Ronnie Johnson a repeat winner at Malta


MALTA – Hall of Fame driver Jack Johnson used to say he'd rather be lucky than good, and it looks like his son, Ronnie, is adhering to the same philosophy.

Just when it looked like Ronnie Johnson had no shot at victory, lapped traffic came into play and R.J. came away with his second consecutive victory Friday night in the 35-lap 358 modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

From the outset of the feature, Mike Perrotte had the fastest car on the track. At one time, Perrotte, who hasn't had a win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in three years, turned a lap of 17.104 seconds, a half-second faster than anyone else.

But that little factor didn't deter Johnson, who had started 13th in the feature and was charging from the drop of the green flag. By the mid-point of the feature, Johnson was up to fourth, but Perrotte was already a full straightaway ahead and lapping the backmarkers.

Johnson and Matt Sheppard kept the crowd entertained with a good battle for second, and with 10 laps to go, R.J. finally took over the No. 2 spot.

It looked like he had no shot at Perrotte, but in the final five laps, Perrotte began to have trouble with lapped cars, allowing Johnson to quickly close the gap, and with two laps left, Johnson made the pass for the lead going down the backstretch. Perrotte momentarily put his nose back in front coming out of the corner, but Johnson had the momentum, coming away with his 12th career win at the Malta track.

“That's racing,” said a philosophical Perrotte after the race. “If my car had been as good as Ronnie's, we would have been able to get by them.” Matt Sheppard crossed the finish line third, followed by Jeff Trombley and Ken Tremont Jr.

Rookie Rob Langevin drove to his second win of the season in the 25-lap sportsman feature. Dave DePaulo set the pace for the first 10 laps, but two cautions, one involving points contender Dustin Delaney, bunched the field and allowed Scott Duell to move to the front.

When Duell dropped out on lap 17, Langevin inherited the lead and that's where he stayed, hitting the finish line nearly a second in front of Ken Anatriello, who had the best finish of his sportsman career. Mike Tholin finished third, with Mike Ketchum fourth and DePaulo fifth.

Darryl Carl came away with his first career victory in the 25-lap pro-street stock feature. Carl started on the pole and went flag-to-flag, but he had Kim Duell hounding him for the last 10 laps. Pete Broderson brought out the caution on lap 16, allowing Duell to pull right up on Carl's rear bumper, but that was as close as he was going to get. Following Carl and Duell across the stripe were Lori Cary, Vince Santoro and Dan Madigan.

The budget sportsman ran a 35-lap feature, as part of the Twin State Series, and Kale Groff came away with his first career win at Albany-Saratoga. Groff, who started on the outside pole, took the lead away from polesitter Mike Visconti on lap 24 and held off Paul Dunham Jr. to get the win. Dunham was disqualified after post-race inspection, moving Angela Hoard to second and Frank Hoard Jr. to third.

Mike Ostrander recorded his second win of the season in the limited division, taking the lead with five laps to go and then holding off points leader Jim Monroe Jr., and Phil DeFiglio ran his winning streak to 11 races in the mini-stock class, as he won the six-cylinder division, and Brette Osgood was the winner in he four-cylinders.

Another big night of racing is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 31, when Albany-Saratoga hosts the Showdown at Sundown. The night of racing will include the Seventy-Sixer, the 76-lap sportsman feature that was rained out earlier in the year. Racing will begin at 6:45 p.m.

MODIFIEDS; RONNIE JOHNSON, Mike Perrotte, Matt Sheppard, Jeff Trombley, Ken Tremont Jr., Matt DeLorenzo, Tony Kawalchuk, Todd Stone, Brett Hearn, Mike Ronca, Marc Johnson, Frank Hoard Sr., Elmo Reckner, Keith Flach, Jimmy Davis, Jimmy Cottrell, A.J. Romano, Don Ronca, Richard Davis III, John Proctor, Ken McGuire, Tim Hartman, Donnie Corellis, Ron Proctor.

SPORTSMAN: ROB LANGEVIN, Ken Anatriello, Mike Tholin, Mike Ketchum, Dave DePaulo, Dick Bisson, Andy Boniewski, Keith Slavin, Mark Kislowski, Rich Ronca, Matt Depew, Chris Johnson, Josh Hohenforst, Neal Erickson, Kory Sandstedt, Bill Bokus, Scott Duell, Pep Corradi, Corey Gilligan, Dustin Delaney, Robert Perry, Tyler Curtis, Chris Busta. DQ: Jack Gentile.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: DARRYL CARL, Kim Duell, Lori Cary, Vince Santoro, Dan Madigan, Chuck Towslee, Carl Vladyka, Bill Smith IV, Jim Monroe Sr., Jesse Edwards Jr., Kevin VanChance, Gregg McGill, Matt Anatriello, Randy Miller, Pete Broderson, Cale Kneer.

BUDGET SPORTSMAN: KALE GROFF, Angela Hoard, Frank Hoard Jr., Gary Siemons, Jared McMahon, Bryan Davis, Fred Proctor, Kris Bradbury, Todd Clark, Brian Whittemore, Mike Visconti, Al Williams, Tom Lilly, Adam Pierson, Matt Hyde, Frank Hoard III. DQ: Paul Dunham Jr.

LIMITEDS: MIKE OSTRANDER, Jim Monroe Jr., Mark Burch, Mike Minick, Rich Burke, John Filarecki, Joe Mulvaney, Ben Durie, Steve Holcomb, Mark Lester, Paul Mulrain, Nick Lussier, Rich Holmes, Rodney Barrett, Ken Conroy, D.J. Brundige, Brian Ashline, Mike Pfau, Andy Durie, John Morris, Curtis Condon, Dan Petronis, Dan Older, John Hiedrich.

MINI-STOCKS: PHIL DEFIGLIO, Brette Osgood, Dan Lorenc, Shane Marks, Jason Dickson, Mike Cranston, Erin Older, Dan Older Jr., Michelle Catone, Ted Fitzgerald, Ray Galusha, Justin Lilly, Chris Hutchinson, Travis Tromans, Andy Hickok, Jason Rheome.