Johnson Wins Emotional Event At Albany-Saratoga
Story By:TOBY LAGRANGE / ALBANY SARATOGA SPEEDWAY MEDIA Photos By:DAVE DALESANDRO / RACERSGUIDE.COM
Malta, NY – April 30,2016- It was a very emotional off season for popular Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified pilot Marc Johnson. The veteran Albany-Saratoga Speedway campaigner lost his father in February to whom he was very close. Johnson put the Johnson Racing number 3J in victory lane Friday night with a Small Block engine that his father built.
Other feature winners during the evening were Derrick McGrew (Sportsman), Brandon Emigh (DIRTcar Pro Stock), Brandon Pitcher (Limited Sportsman), Josh Coonradt (Street Stock) and Merton LaBounty and Steve Ryan (Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinders).
Ronnie Johnson and Kris Vernold led the Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified field to the green with Johnson taking an early commanding lead over Bobby Hackel, IV, Vernold, Stewart Friesen and Mark Kislowski. On lap six Friesen moved past Hackel and Vernold to take second as Ray Hoard moved to fourth. Johnson held more than a straightaway lead over Friesen, Hoard, Vernold and Kislowski.
Hector Stratton brought the caution out on lap nine when he slowed on the back stretch. On the restart Johnson held the lead over Friesen and Hoard. Jimmy Cottrell slowed in turn two on lap 11 bringing out the second caution flag. When racing resumed Johnson and Kislowski ran one-two with Kislowski third, Hoard fourth and Vernold fifth. On lap 13 Friesen drifted high in turn three and dropped back to fifth.
The yellow flag waved again on lap 16 when John Lutes, Jr. spun in turn four. Hoard went to the pit area while under yellow. At this point drivers on the move were Marc Johnson who started 18th and was up to third and Kenny Tremont, Jr. who was scheduled to start 34th and was ninth.
On the restart Johnson held the lead with Marc Johnson taking over second, Friesen third, Bodie Bellinger fourth and Kislowski fifth. Tremont moved past Kislowski for fifth on lap 20. Vernold slowed in turn two on lap 21 to bring out the fourth caution period.
When racing resumed Ronnie Johnson led Marc Johnson, Friesen, Tremont and Bellinger. Brett Hearn took fifth from Bellinger on lap 23. By lap 28 Marc was all over Ronnie as they entered slower traffic. The duo were side by side on lap 29 with Marc taking the lead. Friesen would follow to second a lap later. The leaders raced through heavy traffic over the last five laps with Marc Johnson bringing home the win over Friesen, Tremont, Hearn and Ronnie Johnson. Heat races for the 37 car Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified field were won by Ronnie Johnson, Friesen and Kislowski.
“It was unbelievable,” Johnson said after coming from 18th for the win. “The crew has been awesome. This one is for my father. I have to thank everyone who is part of the team. We have fought through adversity and we are on top.”
Downtown Jackie Brown and defending track champion Derrick McGrew led the Featherfoot Warrior Series Sportsman field to the green with Brown taking the early lead over McGrew, Robert Bublak, Jr., Hunter Bates and Adam Gage. Nick Lussier took fifth from Gage on lap two as the top five opened some daylight on the field.
McGrew followed Brown until lap eight when he turned up the pressure on the veteran campaigner. By lap ten Bublak closed in on the lead battle as the leaders closed in on slower traffic. The first caution waved on lap 12 when Lussier came to a stop on the front stretch with front end damage.
On the restart the top four remain the same with Rocky Warner moving to fifth. Chris Johnson and Greg Pessolano tangled in turn four, bringing out the caution flag on lap 13. While under the caution Bates headed pit side. When racing resumed Brown and McGrew ran one-two with Warner taking third. McGrew moved past Brown on lap 15 to take the lead. Warner followed to second a lap later.
With five laps to go McGrew and Warner had checked out on the field. McGrew owned a ten car length advantage over Warner, an advantage that despite a last lap run Warner could not overcome. McGrew picked up the Featherfoot Series win over Warner, Jeremy Pitts, Brown and Bublak. Brown was disqualified following the event which moved Tim Hartman, Jr. into the top five. A total of 35 Sportsman were on hand with heat race’s being won by Bates, Brown, McGrew and Bublak. The consolation event was won by David Constantino.
“We were down in South Carolina for a kart race for my son,” McGrew said. We got rained out and drove straight through to get here and win.”
Amsterdam’s Chuck Dumblewski was the first to lead the 25 lap DIRTcar Pro Stock feature event with Jeff Washburn and Norm Loubier battling for second. Dan Older, Sr. and Brandon Emigh rounded out the top five. Washburn held second by lap four and set his sights on Dumblewski. Washburn took the lead on the low side on lap five with Loubier and Dumblewski battling for second and Emigh and Older battling for fourth.
As the race reached lap ten Washburn had pulled away from what was an entertaining battle for positions two through 14. Emigh broke away for second with Loubier third, Dave Depaulo fourth and Kim Duell fifth. Emigh closed in on Washburn amidst slower traffic while Depaulo moved to third.
With ten laps to go Emigh was all over Washburn for the lead. Zack Welch spun his machine on lap 17 to bring out the first caution of the event. On the restart Emigh took the lead over Washburn, Depaulo, Robbie Speed and Nick Stone. Josh Rozelle spun in turn two on lap 20 to bring out the second caution period.
When racing resumed Emigh held the lead with Speed taking over second, Washburn third, Stone fourth and Duell fifth. Stone took third on lap 23 as Depaulo challenged Duell. In the end no one could catch Emigh who brought home the win over Stone, Speed, Washburn and Duell. Heat races for the 21 DIRTcar Pro Stocks were won by Washburn, Emigh and Older.
“I just took my time and waited for him to make a mistake,” Emigh said. “I made my move in turn one and here I am.”
Jacob Volpi and Nick Fretto led the Limited Sportsman field to the green with Volpi spinning on the opening lap. On the restart Brandon Pitcher held the lead over Jack Lehner and Fretto. James Meehan spun in turn two on lap four to bring out the caution flag. When racing resumed Rob Lanfear spun in turn two.
When action resumed Lehner held the lead over Pitcher and Gary Derocher. Pitcher took the lead on lap nine with Lehner following in second and Derocher third. In the end Pitcher held on for the win over Zack Daurio, Lehner, Mike Block and Volpi. With 21 Limited Sportsman in the pit area heat races were won by Lehner and Volpi.
Yule Cook led the 18 car Street Stock field to the green. Cook led the opening lap before giving way to the Monroe Towing machine of Paul Braymer. Braymer held a large lead until Jake Currier wrecked on the front stretch. On the restart Braymer held the lead before the caution waved for a jingle on the backstretch on lap eight. On the restart Braymer led until Jeff Meltz, Sr. who spun in turn four. Braymer slowed on the restart giving the lead to Josh Coonradt. Coonradt would pull away for the win over Hunter Sanchez, Nathan Dahoda, Chase Aussicker and David Shippee.
With 25 cars signed in the pit area, track officials split the 15 lap Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinder feature into two, 12 lap features. In the first event Merton LaBounty took the win over Tim Meltz and Mike Parodi. In the second event Steve Ryan took the win over Ben Grant and Josh Wood.
The Albany-Saratoga Speedway returns to action Friday night May 6th with all weekly divisions in action. The Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinder division will also be on the card for the Mother’s Day Special. For more information on the Albany-Saratoga Speedway log onto the track website at www.albany-saratogaspeedway.com or visit us on Facebook.
Modified Results (35 Laps) – 1) Marc Johnson, 2) Stewart Friesen, 3) Ken Tremont Jr, 4) Brett Hearn, 5) Ronnie Johnson, 6) Mark Kislowski, 7) Bodie Bellinger, 8) J.R. Heffner, 9) Keith Flach, 10) L.J. Lombardo, 11) Matt Delorenzo, 12) Elmo Reckner, 13) Demetrios Drellos, 14) Rob Pitcher, 15) Neil Stratton, 16) Don Ronca, 17) Jeremy Wilder, 18) Jessey Mueller, 19) Brian Gleason, 20) John Lutes Jr, 21) Alex Bell, 22) Bobby Hackel IV, 23) Jeff Rockefeller, 24) Brian Whittemore, 25) Hector Stratton, 26) C.G. Morey, 27) Ricky Davis, 28) Ryan Darcy, 29) Justin Barber, 30) Jimmy Cottrell, 31) Kris Vernold, 32) Matt Depew, 33) Ray Hoard, 34) Cass Bennett, DNS) Jesse Edwards, DNS) Rich Ronca, DNS) Craig Seeley
Sportsman Featherfoot Series Results (25 Laps) – 1) Derek McGrew, 2) Rocky Warner, 3) Jeremy Pitts, 4) Robert Bublak, 5) Tim Hartman Jr, 6) Jack Speshock, 7) Chad Edwards, 8) Andrew Buff, 9) Josh Sunn, 10) Dave Constantino, 11) Adam Gage, 12) JaMike Sowle, 13) Daryl Nutting, 14) Connor Cleveland, 15) Richard Smith, 16) Cody Bleau, 17) Scott Duell, 18) Mike Coffey, 19) Nick Anatriello, 20) Ken Conroy, 21) Mike Ostrander, 22) Jon Miller, 23) Joey Scarborough, 24) Chris Johnson, 25) Greg Pessalano, 26) Justin Smith, 27) David Schilling, 28) Hunter Bates, 29) Nick Lussier, DQ) Jackie Brown, DNS) Floyd Billington, DNS) Pat Jones, DNS) John Proctor, DNS) Christopher Ronca, DNS) Jack Swinton
Pro Stock Results (25 Laps) – 1) Brandon Emigh, 2) Nick Stone, 3) Robbie Speed, 4) Jeff Washburn, 5) Kim Duell, 6) Dave Depaulo, 7) Walt Brownell, 8) Dean Charbonneau, 9) Norm Loubier, 10) Bill Smith, 11) Dan Older, 12) Gus Hollner, 13) Chuck Dumblewski, 14) Danny Wood, 15) Dan Madigan, 16) Nick Arnold, 17) Zach Welch, 18) Pete Porter, 19) Kevin Loomis, 20) Josh Rozelle
Limited Sportsman Results (15 Laps) – 1) Brandon Pitcher, 2) Zach Daurio, 3) Jack Lehner, 4) Mike Block, 5) Jacob Volpi, 6) Randy Miller, 7) Rob Lanfear, 8) Nick Fretto, 9) Derek Bornt, 10) Travis Billington, 11) James Meehan, 12) George Dorvee, 13) Steve Burch, 14) Diana Huyck, 15) Shannon Donnelly, 16) Stephen Kneer, 17) Gary Derocher, 18) Anthony Alger, 19) Bob Schmidt, DQ) Scott Bennett Jr, DNS) Bryan Jones
Street Stock Results (20 Laps) – 1) Josh Coonradt, 2) Hunter Sanchez, 3) Nathan Dahoda, 4) Chase Aussicker, 5) David Shippee, 6) Jason Meltz, 7) Jeff Davis, 8) Damon Anderson, 9) Scott Lawrence, 10) David Pelis, 11) John Hayes, 12) Jeff Meltz Sr, 13) Mark Burch, 14) Paul Braymer, 15) Jordan Casper, 16) Yule Cook, 17) David Cook, 18) Jake Currier
4 Cyliner Single Cam Results (12 Laps) – 1) Merton LaBounty, 2) Tim Meltz, 3) Mike Parodi, 4) Will Ryan, 5) Tyler Burch, 6) Patton McSpirit, 7) Nick McClendon, 8) Keith Tesiero Sr, 9) Shane Maynard, 10) Ashley Celebucki, 11) James Baker, 12) Mark Lindblade
4 Cylinder Dual Cam Results (12 Laps) – 1) Steve Ryan, 2) Ben Grant, 3) Josh Wood, 4) Ken Stager, 5) Keith Tesiero Jr, 6) Jim Cutler, 7) Jeff Piscitelli, 8) Robert Garney, 9) T.J. Marlitt, 10) Jason Lang, 11) Patrick Meehan, 12) P.J. Bleau, 13) Ammo Wright
