All About Racing - 22 July 2024

Beau Ballard of Stamford celebrates his second Pro Stock division win at Albany-Saratoga on Friday.

Alex Cosselman of Johnstown won the Jr Slingshot trophy that was bigger than her.

Stewart Friesen, Brenden Gibbons, and Kenny Gates recorded back-to-back victories at Fonda on Saturday, all three were winners in the Thunder on the Thruway races for Modified, Sportsman and Pro Stock.   

Stewart Friesen of Sprakers, was the winner of the Modified event and picked up $4000.  The win put him fourth on the Fonda All-Time Win list with 92 wins. 

Brendon Gibbons of Amsterdam was the winner in the 602 Sportsman event paying $1500 to win. The $1000 to win event for Pro Stocks was won by Kenny Gates of West Winfield, his third win of the season and 95th at the track. 

Other winners at Fonda on Saturday were Rocco Constantino in Limited Sportsman, his second win for the 13-year-old who has a limited number of weeks behind the wheel.  The Four Cylinders produced a first-time winner in Josh Beals (single cam) and Kerrie Hollenbeck (dual cam).  The win gives Hollenbeck his second of the season and 43rd of his career at Fonda.  Kerrie’s brother Ken was involved in a roll-over accident earlier in the event that put him out of contention for the race.  It was a scary incident, but Ken was able to exit the car on his own.

Local notables at Fonda on Saturday were Jessica Friesen, fifth in Modifieds, Josh Kane won his qualifying heat and was 12th in the 602 Sportsman, Lance Hill finished third in the Limited Sportsman and Bobby Rhinehardt was fifth. 

This Saturday at Fonda the ESS 360 Sprints are on the card with special events, the annual Hondo Classic for Pro Stocks, along with the BOBCO Dash and all other divisions. 

Friday night at Albany-Saratoga, Marc Johnson of Guilderland recorded his third win of the season, and he now sits second in points to Peter Britten. 

Other winners at the “Great Race Place” on Friday were, Tim Hartman, Jr., 602 Sportsman; Tanner Coon, Limited Sportsman; Beau Ballard, Pro Stocks; Jim Duncan, Street Stocks. 

Glen Ridge always offers something different, and this past Sunday was no exception.  The track celebrated Christmas in July, one of the warmest Christmases we’ve ever experienced.  There was a bike give away and special treats for the young fans. All was organized and put together by Jessica Brisbane, Kid’s Club coordinator. 

The field of cars was impressive, a total of 107 filled the pits to compete in a number of events.  There were 27 DIRTcar Pro Stocks on hand for the DIRTcar series race and 35 Slingshots for the Glen Ridge segment of the Tobias Slingshot Nationals.    

The Pro Stock race brought many new faces to the oval and as a regular of the track on Sunday nights we were glad to hear how many of the outsiders were pleased with the track conditions. 

Pete Stefanski of North Tonawanda, NY was the winner of the DIRTcar Pro Stock event, his first at Glen Ridge and his 28th DIRTcar win. 

The winners in the All Star and JR Slingshots were both first time winners at the track.  In JR Slingshots, nine-year-old Alex Cosselman never flinched during the 17-laps she led the entire field to the checker for her first win at Glen Ridge. 

In All-Star Slingshots it was Albreada taking the checker but not AJ who has taken it five times this season, on Sunday it was his brother, Robbie who took the win for his first time at the track.

Until next week please send all news and/or comments to biittig@yahoo.com