Johnson repeats at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA - Ronnie Johnson was like a kid in an ice cream store Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. The first scoop tasted so good that he went back for seconds.

One week after picking up his first victory in nearly four years, Johnson was at it again, blowing away the field to win the 35-lap 358 modified feature at the historic Malta track.

Johnson got a late start to the season as he waited for his new TEO Stage II chassis to be ready, but the wait has obviously paid off. The new chassis, powered by a Pat Morrison small block, has been on the track twice, and has been to victory lane twice.

By winning two in a row at Malta, Johnson joined what is becoming a dying breed at the track. In the last three years, the only drivers who have been able to win back-to-back features were Brett Hearn, Ken Tremont Jr. and Dave Camara, all past track champions.

Johnson’s second straight win was even more satisfying than his first of the season. After his initial win on May 21, critics said he got the victory because of his starting position. But on Friday night, he started 10th, and absolutely blew the field away. Because the race was run without a caution, Johnson finished over seven seconds ahead of Hearn, which translates into nearly half-a-track.

Don Ackner and Mike Ronca swapped the lead in the early stages of the Spring Championship, double-point feature, but by lap seven, Johnson had already worked his way to third. Ackner dropped a position on lap 11, and Johnson then rocketed around Ronca to get the lap on lap 16. From there, no one was going to touch him. Deeper in the pack, Hearn and Ronnie’s father, Jack, were waging a good battle of their own. Both had started deep in the field, with Jack Johnson behind the wheel of the 72VT after having engine problems in his own car.
Hearn caught up with Johnson on lap 25 and the pair began to dice back and forth, and soon, had pulled right up on Ronca, who was still hanging on to second.

But Hearn proved to be tougher in the closing laps of the race. With one to go, he finally worked his way around Jumpin’ Jack, and then caught Ronca on the last lap to nail down the number two position.

Ronca finished third, his first top five finish of the young season, Jack Johnson was fourth and Stewart Friesen came across the finish line fifth, his first top-five since the opening day feature.

Completing the top 10 were Gene Munger, Don Ackner, Tremont, Don Scarborough and Matt DeLorenzo.
Tim Clemons put on a late charge and came away with his first victory of the season in the 20-lap Line-X Modified feature. Clemons had started 14th in the 20-car field, but patiently worked his way to the front and snatched the lead away from Stan Lemiesz. The win was Clemons’ 22nd career sportsman/Line-X Modified victory at the track and spoiled an outstanding performance by Lemiesz, who is still looking for his first career win.
At the checkered flag, Clemons had a 2.297 second margin of victory over Lemiesz. Derrick McGrew was right on Lemiesz’s rear bumper for third, with Erik Mack fourth and Mike Tholin coming through with another top-five performance after qualifying through the B main.

Scott Duell, a second generation driver, drove to his first career victory in the 20-lap Amsoil pro-street stock finish. Duell is the son of Kim Duell, a former CVRA track champion and modified driver at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Scott Duell started sixth in the field, and only needed seven laps to get the lead. A caution on lap 16 bunched the field and gave Cale Kneer a shot at the leader, but Duell held his line and came away with a crowd-pleasing victory. Kneer was second, followed by Butch Irwin, Chris Maxon and Adam Tranka.

Jim Monroe snapped Chris Busta’s three-race winning streak in the Rentway Limiteds feature. Busta, who started 15th, chased down Monroe in the closing laps of the feature, but Monroe held on to win by 0.797 seconds for his first win of the season.

Jamie McCarthy also saw his winning streak come to an end, as he settled for second behind Kevin Connors in the Pro-Built Mini-Stocks four-cylinder feature. Like Busta, McCarthy had won the first three races of the season in his division.

Brian Myers Jr. won the six-cylinder mini-stocks feature.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action Friday night, with the Central New York Mini-Sprints joining the racing card. Action begins at 7 p.m.

MODIFIEDS: RONNIE JOHNSON, Brett Hearn, Mike Ronca, Jack Johnson, Stewart Friesen, Gene Munger, Don Ackner, Ken Tremont Jr., Don Scarborough, Matt DeLorenzo, Scott Noel, Mike Perrotte, Todd Ryan, A.J. Romano, Jack Cottrell, Ron Proctor, Don Ronca, Mike Ballestero, Chuck Higley, Randy Hotaling, Tim Dwyer, Paul Cirincion, Lucas Baker, Frank Hoard Sr.

LINE-X MODIFIEDS: TIM CLEMONS, Stan Lemiesz, Derrick McGrew, Erik Mack, Mike Tholin, Chris Garrity, Dan Bublak, Rich Ronca, Jimmy Cottrell, Tim Hartman, Ken Anatriello, Neal Erickson, Joe Budka, Rick Davis, Jeff Sukup, Keith Flach, David Towns, Mike Pinke, Jack Swinton, Tony Ballestero.
LINE-X B MAIN: JOE BUDKA, Rick Davis, Mike Tholin, Jeff Sukup, Tony Ballestero, Jim Proctor, Bill Cody, Ed Pieniazek Jr., Paul Dunham Jr., Fred Proctor Jr., Bill Bokus, Cass Bennett, Ray Martindale.

AMSOIL PRO-STREET STOCKS: SCOTT DUELL, Cale Kneer, Butch Irwin, Chris Maxon, Adam Tranka, Lori Cary, Charlie Koenig, Brian Holbritter, Don Piper, Ed Frank, William Smith IV, Robert Langevin, Vince Santoro, Matt Anatriello, Henry Tanner, Steve Buerga, Rob Muscanell, Joe Santoro, Jimmy Eaton.

RENTWAY LIMITEDS.: JIM MONROE, Chris Busta, Tom Conroy, Kevin Van Chance, Jeff Monroe, Brian Ashline, Jim Monroe Jr., John Morris, Jonathan Coon, John Filarecki, Adam Stoddard, Mike Pfau, Bob Smith, William Brady, Mike Minick, Byron Westcott, Richard Burke, John Laviolette, Dave Emigh.
RENTWAY B MAIN: MIKE PFAU, Adam Stoddard, William Brady, John Morris, Mike Minick, Bill Burlingame, Luke MacIsaac, Tim Ippoliti, Tony Condon, Curtis Condon, Kevin Waring, Ben Ladd, Keith Guilder, Tom Pierce, Mike Ostrander.

SIX-CYLINDER MINI-STOCKS: BRIAN MYERS JR., Emerson Ostrander, Jeremy Brownell, Rick Mrzyglod, Dan Uber, Elmer Montville, Randy Manhey, Amanda Clemens, Dan Petronis, Brett Osgood, Kevin Connors, Thomas Glogowski, Harold Clothier, Ray Galusha, Thomas Brunell, Guy Swears.

FOUR-CYLINDER MINI-STOCKS: KEVIN CONNORS, Jamie McCarthy, John Baldwin, Ben Durie, Mike Cranston, Matt Corbiel, Gene Unser Jr., Mike Gault, Chris Cary Jr., Lewis Kusalonski, Joe Baker, Mike Pope, Dave LaBarge, Duane Bramer, Heather Combs.