RICK @ the RACES ( 12 April 2014)
Saturday 12 April Fonda Speedway NY
At last, after a long hard winter, my Dirt racing season got underway this past weekend. On Saturday 12 April , I joined www.rickattheraces.com webmaster Craig Revelle for a trip to the historic Fonda Speedway, located in the Mohawk River Valley near Albany, New York.
Craig had just got his truck ‘wrapped’ with his company logo ‘Finish Line Web Design’ and wanted to show it off, so we drove down in his vehicle instead of my HHR. After meeting up at the Gananoque , Tim Hortons at 9-30 in the morning, I parked up the HHR for the journey south in his truck.
We arrived at the track at about 2-30 pm and waited with the other early arrivals for the pit gates to open at 3-00pm. Once inside we found a good spot to park the truck, where it would be seen and gain the maximum attention.
Considering all the snow and wet weather this winter, most of the track was in good shape, apart from a few bumpy spots on the entrance to the first turn.
This was the Fonda season opener, and also the first ever event to be put on by new promoter Matt Delerenzo. Matt has been driving Modifieds for many years, and I’ve also watched him doing a bit of winter ice racing on the frozen lakes.
The program consisted of Modifieds, Sportsman and Pro Stocks as well as the domestic budget divisions.
My buddy Rob Yetman was there with his Pro Stock, and was using the same sharp looking body, that he used for his Syracuse win at last years Super Dirt Week .
In the Modifieds , another good friend of mine, Dale Planck was racing, and he was using the Vermont based CG Morey 14z car .
A bit of local interest for me, was the appearance of the talented young Mike Maresca , a Mohawk International Raceway regular from the Sportsman division.
I hung out in the pits with the Yetman crew , my friend Chanty Lesage and Jeff Brownell , before venturing on to the centre to take my pics. I had a good chat with Jeff, who for the past few years , and before selling up, owned the team that Matt Sheppard formerly raced for. ( At the end of last year Matt went on to join the HBR Motorsports team ).
It was good to meet up with my photographer buddies, George Smith, Jay Fish and Bill McGaffin.
For the heat races I stood on the pit bend, but for the features, moved over to the town bend which is turn one and two.
The first Feature in the books for the 2014 was for the Pro Stocks, and was won by Pete Broderson, with Rob coming home fourth.
The Modifieds were up next and Ronnie Johnson ( son of Jack) built up a commanding lead before executing a multiple barrel roll right in front of me. I’m afraid , I wasn’t quick enough, and my flash wasn’t bright enough for a decent shot, but the result of my efforts is in the picture section.
Luckily, Ronnie walked away from the wreck, and after the re-start, Danny Varin ( son of Bobby) took control.
He looked all set for the win, until Matt Sheppard powered past on the last lap, to grab the checkers.
The Sportsman Feature was the last race of the night and it wasn’t until just before midnight, that Cody Clark was celebrating his win in Victory Lane.
I met up with Craig at the Finish Line Web Design truck and we began our return journey through the night back to Canada. We were in Gananoque at 4-00 am and by 5-45 am I was home in Cornwall.
Needless to say, Sunday morning was spent sleeping !
It would have been nice to have stayed down in New York for the Sunday show at the Five Mile Point Speedway, but with a 5-30 am start at work on Monday, it was out of the question. In my absence Matt Sheppard did it again, this time taking the checkers in the # 357 Norm Hansel car for a Race of Champions Dirt Series win