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MARESCA WINS LOU LAZZARO MEMORIAL AT FONDA

By: Ron Szczerba

Fonda, NY – Back in 2020, Michael Maresca was crowned Modified Track Champion at the “Track of Champions” Fonda Speedway without the benefit of a feature victory in a shortened 10-race season during Covid. Taking a line out of Jim King’s announcing vocabulary, you could certainly say that the prestigious Lou Lazzaro Memorial feature event at the Fonda Speedway on Saturday evening was “Incomparable” just as the driver that King gave that name to was, the Incomparable Lou Lazzaro.

Weather and track conditions have plagued the Fonda Speedway track crew and Saturday evening was no different with track conditions taking precedence over the weather on this night, but the track crew never gave up and made the track the best they possibly could for the feature events on Phoenix Heating & Cooling Night. Several drivers chose to start the feature events on Saturday evening but after only a couple or a few laps pulled in to save their equipment.

Maresca was one of the drivers that chose to race the entire event and was awarded the $4,444 top prize in what was his third career win at the “Track of Champions” and his first win at the track since 7/13/2019 in the 34-lap Amsterdam Truck Center/Lou Lazzaro Memorial/Thunder on the Thruway Series Modified feature event.

Other winners on Phoenix Heating & Cooling Night at Fonda were Chad Edwards (Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman), Luke Horning (Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stocks), AJ Greco (Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman), Jay Ingersoll DOHC and Wayne Russell Jr. SOHC in the rain delayed Fonda Fair Four Cylinder feature from 4/27 and Adam Montville DOHC and Russell Jr. SOHC in the regularly scheduled event.

The Modified, 602 Crate Sportsman, and Pro Stock features were also part of the six race “Thunder on the Thruway Series” with race number two in the series coming up next Friday, May 10 at the Utica Rome Speedway.

A redraw after qualifying heat races placed Tucker O’Connor and Alex Yankowski on the front row for the 34-lap Lou Lazzaro Memorial event with Yankowski taking the early lead. By lap three, Yankowski was out to a straightaway advantage with a yellow flag one lap later taking his big lead away. On the restart, third place starter Chris Curtis and 14th place starter Jack Lehner were the new second and third place cars with Yankowski out to a half track lead by lap eight.

Smoke showing from the car of Darwin Greene on lap 14 brought the yellow flag out again when Greene slowed in turns three and four. On this restart, Lehner took over the second position with sixth place starter Michael Maresca the new third place car with the top five at the halfway point consisting of Yankowski, Lehner, Maresca, Curtis, and tenth place starter Brian Calabrese.

On lap 20, Yankowski was out to another half track advantage when he suddenly slowed in turns one and two with a flat right rear tire along with possible suspension damage. At the same time Lehner slowed as well with a flat right rear as both drivers went to the hot pit for repairs and came out at the tail end of the field in the fifth and sixth positions respectively.

Maresca inherited the lead on the restart while Yankowski did his best to get back to the front, taking over the second position with only six laps to go. Maresca held on for the victory with Yankowski, Curtis, Lehner, and 11th place starter Ryan Odasz completing the top five.

“That was something,” Maresca said of the race. “It was survival. I definitely had someone pretty special riding with me, Paul Zinsman who was my number one crew guy when I first started racing the #24 car, he passed away this winter. He was a good friend of mine, for everything to stay together on that car, I’m not that good of a wrench, so that was him.”

“It’s awesome, the whole week I was excited to get back to Fonda. It had character tonight; it was tough but we’re racers and we race. We’re having a Memorial race for a real racer here, so you gotta race. This car stayed together, I have an extremely good team, the best one in the pits. I’ve had a good season so far, but I haven’t won yet, so I’m pumped.”

Clayton DuMond and Ricky Quick started the 25-lap Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman feature on the front row with DuMond out to the early lead. Chad Edwards started the event in the fourth position but by lap two he was the new second place car with defending Track Champion Payton Talbot third after starting sixth.

On the outside of turn two on lap eight, Edwards took the lead away from DuMond with Talbot also getting by DuMond for the second position one lap later. Fifth place starter Brett Mortensen and Quick who fell back early on both got by DuMond to complete the top five just before the caution flew on lap 22 when Jared LaBagh suffered a flat left front tire forcing him into the yuke tire in turn two collapsing his front end.

Edwards maintained the lead on the restart and stretched out his advantage to the checkered flag for the win with the focus now on the race for the second position between Talbot and Brett Mortensen. Mortensen was able to get by Talbot on the final lap for the second position with Talbot, 22nd place starter Blaine Klinger, and DuMond completing the top five. The win for Edwards was his first since 7/16/2022.

A redraw placed Luke Horning and invader Bret Belden on the front row for the Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stock feature with Horning taking the lead at the drop of Joe Kriss’ green flag. Nick Stone started the event in the third position and took the lead away from Horning on lap two, only to have Horning retake the number one position on a lap two restart.

On lap seven, Stone suffered damage to the left front of his race car after possibly hitting the yuke tire in turn two and his car was never the same again as he just tried to hang onto it and finish the race. Defending Track Champion Ivan Joslin started the event in the fifth position and took over the second position on lap eight.

Kenny Gates was the new third place car when the caution came out for Johnny Holmes who flipped his car in turn three. Holmes was okay after the accident with the Teal Suits Safety Team checking him over at the scene. Joslin fell back to fourth on the restart while Gates moved into the second position, but nobody was going to stop Horning on this night as he went on to his 28th career win in the division over Gates, Joslin, Shane Playford, and Nick Santuccione.

AJ Greco started eighth in the Montgomery County Office for Aging Inc. Limited Sportsman feature, took the lead away from Walter Cook on lap two, and went on to his third career win in the division over Dylan Huston, 10th place starter Lance Hill, seventh place starter Randy Cosselman, and 11th place starter Brandon Tyler.

Next Saturday, May 11 will be Dollar Night with two Amsterdam Truck Center Modified features on the schedule, one of them being the rained out event from July 27. All other regular divisions will also be in action.

DATE – 5/4/2024 – PHOENIX HEATING & COOLING/LOU LAZZARO MEMORIAL NIGHT

AMSTERDAM TRUCK CENTER/FX CAPRARA THUNDER ON THE THRUWAY SERIES/LOU LAZZARO MEMORIAL MODIFIED FEATURE – 34-LAPS – $4,444 TO WIN – Feature (34 Laps): 1. 7MM-Michael Maresca[6]; 2. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[2]; 3. 35-Chris Curtis[3]; 4. 85-Jack Lehner[14]; 5. 93-Ryan Odasz[11]; 6. 21C-Brian Calabrese[10]; 7. 19JR-Roger Henion Jr[20]; 8. 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr[16]; 9. 42-Tucker O'Connor[1]; 10. 1G-Darwin Greene[18]; 11. 34-Dave Constantino[15]; 12. 1-Rocky Warner[17]; 13. 21P-Luciano (Pep) Corradi[24]; 14. 76-Jamike Sowle[12]; 15. 66-Don Bellen[19]; 16. 20C-Craig Hanson[9]; 17. 4-Cody Clark[8]; 18. 27-Jason Reome[21]; 19. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[13]; 20. 24P-Brian Pessolano[7]; 21. 96-Andy Graves[23]; 22. (DNS) 1Z-Jessica Friesen; 23. (DNS) 97-Bobby Hackel IV; 24. (DNS) 111-Demetrios Drellos

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 20C-Craig Hanson[1]; 2. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[4]; 3. 4-Cody Clark[7]; 4. 42-Tucker O'Connor[2]; 5. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[8]; 6. 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr[6]; 7. 66-Don Bellen[5]; 8. 111-Demetrios Drellos[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[1]; 2. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[2]; 3. 21C-Brian Calabrese[4]; 4. 24P-Brian Pessolano[3]; 5. 85-Jack Lehner[7]; 6. 1-Rocky Warner[6]; 7. 19JR-Roger Henion Jr[8]; 8. 96-Andy Graves[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 35-Chris Curtis[1]; 2. 76-Jamike Sowle[2]; 3. 93-Ryan Odasz[3]; 4. 7MM-Michael Maresca[5]; 5. 34-Dave Constantino[7]; 6. 1G-Darwin Greene[8]; 7. 27-Jason Reome[6]; 8. 21P-Luciano (Pep) Corradi[4]

LAP LEADERS – 1-26 Yankowski, 27-34 Maresca

3rd Career win in the division for Maresca

SWAGGER FACTORY APPAREL/FX CAPRARA THUNDER ON THE THRUWAY SERIES CRATE 602 SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 25-LAPS – $1,500 TO WIN – Feature (25 Laps): 1. 10%-Chad Edwards[4]; 2. 1B-Brett Mortensen[5]; 3. 14T-Payton Talbot[6]; 4. 9K-Blaine Klinger[21]; 5. 314-Clayton DuMond[1]; 6. 40D-Butchie Irwin[12]; 7. 1M-Mark Mortensen[3]; 8. 21-Gary Edwards III[17]; 9. B24-Brendan Gibbons[31]; 10. 164-Brock Miller[14]; 11. 9L-Jimmy Leiby[16]; 12. 38SPEC-Jared LaBagh[8]; 13. 84-Ricky Quick[2]; 14. 14J-Jeremy Tyrrell[24]; 15. 12P-Connor Prokop[15]; 16. 78-Tanner Warner[19]; 17. 99-Clyde Peek[20]; 18. 12T-Tyler Peet[10]; 19. 1D-Kyle Dingman[9]; 20. 8-Josh Kane[13]; 21. 63-Chip Constantino[11]; 22. 12B-Tyler Bobar[27]; 23. 312-Bill Port[26]; 24. 89-Dylan Madsen[7]; 25. 7J-Dan Santabarbara[29]; 26. 85R-Bob Rowback[25]; 27. (DNS) 2K-Mike Kalkbrenner; 28. (DNS) 55-Jonny Feagles; 29. (DNS) 28-Dylan Eldred; 30. (DNS) 31J-John DuMond; 31. (DNS) 25-Stephen Gray

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 12T-Tyler Peet[1]; 2. 89-Dylan Madsen[6]; 3. 1B-Brett Mortensen[7]; 4. 1D-Kyle Dingman[5]; 5. 8-Josh Kane[8]; 6. 9L-Jimmy Leiby[10]; 7. 78-Tanner Warner[4]; 8. 9K-Blaine Klinger[9]; 9. 14J-Jeremy Tyrrell[11]; 10. 12B-Tyler Bobar[2]; 11. 25-Stephen Gray[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 63-Chip Constantino[1]; 2. 10%-Chad Edwards[2]; 3. 38SPEC-Jared LaBagh[4]; 4. 84-Ricky Quick[9]; 5. 164-Brock Miller[3]; 6. 21-Gary Edwards III[7]; 7. 99-Clyde Peek[6]; 8. 55-Jonny Feagles[5]; 9. 85R-Bob Rowback[10]; 10. (DNS) 31J-John DuMond

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 14T-Payton Talbot[7]; 2. 314-Clayton DuMond[1]; 3. 40D-Butchie Irwin[4]; 4. 1M-Mark Mortensen[5]; 5. 12P-Connor Prokop[10]; 6. 2K-Mike Kalkbrenner[2]; 7. B24-Brendan Gibbons[6]; 8. 28-Dylan Eldred[3]; 9. 312-Bill Port[9]; 10. 7J-Dan Santabarbara[8]

LAP LEADERS – 1-7 Clayton DuMond, 8-25 Edwards

20th Career win in the division for Edwards

GRECO’S NAPA HARD CHARGER AWARD – Blaine Klinger +18

LEATHERSTOCKING CREDIT UNION/FX CAPRARA THUNDER ON THE THRUWAY SERIES PRO STOCK FEATURE – 20-LAPS – $1,000 TO WIN – Feature (20 Laps): 1. 2H-Luke Horning[1]; 2. 35-Ken Gates[4]; 3. 49-Ivan Joslin[5]; 4. 6-Shane Playford[7]; 5. 1D-Nick Santuccione[12]; 6. 75-Gary Silkey[9]; 7. 8N-Nick Stone[3]; 8. 7C-Caden Dumblewski[8]; 9. 28H-Johnny Holmes[10]; 10. 715-Jason Morrison[6]; 11. 81A-Michael Achzet[11]; 12. 81-Bret Belden[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 49-Ivan Joslin[4]; 2. 8N-Nick Stone[6]; 3. 35-Ken Gates[5]; 4. 6-Shane Playford[1]; 5. 75-Gary Silkey[3]; 6. 81A-Michael Achzet[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2H-Luke Horning[2]; 2. 81-Bret Belden[1]; 3. 715-Jason Morrison[5]; 4. 7C-Caden Dumblewski[6]; 5. 28H-Johnny Holmes[3]; 6. 1D-Nick Santuccione[4]

LAP LEADERS – 1 Horning, 2 Stone, 3-20 Horning

28th career win in the division for Horning

MONTGOMERY COUNTY OFFICE FOR AGING INC. LIMITED SPORTSMAN FEATURE – 15-LAPS – Feature (15 Laps): 1. 12AJ-AJ Greco[8]; 2. 16H-Dylan Huston[1]; 3. 22L-Lance Hill[10]; 4. 5C-Randy Cosselman[7]; 5. 2-Brandon Tyler[11]; 6. 87J-Joel Knudsen Jr[13]; 7. 47-Walter Cook[2]; 8. 00X-Josh Coonradt[4]; 9. 797-Corky Warner[14]; 10. 37-Ryan Sweet[3]; 11. 618-Bobby Rhinehardt[12]; 12. 07-Josh Persse[18]; 13. 14W-Timothy Wilmot[6]; 14. 57-Ben Balzer[17]; 15. (DNS) 216-Phil Arnold; 16. (DNS) 44J-Adam Tranka; 17. (DNS) 44-Rocco Constantino; 18. (DNS) 4-Zach McSpirit; 19. (DNS) 13J-Jim Mallia

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 16H-Dylan Huston[2]; 2. 37-Ryan Sweet[4]; 3. 216-Phil Arnold[9]; 4. 5C-Randy Cosselman[7]; 5. 44J-Adam Tranka[8]; 6. 2-Brandon Tyler[3]; 7. 87J-Joel Knudsen Jr[5]; 8. 44-Rocco Constantino[10]; 9. 57-Ben Balzer[1]; 10. (DNS) 07-Josh Persse

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 47-Walter Cook[1]; 2. 00X-Josh Coonradt[6]; 3. 14W-Timothy Wilmot[5]; 4. 12AJ-AJ Greco[7]; 5. 22L-Lance Hill[2]; 6. 618-Bobby Rhinehardt[8]; 7. 797-Corky Warner[3]; 8. 4-Zach McSpirit[9]; 9. 07-Josh Persse[10]; 10. 13J-Jim Mallia[4]

LAP LEADERS – 1 Cook, 2-15 Greco

3rd career win in the division for Greco

GRECO’S NAPA HARD CHARGER AWARD – Greco +7

FONDA FAIR FOUR CYLINDER FEATURE – 12-LAPS – RAIN DELAYED FROM 4/27/24 – 4/27 Make-Up Feature (12 Laps): 1. 97JD-JAY INGERSOLL (dual cam winner)[4]; 2. 3D-John Napoli[3]; 3. 777D-Chris Hemstreet[14]; 4. 36D-Todd Morey[2]; 5. 54S-WAYNE RUSSELL JR (single cam winner[9]; 6. 42D-Hayleigh Gates[15]; 7. 26D-Len St Andrews[13]; 8. K1S-William Liberatore[10]; 9. 212S-TJ Marlitt[12]; 10. 29D-Howard Marlitt[6]; 11. 420XS-Tim Warner[8]; 12. 223S-Josh Beals[7]; 13. D5D-Shawn Hemstreet[5]; 14. 33D-Kerrie Hollenbeck[1]; 15. 26S-Ken Hollenbeck; 16. (DNS) 98S-Stephanie Maille

FONDA FAIR FOUR CYLINDER FEATURE – 12-LAPS – REGULAR SCHEDULED FEATURE – Feature (12 Laps): 1. 7D-ADAM MONTVILLE[8]; 2. 97JD-Jay Ingersoll[7]; 3. 3D-John Napoli[3]; 4. 42D-Hayleigh Gates[9]; 5. 54S-WAYNE RUSSELL JR[4]; 6. 26D-Len St Andrews[15]; 7. 26S-Ken Hollenbeck[18]; 8. 420XS-Tim Warner[11]; 9. D5D-Shawn Hemstreet[10]; 10. 212S-TJ Marlitt[1]; 11. 33D-Kerrie Hollenbeck[5]; 12. 36D-Todd Morey[14]; 13. 29D-Howard Marlitt[13]; 14. (DNS) K1S-William Liberatore; 15. (DNS) 223S-Josh Beals; 16. (DNS) 777D-Chris Hemstreet; 17. (DNS) X54S-Bruce Boldin; 18. (DQ tires) 22D-Tony Frezzo[16]

2nd career win in the division for Ingersoll

1st career win in the division for Montville

7th career win in the division for Russell Jr.

LOU LAZZARO MEMORIAL LAP SPONSORS & SPECIAL AWARDS

Heats: 1st place $104 combo sponsors:

Kevin & Dorene Gonyea

Carla Rudolph

John Cook-Sodemann

Mike Jackson

Jim Passino

James Hensen

Gary Yurgans

Ron Moshier

4th place $75 DTD

2nd & 3rd place cars to the DASH for Rick Rudolph

34 LAPS $4444 TO WIN

1.) Mortensen Motorsports $44

2.) Coastal 181 $20

3.) Coastal 181 $20

4.) Junior & The Dogs $20

5.) Jann McGaffin $20

6.) Bob & CeCe MacDermond $20

7.) James Hensen $100

8.) Showstopper Photography $20

9.) Cloud Nine Cannabis $20

10.) Beaver Racing $25

11.) Dave & David Herrick $20

12.) George Biancosino – In Memory of Jumpin Jack Johnson $20

13.) Kenneth Kimball $20

14.) The Corbett’s $44

15.) Peter Lazzaro – In Memory of Rick Rudolph $20

16.) Jungle & Becky Mosher $44

17.) Richard Francis – In Memory of Dick, Mary & Ronnie Tobias $50

18.) Gasketcase loves Bobby Varin $20

19.) Cary Warner $25

20.) Jann McGaffin $20

21.) #TEAMONEH $50

22.) David Turner – In memory of his dad, Christopher Turner $100

23.) FOX 23 Fast Track Crew $50

24.) Ray Evans $50

25.) Ray Evans $50

26.) Dave Camara Racing $20

27.) Anda Services $50

28.) Mike & Bonnie Reuss – In Memory of The Cyclone Maynard Forrette $20

29.) Dick Myers $20

30.) Dick Myers $20

31.) Peter Lazzaro – In Memory of Frank Blanchard $20

32.) Jim Passino – In Memory of Nelson Passino $50

33.) Elmo’s Pit Stop $100

34.) Mike & Bonnie Reuss $20

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