Johnson holds off Hearn


MALTA – It's obvious that Ronnie Johnson likes a heavy track.

After setting a track record in spring conditions on opening day in April, Johnson waited out a rain delay that lasted a little over an hour, and then went out and picked up his second win of the season Friday night in the 35-lap 358 modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

The rain delay was just part of a wild night at the Malta track. Parlaying Kids Night, which included giving away 35 bicycles, with Morris Ford Group Night and a 107.1-lap enduro sponsored by Froggy 107.1, the track drew one of the biggest crowds of the decade.

And they saw a great 358 modified feature, although it wasn't great from Jeff Trombley's standpoint. Trombley, Ken Tremont Jr. and Matt DeLorenzo were involved in an incident on the first lap, and Trombley only completed one lap.

But that was one more than both Jack Johnson and Danny Johnson ran. When a storm rolled in just around 9:30 p.m., the Johnsons loaded up and headed for the highway, thinking the night was over. But they were wrong. Jimmy Davis set the pace for the first four laps of the feature, before giving up the top spot to Vince Quenneville Jr. Ronnie Johnson, who had started ninth, broke into the top five on lap nine, and was the new leader on lap 15.

It took Hearn a little longer to get to the front, as he started 15th, but he took over second on lap 20, and took off after Johnson. Hearn stayed right on Johnson's rear bumper for the final 10 laps, but Johnson held his line and came away with his second win of the season, just 0.221 seconds ahead of Hearn.

A.J. Romano hit the stripe third, while Tremont put on a good charge from the rear to finish fourth. Quenneville was fifth, matching his best finish of the year at the Malta track.

Todd Stone, who finished seventh, had the fastest car on the track, as he was the only driver to crack the 17-second barrier during the feature, turning a lap of 16.974 seconds.

Chris Johnson got his name into the Albany-Saratoga record book, driving to his first career victory in the 25-lap sportsman feature. Mike Tholin, Kory Sandstedt and Johnson were locked in a good battle, but the complexion of the race changed following a caution on lap 13.

The yellow bunched up the field, and on the restart, Johnson rocketed past Sandstedt to grab second. One lap later, he went around Tholin to get the lead and that was all she wrote, as Johnson stretched his advantage and crossed the finish line nearly three seconds ahead of Tholin.

Johnson became the sixth different sportsman driver to notch his first career win this season. Following him across the finish line were Tholin, Mark Kislowski, Mike Ketchum and Sandstedt. Tholin, still looking for his first win of the year, has now finished second three times.

Lori Cary picked up her fourth win of the season in the 25-lap pro-street stock feature, which was filled with cautions. For a while, it looked like Bill Smith IV was going to get his first career win, but that changed when the seventh and final caution of the race came out with two laps to. Cary took advantage of the restart to get the lead, forcing Smith to settle for second.

Chuck Towslee was third, his first top three finish of the season, while Vince Santoro was fourth and Jim Monroe Sr. was fifth.

Dan Older took the lead with four laps to go and came away with his first win of the season in the limited division. Older became the 12th different winner in the class this season.

Phil DeFiglio ran his winning streak to 10 races in the six-cylinder mini-stock class, while Brette Osgood picked up the four-cylinder win.

And it was also a big night for Kyle Bryant, who won the biggest froggin' enduro ever and walked off with $1,007.10.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway has another full card of racing lined up for Friday, Aug. 24. The budget sportsman will be competing in the Twin State Series, with a 35-lap feature. Racing will begin at 6:45 p.m.

MODIFIEDS: RONNIE JOHNSON, Brett Hearn, A.J. Romano, Ken Tremont Jr., Vince Quenneville Jr., Jimmy Davis, Todd Stone, Mike Perrotte, Marc Johnson, Don Ronca, Matt DeLorenzo, Ron Proctor, Keith Flach, Ricky Davis III, Jim Becker, John Proctor, Tony Kawalchuk, Mike Ronca, Tim Hartman, Don Ackner, Frank Hoard Sr., Matt Sheppard, Jeff Trombley, Jimmy Cottrell.

SPORTSMAN: CHRIS JOHNSON, Mike Tholin, Mark Kislowski, Mike Ketchum, Kory Sandstedt, Dick Bisson, Ken Anatriello, Dustin Delaney, Josh Hohenforst, Matt Depew, Rob Langevin, Tyler Curtis, Whitey Slavin, Neal Erickson, Jack Gentile, Stan Lemiesz, David Peek, Dave Baranowski, Andy Boniewski, John Willis, Chris Busta, Joe Santoro, Rich Ronca, Adam Tranka, Pep Corradi.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: LORI CARY, Bill Smith IV, Chuck Towslee, Vince Santoro, Jim Monroe Sr., Cale Kneer, Kim Duell, Randy Miller, Carl Vladyka, Dan Madigan, Josh Joseph, Tom Sack, Jesse Edwards Jr., Jeff Washburn, Fred Shippee, Kevin Van Chance, Jeremy Pitts, Darryl Carl, Gregg McGill, Matt Anatriello, Jimmy Eaton, Bernie Companion.

LIMITEDS: DAN OLDER, Ken Conroy, Paul Mulrain, Mike Ostrander, D.J. Brundige, Brian Ashline, Dan Petronis, Andy Durie, Amanda Clemens, John Filarecki, Mike Minick, Mark Lester, Rick Howe, Mark Burch, Anthony Marro, Bill Burlingame, David Billings, Luke MacIsaac, Joe Mulvaney, Rich Burke, Nick Lussier, Jim Monroe Jr., John Morris, Curtis Condon. DQ: Brandon Emigh.

MINI-STOCKS: PHIL DEFIGLIO (6), Brette Osgood (4), Andy Hickok (4), Shane Marks (4), Travis Tromans (4), Charlie Stoddard (4), Erin Older (4), Dan Lorenc (6), Dan Older Jr. (4), Mike Cranston (4), Ray Galusha (6), Michelle Catone (4), Ted Fitzgerald (4), John Baldwin (4), Jason Dickson, Brien O'Reilly, Jamie McCarthy, Jason Rheome (4).