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LUKE HORNING TAKES HONDO CLASSIC VICTORY WHILE FRIESEN WINS HIS FIFTH OF THE SEASON AT FONDA

By: Ron Szczerba

Fonda, NY – Fonda Speedway was the place to be on Saturday evening as two great people were remembered with memorial events, one driver kept up his winning ways at his home racetrack, and two drivers realized the dream of a first career win at the “Track of Champions.”

The memorial events mentioned were in memory of Hondo Carpenter and Bob James, known to Bobco to all of the racing community, with Luke Horning and AJ Walters respectively taking the wins in those two events in the Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stock division.

Winning at his home track again for the 93rd time in his career and fifth time in 2024 was non other than Stewart Friesen in the Amsterdam Truck Center Modified division and starting their winning ways at Fonda with their first victories ever at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds were Tyler Peet in the Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman division and Bobby Rhinehardt in the Montgomery County Office of the Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman division.

Other winners besides those mentioned above were Ken Hollenback (SOHC) and Jay Ingersoll (DOHC) in the Fonda Fair Four Cylinders and hometown favorite Danny Varin who won the Earl Halaquist Memorial Empire Super Sprint (ESS) feature. For Varin it was his eighth win out of nine events in the ESS events at Fonda and his fifth win in the Earl Halaquist Memorial event after also winning it back in 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2023.

Pastor Greg Nitz started off opening ceremonies with a prayer on this special evening with four year old Adelaide singing the National Anthem while Heather, Rose, and Julie raised $3014 for the 50/50 which was won by Patrick from Mohawk.

Beau Ballard and Luke Horning started the Hondo Classic on the front row with Horning leading lap one after the two drivers were side by side at the line to complete the lap. Ballard took the race lead away from Horning on the next lap while Kenny Gates made his way up to the third position on lap ten after starting ninth.

With Ballard’s car working well on the outside and Horning’s on the inside it was an entertaining first ten laps of the Hondo Classic event with Horning making his way by Ballard for the lead on the inside of turn two on lap 12. One lap later, after a restart for the third caution flag of the event, Horning took the lead away with a pass on the inside of turn two with Gates and seventh place starter Ivan Joslin also getting by Ballard for the second and third positions.

At the halfway point, Horning was the race leader with Gates, Joslin, Ballard, and Bobco Dash winner AJ Walters in the top five. With five laps to go in the event, the top five listed above were together for the lead with Joslin now in the second position with one final caution flag coming out on lap 25.

Horning may have not had the fastest car on the track, but he did a great job protecting his lead to the checkered flag for his second win of the season and 29th of his career at Fonda followed by Gates, Joslin, Ballard, and Walters.

“If I knew that staying away for a couple of weeks would have led to a track like this I would have done it on opening night,” Horning said in victory lane after his Honda Classic win. “You can’t get much better than this, a top a bottom smooth as can be and very fast hats off to these guys. I joked with Craig about stealing the keys to the water truck, but they’ve got it figured out now.”

“I feel like we were buzzing around the top but when you catch the bite the car got tight,” Horning continued to say. “So, I came in loose and slid up to it, I knew that we were burning up tires and the left front was up off the ground. That’s good for pictures but its not fast so I had to tuck in and follow Beau until I got by him. Once we got by I just tried to keep a good pace and not make any mistakes. “When I used to pick up video’s from Bobco I would kid with him about Hondo working in a shed because their garage was so small.”

The Amsterdam Truck Center Modified feature began with Tucker O’Connor leading from his pole position start with fifth place starter Jessica Friesen second and seventh place starter Rocky Warner third by lap six. Stewart Friesen started the event in the tenth position and by lap 13 he was the fourth place car.

At the halfway point, O’Connor continued to lead with Warner now second, Stewart Friesen third, Jessica Friesen fourth, and Brian Calabrese fifth. Stewart Friesen got by Warner for the second position on lap 16 with eighth place starter Alex Yankowski taking the fifth position away from Calabrese with ten laps to go.

Stewart Friesen used his favorite lane at Fonda, the outside, to get by O’Connor for the lead on lap 22 and from that point on pulled away to his fifth win of the season and the 93rd of his career at the “Track of Champions”. Warner ended up second followed by Yankowski, Jessica Friesen, and O’Connor.

“The track is a little bit different every week,” Friesen told Mimi Lazzaro in victory lane. “Tonight, we had a pretty good curb in the heat race then it kind of locked down on the bottom. I stayed out of it long enough to keep the tires alive, that was a lot of fun. Some of the guys were kind of committed to the rubber line but we stayed up there in the bite and let it eat.”

The 25-lap Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman feature was run first on Saturday evening with Mike Kalkbrenner the leader of the first three laps before Brett Mortensen got a run on the outside and took over the lead on the outside of turns one and two on lap four. Tanner Warner started the event in the sixth position and took the second position away from Kalkbrenner on lap eight.

At the halfway point in the event, Brett Mortensen led by a comfortable margin over Warner, Kalkbrenner, Mark Mortensen, and Ricky Quick. When Brett Mortensen slowed coming out of turn four to complete lap 16 due to ignition or motor issues, it brought out the caution and handed the lead over to Warner. This time on the restart it was Mark Mortensen who slowed going into turn one after contact from another car in turn four on the restart broke the rear end bringing out the caution for the final time in the event.

On this restart, Warner continued to lead with tenth place starter Tyler Peet taking the second position away from Kalkbrenner along with 12th place starter Payton Talbot who also got by for the third position. Peet got by Warner on the inside of turns three and four for the lead with five laps to go and led the rest of the way for his first career win at Fonda over Talbot, Warner, 13th place starter Stephen Gray, and Quick.

“I’m really pumped,” Peet said after his first career win. “We’ve been struggling hard here, been working hard, and this thing was good tonight. I’ve always been better at Utica (Rome) then I’ve been here but winning here means a lot more.”

Bobby Rhinehardt and Walter Cook swapped the lead twice in the Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman feature with Rhinehardt leading going into turns three and four on the final lap. Cook got alongside of Rhinehardt in turn four coming to the checkered flag and put heavy pressure on the leader, making contact with Rhinehardt and climbing over Rhinehardt’s left front wheel. Cook and Rhinehardt both corrected their cars with Cook crossing the finish line first.

After the incident was looked at by Fonda Speedway management, Rhinehardt was awarded the win, the first of his career at Fonda over Cook, tenth place starter Shawn Gibbons, Lance Hill, and Kirsten Swartz.

“It was very unexpected,” Rhinehardt said after the contact by Cook on the final lap. “I’m not sure why he did it. I understand that this is a limited class but that was not a limited driver move. I hate to win like that, but we’ll get back here again.”

Ken Hollenback took the lead away from Jay Ingersoll on a lap 7 restart and went on to his sixth win of the season and the 101st of his career in the SOHC class. Ingersoll finished second overall but was awarded the DOHC victory, his fifth of the season and sixth of his career at Fonda. Kerrie Hollenback finished third overall followed by Haleigh Gates, and Wayne Russell Jr.

The Empire Super Sprints made their one and only appearance at Fonda for 2024 with Billy VanInwegen Jr. leading lap one. On a lap two restart, Josh Pieniazek was the new race leader with fourth place starter Danny Varin taking over the second position at that point as well. Varin chased Pieniazek until lap nine when he got under Pieniazek in turn two and made the pass for the lead. Varin pulled away for the win followed by VanInwegen Jr., Jordan Thomas, Davie Franek, and Matt Tanner.

“Baby this is home,” Varin said after his victory. “We’ve gotta be good here, we have to come home and protect home turf. Sometimes it doesn’t happen, but we’ve got to have good showings. This team is firing on all cylinders, 87 Speed and X1 Cars have got us rolling. It’s easy to dial yourself out but this team is doing a real good job right now.”

“Ill tell you what, y arms are ready to fall off,” Varin continued. “That was a torrid pace to try to keep up the whole race, what a fun racetrack. It was touch and go there on the bottom but phew that was fast.”

AMSTERDAM TRUCK CENTER MODIFIEDS
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 44-Stewart Friesen[10]; 2. 1-Rocky Warner[7]; 3. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[8]; 4. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[5]; 5. 42-Tucker O'Connor[1]; 6. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[6]; 7. 85-Jack Lehner[9]; 8. 21C-Brian Calabrese[2]; 9. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[12]; 10. 34-Dave Constantino[3]; 11. 22W-Brandon Walters[14]; 12. 93-Ryan Odasz[11]; 13. 76-Jamike Sowle[4]; 14. 21P-Luciano (Pep) Corradi[13]; 15. 24P-Brian Pessolano[15]; 16. 21-Gary Edwards III[16]; 17. 7MM-Michael Maresca[19]; 18. 27-Jason Reome[18]; 19. 66-Don Bellen[17]; 20. 4-Cody Clark[20]

23 entries
SWAGGER FACTORY APPAREL CRATE 602 SPORTSMAN
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 12T-Tyler Peet[10]; 2. 14T-Payton Talbot[12]; 3. 78-Tanner Warner[6]; 4. 25-Stephen Gray[13]; 5. 84-Ricky Quick[5]; 6. 10%-Chad Edwards[14]; 7. 40D-Butchie Irwin[18]; 8. 63-Chip Constantino[8]; 9. B24-Brendan Gibbons[11]; 10. 14J-Jeremy Tyrrell[3]; 11. 2K-Mike Kalkbrenner[1]; 12. 12P-Connor Prokop[7]; 13. 164-Brock Miller[16]; 14. 8-Josh Kane[23]; 15. 1B-Brett Mortensen[2]; 16. 1M-Mark Mortensen[4]; 17. 99-Clyde Peek[19]; 18. 56-Vince Vitale[20]; 19. 89-Dylan Madsen[9]; 20. 7J-Dan Santabarbara[15]; 21. (DNS) 4-Al McCoy; 22. (DNS) 9K-Blaine Klinger; 23. (DNS) 1H-Harry Shaffer

Greco’s NAPA Hard Charger – Butchie Irwin +11

28 entries
LEATHERSTOCKING CREDIT UNION PRO STOCKS
Hondo Classic Feature (29 Laps): 1. 2H-Luke Horning[2]; 2. 35-Ken Gates[9]; 3. 49-Ivan Joslin[7]; 4. 15-Beau Ballard[1]; 5. 22W-AJ Walters[6]; 6. 7C-Caden Dumblewski[16]; 7. 110-Devon Camenga[22]; 8. 8N-Nick Stone[19]; 9. 6-Shane Playford[5]; 10. 715-Jason Morrison[8]; 11. 28-Dave Emigh[11]; 12. 7D-Chucky Dumblewski[13]; 13. 74N-Jim Normoyle[25]; 14. 13-George Cushman[17]; 15. 9B-Slater Baker[27]; 16. 15M-Mike Hill[3]; 17. 1D-Nick Santuccione[10]; 18. 35A-Steve Gates[4]; 19. 28G-Gus Gould[26]; 20. 44-Adam Warner[24]; 21. 62-Nick Danna[20]; 22. 75-Gary Silkey[14]; 23. 44R-Ray Richer[21]; 24. 23-Russell Alloggio[18]; 25. 4M-Jordan Modiano[15]; 26. 08-Doug Sheely[28]; 27. (DNS) 81A-Michael Achzet; 28. (DNS) 80-Dan Krajewski

BOBCO Dash (5 Laps): 1. 22W-AJ Walters[5]; 2. 15-Beau Ballard[3]; 3. 28-Dave Emigh[2]; 4. 35A-Steve Gates[1]; 5. 715-Jason Morrison[6]; 6. 81A-Michael Achzet[4]

19 entries
MONTGOMERY COUNTY OFFICE FOR AGING LIMITED SPORTSMAN
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 618-Bobby Rhinehardt[1]; 2. 47-Walter Cook[2]; 3. 62-Shawn Gibbons[10]; 4. 22L-Lance Hill[3]; 5. 24-Kirsten Swartz[4]; 6. 14W-Timothy Wilmot[7]; 7. 12AJ-AJ Greco[5]; 8. 2-Brandon Tyler[12]; 9. 1B-Jeff Bobilin[6]; 10. 797-Corky Warner[8]; 11. 32-Steve Wagoner[15]; 12. 538-Gus Kamburelis[17]; 13. 26-Mason Gray[19]; 14. 11-Josh Persse[11]; 15. 216-Phil Arnold[9]; 16. 16H-Dylan Hutson[14]; 17. 26B-Maddy Broedel[13]; 18. 21-Destry Scribner[16]; 19. (DNS) 57-Ben Balzer

Greco’s NAPA Hard Charger – Shawn Gibbons +7

13 entries
FONDA FAIR FOUR CYLINDERS
Feature (12 Laps): 1. 12S-Ken Hollenbeck[10]; 2. 97JD-Jay Ingersoll[8]; 3. 33D-Kerrie Hollenbeck[9]; 4. 42D-Hayleigh Gates[7]; 5. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[3]; 6. 223S-Josh Beals[5]; 7. 26D-Len St Andrews[12]; 8. 420XS-Tim Warner[1]; 9. 212S-TJ Marlitt[4]; 10. 29JD-John Ray[6]; 11. K1S-William Liberatore[2]; 12. 9D-David Frame[11]; 13. 666D-Rudy King Jr[13]
16 entries
EMPIRE SUPER SPRINTS
A Feature 1: 1. 01-Danny Varin[4]; 2. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[2]; 3. #79-Jordan Thomas[3]; 4. 28F-Davie Franek[7]; 5. 90-Matt Tanner[6]; 6. #9-Josh Pieniazek[1]; 7. 28-Jordan Poirier[5]; 8. #88C-Chad Miller[10]; 9. 17J-Kyle Smith[9]; 10. 87-Jason Barney[8]; 11. 13E-Evan Reynolds[16]; 12. 53-Shawn Donath[12]; 13. 19EM-Emily VanInwegen[15]; 14. 33-Lacey Hanson[13]; 15. 3A-Jeff Trombley[11]; 16. 6K-Kyle Dutcher[14]

Lap Leaders Heat Winners
Lap/Place Driver Heat 1:
1 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning 1st 81A - Michael Achzet
2 - Leader 15 - Beau Ballard 2nd 22W - AJ Walters
3 - Leader 15 - Beau Ballard 3rd 35 - Ken Gates
4 - Leader 15 - Beau Ballard
5 - Leader 15 - Beau Ballard Heat 2:
6 - Leader 15 - Beau Ballard 1st 715 - Jason Morrison
7 - Leader 15 - Beau Ballard 2nd 15 - Beau Ballard
8 - Leader 15 - Beau Ballard 3rd 2H - Luke Horning
8 - 2nd 2H - Luke Horning
9 - Leader 15 - Beau Ballard Heat 3:
9 - 9th 7C - Caden Dumblewski 1st 35A - Steve Gates
10 - Leader 15 - Beau Ballard 2nd 28 - Dave Emigh
11 - Leader 15 - Beau Ballard 3rd 15M - Mike Hill
12 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning
13 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning
14 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning Hondo's Lunch Money (Last Place Car)
15 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning 08 - Doug Sheeley
15 -15th 9B - Slater Baker
16 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning
17 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning Hard Charger (w/ # of Positions)
18 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning 110 - Devon Camenga… +15, 22nd to 7th
19 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning
20 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning
21 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning 9th Place Starter
22 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning 35 - Ken Gates
23 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning
24 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning
25 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning 15th Place Starter
26 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning 4M - Jordan Modiano
27 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning
28 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning
29 - Leader 2H - Luke Horning Hard Luck Award (w/ # of Positions)
35A - Steve Gates… -14, 4th to 18th
BOBCO Dash
1st 22W - AJ Walters
2nd 15 - Beau Ballard Last Car to Take the Checkers
3rd 28 - Dave Emigh 28G - Gus Gould
4th 35A - Steve Gates
5th 715 - Jason Morrison
6th 81A - Michael Achzet Krash's Last Passed for the Win Bonus
15 - Beau Ballard
1st NYSSCA Member - BOBCO Dash
15 - Beau Ballard
9th NYSSCA Member Across the Line
715 - Jason Morrison

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