Malta, NY – After a rough couple of weeks, fan favorite Marc Johnson returned to victory lane at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway. The Guilderland driver scored his fourth Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified feature event win of the season. In the process he cut Brett Hearn’s points lead to just nine points heading into next Friday night’s action.

Rob Pitcher and Floyd Billington led the field to the green with Billington taking the initial lead over Pitcher. Craig Seeley spun in turn four forcing the caution flag. On the restart Billington held the lead over J.R. Heffner, Matt Delorenzo, Pitcher and Kris Vernold. Marc Johnson meanwhile made his way past Vernold for fifth around lap five and the moved past Pitcher for fifth on lap seven.

Delorenzo moved past Billington for the lead on lap nine however Justin Barber slowed in turn three, forcing the caution flag to wave and negating Delorenzo’s pass. The restart would see Delorenzo take the lead with Billington second, Johnson third, Keith Flach fourth and Brett Hearn fifth. Stewart Friesen ran in sixth. Seeley spun in front of the leaders on lap 15 however everyone missed him.

On the restart Delorenzo held the lead with Johnson second however Hector Stratton spun in turn three. The second restart attempt would see the lead belong to Delorenzo with Johnson, Billington, Flach and Hearn. Ray Hoard wrecked on the front stretch on lap 16 bringing out the caution flag. When racing resumed Delorenzo was the leader however Johnson and Flach were all over him.

The trio were three wide for the lead as they clicked off lap 18. The caution flag would follow for Todd Morey who came to a stop in turn one. On the restart Delorenzo led the field with Johnson, Flach, Hearn and Friesen following. On lap 19 Hearn slowed heading down the backstretch with a right rear flat tire. The caution flag would wave as the field clicked off lap 20. Hearn would return for the restart.

On the restart Delorenzo held the lead with Friesen moving to second however as the field ran down the backstretch on lap 21, Delorenzo broke. A third spin by Seeley brought the caution flag out on lap 21. Ronnie Johnson also headed pit side with a right rear flat tire, he was battling for fifth.

The restart would see Johnson take the lead with Friesen, Flach, L.J. Lombardo and Pitcher following. Flach moved past Friesen for second on lap 24 and set his sights on Johnson. On lap 27 Kenny Tremont, Jr. moved into fifth. On lap 30 Flach bobbled which allowed Friesen to close in and take second. Jesse Mueller wrecked in turn four to force a restart on lap 33.

On the restart Johnson held the lead but Friesen was all over him. In the end Johnson held off Friesen for the win. Friesen finished second with Flach third, Lombardo fourth and Tremont fifth. A total of 33 Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modifieds entered the event with heat races being won by Flach, Vernold and Pitcher.

Hunter Bates won the 25 lap Featherfoot Sportsman Series feature event. Justin Smith and Ken Conroy led the field to the green with Smith taking the early lead over Conroy and Andrew Buff. Buff moved under Conroy on lap three to take over second. The Limited Sportsman graduate took over the lead on lap four. Nick Lussier had made his way into the third position by lap four and then on lap six took over second from Smith. A multi-car incident in turn two brought out the caution flag on lap six.

On the restart Buff held the lead over Lussier however Joe Orlando spun in turn four bringing out the caution flag. The restart would see Buff and Lussier run one-two with Bates following in third. By lap ten Lussier was all over Buff for the lead. This allowed Bates to close in making it a three car battle for the top spot as the race approached half way.

Lussier took over the lead on lap 12 with Buff and Bates following. Bates moved past Buff for second on lap 14 while Chris Johnson closed on the leaders from fourth. Jack Lehner spun in between turns one and two to force the caution flag to wave on lap 16. The restart would see Lussier hold the lead over Bates and new third place runner Johnson. With five laps to go the top three remained the same with Tim Hartman, Jr. and Buff rounding out the top five.

Bates was all over Lussier and on lap 23 the top two were nearly deadlocked at the start/finish line. On lap 25 Bates took over the top spot but Lussier was not giving up. He fought back on the top side but came up just short. Bates picked up his first win of the season over Lussier, Johnson, Hartman and Connor Cleveland. Heat races for the 34 car field were won by Nick Anatriello, Scott Duell and Conroy.

Kenny Martin, Jr. won the DIRTcar Pro Stock feature event. Zach Welch was the first to take the lead over Nick Arnold and Walt Brownell. Brownell took over second on lap two and set his sights on lead Welch. Arnold fell back to third. Brownell closed on Welch and took over the lead on lap ten. At the same time Kim Duell moved past Arnold for third. Martin followed to fourth with Arnold fifth.

Duell closed on Welch for second and on lap 15 took over the second position. Martin followed past for third. Robbie Speed moved into the top five on lap 18. He quickly moved to fourth and set his sights on the leaders. Martin took over second from Duell on lap 21. Martin quickly closed on Brownell. Martin using the top side and Brownell down low battled to the checkers. Martin took the win by a nose over Brownell, Duell, Speed and Bernie Companion. A total of 20 DIRTcar Pro Stocks were on hand with heat races being won by Brownell and Dave DePaulo.

Adam Pierson won the DMA USAC Midget feature event. Bibby White and Mark Cole led the field to green with Cole taking the early lead over Robert Tucker and Kenny Johnson. The caution flag waved on lap two when Granby, Connecticut’s Dean Christianson spun in turn four. On the restart Cole held the lead over Johnson and Josh Sunn.

Johnson moved past Cole for the lead on lap five with Sunn following to second and Cole falling to third. Sunn took over the top spot on lap eight. A half lap later Tyler Rivard spun in turn two. The restart would see Sunn remain the leader while Alex Bright moved to second and John Heydenreich third. Bright would soon take over the lead.

Adam Pierson was on the move. By lap 11 he was fourth and all over Heydenreich. Pierson took over third on lap 12 and then second on lap 14. The top three battle side by side until the caution flag waved on lap 18 for Rivard who came to a stop exiting turn four. On the restart Heydenreich caught the inside implement tire in turn two and rolled his machine.

The restart would see Pierson take over the top spot over Bright. That was all he needed as Pierson brought home the win. Bright finished second with Sunn third, Adam Whitner fourth and Johnson fifth. With 19 drivers on hand, heat races for the DMA USAC Midgets were won by John Heydenreich and Pierson.

James Meehan won the 20 lap Limited Sportsman feature event. Meehan took the lead from Derek Bordt on lap 15 and led the rest of the way for the win. Bornt finished second with Rob Lanfear third, Brandon Pitcher fourth and Mike Block fifth. Heat races for the 18 car field were won by Bornt and Lanfear.

Paul Mulrain won the 20 lap Street Stock feature event. Mulrain picked up the win over Al Relyea, David Shippee, Paul Braymer and Jason Meltz. A total of 21 drivers entered the Street Stock feature with heat races being won by Curtis Condon and Matt Mosher.

The Albany-Saratoga Speedway is back in action on August 12th with all divisions in action plus the CRSA RaceSaver Sprint Car Series. It will also be Autograph night and also see the Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinders on the card. For more information on the Albany-Saratoga Speedway please visit our website at www.albany-saratogaspeedway.com.

Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified Results (35 Laps) – 1) Marc Johnson, 2) Stewart Friesen, 3) Keith Flach, 4) L.J. Lombardo, 5) Ken Tremont Jr, 6) Rob Pitcher, 7) Brett Hearn, 8) Brian Gleason, 9) J.R. Heffner, 10) Don Ronca, 11) Bodie Bellinger, 12) Elmo Reckner, 13) Don Mattison, 14) Matt Depew, 15) Mark Kislowski, 16) Neil Stratton, 17) C.G. Morey, 18) Brian Whittemore, 19) Ricky Davis, 20) Hector Stratton, 21) Ronnie Johnson, 22) Jessey Mueller, 23) Kris Vernold, 24) Matt Delorenzo, 25) Craig Seeley, 26) Floyd Billington, 27) Todd Morey, 28) Bobby Hackel IV, 29) Ray Hoard, 30) Justin Barber, 31) Nick Hotaliing, DNS) Bill Cody, DNS) Rich Ronca

Bear Ridge Speedway DMA USAC Midget Results (20 Laps) – 1) Adam Pierson, 2) Alex Bright, 3) Josh Sunn, 4) Adam Whitney, 5) Kenny Johnson, 6) Seth Carlson, 7) Robert Tucker, 8) Manny Dias, 9) Mark Cole, 10) David Moniz, 11) Jim Santa Maria, 12) Nate Furman, 13) John Heydenreich, 14) Bobby White, 15) Alex Rose, 16) Tyler Rivard, 17) Dean Christensen, DNS) Vince Lucca, DNS) Jeff Champagne

Sportsman Featherfoot Series Results (25 Laps) – 1) Hunter Bates, 2) Nick Lussier, 3) Chris Johnson, 4) Tim Hartman Jr, 5) Connor Cleveland, 6) Andrew Buff, 7) Chad Edwards, 8) Cody Bleau, 9) Scott Duell, 10) Adam Pierson, 11) Ken Conroy, 12) Jason Gray, 13) Jeremy Pitts, 14) David Schilling, 15) Derrick McGrew, 16) Jack Speshock, 17) Robert Bublak, 18) Justin Smith, 19) Mike Coffey, 20) Zach Daurio, 21) Adam Gage, 22) Nick Anatriello, 23) Jack Swinton, 24) John Proctor, 25) Pat Jones, 26) Jack Lehner, 27) Joe Orlando, 28) Mike Ostrander, 29) Jon Miller, 30) Jack Bublak, 31) Daryl Nutting, 32) Mike Tholin, DNS) Tim Hartman Sr, DNS) Christopher Ronca

Limited Sportsman Results (20 Laps) – 1) James Meehan, 2) Derek Bornt, 3) Rob Lanfear, 4) Brandon Pitcher, 5) Mike Block, 6) Travis Billington, 7) Reggie Bonner, 8) Nick Fretto, 9) Gary Derocher, 10) John Stowell, 11) Jacob Volpi, 12) Scott Bennett Jr, 13) Diana Huyck, 14) Bob Schmidt, 15) Bruce Loomis, 16) Dan Grignon, 17) Chris Kugler

DIRTcar Pro Stock Results (25 Laps) – 1) Kenny Martin, 2) Walt Brownell, 3) Kim Duell, 4) Robbie Speed, 5) Bernie Companion, 6) Zach Welch, 7) Dean Charbonneau, 8) Nick Arnold, 9) Brandon Emigh, 10) Dave Depaulo, 11) Dan Older, 12) Bill Smith, 13) Norm Loubier, 14) Ed Thompson, 15) Gus Hollner, 16) Chris Wemple, 17) Pete Porter, 18) Yates Lansing, 19) Josh Rozelle, DNS) Kevin Loomis

Street Stock Results (20 Laps) – 1) Paul Mulrain, 2) Al Relyea, 3) David Shippee, 4) Paul Braymer, 5) Jason Meltz, 6) Hunter Sanchez, 7) Scott Lawrence, 8) Damon Anderson, 9) Josh Coonradt, 10) Jeff Meltz Sr, 11) Jody Thew, 12) Nathan Dahoda, 13) Joshua Reome, 14) John Hayes, 15) Ron Redmond, 16) John Morris Jr, 17) David Cook, 18) Chase Aussicker, 19) Matt Mosher, DNS) Curt Condon, DNS) David Pelis