Ronnie Johnson just perfect 

MALTA - Ronnie Johnson discovered the secret to beating Brett Hearn Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

He ran a perfect race.

Johnson came out of the 10th starting position, got to the front first and then held off Hearn after a late caution to pick up his first victory of the season in the 35-lap Bobcat of Saratoga 358 modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

The Memorial Day weekend must be a good omen for Johnson, as he also won the holiday weekend feature last season. Johnson now has seven career 358 modified victories at the historic Malta track.

Former sportsman driver Eric Mack came off the front row and set the early pace, but he was soon feeling the pressure from A.J. Romano, who has struggled through the first month of the season at Albany-Saratoga. Romano, who had started fifth, was second after just three laps, and was keeping the heat on Mack.

Romano and Mack swapped the lead briefly on lap 16, but Mack, who had his car hooked up in the low groove, was back in front the next time the leaders hit the starter’s stand.

Johnson, who has been working on a new shock package to get the right setup for his Teo chassis, was slowly working his way through the field, as was Hearn, who had started 14th. By lap 20, Johnson had moved up to third and four laps later, he moved past Romano to take over the No. 2 position.

The only thing between Johnson and clean air was Mack, and Johnson made the pass for the lead on lap 27, moving to the outside coming out of the second turn, and dropping the right side tires off the racing surface as he rocketed down the backstretch to get the lead.

Hearn got past Mack one lap later, and was able to close right up on Johnson’s rear bumper when the final caution came out on lap 29, but Johnson, who isn’t easily intimidated, held the advantage over the final five laps and had a 1.7 second advantage at the finish line.

Hearn brought the Vinny Salerno-owned small block home second, his fifth top-five finish in as many starts this season. Matt Delorenzo, who had started 11th, crossed the finish line third, with Mack fourth and Romano fading to fifth.

"This is a brand new car for us this year, and we’ve been working hard on it to find the right setup," said Johnson after his win. He obviously found it Friday night.

Completing the top 10 were Ken Tremont Jr., Mike Perrotte, Ron Proctor, Todd Ryan and Jack Johnson.

Tim Hartman took the lead on lap 15 and went on to record his second win of the season in the 25-lap sportsman feature. Stan Lemiesz and Jimmy Cottrell kept the fans entertained for the first five laps, with Cottrell snatching the lead away from Lemiesz on lap five. Three consecutive cautions slowed the pace of the feature, and also helped Hartman make some headway from his ninth starting position.

By the time the feature got in another run of green-flag racing, Hartman was fifth, and began picking off the cars in front of him, first getting by Lemiesz, and then moving past Dan Bublak, who had started on the outside pole. Hartman then used another caution on lap 14 to finally get the lead, leaving Cottrell and Bublak to duke it out for second.

Cottrell won that skirmish and came across the finish line second, his best performance so far this season, as was Bublak’s third-place performance. Lemiesz was fourth and Mike Ballestero finished fifth.

The Lazzaro Motorsports Team continued its domination of the pro-street stock division, with Joe Santoro picking up his second straight victory in the extended distance 30-lap main, giving the Lazzaro team four straight wins.

The extra distance paid off for Santoro, as he finally moved past Jimmy Eaton into the lead on lap 28. Had the feature been run at its regular distance, Eaton would have had his first win of the year.

The final results had second-place finisher Butchie Irwin, the defending track champion, sandwiched between Lazzaro teammates Santoro and Scott Duell, who also had two wins this season. Bernie Companion, who has looked strong and consistent in the first month of the season, was fourth, with Cale Kneer fifth.

Jim Monroe picked up his first win of the season in the 20-lap Rentway Limited feature, getting the lead on lap18 and holding off Mark Burch by 0.601 seconds. Burch had started third and took the lead on lap nine before finally falling victim to Monroe’s charge. Jeff Monroe finished third, with Mike Pfau fourth and Richard Holmes fifth.

Pete Willis drove to his first win of the season in the Pro-Built mini-stocks four-cylinder division, and Jeremy Brownell nipped Kevin Connors by 0.067 seconds to record his second win of the year in the six-cylinder division.

The Central New York Mini-Sprints will be joining the racing card on Friday, June 3.

BOBCAT OF SARATOGA MODIFIEDS: RONNIE JOHNSON, Brett Hearn, Matt Delorenzo, Eric Mack, A.J. Romano, Ken Tremont Jr., Mike Perrotte, Ron Proctor, Todd Ryan, Jack Johnson, Tim Clemons, Bob Savoie, Don Ackner, Don Ronca, Jack Cottrell, Jeff Trombley, Derrick McGrew, Mike Ronca, Keith Flach, Matt Quinn, J.R. Heffner, Gene Munger, Marc Johnson, Ken McGuire, Frank Hoard Sr., Frank Cirincione.

SPORTSMEN: TIM HARTMAN, Jimmy Cottrell, Dan Bublak, Stan Lemiesz, Mike Ballestero, Johnny Lutes Sr., Chris Busta, David Peek, Neal Erickson, Tony Ballestero, Dick Bisson, Dustin Delaney, Joe Budka, Jack Gentile, Bill Cody, Jack Swinton, Matt Depew, Mike Tholin, Ed Pieniazek, Rich Ronca, Dennis Pennock, David Towns, Ricky Davis, Ken Anatriello.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: JOE SANTORO, Butchie Irwin, Scott Duell, Bernie Companion, Cale Kneer, Robert Langevin, Dean Charbonneau, Steve Burega, Mike Haines, Bob Schmidt, Jimmy Eaton, Chris Maxon, William Smith IV, Brian Ashline, Adam Tranka, Matt Anatriello, Jason Brownell, Mike Dresher, Vince Santoro, Lori Cary, Jeff Washburn.

RENTWAY LIMITEDS: JIM MONROE, Mark Burch, Jeff Monroe, Mike Pfau, Richard Holmes, John Filarecki, Mike Ostrander, Richard Burke, Mike Minick, Steve Mulrain, Dave Emigh, Bob Smith, Jim Monroe Jr., Tracy Ash, Kevin VanChance, Byron Wescott, Curtis Condon, Anthony Marro, Thomas Conroy, Tom Pierce.

PRO-BUILT MINI-STOCKS (SIX CYLINDER): JEREMY BROWNELL, Chris McCarthy, Art Howe, T.J. Brunelle, Kevin Lukasik, Dan Uber, Mike Duclos, Lewis Kusalonski, Randy Manhey, Amy Benaquista.

PRO-BUILT MINI-STOCKS (FOUR-CYLINDER): PETE WILLIS, Kevin Connors, John Baldwin, Ryan Pechtel, Matt Corbiel, Brett Osgood, Ben Durie, Mark Emigh, Chris Gorman, Gary Osterhoudt Jr., Mike Cranston, Tyler Peetz.