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SHEPPARD WINS MONTGOMERY COUNTY OPEN AT FONDA IN DOMINATING FASHION

By: Ron Szczerba

Fonda, NY – If you were to look up the meaning of the word domination in the dictionary today you could quite possibly see a picture of the Hurlock Auto & Speed Supply #9S of Matt Sheppard. Starting third in the 50-lap, $7,200 to win event, Sheppard took the lead on lap three and led the remaining laps for his second win of 2025 at Fonda and the 10th of his career at the “Track of Champions” after winning the Fonda 200 a couple of weeks ago.

“I guess when they are booing you, you are doing something right,” Sheppard told STSS announcer Jeff Ahlum in FX Caprara Victory Lane. “This car has been really good here the last few races with the Wegner engine under the hood, it’s been a good combination. We’re happy with this one, Fonda has been pretty good to me lately.”

Other winners on day two of the 2025 Montgomery County Open weekend were Tyler Peet (Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman), Ivan Joslin (Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stock), Justin Guyle (DOHC) and Stephen Burka (SOHC) in the Fonda Fair Four Cylinders.

Opening ceremonies for the final race of the 2025 season at Fonda started with a prayer by Pastor Greg Nitz followed by the Canadian National Anthem sung by Joe Kriss and the American National Anthem sung by Mimi Lazzaro. Thanks to the great work of the 50/50 girls, another great 50/50 prize of $1,790 was taken home by Trish from Schoharie.

Jack Lehner and Jessica Friesen started the 50-lap Montgomery County Open on the front row with Lehner taking the early lead at the drop of Joe Kriss’ green flag. After an early caution on lap two, Sheppard took the lead away from Lehner at the line to complete lap three and four laps later Sheppard was already out to a straightaway advantage.

Sheppard was in lap traffic on lap ten while Friesen and fifth place starter Danny Varin were swapping the third position with Varin able to secure the spot just past the halfway point with the top five at the time consisting of Sheppard, Lehner, Varin, Friesen, and seventh place starter Bobby Hackel. Sheppard held a halftrack lead when the Yurkewecz Auto Crushers lap counter reached lap 35 in the event, but it was Varin who was running the quickest lap times at that point according to My Race Pass.

“I was kind of picking my way through lap traffic there and I saw Hebert and Jess,” Sheppard said. “I knew that they started up front, and I said man we’ve got to be pretty good.”

The race turned south for Varin on lap 43 when a reported torsion bar broke on the car sending him high in the air in turn three where he landed on his roof. Varin was not injured in the wreck and took some hot laps in his sprint car after the Modified and Sportsman features were completed. Sheppard continued to lead on the single file restart and led the remaining laps for the win followed in the top five by Lehner, Hackel, David Hebert, and Friesen.

“I was definitely worried about the sail panels tonight,” Sheppard said. “This thing was so ignorantly tight, man this is a big track to be running sail panels on, but I think that everyone was fighting the same battle. We were able to get out front there and just kept it rolling. The car was so tight, it seems like the cars are more aero dependent. With the sail panels, as soon as you got in traffic you just felt like absolute garbage but when you could get out in clean air it was definitely a lot more comfortable. I am just really proud of this team.”

“It’s hard to complain about running second,” Lehner said after his second place finish. “But I think I’m getting sick of looking at the deck lid of that car there (pointing to Sheppard’s car). It was good for sure, had a pretty good car all weekend. We had a good starting spot, and I was hoping that would give me an advantage, but I was able to make a lot of speed on the top early.”

“We were a little better there once it migrated towards the bottom, all in all it was a great night,” Lehner continued. “Special thanks to Brett Deyo, Brian Madsen, and the Madsen Family. Guy Madsen passed away this week so I’m happy to have a good result here for all of them. We’ll pick up and move on to the next one.”

“It’s always good when you can be on the STSS on the podium,” Hackel said after his third place finish. “We made some big swings this week, thanks to Bob Oliver at CC Carburetion, he helped us fix a problem we’ve had all year here at Fonda. I’m kind of kicking myself in the ass about that. We had a good season here, and I can’t complain about a third tonight with our smallest engine.”

“Yesterday and today this surface has changed a little bit,” Hackel continued. “My fault but I haven’t got ahold of it with the changes that we’ve had the last few weeks here. Especially when we put the sail panels on. I just couldn’t turn all day. So, we threw the kitchen sink at it, and it obviously helped.”

Camron Hotaling started the 25-lap Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman feature on the pole and took the early lead in the event with Tanner Warner second. Third place starter Tyler Peet got by Warner for the second position on lap seven with a crossover move in turn two and one lap later began pressuring the leader. On lap nine on the inside of turn four, Peet made the pass for the lead.

At the halfway point in the event the top five consisted of Peet, Hotaling, Warner, fourth place starter Bobby Hackel IV, and fifth place starter Dave Constantino. Peet was in lap traffic on lap 15 but had no issues maintaining the lead as he went on to his fifth win of the season and the sixth of his career at Fonda in the New Edge Diamond Service #9G. Hotaling, Hackel, eighth place starter Dylan Madsen, and Warner completed the top five.

“I feel like it took me forever to even get a win in the STSS series and now were are finally STSS Champions so it’s pretty cool,” Peet told Jeff Ahlum after the win. “It was my first year with this team, pretty cool to win these races and get a championship. Thank you to all of my sponsors and everyone involved in this thing. Hopefully we’ll come back next year and do it again. I feel like I was a little snug there, so me racing around people was tough. I needed to get by lap traffic so I could run and hide and keep going.”

“I knew coming to Fonda would be a good thing for this team,” Peet continued. “I feel like we’re pretty good here, we have a couple of things here that work for me as a driver, so I was excited to come here and see what happens. Honestly I didn’t really know where to be there, I knew Tanner (Warner) would be on the bottom and I would have to get up there on the top. The 98 (Hotaling) was hard to pass, he was quick, and I had to be super careful there, but I had a real good car.”

“It’s been great,” Hotaling said after his second place finish. “I can’t thank everyone enough that help me to get the car as fast as it is. I love racing with these guys; you learn a lot racing up here with these guys. Hopefully next year is better, I don’t have too much time with lap traffic, so we were just picking them off one by one. I knew he (Hackel) was coming, I knew he had to be there, but it worked out and I couldn’t be happier.”

“I knew that I was in a little bit of trouble when I got out of the Modified,” Hackel said after his third place finish. “It was lacking around the bottom, and I had the car set up for extreme dig, but it was digging so good it was pushing like a dump truck. I got held up for a little while there, can’t complain about a third in a green to checkered run. When your stabbing the brake in the middle of the corner that kills a lot of momentum on a momentum based car. All in all, a good run and a good day for the Killer Crate Team, I love this place, and I can’t wait to get back next year and try to improve.”

The 20-lap Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stock feature began with Ivan Joslin taking the early lead at the drop of Joe Kriss’ green flag. An early yellow on lap two and a red flag on the restart slowed the event, the red flag for a three car wreck on the frontstretch, which began with Jason Fetterly hitting the frontstretch wall and then coming down the track to hit Kevin Fetterly Jr. Chuck McSpirit had nowhere to go and got in the back of Fetterly Jr. who flipped his car over at that point. No injuries were reported in the wreck.

Joslin led the remaining laps for his fourth win of the season and the 20th of his career in the division in the One Zee Tees/Southside Beverage #49 followed in the top five by Kenny Gates, Nick Stone, George Cushman, and Hayleigh Gates.

“It’s always great to win here, there wasn’t a big field of cars but to beat Gates and Stone, it is getting nice seeing you up here on victory lane,” Joslin told Mimi Lazzaro on victory lane. “Got to make more of a thing of this in 2026. I always prefer the outside, if I have to run the bottom, if that is the only lane there is I will, but if there is an outside I’ll be out there.

“They watered it down for us and it was good, it was starting to go away a little bit, but it held on for most of the race,” Joslin continued. “It was a great season, great way to wrap it up. We’re calling it quits after this weekend.”

When the checkered flag fell on the 15-lap Fonda Fair Four Cylinder feature, Justin Guyle was the overall event winner (DOHC) with Damian Olden second. Stephen Burka was the third place finisher and winner in the SOHC class followed by Wayne Russell Jr. and Anthony Johnson in the top five. For Guyle it was his first career win at Fonda in his first ever visit to the track while for Burka it was his third win of the 2025 season and the third of his career at Fonda.

“Our first time here,” Guyle said in victory lane. “I had no idea and had to guess on tire size, but it worked out. She was singing.”

“The past three races I won which feels pretty good, three in a row,” Burka said. “I like it, once again it’s a fun track and I’m really debating on making this my home track next year.”

That concludes the 2025 season at the “Track of Champions”. 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.

26 entries

Amsterdam Truck Center Modifieds

A Feature 1 (50 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[3]; 2. 02-Jack Lehner[1]; 3. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[7]; 4. ONE-David Hebert[6]; 5. 44Z-Jessica Friesen[2]; 6. 60-Jackson Gill[10]; 7. 4-Cody Clark[8]; 8. 21C-Brian Calabrese[12]; 9. 6-Matt Stangle[9]; 10. 16X-Danny Creeden[18]; 11. 82S-Will Shields[4]; 12. 21P-Luciano (Pep) Corradi[13]; 13. 15M-Daniel Morgiewicz Jr[20]; 14. 24P-Brian Pessolano[11]; 15. 43-Keith Flach[16]; 16. 73-James Davis[25]; 17. 71-Eric Mack[14]; 18. 93-Danny Varin[5]; 19. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[15]; 20. 17G-Garrett Poland[19]; 21. 55J-Ancel Collins[17]; 22. 27B-Robert Bublak[21]; 23. 30-Mark Pullen[22]; 24. 1G-Darwin Greene[23]; 25. 60G-Bill Gill[26]; 26. 6S-Jeff Strunk[24]

ATL Fuel Cell Hot Lap Hero ($100): Matt Sheppard (18.334 seconds)
Beyea Custom Headers Redraw Bonus ($50): Jackson Gill (Redrew 10th)
Guy Madsen Memorial Top Fonda Regular ($189): Jack Lehner (second)
Henry’s Exhaust Power Position ($50 Certificate): Will Shields (11th)
MD3 Most Laps Led ($100 Certificate): Matt Sheppard (47 laps)
PEM Engineering Bonus (FREE Gear Set): Bobby Hackel (third)
Penske Racing Shocks Bonuses: Matt Sheppard ($150 certificate – first); Jack Lehner ($100 certificate - second); Bobby Hackel ($75 certificate - third)
Swift Springs Hard Luck Award (FREE Spring Certificate): Danny Varin
Wilwood Brakes ‘Lucky 7’ Bonus ($100 Certificate): Cody Clark (seventh)

31 entries

Swagger Factory Apparel Crate 602 Sportsman

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 9G-Tyler Peet[3]; 2. 98-Camron Hotaling[1]; 3. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[4]; 4. 89-Dylan Madsen[8]; 5. 78-Tanner Warner[2]; 6. 349-Garrett Chillot[13]; 7. 7-Dave Constantino[5]; 8. 10%-Chad Edwards[9]; 9. 26-Mason Gray[10]; 10. 96-Michael McCallion[11]; 11. 9K-Blaine Klinger[15]; 12. 82H-David Hackett[16]; 13. 27-Michael Ballestero[12]; 14. 2K-Mike Kalkbrenner[19]; 15. 31J-John Dumond[17]; 16. 03-Joshua Jock[18]; 17. 1D-Kyle Dingman[21]; 18. 12-George Schweigart[24]; 19. 15-Greg Havlicek[25]; 20. 5C-Randy Cosselman[20]; 21. 647-Brian Nelson[23]; 22. 618-Bobby Rhinehardt[22]; 23. 123-Dale Welty[26]; 24. 55-Jonny Feagles[7]; 25. 1M-Mark Mortensen[14]; 26. 25-Stephen Gray[6]; 27. 1H-Harry Shaffer[27]

GRECO’S NAPA HARD CHARGER AWARD – $100 Gift Certificate to Greco’s NAPA – Garrett Chillot +7

Did Not Qualify: 43-Dana Palombo; 6M-Pat Mann; 11-Josh Persse; 99-Clyde Peek

STSS Sportsman Madsen Overhead Doors Inc. North Region Champion: Tyler Peet
American Racer/Lias Tire Bonus (FREE Tire Certificate): Mason Gray (ninth)
Beyea Custom Headers Redraw Bonus ($25): Michael McCallion (Redrew 11th)
Guy Madsen Memorial Top Fonda Regular ($189): Tyler Peet (winner)
JLR Technologies Hot Lap Hero ($50): Chad Edwards (19.575 seconds)
Henry’s Exhaust Power Position ($50 Certificate): Blaine Klinger (11th)
Swift Springs Hard Luck Award (FREE Spring Certificate): Jonathan Feagles

9 entries

Leatherstocking Credit Union Pro Stocks

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 49-Ivan Joslin[2]; 2. 35-Ken Gates[3]; 3. 8N-Nick Stone[4]; 4. 13-George Cushman[9]; 5. 39-Hayleigh Gates[7]; 6. 57J-Jason Fetterly[5]; 7. 57-Chuck McSpirit[1]; 8. 57K-Kevin Fetterly Jr[6]; 9. 62-Nick Danna[8]

14 entries

Fonda Fair Four Cylinders

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 88D-Justin Guyle[6]; 2. 25D-Damian Olden[9]; 3. 8S-Stephen Burka[10]; 4. 54S-Wayne Russell Jr[12]; 5. 70JD-Anthony Johnson[13]; 6. 191D-Chris Danylieko[8]; 7. 57S-Jeremiah Paro[4]; 8. 44MS-Richard Fleury[11]; 9. 6D-Len St Andrews[1]; 10. 1JD-Jeff Degroat[3]; 11. 78D-Blake Smart[2]; 12. I75D-William Cook[5]; 13. TEND-Zak Petrie[7]; 14. 777S-Chris Hemstreet[14]

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