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RONNIE JOHNSON TAKES THIUNDER WIN TO KICK OFF WEEKEND
AT UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY
VERNON,
NY- Ronnie Johnson came into the final weekend of racing
at Utica-Rome Speedway without a win in the 2011 season
but on the opening night of the two day event, Johnson
changed that. An upfront starting spot and some key
passes of lapped traffic late in the race provided Johnson
with a big $5,000 Thunder on the Thruway Series win
on Turning Stone Casino, Clinton Auto Service, and Clinton
Car Wash night to kick off the New Yorker 200 Weekend.
Another driver’s bad luck turned into Ronnie Johnson’s
good luck when Chad Phelps, who had drawn the pole position,
had engine problems and started in the rear of the field
which allowed Johnson to move up into the front row.
When the green lights flickered on to begin the 50 lap
Thunder on the Thruway Modified Series main event, Johnson
used that bit of good fortune to gain the lead. Fifth
place starter Tim Fuller was on the charge early as
he quickly up to second as lap one was scored with seventh
place starter on his heels in the third spot.
Fuller immediately began to apply pressure to the leader,
and lap after lap, he would try and get by to grab the
lead but Johnson was too strong. Ward was still running
a close third looking to take advantage of any miscue
that the leading duo may make.
Even with the fight for the lead going on up front,
many in the stands were watching the charge to front
that 15th place starter Mike Mahaney was making. Mahaney
was into the top 10 by lap three and six laps later
he was into the fifth spot with just Johnson, Fuller,
Ward, and Alan Johnson in front of him. Two circuits
later, Mahaney had gotten by Alan Johnson to grab the
fourth spot.
With 13 complete, ninth place starter Stewart Friesen
seemed to come alive after struggling to stay in the
top ten early on as he started to move back up the leader
board. After slipping by Alan Johnson to get the fifth
spot, Friesen then went to work on Mahaney for the fourth
spot and by lap 15 Friesen was into the fourth spot.
With Ronnie Johnson still setting the pace up front,
Ward was chasing down Fuller for the runner-up spot
and with 20 laps completed, he was able to get by Fuller
for the position. Fuller’s slide then continued
to slide back as Friesen was the next to slip by on
lap 21 and Alan Johnson sneaking by a lap later. At
the halfway point, it was still Ronnie Johnson at the
point followed by Ward, Alan Johnson now up to third,
Friesen in fourth, and Mahaney in fifth. Outside front
row starter Chad Brachmann was in sixth with Bobby Varin,
Jimmy Phelps, Paul Kinney, and Fuller rounding out the
top 10.
During the middle portions of the race, there were several
battles for position throughout the field including
the one for fifth between Brachmann, Mahaney, and Varin.
For several consecutive laps, the trio would come off
turn four three wide for the spot Brachmann finally
taking on lap 30 with Varin grabbing it a lap later.
With 15 laps to go, Friesen’s mount again seemed
to come to life as moved past Alan Johnson for the third
and began to wok over Ward for second. On lap 36, Friesen
was up to the second spot and off chasing race long
leader Ronnie Johnson. Lapped traffic began to play
a role now as the leader Johnson was finding himself
slowed up which allowed Friesen to close the gap and
with five to go, Friesen was able to pull alongside
the leader. Ronnie Johnson again seemed to find a little
extra as he slowly pulled away again. At the checkered
it was Ronnie Johnson grabbing his first win of the
season at the Vernon oval followed by track champion
Friesen, Alan Johnson, Varin, and Brachmann. Rounding
out the top ten was Phelps, Ward, Todd Burley, Mahaney,
and Steve Paine.
Sept. 9th - TURNING STONE CASINO AND RESORT, CLINTON
AUTO SERVICE, AND CLINTON CAR WASH RACE SUMMARY
THUNDER ON THE THRUWAY MODIFIED SERIES FEATURE FINISH
(50 LAPS)- RONNIE JOHNSON, Stewart Friesen, Alan Johnson,
Bobby Varin, Chad Brachmann, Jimmy Phelps, Pat Ward,
Todd Burley, Mike Mahaney, Steve Paine, Bill Trexler,
Jr., Casey Williams, Paul Kinney, Willy Decker, Ted
Lamb, Elmo Reckner, Ryan Phelps, Alan Barker, Chris
Hile, Chad Homan, Jason Rood, Tony Steiner, Derrick
Podsiadlo, Tim Fuller, Jim Davis, and Chad Phelps.
NIGHT OF FEATURES VICTORIES AT FONDA GO TO DANNY VARIN
AND RONNIE JOHNSON
8/13/11
By: Ron Szczerba
FONDA,
NY – Fifteen years ago when Ric Lucia took over
the reigns as the promoter of the Track of Champions
Fonda Speedway he started something new and different
to add excitement to the formula as to how the track
champions were determined called the Night of Features.
That format meant double features for the top three
divisions bringing added pressure to the drivers but
excitement to the fans.
That
format continued in 2011 with Danny Varin (modified),
Mark Mortensen (602 sportsman), Rocky Warner (pro stock),
and Dave Horning Sr. (street stock) winning the first
feature events in their respective divisions while Ken
Hollenbeck was the winner of the 4-cylinder feature
event.
Taking
the 2011 track championships in their respective divisions
were Ronnie Johnson (modified), Mark Mortensen (602
sportsman), Rocky Warner (pro stock), Cassidy Wilson
(street stock), and Ben Righi (4-cylinders).
The
evening’s racing program sponsored by BBL Companies
started off with a vintage flyover while Mimi Lazzaro
sang the National Anthem.
The
first 33-lap modified feature event was led at the drop
of the green flag by Josh Hohenforst who started on
the front row in the pole position. On lap two Ronnie
Johnson who was going for his first ever track championship
went in between A.J. Romano who was on the inside of
him and defending track champion Bobby Varin who was
on the outside of them.
When
the hole closed up Johnson got squeezed with contact
made to both sides of his car but all were able to continue
on in the event. The first yellow was out on lap seven
for Darwin Greene who came to a stop in turn two and
on the restart Johnson tried another bonsai move down
the middle of Matt DeLorenzo and Jim Davis for the sixth
position.
The
yellow came out again shortly afterwards for Greene
again, making the move for naught as the yellow flag
came out to put the field back to their positions before
the green flag flew as no laps were completed. On the
next restart Bobby Varin went three wide around the
outside of four cars going into turn four with the caution
out again to take away the positions he just gained
as no laps were completed. Johnson and Bobby Varin were
trying everything they could to gain positions to the
front as going into the event Bobby Varin only held
a one point lead over Johnson towards the 2011 point
championship.
Mark
Kislowski started the event on the outside pole and
followed Hohenforst until lap eight when he was able
to take the lead on the outside of turn two. On lap
nine another Varin, Bobby’s son Danny got by both
Alton Palmer and Hohenforst into the second position
and was right on Kislowski’s rear bumper by lap
14.
Danny
Varin drove a great race, using the inside groove around
the track to get to the front and continued to use that
line around the track as the laps clicked off. Kislowski
was able to get along side Danny Varin for the lead
on lap 19 at the same time that Ryan Odasz and Matt
DeLorenzo were side by side for the third position but
both Danny Varin and Odasz were able to hold their positions
at that point.
Kislowski
got one more shot at Danny Varin on lap 26 after the
final caution of the event came out but Danny Varin
was up to the task and held on to take the win followed
by Kislowski, DeLorenzo, Odasz, and Ronnie Johnson.
“I
had a real good race going with Kislowski and to be
honest with you the car wasn’t that good,”
Danny Varin said after doing a donut in turn four. “The
car stuck real good when I was doing the 360 degree
spin to celebrate my win but not when we were racing.”
The
win for Danny Varin came in the Magsarus Ignitions #93
and was his second of the 2011 season.
An
inversion of 10 for the second modified feature event
put Jeremy Wilder and Jim Davis on the front row with
Davis taking the early lead. Johnson and Bobby Varin
started the event in the sixth and third positions respectively
as they battled for the 2011 track championship with
Johnson only a few points ahead at the start of the
event.
The
caution was out at the completion of lap one and on
the restart the outside line got a great restart with
Davis maintaining the lead and Johnson now second. On
the outside at the line to complete lap three Johnson
was the new race leader and by lap seven he was a straightaway
ahead of his nearest competitor.
“I
knew that fifth place wasn’t going to cut it with
a driver the caliber of Bobby Varin chasing me for the
title,” Johnson said. “My father always had
a plan to race to win and the points would take care
of themselves and tonight that is what we did.”
Johnson
encountered lap traffic on lap nine and used any moves
that he could low, medium, high, or in between to get
by those cars and maintain his lead. At the halfway
point Johnson was almost a half straightaway ahead of
the second place car of his nearest competitor for the
track title Bobby Varin and Danny Varin who had made
his way up to the third position after starting 10th.
At
the drop of the checkered flag Johnson was the winner
followed in the top five by Bobby and Danny Varin, Davis,
and Elmo Reckner.
For
Johnson it was fifth win of the 2011 season.
Johnson
drove the Palmer’s Service Center #2 to victory
lane with a chant of “here we go Ronnie here we
go” coming from the grandstand and when he got
out of the race car he was joined in victory lane by
his legendary father Jack Johnson with a huge ovation
coming from the fans in the grandstands at that point.
“This
means everything to me,” Johnson said of the point
title as he celebrated his win in victory lane. “As
a kid growing up I dreamt of being Jack Johnson but
I never dreamed that I could get a feature win let alone
a track championship here at Fonda.”
Johnson
also had a little story to tell in victory lane.
“There
is a story behind this car that I didn’t want to
tell until this was all over,” he said. “After
my father’s accident Alton and Carole bought a
new car for him to use the following year which sat
for awhile but earlier this year they decided to put
a new body on it in my colors. This car is the last
12A that was ever built and I said that we were going
to make the 12A proud and we were able to do that.”
With
Ronnie’s championship he joined his father Jack
Johnson as the only father and son to ever win a modified
track championship in the history of the Track of Champions.
Jack is an 11 time track champion in 1975, 1980, 1981,
1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, & 1996.
“Ronnie
takes racing very seriously and has done a helluva job
all year long,” the legendary Jack Johnson said.
“Tonight I just told him to race to win.”
At
the completion of the racing events the 2011 track champions
celebrated in victory lane with promoter Ric Lucia joining
in the celebration.
“This
feels great,” Johnson said of his first modified
title. “It was great to have my father and the
family here to celebrate with me. I had butterflies
all week because competing against Bobby Varin is no
easy task but we were able to do it. My crew went through
the car with a fine tooth comb and it actually sat the
last two weeks before we brought it out tonight. My
father said to race the race and the points will come
so that is what we did tonight.”
BBL
COMPANIES MODIFIED B-MAIN EVENT #1
– 8-LAPS – 5 CARS MOVE ON TO THE FIRST FEATURE
EVENT – DAVE LAPE, Paul Cirincione, JaMike Sowle,
Pep Corradi, Todd Morey
BBL
COMPANIES MODIFIED B-MAIN EVENT #2
– Dustin Delaney, Rob Langevin, Matt Depew, Scott
Duell, C.G. Morey
BBL
COMPANIES MODIFIED FEATURE #1
– 33-LAPS – DANNY VARIN, Mark Kislowski, Matt
DeLorenzo, Ryan Odasz, Ronnie Johnson, Elmo Reckner,
Alton Palmer, Bobby Varin, Jim Davis, Jeremy Wilder,
Jeff Trombley, Darwin Greene, A.J. Romano, Josh Hohenforst,
Pep Corradi, Paul Cirincione, C.G. Morey, Matt Depew,
Dave Lape, Scott Duell, Todd Morey, Rob Langevin, Dustin
Delaney, Craig Hanson, JaMike Sowle
BBL
COMPANIES MODIFIED FEATURE #2
– 33-LAPS – RONNIE JOHNSON, Bobby Varin, Danny
Varin, Jim Davis, Elmo Reckner, Jeremy Wilder Ryan Odasz,
Alton Palmer, Matt DeLorenzo, Mark Kislowski, A.J. Romano,
Darwin Greene, C.G. Morey, Dustin Delaney, Todd Morey,
Craig Hanson, Paul Cirincione, Pep Corradi, Erik Mack,
Josh Flint, JaMike Sowle, Matt Depew, Scott Duell, Ken
McGuire, Jeff Trombley, Josh Hohenforst, Dave Lape,
Rob Langevin
JOHNSON
WINS FOURTH OF THE SEASON AT FONDA-7/2/11
By: Ron Szczerba
FONDA,
NY – Ronnie Johnson celebrated the Fourth of July
weekend at the Fonda Speedway Saturday evening with
his fourth modified feature win of the 2011 season in
the Palmer’s Service Center #2 Teo Pro car. For
Johnson it was his 19th career win at the Track of Champions
moving him ahead of Rene Charland into the 16th position
on the all time win list.
“I
knew that I had the 00 on my tail (the 00 of defending
track champion Bobby Varin who started just behind Ronnie
in the 14th position) and I was telling his car owner
Dave Cruickshank that when I start in front of Bobby
that I feel like I have a bear chasing me,” Johnson
said in victory lane. “I also want to congratulate
my Morris Auto Group teammate Mark Kislowski on his
second place finish. He was playing a psychology game
with me at the start of the feature too as he started
ahead of me in the fifth row.”
It
took three tries to get the 30-lap feature event started
as cautions slowed the field three times before Tony
Pepicelli was able to take the initial lead in the event.
On laps four and five Ronnie and Marc Johnson (no relation)
were side by side for a spot in the top five with Ronnie
able to take the position. Jeremy Wilder started the
event in the fourth position and on lap eight was the
new second place car after getting by Dustin Delaney.
Two
laps later Wilder was the new race leader with Ronnie
Johnson the new second place car after getting by both
Jeff Trombley and Pepicelli for the spot. At the halfway
point in the event the top five consisted of Wilder,
Ronnie Johnson, Pepicelli, Trombley, and Delaney. The
caution was out again on lap 17 for Wilder who slowed
in turn four and dropped out of the event at that point
handing the lead over to Ronnie Johnson.
Kislowski
started the event in the 10th position and by lap 24
he had taken the second position away from Pepicelli
and set his sights on Ronnie Johnson for the lead. With
four laps to go the final caution of the event flew
and gave Kislowski one last shot at Ronnie Johnson for
the win.
At
the drop of the green flag Ronnie Johnson pulled away
to a slight lead with Kislowski running the low groove
which he had been using all race long to try to reel
in the leader. There wasn’t enough time left for
Kislowski to get the job done as Ronnie Johnson took
the win over Kislowski, Trombley, Bobby Varin, and Delaney.
“I
have to thank my sponsor Mickle’s Automotive who
put up a $500 bonus if I could win tonight,” Johnson
said in victory lane. “I also need to thank Alton
and Carole Palmer who give me everything that I need
in a race car.”
Next
Saturday at the Fonda Speedway a regular show in all
divisions is on the racing card starting at 7:00 p.m.
The spotlight will be on the pro stock division as the
Hondo Classic takes center stage in honor of the late
Hondo Carpenter.
Complete
qualifying race results from the Saturday July, 2 racing
program can be found on the Fonda Speedway website www.fondaspeedway.com
by clicking on the My Laps icon on the home page.
MORRIS
FORD MODIFIED FEATURE – 30-LAPS – RONNIE JOHNSON,
Mark Kislowski, Jeff Trombley, Bobby Varin, Dustin Delaney,
Danny Varin, Marc Johnson, Jim Davis, Ryan Odasz, Josh
Hohenforst, A.J. Romano, Elmo Reckner, Alton Palmer,
JaMike Sowle, Paul Cirincione, C.G. Morey, Dave Lape,
Todd Morey, Matt Depew, Rob Langevin, Darwin Greene,
Ken McGuire, Chuck Allen, Tony Pepicelli, Jeremy Wilder,
Matt DeLorenzo, Chris Johnson, Craig Hanson (DQ)
JOHNSON WINS SECOND OF THE SEASON AT FONDA - 5/7/11
By: Ron Szczerba
FONDA,
NY – On opening day of the 2011 season at the Fonda
Speedway Ronnie Johnson raced to the big win in the
$4,000 to win Ice Jam event and hopes for the season
started out real high. Then two weeks of rain and a
week of bad luck followed afterwards after a flat tire
took him out of contention in the event last week.
Racing
is a sport of highs and lows and after last week’s
“low” Saturday evening ended up as a “high”
for Johnson as he took his second win of the season
and the 17th of his career at the Track of Champions
in the Palmer’s Service Center, JPM powered #2
Teo car.
“This
car was good right out of the box a couple of weeks
ago and I thought that we actually had something for
them last week until the flat tire took us out of contention,”
Johnson said in victory lane. “But tonight proved
that we have a real good race car and maybe we will
have something for them by the end of the season as
far as points are concerned.”
Other
winners at Fonda on Saturday included Rob Langevin (602
sportsman), Rocky Warner (pro stock), Ken Conroy (street
stock), and Ben Riggi (4-cylinder).
Dustin Delaney started the event on the pole and immediately
took the lead over fellow front row starter Elmo Reckner.
Ryan Odasz started the event in the fourth position
and was the new second place car on lap two with Johnson
third after starting fifth. With Delaney in lap traffic
by lap nine everybody stayed close to the leader with
Odasz pressuring Delaney for the lead by lap 12.
Three laps later Delaney and Odasz were side by side
for the lead with Odasz getting the lead briefly only
to have Delaney get it back before the lap was completed.
On lap 16 Odasz did take over the lead with Johnson
now second after also getting by Delaney. Just before
the first yellow flag of the event flew on lap 19 it
was Jim Davis who was on the move after getting by both
Matt DeLorenzo and Delaney for the third spot.
On
the restart Johnson was the new race leader with DeLorenzo
now second but attrition starting to affect the field
with 10 laps to go as Delaney was the first to drop
out followed by DeLorenzo who dropped out four laps
later after slowing on the frontstretch going into turn
one to bring out another caution.
All of the caution flags allowed two other drivers to
become factors in the race, the first being invading
driver Stewart Friesen who came to Fonda after his home
track Five Mile Point Speedway was rained out earlier
in the day and defending Fonda Speedway modified track
champion Bobby Varin who started 15th while Friesen
started the event just ahead of Varin in the 12th spot.
Friesen was the new second place car on lap 26 after
getting by Odasz and when Johnson bobbled in turn two
on that very same lap it looked as though Friesen may
have a shot at the win with the final caution of the
event coming out with only three laps to go.
“I
made a small adjustment to the car under the last caution
as the track was going away and the car was getting
tight,” Johnson said.
On the restart last weeks winner Bobby Varin was the
new third place car but Johnson pulled away to win by
almost a straightway over Varin who got by Friesen for
second with only two laps remaining, Friesen, Davis,
and Jeff Trombley.
“I
have to thank Alton and Carole Palmer as they give me
everything that I ask for in the race car,” Johnson
said. “Tonight I was committed to running the top
really it was live or die up there for me.”
JOHNSON WINS $4000 ICE JAM
AT FONDA - 4/9/11
By: Ron Szczerba
FONDA, NY – If you
look at the records for opening day victories at the
Track of Champions Fonda Speedway Jack Johnson leads
the way with a total of eight while his son Ronnie has
never won an opening day event at Fonda. That all changed
on Saturday evening as Ronnie Johnson was able to capture
the $4,000 to win Ice Jam event which opened the 2011
racing season at Fonda.
“I was just trying to race
where the other guy wasn’t,” Johnson said
in victory lane as some fans in the grandstands were
singing here we go RJ here we go. “I got lucky
when the outside slowed down late in the event as we
had a good setup to run the inside of the track in this
Carole and Alton Palmer owned car. Today is Carole’s
birthday too so it is a special day all around.”
In other opening day action at
Fonda Kerrie Hollenbeck was the winner of the 4-cylinder
feature event while Rocky Warner won a special 10-lap
dash for the pro stocks which was sponsored by Mac Tools.
Danny Varin who ran the fastest
heat race of the four that were run chose 10 for an
inversion to set up the starting lineup for the main
event putting Matt Sheppard on the pole. Sheppard took
the lead at the drop of the green flag with Alton Palmer
close behind after both drivers shared the front row
at the start. Josh Hohenforst and Stewart Friesen both
got by Palmer for the second and third positions by
the lap five point in the event with Hohenforst catching
the leader and pressuring him for the position by lap
10.
Friesen made it a three
way battle for the lead at that point as the top three
of Sheppard, Hohenforst, and Friesen caught lap traffic.
When the first caution of the event came out on lap
11 for Tony Pepicelli it set up a slew of cautions over
the next three laps as Mark Kislowski, Tim Fuller, and
Danny Varin all brought out the caution on consecutive
laps.
“On a couple of those restarts
I was in an odd position which put me on the inside
and at that point that wasn’t the place to be,”
Johnson said. “On the other two restarts I was
on the outside and I was able to use that to my advantage
to gain positions to the front and chase the leader.”
When the race finally stayed under
the green flag for more than one lap Sheppard maintained
the lead with Johnson in the fourth position on lap
14. One lap later Johnson was the new second place car
after getting by both Palmer and Friesen using the inside
line on the speedway to get by them and also to catch
the leader.
With 10 laps to go Johnson began
pressuring Sheppard for the lead using the inside groove
in the turns to run even with the leader and on lap
32 Johnson made the inside move coming out of turn four
stick to take over the lead in the Palmers Service Center
JPM powered Teo car.
From that point on Johnson
pulled away to the victory over Sheppard, Friesen, Palmer,
and Tim McCreadie.
“I was just riding
around the top hoping to be able to hold everyone off,”
Sheppard said. “This is my best ever finish here
and once I saw Ronnie underneath me I figured that he
would get by but that is okay as I would take a second
place finish to him anytime.”
“I was running the
bottom and that opened up the top for Ronnie to get
by me,” Friesen said. “Both Ronnie and Matt
are good clean racers so we’ll take this as a good
start to the season where we hopefully get a lot of
wins.”
Next week a regular show
in all divisions will open up the 2011 points chase
with a starting time of 7:00 p.m.
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