Defending Albany-Saratoga Speedway Modified Track Champion Marc Johnson Notches Win No. 1 of 2017
Story and Photos By: MATT NOLES / RACERSGUIDE.COM
MALTA, NY- June 10, 2017- Sometimes the speed in which one gets to where they are going isn’t nearly as important as the timing.
From the onset of the evening, Matt DeLorenzo looked to be the man the beat in the modifieds at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, New York as the driver of the BBL sponsored No. 3 rocketed to victory in his qualifier and shot to the lead in short order during the 35-lap feature. He seemed to have the entire field covered but looks – as they can so often be – can be deceiving.
It’s often said that slow and steady wins the race and Marc Johnson epitomized that adage with his relentless march to the front of the star-studded field on Friday night as the defending track champion finally completed what Jeremy Wilder prevented him from doing one week ago; a trip to the ever-coveted victory lane at the Saratoga county facility.
Though he made it look so, his latest triumph was anything but easy. Firing from the 14th position on the grid, Johnson not only had to catch the front-running trio of DeLorenzo, Ronnie Johnson and Keith Flach; he had to pass them as well. True to form, the driver of the No. 3J was able to roll the bottom of the speedway surface and drive away from his aforementioned contemporaries in convincing fashion.
“I wouldn’t say that we needed that win because we’ve been running good,” said Johnson in victory lane on Friday night. “But it’s always good to get the win. The guys have been working really hard and we have a pretty hectic week next week so this will definitely help out. Tonight was a huge group effort and we worked really hard for it.”
There’s something to be said for a driver that can go from the middle of the pack to the lead and the eventual win without losing their cool or adapting to the theory of eight tires are better than four. In short, if one was to look for the very definition of patience on Friday night, they would have to look no further than Marc Johnson.
“It takes a lot of patience to come through the field,” Johnson exclaimed. “At first I was actually a little worried because Ronnie [Johnson] was blistering fast and DeLorenzo was so far out in front that I didn’t even know he was in the lead. I just knew that I had to take it one car at-a-time and it seems that when the track gets slicker, I get better.”
Where there wasn’t enough bite on the bottom of the speedway surface a week prior, this week there was just enough there for Johnson to complete the task he wasn’t able to a mere seven nights ago.
“The track came to me tonight,” He continued. “This week there was a little bit of bite coming off of turn four that kind of killed me last week where I didn’t have that and the top was a little too good. I just slowed down, hit the brown spots in the track and did my own thing. Someone might sail by you on the top but if you’re patient, you can get him coming off the corner.”
It wasn’t just the driver or the car that landed the Electric City Taxi sponsored Troyer in victory lane; luck and experience also tend to play a big part in Johnson’s success and that also showed true on Friday night where running down the frontrunners was concerned.
“I think the track went away a little bit for those guys,” said Johnson. “The outside went really far around and once I cleared a few guys on the bottom, it really gave me an open lane on the bottom and those guys were racing each other pretty hard and they all wanted the top and I wanted the bottom and there was no one in front of me. It worked out for us tonight.”
Now that the proverbial monkey is finally off his back, his next pilgrimage to ‘The Great Race Place’ may be a little easier; but then again, maybe not.
“This win makes it easy for tonight,” Johnson concluded with a smile. “It might make it easier washing the car tomorrow, but every week we start fresh. It doesn’t matter what the points are or whether we won or not, I dig just as hard like I’m still the underdog and that’s the way I like to play it.”
Matt Noles is a contributing writer for Racers Guide and Dirt Track Digest. He currently resides in Sprakers, New York and can be reached via e-mail at matt_noles@yahoo.com.
