The 4th Turn  ~ by Tom Boggie

This is what’s called emptying out the notebook. It happens a couple of times a year, when there is just so much going on it’s impossible to keep up with. So I’ll hit as many topics as possible.

TREMONT FAMILY IN MOURNING
Kathleen Tremont Wright, daughter of Ken Tremont Sr. and sister of Ken Tremont Jr., died Sunday at the age of 59.

There was a time in her life when Kathy was the best young driver in the Tremont family. She started racing mini-stocks at Lebanon Valley Speedway in the late 1970s, and then moved up to a sportsman, driving that familiar No. 115 with the Gremlin body. Although she never won a race in the sportsman division, she had a number of top five finishes, and her bubbly personality made her one of the most popular drivers at the Valley.

She was married to former Lebanon Valley modified driver Ricky Wright. Friends and relatives can pay their respects from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 11, at the DeGraff-Bryce Funeral home on Route 150 in West Sand Lake. My condolences go out to all the members of the Tremont and Wright families.

CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK
I was talking to Ronnie Johnson in victory lane last Friday at Albany-Saratoga Speedway and could have sworn I had gone back in time.
“I’ve got a lot of track time and experience here, and I’ve got a team of 15 to 18 people who have a very positive attitude. We’re just going real good right now,” said Johnson.

Thirty-year ago, Ronnie’s father, Jack, would talk about a win with a statement like, “We work hard all week and sometimes, we get lucky enough to win.”

Talk about two immensely talented individuals who know how to remain humble. Ronnie Johnson’s win allowed him to become the first two-time modified winner at Albany-Saratoga Speedway this season. On Saturday, he finished second to Tremont at Lebanon Valley, his best finish of the season on the high banks.

Tremont debuted a new Bicknell chassis at Lebanon Valley last Saturday and promptly recorded his first big block win of the year. “We’d just gotten into a bit of a rut,” he said later, explaining the chassis switch. After finishing second on opening night at the Valley, Tremont had finished no better than fifth in the last five features.

TWO MINUTES FOR INTERFERENCE
I walked up into the tower at Albany-Saratoga Speedway last Friday, and found Tim Hartman Jr. pacing back and forth, waiting for promoter Lyle DeVore.

When I asked Hartman what he was doing, he answered, “First time I’ve ever been thrown out of a speedway.”
And this was before warmups event started.

Turns out there was an altercation in the pits involving Hartman, his father Tim Sr. and a track worker. The first reaction was to suspend the Hartman team for the night. But DeVore then got involved, and told his pit officials to get all the facts
“We had a meeting,” said Hartman Sr.,” and it all got straightened out.”

So after spending some time in the penalty box early in the night, Hartman Jr. came back to finish fourth in the sportsman feature.
Two nights later, he won the 50-lapper at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park.

FULLER CASHES IN
Defending track champion Tim Fuller was the big winner in last Saturday’s 4th annual Bill Ag Elimination Dash in memory of the late Bill Anagnastopulos, who ran the Winner’s Circle Restaurant in Fonda. Fuller defeated five rivals in the dashes and walked off with $2,424.24. The field for the dash was made up of the top five drivers in the modified point standings, and Jimmy Davis was added through a fans’ vote.

With a Saturday night date open, Stewart Friesen returned to the Track of Champions and recorded his 50th career win at the speedway in dominant fashion. But a rare mistake cost Friesen a big payday Tuesday at Accord. Friesen was leading the Short Track Super Series race when he spun out- all by himself – on lap 10. He only managed to get back to ninth. Jerry Higbie won the feature and the winner’s purse of $5,000.

AROUND THE TRACKS
Former Fonda Speedway modified champion Jeff Trombley was awarded the victory in last Saturday’s CRSA Sprint feature at the Montgomery County fairgrounds. Bobby Hackel IV won the race, but was disqualified for having illegal valve springs. Hackel IV came back to finish second in the Sprint Cars of New England feature at Devil’s Bowl Tuesday, running a 305 against the SCONE 360s.

After losing a sure victory at Brett Hearn’s “Big Show 10” because of a lapped car, Matt Sheppard bounced back to win the Super DIRT Series “O Canada 100” at Cornwall on Sunday.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway was short a couple more modifieds last Friday. Andy Romano didn’t come back with the Andy’s Service 97 after Ryan Godown flipped the car during a heat race at “Big Show 10”, and Jeremy Wilder also was missing. That’s in addition to Jimmy Cottrell, who hasn’t raced in two weeks.

Rocky Warner finished fourth in the Jake Spraker-owned small block in Sunday’s King of Dirt Series was at Utica-Rome Speedway. Tonight’s card at Albany-Saratoga Speedway will include a KOD Sportsman Series race.

Chris Johnson, who won one of the sportsman features run in conjunction with “Big Show 10” had a rough night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway last Friday. He broke a driveshaft in the second sportsman heat, and his crew thrashed in the high-80-degree temperatures to get the car ready for the feature. In the feature, he got caught up in an accident on lap 15 and was done for the night with front end damage.

Speaking of accidents, Bobby Varin had a costly one last Saturday at Fonda. Varin was involved in a multi-car skirmish on the first lap of the modified feature in the Palmer’s Service 76 and had so much damage that he couldn’t continue. That allowed Josh Hohenforst to move into the modified point lead. Going into Saturday night’s action, Hohenforst has 350 points, two more than Varin. Wilder is third with 336.

Fonda Speedway will be holding its annual fireworks display and a 50-lap modified feature, paying $3,500 to win,Saturday night.

Am I the only one getting fed up with the crash-fest pro stock features at Albany-Saratoga Speedway? Lately, these guys can’t run three or four green flag laps in a row. In the old days, C.J. Richards would have checker-flagged the feature, no matter what lap it was on, and sent everyone home with the same amount of purse money. It may be racing, but it’s also entertainment, and no one is being entertained!