Ronnia Johnson wins at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA – Ronnie Johnson saved his best for last.

After taking the lead on lap 11, Johnson held off Brett Hearn to record his first win of the season Friday night in the 358-modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

“This has been a frustrating season,” said Johnson after the feature. “To end the season with a win here is great.”

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will end its points season on Friday, Sept. 11, but Johnson has already said he'll be competing elsewhere that night.

Hearn, behind the wheel of the Wentworth-sponsored small block, nearly stole the win away from Johnson. A caution with six laps to go put Hearn right on Johnson's rear bumper, and Hearn momentarily took the lead on the restart. But Johnson rocketed down the backstretch and was back in front by the time the leaders cleared turn three, and he beat Hearn to the finish line by nearly a full second to chalk up the 15th win of his career at the Malta track.

Points leader Ken Tremont Jr., Don Ronca and Dave Camara completed the top five.

Another long drought ended in the sportsman feature, as Mike Tholin came away with his first win of the season, ending a winless streak that dated back to Aug. 8, 2006.

Tholin, who has finished second twice this year, started on the pole and went flag-to-flag in the 25-lapper, easily outrunning Randy Hotaling and Kory Sandstedt to the checkered flag. Ken Anatriello finished fourth, just his second top-five performance of the season, and Rich Ronca was fifth

Tim Hartman Jr. dominated the 25-lap budget sportsman feature, which was another leg of the Ridge Runner series with Glen Ridge Motorsports Park. Hartman, who started seventh, used a restart on lap 17 to take the lead away from Tholin, who was also running his budget car Friday night, and left the field in his dust to get his second win of the season. Jeremiah Munson, an invader from Glen Ridge, crossed the stripe second, but he was more than four seconds behind Hartman, and had his hands full holding off Tholin, who was third. Bryan Davis and Angela Hanson completed the top five.

Jeremy Pitts came another step closer to his first pro-street stock title when he took his first checkered flag of the season in the 25-lap feature in that division. Pitts got around William Smith IV for the lead with three to go, and then held off Daryl Carl to get the victory, the third of his career at Albany-Saratoga. Following Pitts across the finish line were Carl, Smith, Cale Kneer and defending track champion Kim Duell, who lost more points to Pitts in the battle for the track championship.

Jason Wood led flag-to-flag to notch his first win of the 2009 campaign in the 20-lap limited feature. Wood became the ninth different feature winner in the division this season. Mike Ostrander held off Joshua Coonradt in a good battle for second

Travis Tromans passed Jason Duncan on the final lap to win the mini-stock feature, and Jordan Geel won the 50-lap enduro.

Point champions in all division will be crowned on Friday. Sept.11 on the final night of the regular season. It will also be Hometown Heroes Night, with all law enforcement officers, firefighters and EMT personnel being admitted free of charge. Additional information about Hometown Heroes Night can be found on the Web at www.cvra.com.

MODIFIEDS: RONNIE JOHNSON, Brett Hearn, Ken Tremont Jr., Don Ronca, Dave Camara, Matt DeLorenzo, Todd Stone, Marc Johnson, Elmo Reckner, John Proctor, Keith Flach, Bob Savoie, Jimmy Cottrell, Mike Ronca, Corey Gilligan, Howard Gage, Todd Ryan, Jeff Trombley, Johnny Lutes, Vince Quenneville Jr., Ron Proctor, Don Ackner.

SPORTSMAN: MIKE THOLIN, Randy Hotaling, Kory Sandstedt, Ken Anatriello, Rich Ronca, Pep Corradi, Dave DePaulo, Matt Depew, Joe Santoro, Chris Johnson, Mark Kislowski, Chris Busta, Dave Baranowski, Dave Manny, Adam Tranka, Skip Shippee, Jim Meka, Rob Langevin, Cass Bennett, Dave Constantino, Tyler Curtis, Pat O'Hanlon, Andy Boniewski.

BUDGET SPORTSMAN: TIM HARTMAN JR., Jeremiah Munson (Dirtcat), Mike Tholin (Dirtcar), Bryan Davis, Angela Hanson (Dirtcar), Jack Gentile (Dirtcar), Jim Nagle, Chick Dickinson, Pete Carlotto, Jack Swinton, Anthony Marro, Wayne Stearns (Dirtcar), Luke Klob (Dirtcar), Fred Proctor, D.J. Brundige, David Herrick (Dirtcar), Cody Sargent, Bob Gray (Dirtcar), Leo Sousie, Dan Santabarbara, Derrick McGrew, Mark Hughes, Scot Straight, Frank Hoard III.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: JEREMY PITTS, Daryl Carl, William

Smith IV, Cale Kneer, Kim Duell, Fred Little, Walt Brownell, Jeff Washburn, David Cook, James Monroe, Dean Charbonneau, Bob Schmidt, Tom O'Connor, Matt Anatriello, Jay Fitzgerald, Jim Monroe, Chris Cary, Dave Peck Jr., Jake Losaw, Mike Migliori, Greg McGill, Ed Thompson.

LIMITEDS: JASON WOOD, Mike Ostrander, Joshua Coonradt, Dan Older, Ben Durie, Dave Billings, Dan Petronis, Nathan Dahoda, Paul Braymer, Lucas MacIsaac, Mark Dwyer, James Ellsworth, Jon Miller, Eric Esterby, Brandon Emigh, Brian O'Reilly.