Johnson scores 90th career win at Albany-Saratoga


MALTA - After 41 years of racing and hundreds of victories, Jack Johnson still hasn't lost his desire to be the best.

With a new Enders small block providing the power to his Witz Roofing-sponsored modified, Jumpin' Jack held off a stiff challenge from Ken Tremont Jr. Friday night to record his 90th career victory at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Johnson, who scored his first win at the historic Malta track 30 years ago, used a couple of early cautions to quickly move up from his 12th starting position, and only needed six laps to get to the front. “I definitely got some good breaks in the first couple of laps, as some holes opened up for me,” said Johnson, who has been in the top five in all four races this year. “As I have often said, I'd rather be lucky than good anytime.”

Luck ran out for Jack's son, Ronnie, early in the feature. The younger Johnson brought out the yellow on lap four when he rolled to a stop on the backstretch, the victim of mechanical problems, and he was done for the night.

Luck also ran out for another contender, Matt DeLorenzo, a couple of laps later. Jeff Trombley started a chain-reaction accident on lap 10, when he kissed off the frontstretch wall, and bounced into Tony Kawalchuk. Kawalchuk then got into DeLorenzo, who wound up climbing the inside barrier in turn one, damaging his car enough to send him to the pits for the rest of the night.

That brought the rest of the field back to Jumpin' Jack, who had opened up a full straightaway lead, but all it really did was create a good battle for second between Don Mattison, who had the spot, and Mike Ronca, who took it away several laps later.

While Johnson was cruising out front, Tremont was working his way from the back, as he started 27th in the 31-car field after wrecking in his heat race, forcing his crew to make some hurried rear-end changes prior to the feature.

Tremont had worked his way back to the top five when the final caution of the feature came out on lap 14 for defending track champion Brett Hearn, who suffered a flat tire after making contact with Vince Quenneville Jr. But Hearn was able to duck into the pits for a new tire, and rejoined the rear of the field.

Tremont took over the No. 2 spot on lap 21, and managed to close the gap on the leader, but could only watch as Johnson masterfully worked his way through lapped traffic, protecting his lead.

When they hit the finish line, Johnson had a 0.331 second margin of victory over Tremont, with Matt Sheppard third in the Randy Ross-owned small block.

“You really can't blame the lapped cars for anything, because they're racing for position, too,” said Johnson. “But I had to get by them because I knew the pack had to be coming.”

Jeff Trombley came across the stripe fourth, but a number of disqualifications juggled the rest of the top 10, as Mattison (fifth), Kawalchuk (seventh), Marc Johnson (ninth) and George Foley (16th) all scaled light after the race.

The revised finish moved Todd Stone to fifth, with Elmo Reckner, Jimmy Davis, Hearn, Jimmy Cottrell and Frank Hoard Sr. completing the top 10.

Dick Bisson recorded his first win of the year in the 25-lap sportsman feature. Bisson, who started seventh, caught Mike Ketchum with five laps to go and denied Ketchum his first Albany-Saratoga win. Neal Erickson crossed the line third, with Mark Kislowski fourth and Rob Langevin fifth.

Defending track champion Lori Cary picked up her first win of the season in the pro-street stock feature, nosing out Jeff Washburn for the victory. Cale Kneer set the pace for the first 20 laps, with Cary hanging on his rear bumper. But a restart with five to go changed the complexion of the race. Cary moved into the lead and Washburn, who was fourth when the yellow came out, rocketed up to second and lost by a nose in a photo finish. Kneer hung on for third.

Mark Burch crossed the finish line first in the limited feature, but was disqualified for using a racing tire. The second-place car of Dan Petronis was moved up to first, but track officials were looking into the legality of an engine part before awarding the win to Petronis, so results are still pending.

Paul Dunham Jr. drove to his first win of the season in the budget sportsman class, and Phil DiFiglio got his fourth straight victory in the mini-stock division.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action Friday night, with all divisions in action. The track will also be holding its first enduro of the season.

MODIFIEDS: JACK JOHNSON, Ken Tremont Jr., Matt Sheppard, Jeff Trombley, Todd Stone, Elmo Reckner, Jimmy Davis, Brett Hearn, Jimmy Cottrell, Frank Hoard Sr., Mike Perrotte, Paul Kinney, Jim Becker, Floyd Billington, Gene Munger, John Proctor, Mike Ronca, Tim Hartman, Chris Vernold, Vince Quenneville Jr., Matt DeLorenzo, Don Scarborough, Don Ackner, A.J. Romano, Ronnie Johnson, Don Ronca, Keith Flach. DQ: Don Mattison, Tony Kawalchuk, Marc Johnson, George Foley.

SPORTSMAN: DICK BISSON, Mike Ketchum, Neal Erickson, Mark Kislowski, Rob Langevin, Joe Santoro, Rich Ronca, Mike Tholin, Dustin Delaney, Josh Hohenforst, David Peek, Stan Lemiesz, Chris Busta, Ken Anatriello, Pep Corradi, Whitey Slavin, Matt Depew, Erik Nelson, Dave DePaolo, Scott Duell, Tyler Curtis, Jack Gentile, Brian Holbritter, Chris Johnson.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: LORI CARY, Jeff Washburn, Cale Kneer, Bernie Companion, Kim Duell, Vince Santoro, Darryl Carl, David Peck Jr., Jim Monroe, William Smith IV, Jake Losaw, Kevin Van Chance, Dan Madigan, Jimmy Eaton, Matt Anatriello, Thomas Stack, Frank Twing, Gregg McGill, Chuck Towslee, Jesse Edwards, Mike Paquin, Josh Joseph.

LIMITEDS (UNOFFICIAL, PENDING FURTHER REVIEW): JIM MONROE JR., Curtis Condon, Mike Ostrander, Ken Conroy, D.J. Brundige, John Morris, Jeff Monroe, John Filarecki, T.J. Pierce, Ed Bradt, Anthony Marro, Charles Primeau Jr., Ben Durie, Mike Minick, Bill Burlingame, Amanda Clemens, Dave Billings, Mike Duclos, Steve Holcomb, Paul Mulrain, Brandon Emigh, Rich Burke. DQ: Mark Burch, Dan Petronis II.

BUDGET SPORTSMAN: PAUL DUNHAM JR., Mike Visconti, Bryan Davis, Jared McMahon, Chuck Allen, Ralph Denison, Angela Hoard, Fred Proctor, Brandon Jackson, Al Williams.

MINI-STOCKS: PHIL DEFIGLIO (6), Brette Osgood (4), Travis Tromans (4), Jason Dickson (4), Ryan Veitch (4), Mike Cranston (4), Jason Rheome (4), Dan Older Jr. (4), Ted Fitzgerald (4), Ryan Petchel (4), Ray Galusha (6), Michelle Catone (4), Shane Marks (4), John Baldwin (4), Tim Anagnos (6), Dan Lorenc (6), Renee Noradki (6), Joe Tallman.