From Marty Czekala
FONDA, N.Y. – Two drivers went into the night at Fonda Speedway looking to tie a record.
Jordan Hutton looked to tie the record for CRSA wins at Fonda with four. On the other hand, Jeff Trombley looked to tie the CRSA all-time high in wins with 14.
In the end, Hutton went around the outside of Trombley on the final lap in turn two to score his third win of the season and go two-for-two in the I-90 Pit Stop Challenge.
“It means a lot to win at Fonda,” said Hutton, whose win rate at Fonda is at 44 percent. “Just a tough season. Lost a lot of motors and different things. We really needed this.”
It was heartbreak again for Trombley, the four-time series champion. The last time we saw Trombley at Afton, his engine expired with under 10 laps to go. This time, a cylinder dropped on the final lap.
“I knew on the restarts I could get him so many times,” said Trombley post-race. “I knew that was my only shot to get him. Once I got out front, I was gonna take his line.”
Hutton redrew the pole in his No. 66 with Blake Warner to the outside. Warner got the jump at the drop of Tyler Groescup’s green. Hutton looked low on lap two, but Warner cleared and opened up the lead.
The 1.6-second lead would disappear violently on lap seven when Warner’s No. 21B darted up the track and slammed hard into the turn four wall, cartwheeling, catching fire, and even piercing the catch fence. Warner would walk away from his destroyed X-1 chassis uninjured.
That gave Hutton the lead where he would hold serve on Trombley. The latter would peek low numerous times but couldn’t get it to stick. This would begin a long run in which Hutton would run away, opening the lead up to 2.8 seconds while in lapped traffic. The run would end with three laps to go as Link Pettit crept to a snail’s pace in turn four.
This would set up a four-lap sprint to the finish. On the restart, Trombley would send it downstairs on Hutton in turn two and try to take away Hutton’s line to go out front.
As if Trombley had the win and just had to make no mistakes, the dropped cylinder allowed Hutton to sneak past and take his fourth win at Fonda by under a second, tying Danny Varin and Mike Kiser for the most wins at “The Track of Champions.”
“I saw him go low entering one when the white flag came out; I said, ‘I got him now,'” said Hutton. “Today marks 20 years since I lost my grandfather. It means a lot to my father and my whole family.”
Despite the dropped cylinder, Trombley limped the No. 3a home in second, tying his best finish of the year at Weedsport, the other I-90 Pit Stop Challenge event.
“The car is going good,” said Trombley. “Every track we go to, this car is good. I went five years without an engine glitch. Now they’re catching up.”
Dalton Herrick rounded out the podium in third, matching his best finish from Afton May 31.
“That’s one of the best cars I’ve had here in a feature at Fonda,” Trombley explained. “It’s about momentum and balance. I was too tight [in heat races]. We got lucky they did some track prep and turned the track around.”
Mike Kiser was given the Maguire Family of Dealerships Magnificent Move of the Race, receiving a $25 bonus.
Cliff Pierce was awarded the Powdertech Powdercoating Hard Charger, starting 20th and finishing 14th, receiving $25.
21 drivers checked into Fonda tonight.
The A-Verdi Storage Containers CRSA Sprints powered by SuperGen Products head to another BD Motorsports Media track next week, Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, for round three of the I-90 Pit Stop Challenge Friday. Can’t make it? Watch the action live on FloRacing.
CRSA Sprint Cars
Fonda Speedway
Fonda, New York
Saturday, July 27, 2024
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 12-Tyler Chartrand[1]
2. 66-Jordan Hutton[2]
3. 3A-Jeff Trombley[7]
4. 28-Ron Greek[4]
5. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[3]
6. 54-Fred Proctor[5]
7. 4-Cliff Pierce[6]
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 22-Tomy Moreau[1]
2. 9K-Kyle Pierce[4]
3. 21B-Blake Warner[6]
4. 88C-Chad Miller[5]
5. 30-Kirsten Dombroski[2]
6. 93-Guy Gosselin[7]
7. 3P-Link Pettit[3]
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 99K-Mike Kiser[1]
2. 18-Timmy Lotz[2]
3. 29-Dalton Herrick[3]
4. J27-John Cunningham[4]
5. 99-Adam Depuy[5]
6. D9-Dustin Sehn[6]
7. 55-Rick Hart[7]
A-Main (20 Laps)
1. 66-Jordan Hutton[1]
2. 3A-Jeff Trombley[6]
3. 29-Dalton Herrick[3]
4. 12-Tyler Chartrand[4]
5. 22-Tomy Moreau[5]
6. 9K-Kyle Pierce[7]
7. 18-Timmy Lotz[8]
8. J27-John Cunningham[12]
9. 28-Ron Greek[11]
10. 99-Adam Depuy[13]
11. 410-Jerry Sehn Jr[15]
12. D9-Dustin Sehn[17]
13. 30-Kirsten Dombroski[16]
14. 4-Cliff Pierce[20]
15. 99K-Mike Kiser[9]
16. 88C-Chad Miller[10]
17. 55-Rick Hart[19]
18. 54-Fred Proctor[18]
19. 93-Guy Gosselin[14]
20. 3P-Link Pettit[21]
21. 21B-Blake Warner[2]