All About Racing

Matt Sheppard of Savannah, NY celebrates his second consecutive Fonda 200 win on Saturday. Biittig photo

Mike Trautschold of Roscoe, NY celebrated his first career Modified win at Fonda on Thursday night of Fonda 200 Weekend. Biittig photo

By Ed & Betty Biittig

Thursday night kicked off Fonda’s 200 Weekend with Michael Trautschold from Roscoe, NY claiming his first-ever Modified win. He celebrated in Victory Lane with his son Preston, marking a memorable family milestone.

Other winners on night one of the 2025 Fonda 200 weekend were 2025 Track Champion Corky Warner in the Limited Sportsman division and Jason Samrov in the Online Performance Street Stock event.

Friday night of Fonda 200 Weekend was qualifying heats for the STSS Modified and Sportsman. STSS Modified heat winners were Alex Yankowski, Rocky Warner and Ancel Collins, and Mark Mortensen, Tyler Peet, Donovan Lussier, and Dylan Madsen won the 12-lap STSS Crate 602 Sportsman events.

Troyer Dirt Car presented the Modified winners with $500 checks while Parillo Services LLC presented the Sportsman winning drivers with $150 checks.

Other winners on night two were Ivan Joslin, Pro Stocks; Jason Peck, Four Cylinder, dual cam and Stephen Burka, single cam. For Burka it was his first career win in the division at Fonda.

The Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Series was also in action and winners were Doug Mathewson, Antiques; Will Reed, Late Models; Joe Rando, Mystiques; Andy Graves, Modified and Jipp Ortiz, Sportsman.

Saturday was the final day of the Fonda 200 and Matt Sheppard, Savannah, N.Y. took home his second consecutive win in the event and his third Fonda 200 win. Despite rear end issues on Friday and transmission problems prior to the green flag for the 200, Sheppard and his No. 9S team were able to come through for the win.

In the 40-lap STSS Crate 602 Sportsman feature, Mark Mortensen of Scotia was the winner, his first win of the season and his 28th win in the division at Fonda. Mortensen dedicated the win to longtime sponsor, Mark Lansing, Sr., of Jumpin’ Jack’s Drive-In who recently passed away.

Friday racing at Albany-Saratoga honored longtime photographer and dedicated supporter of local auto racing, John Grady with running of the 43-lap John Grady Memorial paying $4300 to win. The win went to Mike Mahaney who led all 43 laps and in victory lane he dedicated the win to the late Joe Huttig, the son of George Huttig, his car owner. Joe passed away in 2023 at the age of 54. It was Mahaney’s fifth win of the season at the Malta oval.

Other winners on Friday at Malta were Craig Wholey, Sportsman; Rich Crane, Pro Stock; Bodie Marks, Limited Sportsman; Josh Bussino, Street Stocks; Adam Montville, Four Cylinder, dual and Ben Ladd, Four Cylinder, single cam.

Independent Vintage Racing Association was also on hand for Nostalgia Night. Tony Paes was the winner of the 20-lap Retro Classic/True Vintage feature, while Jackie Brown Jr. won the 20-lap ‘80’s Flashback division.

Sunday, Glen Ridge Motorsports Park wrapped up their 2025 season with a full card of racing plus the Mini Winged Sprints and WCRS Carts. Winners on Sunday were Blake Tabor, Junior Slingshots; Lucas Cole, All Star Slingshots; Dan Palombo, Limited Sportsman; Zach Buff, DIRTcar Sportsman; Kerrie Hollenbeck, Mini Stocks, dual cam, Chris Hemstreet, single cam; John Smith, Jr., 500cc Mini Sprints; Destin St. Clair, 600cc Mini Sprints; Kristen Swartz, WCRS Carts.

This weekend, Malta Massive Weekend comes to Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Friday, Sept. 19 and Saturday, Sept. 20. Friday the DIRTcar 358 Series headlines the action plus the Sportsman Fall Championship, Sportsman and Street Stock plus practice for Modifieds. On Saturday, the Super DIRTcar Modified Series 100-lap, $10,000 to win is the featured event along with the DIRTcar Pro Stock Series plus a $500 to win Limited Sportsman race.

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