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From the Notebook: A Look Back at the Fonda Speedway Firecracker 50™

FONDA, NY Last Sunday night, Stewart Friesen cruised to Fonda Speedway™s Victory Lane for the 82nd time in his career and pocketed $10,000 at the Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco Firecracker 50.™ 

Friesen, who sits atop the all-time STSS win list for 35 career victories, moved from seventh to the lead in 13 laps, passing Mat Williamson - the night™s pole sitter and eventual third-place finisher - en route to the win.

Fonda: Friesen™s Piggy Bank

*Sunday was Friesen™s fifth win at Fonda under STSS sanctioning and has now swept all five events contested at the Track of Champions.™

*With the win, Friesen becomes the first driver in STSS history to have five wins at the same track.

*The victory is Friesen™s second in STSS competition in 2022.

*The driver of the Halmar International No. 44 moved from 10th to eighth in the River Valley Builders North Region standings despite only making four starts of the available six races.

*Friesen™s $15,850 made on the North Region this season is third on the earnings list, behind Matt Sheppard ($47,652) and Williamson ($22,436).

Second for Sheppard

*After drawing No. 10 for the 50-lap feature on Sunday, Matt Sheppard advanced to second for another podium finish under the STSS banner. 

*Sheppard now leads the River Valley Builders North Region by 45 points over Williamson and has amassed three wins and five top-five finishes in six races while closing in on $50,000 in earnings.

*Overall, Sheppard has eight top-five finishes in 10 total STSS starts in 2022.

Pleasant Podium for Williamson

*After some struggles at Fonda, Mat Williamson was plenty happy to park his Behrent™s Performance Warehouse No. 3 on the front stretch with a podium finish. 

*In six starts on the River Valley Builders North Region, Williamson now has four top-five finishes, sitting comfortably in second in the championship hunt.

Consistent Creeden

*Danny Creeden has been impressive thus far on the North Region tour, producing three top-five and four top-10 finishes in six races after a fourth-place run at Fonda on Sunday.

*Creeden is fifth on the earnings list with $12,392 in six North Region races on a lot of tracks that he doesn™t have too many laps on.

The Fonda Faithful

*Chris Curtis impressed many with a sixth-place finish, battling in and out of the top five for the duration of the 50-lap feature event.

*Curtis, a Fonda regular, earned $1,200 for his sixth-place efforts.

*Nick Heywood, a Modified rookie that calls Fonda and Utica-Rome home, advanced from 19th to ninth in his first STSS start, amongst a star-studded field. 

*As is customary on the STSS tour, Heywood pocketed $1,050 for ninth.

Points Update

*After six of the 10-race River Valley Builders North Region, Matt Sheppard leads with 534 points, 45 more than second-place Mat Williamson.

*Creeden passed Andy Bachetti, who finished 28th after making just five laps, for third.

*Anthony Perrego, Mike Mahaney and Bobby Hackel remain fifth through seventh, respectively, with Friesen, who has started only four of the six races, Brett Haas and Danny Tyler rounding out the top 10.

Looking Forward

*The River Valley Builders North Region is just two weeks from returning to action with the Richie Evans Remembered™ 61-lap, $6,100-to-win event at the Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, N.Y.

*The Hurlock Auto & Speed Supply South Region moves to Bridgeport (N.J.) Speedway for the South Jersey Shootout™ on Tuesday, July 26.

*We are now less than two months from the third-leg of the six-race STSS Halmar International Elite Series when the New Yorker™ returns to Utica-Rome on Sunday, September 4.

Fonda Speedway is located at 21 Bridge St Fonda, N.Y. and can be reached by phone at 518.915.4395. The speedway website is www.thefondaspeedway.com/. 

To learn more about the Short Track Super Series Fueled By Sunoco, visit www.shorttracksuperseries.com, e-mail bdmotorsportsmedia@gmail.com, check out Short Track Super Series™ on Facebook or @ShortTrackSS on Twitter or Instagram.

The Short Track Super Series is presented by American Racer/Lias Tire, Sunoco Race Fuel, Insinger Performance, FloSports, Bob Hilbert Sportswear, Halmar International, River Valley Builders, Hurlock Auto & Speed, Velocita-USA, St. Lawrence Radiology, Design for Vision & Sunglass Central, Belmont™s Garage, Precision Hydraulic & Oil, Prime MAC Tools, F.X. Caprara Car Companies, Behrent™s Performance Warehouse, Beyea Custom Headers, Bicknell Racing Products, Dirt Track Digest, EIBACH, Elite Welder Testing & Training, Flach Performance Products, Henry™s Exhaust, Hig Fab, Penske Racing Shocks, Schultz Racing Fuel Cells, Spyder Filters, Superior Remodeling, Teo-Pro Car, VAHLCO, Wegner Automotive & Wilwood.

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