~ By Tom Boggie
Marc Johnson isn’t happy.

After the first three weeks of racing (yeah, I know it’s been five weeks, but two were rained out), the defending modified point champion at Albany-Saratoga Speedway has yet to crack the top five (he’s finished sixth, seventh and 10th). Don’t forget. This is the guy who lamented last year about how much he hates finishing second. Right about now, he’d love to get up to second.

“I’m never happy, unless I’m winning,” he said with a smile on Wednesday night as he prepared to compete at Fonda Speedway. “Even when you win, being happy only lasts until the end of the night. Then you have to start all over again.”

Fans who have watched Johnson over the years know how he loves to get his small block cranked up on the low side of the speedway, then pick off cars one at a time as the track comes to him in the latter stages of a race.

But that hasn’t happened this year. One of the biggest reasons at Albany-Saratoga are the jersey barriers that have been installed on the inside of the turns to keep cars out of the infield. Essentially, the barriers took away about half of an inside lane, the lane that Johnson thrived in.

“I was one of the big advocates for the barriers,” he said. “But I think they’re part of the problem. I can’t seem to get up inside of someone like I could last year.”
But there are probably others factors, as well.

“This is the same stuff I had last year,” Johnson said. “I don’t really think I’ve gotten slower. Some guys have gotten faster, and the guys who are winning are the guys who race all the time. I just have to keep working hard. In the last couple of years, guys have had to play catch-up to me. This year, I’ve got to play catch-up.” Not racing on a regular basis, both because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as two straight rainouts, has hurt Johnson insofar as establishing any rhythm. That’s why he was at Fonda on Wednesday.

“These things are too expensive to just have sitting in the garage,” he said, pointing to his car.

How meaningful his track time at Fonda was is debatable. The surface was deeply rutted through turns three and four and cars were bouncing around all night. Johnson only completed 14 laps, and probably had a sore back on Thursday morning.

COVID UPDATE
The Capital Region tracks have obviously been severely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, and Fonda Speedway has become the first to throw in the towel.
Fonda officials announced on Facebook Thursday morning that the track will not be in action for the rest of July (July 18 and July 25) and that the schedule for August will be determined at a later date.

Fonda had tried to find a loophole in the New York state mass gathering guidelines by turning the infield into a parking area, which they designated as a drive-in, but state officials announced earlier this week that the drive-in, as well as allowing spectators into the main grandstands, wasn’t permissible. As a result, Fonda officials said it is no longer financially feasible to put on a weekly program.

Wednesday night’s makeup show will have two lasting impressions … Stewart Friesen’s run from the rear, and the tribute to Bob James.

Friesen won the 30-lap modified feature to remain unbeaten at Fonda. He’s been there five times and has five wins. But this one was different. After starting fourth, he was sitting second after eight laps, but then had to pit for a flat tire, putting him at the rear of the field.

That’s when the real show started. Three-wheeling out of the rutted fourth turn and all the way down the front straightaway, Friesen charged back to the front, and when a yellow flag came out on lap 21, only Matt Sheppard and Josh Hohenforst were in front of him.

Friesen took the outside lane around Hohenforst on lap 22 to move into second, and snatched the lead away from Sheppard on lap 23. An amazing run.

Following the annual Hondo Classic for pro stocks, named for the late Hondo Carpenter, James was honored in victory lane. Bobco, as he’s known to everyone in racing, has been battling cancer for the last couple of years, and on Wednesday it was announced that the video tower above the Fonda Speedway press box will be known as the Bobco Video Tower.

AROUND THE TRACKS

You just can’t read the headlines; sometimes, you have to do a little digging.

When I read that Sharon Speedway in Ohio ran its annual Lou Blaney Memorial last weekend, it sent me on a quest for more information. I already knew a lot about Blaney because I had watched him (and his sons) race. Blaney had an incredible sprint car career before “retiring” from that class in 1980 and moving on to big block modifieds. He had over 600 career wins, and in 1981, finished second to Merv Treichler in the Syracuse 200 at the New York State Fairgrounds. Blaney died in January 2009, and the first Lou Blaney Memorial was held on July 7, 2009. The winner was Jack Johnson, and that would prove to the final win (No. 427) of Jumpin’ Jack’s legendary career.

Tony Stewart won the sprint car feature at the first Lou Blaney Memorial, and the runner-up was a little-known West Virginia driver named Cal Conley. Fast forward to 2020. Stewart now owns the All-Stars Circuit of Champions sprint car series, which highlighted last weekend’s Lou Blaney Memorial. When the checkered flag fell, the winner was Conley, his first win ever in the Blaney Memorial, as well as his first Circuit of Champions victory.

Why is that so special, you might ask? Conley is married to Lou Blaney’s granddaughter, Emma, and they have a son who’s named is Louie.

Ken Tremont Jr. is probably getting sick and tired of reading about his run of bad luck, but here goes. He had a huge lead on the final lap of the feature at Devil’s Bowl last Sunday, but a caution set up a green-white-checkers scenario, and Adam Pierson came away with the sportsman/modified win after a wild battle with Tremont. The last two laps featured a number of slide jobs and crossovers. Pierson had started 19th in the field after winning the consi.

A scoring change at the Bowl has altered the sportsman/modified point standings. Bobby Hackel IV was originally credited with a ninth-place finish on June 28, but a review of the scoring showed that he had lost a lap in the pits, and should have been placed 22nd. The change has put Demetrios Drellos at the top of the point standings, with Pierson now second and Hackel third.

A rash of rainouts last Friday and Saturday really helped the car counts at the Sunday tracks. Glen Ridge Motorsports Park drew a field of 22 crate modifieds. The entire Bisson Racing Team showed up, with Dick Bisson and Scott Duell running with the crate modifieds and Chris Bisson competing with the limited sportsman.

Another interesting tidbit about Jack Johnson (these are easy to find if you have the time to look). During a two-week span in 1980 he won four consecutive 100-lap features. They included races at Rolling Wheels (June 24), Fonda (June 25), Drummond (July 1) and St. Gregoire (July 2).

Friesen is scheduled to be back at Albany-Saratoga Speedway Friday night before heading to Texas for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race on Saturday night. All divisions will be in action at Malta on Friday. The pro stocks will be running for $1,000 to win as part of the Native Pride program, and the Street Stock Spectacular will pay $500 to win.