersoll[10]; 2. I75D-Bubba Cook[7]; 3. 78D-Blake Smart[2]; 4. 47S-Bruce Liddle[15]; 5. K1S-William Liberatore[18]; 6. 777S-Chris Hemstreet[16]; 7. 129D-Josh Reome[11]; 8. 29JD-John Ray[6]; 9. 126D-Nichole Decker[8]; 10. 244S-Dave Reedy[19]; 11. 16JD-Jason Samrov Jr[5]; 12. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[17]; 13. 11D-Tomek Kowalczyk[9]; 14. 6D-Joshua Leonard[3]; 15. 26D-Len St Andrews[1]; 16. 212S-TJ Marlitt[14]; 17. 12D-Kendra St Andrews[12]; 18. 25S-ANTHONY POWERS[21]; 19. 23S-Lucas Condon[20]; 20. (DNS) 9D-David Frame; 21. (DNS) 8D-Stephen Burka
SWAGGER FACTORY APPAREL HARD CHARGE BONUS – $50 Gift Certificate to Swagger Factory Apparel – Different Division Weekly – Four Cylinder – William Liberatore +13
Submitted By: Brett Deyo