FONDA, N.Y. — Fourth-generation racer Bobby Hackel IV won his first NASCAR modified feature at Fonda Speedway Saturday night, sharing victory lane with Danny Varin, who claimed the Empire Super Sprints Earl Halaquist Memorial.
Hackel, hot off a win last week at Five Mile Point Speedway, kept the ball rolling with a heat win and a $2,400 flag-to-flag run in the feature, besting NASCAR Truck star Stewart Friesen, Demetrious Drellos, Jack Lehner and Alex Yankowski.
The initial break saw polesitter Hackel scoot away from front row companion Dave Camara only to be drawn back to the field when Ronnie Johnson pulled up on lap four for the race’s first caution.
By then Friesen had advanced from eighth to fifth. He then jumped to fourth on the restart, then used another restart four laps later to challenge Lehner for third.
By lap ten it was Hackel, Lehner, Friesen and Drellos, on the move from 11th, with Rocky Warner fifth. Friesen turned up the wick and disposed of Lehner just before halfway but that was as far as he got, though he did get another shot at the rim riding Hackel after the race’s last yellow with eight to go.
Drellos sailed around Lehner on that restart and the finishing order was set, as Friesen could get close to Hackel in traffic but the youngster would drive away again once he cleared the lapped cars.
Matt Sheppard turned in the most impressive run of the race, advancing from 17th to sixth, with Matt DeLorenzo, Warner, JaMike Sowle and David Schilling trailing.
“It’s been a hell of a week,” declared Hackel. “I’ve wanted to get here for a long time and it’s unbelievable to know I beat the guys I grew up watching win at Fonda.”
Varin dropped out of the modified feature but he was set to go hard from the start of the 25-lap ESS finale.
Hackel brought that field to the green as well but Jordan Poirier blew by him on lap six and looked like he might be on the way to another win. But Varin, who grew up on the big half-mile, had started sixth and was steadily picking off cars one by one. By the time Poirier started lapping the backmarkers on lap seven Varin was on Hackel for second, which he grabbed the next time around.
Poirier had a comfortable lead at the time and with no restarts, Varin had to run him down under green, which he did in just four laps, taking command around the outside of the tricky turns three and four.
By the checkers, he would stretch his lead to a full straightaway over Poirier, with Jordan Thomas advancing from fifth to third at the checkers.
Paulie Colagiovanni charged from ninth to fourth ahead of Matt Tanner, dash winner Shawn Donath, Jason Barney, Dylan Swiernik, Hackel and Kyle Smith.