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SHEPPARD TAKES $53,000 TO WIN FONDA 200

By: Ron Szczerba

Fonda, NY – The 2024 edition of the Fonda 200 had a little bit of everything involved, something for everyone, and special moments to be remembered as well. During the opening ceremonies, a huge American Flag which the Johnstown Fire Department loaned to the speedway, was unfolded and held by the Teal Suits Safety Team while the National Anthem was sung by Mimi Lazzaro and signed by Lori Scanlon.

Once the National Anthem was sung, veterans that were on hand at the track folded the flag the proper way for return to the fire department. Joe Kriss sang the Canadian Anthem as well for all of the Canadian drivers and fans in attendance. The starting lineup was announced with all of the drivers walking down in front of the grandstand so that they could be greeted by the fans.

When the final checkered flag flew on the 2024 edition of Fonda 200 weekend and the 2024 season at Fonda, Matt Sheppard took home $53,000 cash for the win in the Fonda 200, his second win of the event after wining it back in 2022 while 2024 Fonda Speedway Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Track Champion Payton Talbot took home $2,500 for the win in the 40-lap STSS Crate Sportsman feature.

“This car was so good man, I got up on that top and drove around them all and got to the front,” Sheppard told Mimi Lazzaro in victory lane. “Marc was giving me fits there but I just kind of bided my time and the longer we went the better this car got, it was outstanding all night long.”

Congratulations to all of the 50/50 girls for all of their hard work and also congratulations to Mark from Gloversville who won $7,705!

When Joe Kriss dropped the green flag for the first time in the Fonda 200, pole position starter Tyler Dippel was the race leader and with a fast race car pulled away from the rest of the field. Matt Sheppard started the event in the third position, took the second position away from Craig Hanson on lap 13, and started his chase of the leader. Sheppard got a great run coming out of turn two and pulled alongside of Dippel for the lead on lap 34, clearing Dippel by the time they got to turn three in the number one spot.

Sheppard pulled away from the field until two caution flags slowed the event before the lap 50 mark, one for one of the favorites to win the race Max McLaughlin, who spun the Nelson Motorsports #85 in turns three and four. Just after the quarter mark in the race on lap 51, the red flag was out for a wreck in turn three involving Bobby Hackel IV and Michael Trautschold. Hackel flipped on top of the tire wall but fortunately was not injured in the wreck.

Sheppard pulled away on the restart to a straightaway advantage but just before the halfway point the yellow was out on lap 88 for Chris Curtis who suffered a flat right rear tire. At this point some drivers decided to pit including Danny Varin, Brian Calabrese, Trautschold, and Marc Johnson who had made his way into the top 10 after starting 32nd.

The final ten laps before halfway were run with everyone seeming as though they were satisfied where they were running at that point with Sheppard not getting away from Dippel at that point as his right front tire was going flat.

“We were rolling pretty good there in the first half, but once the track latched down when we got in traffic, and I really could have used more gear so Big Cat Danny Camara got under and changed the gears at the halfway break.”

When the flag flew to complete the halfway point at lap 100 the top 10 consisted of Sheppard, Dippel, fifth place starter Rocky Warner, fourth place starter Jack Lehner, 15th place starter Stewart Friesen, eighth place starter and Fonda Speedway Modified Track Champion Alex Yankowski, 12th place starter Anthony Perrego, 10th place starter Mike Mahaney, 26th place starter JaMike Sowle, and 18th place starter Adam McAuliffe.

Only five cars pulled in the infield for minor adjustments to be made including Curtis, Calabrese, Johnson, Trautschold, and Varin with the remainder of the 20 cars left in the event going to the hot pit area for major adjustments including Sheppard who changed not only his flat right front but all of the other tires as well along with a gear change on the Hurlock Auto & Speed Supply #9S.

When the second half of the race began, Curtis was the leader with Calabrese, Johnson, Trautschold, and Varin in the top five with Sheppard restarting in the sixth position. One lap into the second half of the event, the yellow flag was out for Dippel who suffered a flat right rear tire while running seventh.

On the restart, Johnson made his move around Calabrese for the second position with another yellow flag out on lap 106 for Trautschold and Yankowski who came together on track with both going to the hot pit and returning at the end of the now 20 car field.

On the restart, Johnson was the new race leader with Varin and Lehner both getting by Calabrese for the third and fourth positions. The yellow was out again on lap 166 for Dippel who suffered another right rear flat while running in the 11th position after restarting 20th around 16 laps prior. On the restart, Johnson continued to lead on the restart with what had to be the two moves of the race to follow.

Move number one was Friesen going three wide around two cars in turn one, without much room left between himself and the outside wall, to take the third position. Sheppard followed with an incredible move of his own when he got by both Friesen and Varin for the second position after falling back to the eighth position just after the second half of the race began.

“The restarts were really crazy,” Sheppard said in victory lane. “I got a pretty decent restart, but I think it was Calabrese who hooked me in the right rear and messed me up. So, I was back in eighth, Stew, Jack (Lehner), and Mahaney got by me, and I thought man our race is over. Getting to the front from eighth was the key.”

At that point both Lehner and Perrego were also on the move, Lehner taking the fourth position on a lap 142 restart while Perrego moved up to the fifth position after getting by Varin after Perrego restarted the second half of the race in the 12th spot. Sheppard kept working on Johnson for the lead until lap 150 when he got a run coming out of turn two and got by Johnson on the inside of the backstretch to take over the number one position.

Freisen’s race came to an end on lap 153 when he slowed in turns one and two while running third with flames coming from the underside of the racecar. Friesen got to the pits safely without incident. Lehner took the number two spot away from Johnson on the restart, and throughout the remainder of the race the top three remained Sheppard, Lehner, and Johnson while Perrego was still trying to advance closer to the front of the field.

Perrego swapped the fifth position twice with Mahaney before securing it on lap 168. Perrego then got by Varin for the fourth position five laps later but that was as close as he got to the leader as Sheppard went on for the win followed by Lehner in the Ollie’s Good Stuff Cheap #02, Johnson in the S & S Asphalt Paving #9J, Perrego in the Advance Concrete #4P, and Varin in the Magsarus #93.

“After the first 100 I thought that we had a real good racecar,” Sheppard said in victory lane. “I wanted to free it up for the second 100 so I made a small adjustment, but I don’t think that it really helped but the car was good before it rubbered up, that’s when the passing was done, and we were able to pass. I’m really proud of this team, what a big night for us.”

“This is a huge race and anytime you can run second to the 9S (Sheppard) it is always a good night,” Lehner said after his second place finish. “The car fired off really good and we made the right adjustments at the halfway break. My guys worked really hard and thanks to them for that and a stellar racecar. I got ahead of Matt working to the front on the restart, I should have set myself up a little different on the next restart and I think that I would’ve had a shot. But he snuck by me and congrats to them. Thanks to Dan Bedell who got this motor turned around in a week and Brett Deyo who put this all together. I was definitely a cool night.”

“I wasn’t sure how long the right front was gonna last and that was in the back of my mind,” Johnson said following his third place finish. “It wasn’t helping performance wise because I didn’t know if it was gonna blow or not. I was counting the laps down and happy when it was over. I had to live or die on it, and it held up.”

The extra distance 40-lap STSS Crate Sportsman event for the Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman feature saw pole position starter Blaine Klinger take the lead at the drop of Joe Kriss’ green flag. A red flag was thrown on lap four when Brett Mortensen got loose on the backstretch and spun after contact in the rear by Tyler Peet while Mortensen was running three wide with two other cars coming out of turn two. Cars behind the incident then piled in with Butchie Irwin flipping his car. Irwin was okay with all cars besides Irwin able to continue on at the rear of the field.

On the single file restart, fifth place starter Payton Talbot took over the second position from Stephen Gray and immediately started to pressure the leader. Another red flag was out on lap nine when Harry Shaffer went straight into the turn one wall head on. Fortunately, due to a well built DKM racecar and the proper safety gear in place, Shaffer walked away from the wreck. Talbot got a run on the outside of Klinger on the outside lane coming out of turn four and took the lead at the line to complete lap 19.

Talbot went on to his fifth win of the 2024 season and the 16th of his career at Fonda in the division in the Belmont’s Garage #14T with Klinger, Gray, 10th place starter Peet, and eighth place starter Dylan Madsen completing the top five.

“I think that we were real fortunate to get the lead when we did,” Talbot said in victory lane. “Once we got the lead I think the track latched down around the bottom and the rubber came in. Blaine almost got me on that one restart, man he ran a heck of a race hats off to him. Restarts are so important in the crates; he did all he could.

“You don’t really get much closer than that,” Klinger said after his second place finish. I jumped the one restart on purpose, I wanted to get a good look at the outside of one and two. It stuck on the next restart, and I was going as fast as I possibly could as soon as I could. Getting second place to him, I couldn’t be happier.”

“It feels good, especially being my home track,” Gray said after his third place run “It feels good to at least be on the podium. Starting second, I was a little tight and I would get stuck on the outside in turns three and four When Payton got by me I just stuck it down to the bottom.”

33 Entrees
Amsterdam Truck Center Modifieds
Amsterdam Truck Center STSS Modified FONDA 200 (200 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[3]; 2. 02-Jack Lehner[4]; 3. 9J-Marc Johnson[32]; 4. 4P-Anthony Perrego[12]; 5. 93-Danny Varin[7]; 6. 35M-Mike Mahaney[10]; 7. 21C-Brian Calabrese[6]; 8. 1-Rocky Warner[5]; 9. 1D-Tyler Dippel[1]; 10. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[8]; 11. 76-Jamike Sowle[26]; 12. 35C-Chris Curtis[13]; 13. 24P-Brian Pessolano[22]; 14. 71-Eric Mack[21]; 15. 76M-Ricky Quick[16]; 16. 28T-Michael Trautschold[14]; 17. 35B-Francois Bellemare[25]; 18. 24-Adam McAuliffe[18]; 19. 20C-Craig Hanson[2]; 20. 44-Stewart Friesen[15]; 21. 85-Max McLaughlin[9]; 22. 21P-Luciano (Pep) Corradi[19]; 23. 16-Aaron Jacobs[24]; 24. 27-Jason Reome[30]; 25. 42-Tucker O'Connor[23]; 26. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[11]; 27. 50-Bill August[28]; 28. 98-Tanner Warner[20]; 29. 3-Jeff Trombley[17]; 30. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[27]; 31. 7J-Dan Santabarbara[29]; 32. (DNS) 22-Kurtis Hohensheldt

43 entries
Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman
Swagger Factory Apparel STSS 602 Sportsman Feature (40 Laps): 1. 14T-Payton Talbot[5]; 2. 9K-Blaine Klinger[1]; 3. 25-Stephen Gray[2]; 4. 12T-Tyler Peet[10]; 5. 89-Dylan Madsen[8]; 6. 78-Tanner Warner[13]; 7. 22H-Tim Hartman Jr[12]; 8. 82H-David Hackett[15]; 9. 4-Cody Clark[6]; 10. 63-Chip Constantino[14]; 11. 14Z-Troy Zilles[4]; 12. 1D-Kyle Dingman[21]; 13. B62-Brendan Gibbons[29]; 14. 21C-Brian Calabrese[3]; 15. 12AJ-AJ Greco[22]; 16. 1M-Mark Mortensen[25]; 17. 03-Joshua Jock[27]; 18. 27-Michael Ballestero[19]; 19. 12-George Schweigart[28]; 20. 1JB-Jeff Bobilin[26]; 21. 00X-Josh Coonradt[11]; 22. 31J-John DuMond[18]; 23. 10%-Chad Edwards[16]; 24. 1B-Brett Mortensen[7]; 25. 14J-Jeremy Tyrrell[23]; 26. 1H-Harry Shaffer[9]; 27. 117-Butchie Irwin[17]; 28. 55-Jonny Feagles[20]; 29. 123-Dale Welty[24]

Greco’s NAPA Hard Charger – Brendan Gibbons +16

Swagger Factory Apparel STSS 602 Sportsman LCQ #1 (8 Laps): 1. 12AJ-AJ Greco[1]; 2. 14J-Jeremy Tyrrell[2]; 3. 123-Dale Welty[3]; 4. 1M-Mark Mortensen[5]; 5. 1JB-Jeff Bobilin[6]; 6. B62-Brendan Gibbons[9]; 7. 28D-Dylan Eldred[7]; 8. 797-Corky Warner[13]; 9. 24S-Kirsten Swartz[10]; 10. 6S-John Santolin[15]; 11. 12-George Schweigart[8]; 12. 307-Karl Barnes[12]; 13. 47-Walter Cook[17]; 14. 99-Clyde Peek[19]; 15. 52-Ron Proctor[14]; 16. 11-Josh Persse[20]; 17. 03-Joshua Jock[22]; 18. 19-Owen Lewis[18]; 19. (DNS) 71-Steve Cummings; 20. (DNS) 2-Brandon Tyler; 21. (DNS) 7J-Dan Santabarbara; 22. (DQ) 164-Brock Miller[4]

Did Not Qualify: Dylan Eldred, Steve Cummings, Corky Warner, John Santolin, Walter Cook, Clyde Peek, Dan Santabarbara, Brock Miller, Kirsten Swartz, Karl Barnes, Ron Proctor, Brandon Tyler, Owen Lewis, Josh Persse

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