Bobby Varin dominated the modified event, and earned his 36th career victory at Fonda Speedway Saturday night.
Varin survived a stiff challenge from A.J. Romano to win the first heat race, putting him on the pole for the 30-lap feature.
“Winning that first heat race was big,” Varin said after winning in the Dave Cruickshank-owned and Dover Brake-sponsored
No. 00. “I thought that we were
going to finish second to A.J., as he was fast, but fortunately, I was able to get by him for the heat race win in the closing laps.”
Feature starting positions were based on finishes in the heat
races.
The final caution of the race — which saw six yellow flags — came out on lap 17 for Ronnie Johnson, who stopped against the wall in turn four, but even with the field being closed up, there was no beating Varin, who was followed across the finish line by Ryan Odasz, Romano, Jeff Trombley, Dave Camara, Tony Pepicelli, Dave Lape, Ancel Collins, Danny Varin and John Marsh Sr.
A yellow flag flew on the first lap, and again on the following restart. When racing began again, Varin held the lead, with Jack Johnson second, Matt DeLorenzo third, Romano fourth and Trombley fifth.
Each caution led to one of the hot shoes dropping from the race, and the caution on lap 11 was when DeLorenzo dropped out while in second. On the restart, Odasz went from seventh to fourth, and on lap 14, Odasz was second after getting by Ronnie Johnson.
“I have to thank my crew, as we had to do some work on the carburetor before the feature, and I was on pins and needles as I didn’t have any brakes at all during the feature event,” Varin said. “I was just hoping that the nose of the car didn’t slide out on me because without brakes, that could have been big. There are a lot of great racers here at Fonda, and it is an honor to win here against the best drivers on the East Coast.”
In the sportsman feature, there were two yellow flags on the first lap, and David Towns grabbed the lead, with Mark Kislowski second and John McAuliffe third.
By lap 12, Towns was in lapped traffic, and Luke Munroe took over second.
With five laps to go, Towns and Munroe got out of shape on the frontstretch, but both were able to straighten their cars and continue. On lap 16, on the inside of the frontstretch, Munroe took over the top spot and led the rest of the way in the Re-Nue-Spa-sponsored No. 33.
Towns, Kislowski, Mark Mortensen, Vinny Sanganetti, Ricky Quick, Drew Fallis, Jason Memrick, Justin Auspelmyer and Rob Barlie completed the top 10.
“I couldn’t even imagine coming into the 2009 season with a win on opening day,” Munroe said. “This is a brand-new car, and my crew worked real hard in the garage over the winter, so this win is because of them.
“I felt that Dave [Towns], Mark [Kislowski] and I were evenly matched, so I was out there changing lines to look for some moisture to get an advantage.”
Other winners were Jeremiah Munson (602 limited sportsman), Rocky Warner (first career win in the pro stock division), Jeremy
Cramer (IMCA) and Cassidy Wilson (street stock).
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Categories: Sports
