Malta, NY – Just over three weeks ago the Great Race Place hosted the sixth installment of Brett Hearn’s The Big Show. Mother Nature intervened on lap 11 of the 100 lap Super DIRTcar Series Modified event forcing a makeup date. Track and event management got together and created an entirely new event last evening which consisted of a double header for the DIRTcar Modified division.When all of the racing was said and done a pair of unrelated Johnson’s sat in victory lane. The Doctor of DIRTcar Modified racing, Danny Johnson and Marc Johnson each earned victories during the evening. Danny picked up the $10,000 to win Super DIRTcar Series event while Marc won the 35 lap event. The win was worth $2,000 for the Guilderland fan favorite.

A complete run down of the $10,000 to win Super DIRTcar Series event will be forthcoming from Brett Hearn-Driven Marketing. Danny Johnson picked up the win over Billy Decker, Matt Sheppard, Peter Britten and Stewart Friesen. A total of 41 drivers entered The Big Show 6 on July 8th.

A pair of second generation drivers – Don Ronca and Jimmy Cottrell, led the field to the green to kick off the 35 lap Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified night cap. Ronca took the early lead over Gary Tomkins, Cottrell, Marc Johnson and Jimmy Phelps. Johnson meanwhile was on the move, moving the familiar number 3j into the third position on lap three. A lap later Brett Hearn put the Madsen Motorsports number 20 into the fourth position.

As the leaders approached heavy slower traffic, the battle between Hearn and Phelps for the fourth position intensified. On lap 14 Tomkins moved past Ronca for the lead with Johnson following to second. This relegated former track champion Ronca to the third position. The first caution period of the event slowed the field on lap 15 when Hearn slowed in between turns one and two, ending his evening.

On the restart Tomkins controlled the lead over Johnson, Phelps, Ronca and Matt Sheppard. A multi car jingle brought the caution back out on lap 16. Among the drivers collected were Kenny Tremont, Jr., Elmo Reckner and Mike Perrotte. The top three remained the same on the restart with Sheppard getting past Ronca for the fourth position.

Caution number three slowed the field on lap 17 when Duane Howard spun in turn two. On the restart the top five remained unchanged. As the field came around to complete lap 18, contact was made between Tomkins and Johnson. The contact forced Tomkins into the front stretch wall, ending his event. Track officials deemed the incident a racing incident.

Former track regular Bodie Bellinger spun on the restart forcing another caution period. When racing resumed Johnson held the lead over Phelps, Sheppard, Billy Decker and Ronca. On lap 25 Bobby Varin slowed forcing John Lutes, Jr. to spin in turn three, bringing out the final caution period.

Johnson pulled away on the restart with Phelps following. The battle for the third position initially was heavy between Sheppard and Decker however Sheppard would maintain the position. Jeremy Wilder moved into the fifth position.

In the end Johnson would bring home the win over Phelps, Sheppard, Decker and Wilder. Heat races for the 37 car field were won by Rich Ronca, Phelps, Cottrell and Johnson. A total of 29 drivers competed in the heat races and were eligible to start the feature event.

“It was unbelievable,” Johnson said. “I hate to see what happened with Gary Tomkins, we just ran out of room. That was racing. Right now my wife is in the hospital, in labor, so we have to get going to the hospital.”

 

Brett Hearn’s The Big Show 6 Presented by: Recovery Sports Grill Malta, Ferris Industries and VP Racing Fuels.  Super DIRTcar Modified Series Event Results (100 Laps) – 1) Danny Johnson, 2) Billy Decker, 3) Matt Sheppard, 4) Peter Britten, 5) Stewart Friesen, 6) Jimmy Phelps, 7) Brett Hearn, 8) Billy VanIngewin, 9) Marc Johnson, 10) Ronnie Johnson, 11) Bobby Varin, 12) Duane Howard, 13) Ken Tremont Jr, 14) Bodie Bellinger, 15) Pat Ward, 16) Rich Scagliotta, 17) Erick Rudolph, 18) Keith Flach, 19) Matt Billings, 20) Jimmy Cottrell, 21) Tyler Siri, 22) Larry Wight, 23) Mike Perrotte 24) Gary Tomkins, 25) Elmo Reckner, 26) Justin Haers, 27) Billy Dunn, 28) Mark Kislowski, 29) Tim McCreadie, 30) Jimmy Davis

 

Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified Results (35 Laps) – 1) Marc Johnson, 2) Jimmy Phelps, 3) Matt Sheppard, 4) Billy Decker, 5) Jeremy Wilder, 6) Rich Scagliotta, 7) Don Ronca, 8) Keith Flach, 9) Pat Ward, 10) Bodie Bellinger, 11) Neil Stratton, 12) John Lutes Jr., 13) Jimmy Cottrell, 14) Bobby Varin, 15) Gary Tomkins, 16) Stewart Friesen, 17) Rich Ronca, 18) Duane Howard, 19) Peter Britten, 20) Brett Wright, 21) Ken Tremont Jr, 22) Elmo Reckner, 23) Matt Depew, 24) Mike Perrotte 25) Brett Hearn, 26) Brian Whittemore, 27) Danny Johnson, 28) Mark Kislowski, 29) Ronnie Johnson, DNS) Matt Billings, DNS) Billy Dunn, DNS) Justin Haers, DNS) Erick Rudolph, DNS) Tyler Siri, DNS) Billy VanIngewin, DNS) Larry Wight