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TWO IN A ROW FOR SHEPPARD IN THE FONDA 200

By: Ron Szczerba

Fonda, NY – Saturday was the final day of the 2025 Fonda 200 and after issues with a rear end on Friday and then a transmission before the green flag flew in the event on Saturday, the #9S team of Matt Sheppard put it all together in the Amsterdam Truck Center STSS Modified Fonda 200 for his second consecutive win in the event and the third Fonda 200 win of his career.

In the 40-lap Swagger Factory Apparel STSS Crate 602 Sportsman feature, Mark Mortensen was the winner of the event after having to practically rebuild his car over the past week according to his interview in victory lane after a qualifying heat race win on Friday. For Mortensen it was his first victory of the season and the 28th of his career in the division where he stands on top of the All Time Win List.

It was a very special and emotional win for Mortensen and his crew as he dedicated the race to his long time sponsor Mark Lansing Sr. of Jumpin’ Jack’s Drive-In who recently passed away. Lansing and the Jumpin’ Jack’s name have been on the car #1M since he started racing over 20 years ago and is also on Mark’s brother Brett Mortensen’s #1B car as well.

After two B-Mains for the Swagger Factory Apparel STSS Crate 602 Sportsman, opening ceremonies were held with drivers being introduced to the crowd as they walked down along the front of the grandstands to their cars. Following that was a prayer by Pastor Greg Nitz and then the Montgomery County Sheriff’s presented the Nations Colors as Joe Kriss sand the Canadian National Anthem followed by Mimi Lazzaro and George Biancosino who sang the American National Anthem.

The 50/50 girls knocked it out of the park again with a 50/50 prize worth $6537! Great job girls!

Great job by DTD TV for their production of the race on TV and for the excellent pit reporting by their team!

The following is a bulleted version of the highlights of the Fonda 200. A long race like this gets very confusing note wise so I want to try something different. Thanks Mike Mallett for the idea.

• Danny Varin took the lead at the drop of Joe Kriss’ green flag from his pole position start with Rocky Warner second after starting third.

• 11th place starter Tyler Dippel suffered a left rear flat tire bringing out the caution on lap 10.

• Matt Sheppard started the event in the 19th position and by lap 19 was already up to the seventh spot.

• On the outside of turn four on lap 26, fifth place starter Alex Yankowski took the lead away from Varin and stretched it out to a straightaway advantage by lap 34 with Sheppard now running fifth.

• On a lap 35 restart after Keith Flach suffered a flat left rear tire, Sheppard moved up to the fourth position.

• Red flag out on lap 41 for Chad Edwards who flipped his car in turns one and two. He was okay after the wreck.

• Another caution was out on lap 45 for Jack Lehner after he slowed on the frontstretch while running fifth. He would restart at the tail end of the field after a visit to the hot pit.

• Sheppard restarted in the fourth position but moved up to second on the restart.

• The top two cars of Yankowski and Sheppard fell off the pace on lap 53 and headed to the hot pit, Yankowski with a broken jackshaft according to pit reports was done for the evening while Sheppard had a flat left rear tire possibly caused by debris from the broken jackshaft on Yankowski’s car. Sheppard changed the tire in the hot pit and continued on at the rear of the field.

• Varin retook the lead at that point with Warner in second and eighth place starter Jessica Friesen in third.

• Anthony Perrego pulled off the track after suffering a broken driveshaft according to pit reports on lap 57 while running fourth with the yellow flag coming out on lap 62 for seventh place starter Ronnie Johnson with a left rear flat. After an early flat tire himself, Dippel was back in the top five with 30th place starter Billy Pauch Jr. now in the seventh position.

• The top three cars of Varin, Warner, and Friesen were running together for the lead on lap 75 just before Friesen slowed and came to a stop in turn four with an expired motor according to pit reports.

• Under the yellow flag, Varin went to the hot pit to change three tires and add fuel to the car handing the lead over to Warner. Varin restarted in the 17th position.

• Warner started showing signs of smoke from the car from a reported oil leak with the top five of Warner, Sheppard, Dippel, Brian Calabrese, and Pauch Jr. all going to the hot pit under caution for Flach who suffered yet another left rear flat on lap 87.

• Pep Corradi, who started the event in the 13th position stayed out of trouble and took over the lead on lap 89 with 18 cars left on track at that point.

• Calabrese came to a stop in turn three with eight laps to go to the halfway point after possibly running out of fuel, while Warner also returned to the hot pit area as his crew was adding oil to the car after finding the oil leak earlier in the event.

• Lehner took over the lead on a restart with four laps to go and was the leader at the halfway point with ninth place starter Dylan Madsen, Varin, Johnson, and fourth place starter Robert Bublak in the top five at the time.

• Only five drivers went to the hot pit at the halfway point where you could only change tire pressures, add fuel, and add tear offs while the remaining cars went to the hot pit for other major adjustments including tires.

• Dippel led the field to green as the second half of the event started and held that position until lap 109 when Sheppard retook the lead at that point after starting the second half of the event in the third position.

• Seven cars were on the lead lap on lap 142 with Dippel falling out of contention on lap 156 while running second.

• Under yellow at that point Warner went to the hot pit again and restarted back in the seventh position with Sheppard, Lehner, Varin, Bublak, and Madsen in the top five.

• Pauch Jr. was the new third place car after a lap 159 restart with Sheppard stretching his lead to a full straightaway on lap 165.

• Pauch Jr. drove off track while running in the third position when the radiator cap came off of the Nelson Motorsports #85 on lap 175.

• One final yellow flag came out with 15 laps to go for Daniel Morgiewicz with Sheppard maintaining his lead on the restart.

• Johnson was on the move over the remaining laps after getting the lucky dog after the last caution and got past Varin for the third position with three laps remaining.

• Sheppard went on for his second consecutive Fonda 200 win in the Hurlock Auto & Speed Supply #9S, the third of his career in the event after winning it back in 2022 and 2024. It was also Sheppard’s ninth career win at Fonda, his first coming back on 9/21/2013.

• Lehner finished second in the Madsen Overhead Doors #02

• Johnson finished third in the Mickle’s Automotive/Persons Farms #2RJ

• Varin finished fourth in the Magsarus #93

• Bublak finished fifth in the Pro Angle General Contracting #27B

PODIUM FINISHERS THOUGHTS IN THEIR OWN WORDS

MATT SHEPPARD

“Yesterday was definitely a rough day for us, then it started out rough again today. We got rolling real good in that first 100 then I got the flat tire. I’m like man when is this going to end here, finally got all of our bad luck out of our system and we were able to get this thing up front. I mean what a rocket ship, probably one of the best cars I ever drove here at Fonda.”

“We didn’t touch the thing the whole race, we put a couple of rear tires on it and the only mistake we may have made was probably not putting a right front tire on it, it was getting pretty tight and pretty worn out at the end. What an awesome win, the Fonda 200 is such a special race, two in a row now.”

“It seems like every year either I win it or Stewy wins it. Unfortunately, Stewy isn’t racing but I wish he was. I think this thing was good enough to even give him a run for the money. We talked about strategy when I got the flat left rear tire. We kind of decided what we were going to do, I told them at that point we hadn’t touched the right front so don’t change it, but we probably should have.”

"I can’t thank all these guys enough, they work their butts off and thanks to all of my sponsors, I couldn’t do it without them or my crew. It has been an up and down season for us, it seems like we really got rolling for a while, then we have nothing but bad luck. Had a bunch of bad luck this weekend too, but it ended up the right way. Big money season now, to pick this one up it definitely boosts morale and hopefully we can keep it rolling.”

JACK LEHNER

“Honestly, we never solved the engine issue. It was something ignition wise and we were down a cylinder. What a phenomenal race car, the car was good enough where I could baby it and try to carry some speed. I was worried about the restarts, but same result as last year. Special thank you to Brett Deyo for this opportunity, it is cool to be here in checkerboard square when I thought my night was done after 30-laps. Hopefully, we can do one better next year.”

RONNIE JOHNSON

“I went down a lap there, Matt Sheppard was so fast. I could just never get the lucky dog, I tried and every time the yellow came out I missed it by one. I knew if we could get the lucky dog and get back up there we could advance forward. At the end I’m surprised we came back to third.”

“To get a podium finish here, we got a flat tire, went down a lap, and my helmet blower came apart, so my shield fogged up for a while. I had to do some adjustments to it under yellow so it wouldn’t fog up. We fixed that at the halfway break, the guys changed some stuff, and we fixed some things.”

“My crew did a great job and we’re here in third so we’re happy. I’ve got guys here that worked on the 12A, I’m proud to have them all here. I couldn’t do it without them; they are as good as it gets.”

MORTENSEN TAKES THE WIN IN THE 40-LAP SPORTSMAN FEATURE ON FONDA 200 WEEKEND

Donovan Lussier led at the start of the 40-lap main event after starting on the pole position with third place starter Jonny Feagles second. Two quick yellows slowed the field on laps two and three with Lussier taking control of the event on each of the restarts. After starting 10th on the grid, Mark Mortensen was in the fifth position on lap five with 13th place starter Bobby Hackel IV in the sixth position by lap 10.

The yellow flag was out on lap 13 for Michael Ballestero who was in the wall in turn two, He was not injured but was done for the night at that point. On the restart Feagles was the new second place car with 23rd place starter Chad Edwards in third. That produced a four wide battle for the third position in between turns three and four with Mortensen getting the spot after Edwards slowed, bringing out another caution.

Mortensen continued his drive to the front on the restart, taking the second position away from Feagles and setting sights on the leader Lussier who had over a one second advantage. With quicker lap times than the leader, Mortensen closed in little by little on Lussier with the top five consisting of Lussier, Mortensen, Feagles, Hackel, and Brian Calabrese at the halfway point.

One more yellow flag flew on lap 25 for Kyle Dingman with Lussier again holding the lead on the restart. Hackel got past Feagles for the third position on lap 30 and ducked to the inside of Mortensen for the second position. Mortensen stayed strong on the outside and got back by Hackel for the second spot and again continued to chase Lussier.

Mortensen found something he liked on the outside and went around Lussier in turn four for the lead on lap 32 with Hackel also getting by Lussier for the second position one lap later. Mortensen went on for the win in the Jumpin’ Jack’s Drive-In #1M followed in the top five by Hackel, eighth place starter Tanner Warner, 12th place starter Tyler Peet, and Feagles. Lussier had a tire going down at the end and finished in the eighth position.

SPORTSMAN PODIUM FINISHERS IN THEIR OWN WORDS

MARK MORTENSEN JUMPIN’ JACK’S #1M

“The outside wasn’t too bad once I got out there, I was chasing the leader, but I couldn’t quite gain on him. I knew the car was good in the beginning, a little tight, but it started to come around. I got into Zilles a little bit, sorry about that, it was fun, it is fun when the car handles like that. I knew that it was a rocket, it was good all weekend, I was just hoping that it held on.”

“He (Lussier) started getting tighter and tighter, he was hitting the bump, and it was getting worse and worse. Coming off I couldn’t get him right away, after the restart I realized there was something good on the outside. We jumped on the start together at it was perfect. We were contemplating on whether to keep going or not, I was saying I’ve got to at least continue this year because I didn’t have a win. Now I’ve got one, so I’ll probably be back next year if the car is like this.”

“I love doing it, it’s a family thing, I sacrifice a lot with my wife and kids to be here. Tonight was my nephews birthday, and I missed that so Happy Birthday Liam. Mark Lansing Sr., who owns Jumpin’ Jack’s and has been with us for years, recently passed away so this one is for him. Thank you to all of my crew and sponsors, the car seems pretty good right now, it’s great when the car has it in it, and it’s nice to see that I still do too. Thank you, it feels good.”

BOBBY HACKEL KILLER CRATE #97

“It was an awesome race good job to Mark, he earned that. He’s been a Sportsman runner here for years and he knows his way around this place. I had to knock off the Modified rust without all that power and had to learn momentum racing again. Coming from 13th, I think we had a real good run.”

“If I had found the top a lap before he did who knows what could have happened. He earned it, he found it first. Great field of cars had a great time, this is a full DIRTcar deal, and we left a little on the table with that. But all being said, I’ve been in this car for two races, and it panned out real well.”

TANNER WARNER CAROLS TRANSPORTATION #98

“I hope that I have all the same friends that I started the race with. Brian and I are real good friends, but we had to move each other out of the way a few times. Track conditions, one lane, but my dad always taught me we aren’t here to make friends.”

Fonda Speedway will be back in action on Friday and Saturday September 26 & 27th with the Montgomery County Open Weekend. Check the website or Facebook for information on that event.

If you are a race fan that gets to the track early, be sure to check out the history of the Fonda Speedway at the Fonda Speedway Museum & Hall of Fame which is located on the Fonda Fairgrounds at the rear of the parking area going down towards turn four. The museum is open from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on race days and admission is free!

Fonda Speedway weekly feature winners, their race teams, and sponsors are invited the following week to display their cars at the museum and watch their feature win on Flo before the races. The victorious car display can begin as early as 3:00, and you are welcome to arrive and stay as late as your schedule allows.

Please message the Fonda Speedway Hall of Fame and Museum Facebook page to RSVP or with any questions!

All Fonda Speedway events are broadcast LIVE on FloRacing (www.floracing.tv).

Since 1953, the Track of Champions Fonda Speedway has hosted the best in stock car racing. The speedway operates weekly on Saturday nights from April through August plus several special events. Fonda Speedway is located on the Montgomery County Fairgrounds off New York State Thruway Exit No. 28 at 21 S. Bridge Street Fonda, NY 12068.

Fonda Speedway is on the web at www.thefondaspeedway.com. To learn more, call the office at 518.915.4395, like Fonda Speedway on Facebook or follow the speedway on Twitter: @thefondaspdwy or Instagram: @fondaspeedway.

31 entries

Amsterdam Truck Center Modifieds

A Feature 1 (200 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[19]; 2. 02-Jack Lehner[6]; 3. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[7]; 4. 93-Danny Varin[1]; 5. 27B-Robert Bublak[4]; 6. 24X-Dylan Madsen[9]; 7. 79-Rocky Warner[3]; 8. 21C-Brian Calabrese[2]; 9. 43-Keith Flach[15]; 10. 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr[18]; 11. 21P-Luciano (Pep) Corradi[13]; 12. 16-Aaron Jacobs[28]; 13. 85-Billy Pauch Jr[30]; 14. 76C-Chip Constantino[25]; 15. 1D-Tyler Dippel[11]; 16. 76-Jamike Sowle[21]; 17. 55J-Ancel Collins[12]; 18. 71-Eric Mack[20]; 19. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[8]; 20. ONE-David Hebert[10]; 21. 28T-Michael Trautschold[16]; 22. 4P-Anthony Perrego[14]; 23. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[5]; 24. 24-Chad Edwards[23]; 25. 20C-Craig Hanson[17]; 26. 97H-Bobby Hackel IV[22]; 27. 98-Tanner Warner[27]; 28. 97W-Corky Warner[24]; 29. 25-Stephen Gray[26]; 30. B24-Brendan Gibbons[29]; 31. (DNS) 9-Marc Johnson

54 entries

Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman

A Feature 1 (40 Laps): 1. 1M-Mark Mortensen[10]; 2. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[13]; 3. 78-Tanner Warner[8]; 4. 9G-Tyler Peet[12]; 5. 55-Jonny Feagles[3]; 6. 89-Dylan Madsen[7]; 7. 21C-Brian Calabrese[5]; 8. 72L-Donovan Lussier[1]; 9. 14Z-Troy Zilles[2]; 10. 12AJ-AJ Greco[16]; 11. 98-Camron Hotaling[19]; 12. 9K-Blaine Klinger[27]; 13. 164-Brock Miller[21]; 14. 349-Garrett Chillot[18]; 15. 82H-David Hackett[25]; 16. 7-Dave Constantino[17]; 17. 2K-Mike Kalkbrenner[26]; 18. 618-Bobby Rhinehardt[20]; 19. 31J-John Dumond[29]; 20. 74-Matt Perry[6]; 21. 1D-Kyle Dingman[22]; 22. 797-Corky Warner[14]; 23. 10%-Chad Edwards[23]; 24. 27-Michael Ballestero[24]; 25. 00X-Josh Coonradt[9]; 26. 25-Stephen Gray[4]; 27. 12B-Tyler Bobar[11]; 28. 123-Dale Welty[28]; 29. 7J-Dan Santabarbara[15]

GRECO’S NAPA HARD CHARGER AWARD – $100 Gift Certificate to Greco’s NAPA – Blaine Klinger +15

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