Johnson gets back on track at Malta

MALTA, NY - Ronnie Johnson may be out of the point race at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, but that doesn't mean he's throwing in the towel.

A rash of mechanical problems and just plain bad luck finally came to an end Friday night as Johnson picked up his second 358-modified win of the season at the historic Malta track. This time, luck may have been in his favor, as Jeff Trombley had a left front tire go down early, and essentially three-wheeled his way to a second-place finish.

For the last couple of seasons, Johnson has been a major player in the battle for the point championship, and when he won the second race of the season at Albany-Saratoga, on April 25, it looked like that trend was going to be repeated.

Night in and night out, Johnson continued to have one of the fastest cars at the track, but there were a lot of nights when the results didn't back up that theory.

Friday night was different, with Johnson getting the lead on lap 21 and coming away with his second win of the season.

“This win is for the crew,” said Johnson in victory lane after the victory. “They have stuck with me all season, and have been working hard with all the broken rear ends, broken drivelines and motor problems that we have had.”

Had it not been for the flat tire, it might have been Trombley who was sitting in victory lane. When Johnson's father, Jumpin' Jack, rolled to a stop on lap 28 to bring out the final caution, Trombley was third, and quickly got by Don Mattison on the restart. But the flat tire prevented him from making a serious run at Ronnie Johnson, who hit the finish line nearly two seconds ahead of Trombley.

Mike Perrotte made a late charge to finish third, with Todd Stone fourth and Matt DeLorenzo fifth.

Completing the top10 were Mattison, Marc Johnson, Dave Camara, Michael Storms (who was substituting for Brett Hearn behind the wheel of the Vinny Salerno-owned small block), and point leader Ken Tremont Jr.

Rich Ronca came off the front row and picked up his first win of the season in the sportsman feature. Chris Busta set the pace for the first 10 laps, but Ronca got the lead after a restart on lap 11 and held off Busta the rest of the way to get the victory. Mark Kislowski, Rob Langevin and Kory Sandstedt completed the top five.

Frank Corradi made his way to victory lane for the second time this season in the budget sportsman feature. After starting 11th, Corradi used a couple of early restarts to work his way through the pack, and took the lead on lap nine. A long green-flag run allowed Corradi to pull away to the victory. D.J. Brundige got up for second, with Scott Duell third.

Kevin VanChance finally got the monkey off his back and notched his first win of the year in the pro-stock division. Until Friday night, VanChance had just three top-five finishes, with a third on July 25 topping his performance chart. But he had the field covered Friday night, finishing three seconds ahead of runner-up Rob Yetman.

Mark Lester held off Ken Conroy to win the limited feature, and John Reome took the checkered flag for the third straight week in the mini-stock feature.

The Kids' Night/Awarness Night activities also included “The Biggest Froggin' Enduro,” sponsored by WFFG (Froggy) 107.1, and Mike Dunham took home the top prize of $1,007.10.

Despite rain throughout the area, promoter Bruce Richards ran off the show quickly, getting everyone out before the rain hit, and over 40 children went home with new bikes.

MODIFIEDS: RONNIE JOHNSON, Jeff Trombley, Mike Perrotte, Todd Stone, Matt DeLorenzo, Don Mattison, Marc Johnson, Dave Camara, Michael Stores, Ken Tremont Jr., Tony Kawalchuk, Keith Flach, Jimmy Cottrell, Joe Williams, Don Ronca, Jack Johnson, Ron Proctor, Robert King, Vince Quenneville Jr., Mike Ronca.

SPORTSMAN: RICH RONCA, Chris Busta, Mark Kislowski, Rob Langevin, Kory Sandstedt, Joe Santoro, Pep Corradi, Tyler Curtis, Mike Tholin, John Hohenforst, Mike Ballestero, Dave Constantino, Ken Anatriello, Dave Baranowski, Andy Boniewski, Derrick McGrew, Jack Gentile, Bill Bokus, Dave DePaulo, Robert Bublak, Mike Ketchum, Pete Sissler, Stan Lemiesz, Corey Gilligan, Eric Mack, Justin Barber, Dave Manny, Skip Shippee.

BUDGET SPORTSMAN: FRANK CORRADI, D.J. Brundige, Scott Duell, Cullen Howe, Jimmy Eaton, Chuck Dickinson, Seth Howe, Jack Swinton, Nick Hotaling, Dan Peckham, Mike Pinke, Paul Dunham Jr., Rick LaMont, Jeremy Dygert, Tom Proctor, Nick Lussier, Jenelle Davis, Tim Anagnos, Ralph Denison, Scot Straight, Mike Grogan, Greg DeCamp, Bryan Davis, Pete Carlotto.

PRO-STOCKS: KEVIN VAN CHANCE, Rob Yetman, Pete Broderson, Jeff Washburn, Kim Duell, Lori Langevin, Mike Paquin, Jeremy Pitts, Chuck Towslee, Walt Brownell, Greg McGill, Jim Monroe, Ed Thompson, Bob Schmidt, Johnny Rivers Jr., James Monroe, Vince Santoro, William Smith IV, Daryl Carl, Randy Miller, Mike Migliori, Phil DeFiglio, Bernie Companion.

LIMITEDS: MARK LESTER, Ken Conroy, Mike Ostrander, Mark Dwyer, David Cook, Curtis Condon, Dan Carlton, Dan Older, Mark Burch, John Filarecki, Yule Cook, John Morris Jr., David Billings, Dan Petronis, Andy Durie, Jeff Monroe, Luke MacIsaac, Jordan Jeffalone, Amanda Clemens, Megan Purstell, Steve Oklesak, Rich Howe, Brian O'Reilly, Jon Miller, Brian Ashline.

MINI-STOCKS: JOSH REOME, Travis Tromans, Elmer Montville, Justin Comes, Mike Cranston, Chris Murray, Jonathan Hayes, Justin Demers, Dan Older Jr., Chris McCarthy, Ray Galusha, Michelle Catone, No. 24, Charlie Stoddard. DQ: Jason Dickson.