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The NAPA Modifieds feature got off to a scary start. On the second lap, Brian Calabrese bounced off the fourth turn wall and clipped Jack Lehner, starting a chain reaction accident in the front stretch. Involved in the mayhem were Elmo Reckner, who was filling in as a substitute driver for Don Ronca, and Brett Hearn, whose car slammed into the Reckner car and got up on its side, before settling back onto four wheels.
That incident eliminated seven cars and put Adam Pierson at the rear of the field.
Neil Stratton, who had started third, jumped into the lead on the restart and soon had his hands full with fellow Vermont campaigner CG Morey, who had started on the outside pole. Morey got the lead on lap eight coming out of the fourth turn, but bobbled on the next lap, letting Stratton move back in front.
The two-car battle then turned into a three-car melee, as David Schilling joined the leaders, with Stratton and Schilling running high and Morey keeping pace with a lower line.
Morey got the break he needed on lap 30, when Stratton had to swing low when he was trying to put Ryan Stortini down a lap. That move allowed Morey to go back into the lead.
But with Stortini slowing down the leaders, Johnson, who had worked his way to fourth after starting 15th, was able to get in position to pounce and he did so on lap 31, swinging so low coming out of the second that that he was almost off the racing surface. But he got by both Morey and Stratton before he got to the third turn and simply drove away for his 22nd career win at Malta. When starter Rich Petersen threw the checkered flag, Johnson had a 2.635 second lead over Kolby Schroder, who made a late charge to come away with the best finish of his career.
“That was the old-school Marc Johnson line,” he joked after the race.
Explaining his charge to the front, he said, “I felt I was losing the right rear. It didn’t feel good. But I just whoa-ed it down and the track came to us.”
Stratton finished third, with Peter Britten charging from his 21st starting position to finish fourth. Robert Bublak Jr. completed the top five.
Matt DeLorenzo won the 25-lap DiCarlo Auto Parts 358 Shootout. After starting on the pole, he led flag-to-flag, with Johnson hounding him the whole way. But DeLorenzo kept hugging the bottom, daring Johnson to take the high line, but Johnson was content where he was, with Ronnie Johnson finishing third.
Tim Hartman Jr. drove to his second consecutive win in the 25-lap sportsman feature, picking up the $250 Madsen Overhead Doors Back-to-Back Bonus in the process. He also snagged the winner’s payout of $1,000 from sponsorship by Saratoga Masonry Supply.
Hartman used a restart on lap 17, after the race’s first caution, to get the lead away from Connor Crane. Hartman lined up fifth on the restart, but after diving to the inside coming out of turn four and then hitting a hole between the top two cars of Crane and Scott Towslee, Hartman had the lead by the time he got to the first turn and outran Towslee for the win. The win was Hartman Jr.’s 41st sportsman victory at Malta.
Brendon Gibbons won the Four States Enterprises Dash for Cash, picking up $200.
Jason Casey, coming off a second-place finish a week earlier, recorded his first win of the season in the 25-lap pro stock feature. Casey started fourth and got the lead for good on lap 10- Like DeLorenzo had done in the 358 feature, Casey then stayed glued to the bottom to finish 1.6 seconds ahead of Beau Ballard, who is making Albany-Saratoga Speedway his Friday night home for the first time this season. Casey also received a $1,000 payday through sponsorship from Michael’s Automotive.
Just when Dan Seguin appeared ready to finish second in the 20-lap limited sportsman feature, he wound up in victory lane.
Seguin started on the pole and led the first five laps, but lost the top spot to Dakota Green on lap nine.
Green opened up a comfortable lead, but after taking the white flag, something in his car broke as he went into the second turn, allowing Seguin to move back out on the point and beat Steve Burch and Chase Zimmer across the finish line.
Dan Madigan broke PJ Cram Jr.’s two-race winning streak with his first win of the year in the 20-lap street stock feature. Jimmy Duncan finished over four seconds behind Madigan, with John Filarecki third.
NAPA MODIFIEDS: MARC JOHNSON, Kolby Schroder, Neil Stratton, Peter Britten, Robert Bublak Jr., CG Morey, Mike Mahaney, Demetrios Drellos, Justin Stone, David Schilling, Rich Ronca, Rich Scagliotta, Ryan Stortini, Matt DeLorenzo, Derek Bornt, James Meehan, Tommy D’Angelo, Adam Pierson, Jessey Mueller, Matt Depew, Jack Lehner, Keith Flach, Brett Hearn, Eric Mack, Jack Speshock, Brian Calabrese, Jeremy Pitts, Elmo Reckner (subbing for Don Ronca).
DICARLO AUTO PARTS 358 MODIFIED SHOOTOUT: MATT DELORENZO, Marc Johnson, Ronnie Johnson, Mike Mahaney, Adam Pierson, Andrew Buff, Corey Cormier, Robert Bublak Jr., Gary Edwards III, David Schilling, Walt Hammond, Ray Hall Jr., Brandon Daley, Alan Hammond, Matt Woodruff, Jeff Reis, Joey Coppola, Chris Bisson, Bill August, Tyler Jashembowski, Garrett Poland, Jim Introne, CG Morey.
IDEAL EXCAVATING SPORTSMAN: TIM HARTMAN JR., Scott Towslee, Chris Crane Jr., Dan Grignon, Taylor LaPlante, Dylan Madsen, Connor Crane, Chris Jakubiak, Mike Coffey Jr., Travis Witbeck, Mike Benson, Joey Scarborough, Jeff Washburn, Tyler Rapp, Mike Jeske, Floyd Billington, Daryl Nutting, Michael Wagner Fitzgerald, David Baranowski Jr., Zach Buff, Taylor Wason, Brendon Gibbons, Dylan Grogan, Jim Nagle, Bryce Breault, Cody Ochs, Craig Wholey.
SARATOGA MASONRY SUPPLY PRO STOCKS: JASON CASEY, Beau Ballard, Kim Duell, Slater Baker, Chucky Dumblewski, Rob Yetman, Rich Crane, Shane Henderson, Luke Horning, Jay Corbin, Jay Casey, Kyle Hoard, Phil Difiglio, Johnathon Levesque, Jaxson Ryan, Jay Fitzgerald, Pete Vila, Mike Hill, Caden Dumblewski, Mike Baker, Brandon Emigh.
HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: DAN SEGUIN, Steve Burch, Chase Zimmer, Mike Baker, Nick Brundige, Nick Auspelmyer, Chad Gregory, Tanner Coon, David Zelker, Jordan Hill, Nick Arnold, Cordell Younger, John Santolin, Mike Block, Matthew Gebo, Lucas Duncan, Damon Anderson, Dakota Green, Sloan Cherko, Sara Arnold, James Galarneau.
CORNELL’S AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: DAN MADIGAN, Jimmy Duncan, John Filarecki, Matt Mosher, Jeff Meltz Sr., PJ Cram Jr., Chris Stalker, Ray Pierre Jr., Damien Ward, Josh Hemming, Jason Barrett, Dan Buell, Mike Duggen, Derek Van Veghten.
