Packed House Watches Veteran Star Earn $10,000 Top Prize For Spectacular Drive
BREWERTON, NY – Oct. 10, 2013 – Danny Johnson turned a moribund night into an unforgettable evening on Thursday at Brewerton Speedway.
Recovering from a poor qualifying effort that had him pining to leave the one-third-mile oval, Johnson charged forward from the 26th starting spot to capture the DIRTcar 358-Modified SUNY-Canton ‘Hurricane 100.’
Johnson, 53, of Phelps, N.Y., pocketed $10,000 for his convincing march to victory, which he clinched by passing Matt Sheppard of Waterloo, N.Y., for the lead on lap 79. The DIRTcar Northeast superstar cruised away from the pack over the remaining distance to top a wildly competitive race that featured six changes among five drivers and a battle for second place that wasn’t decided until the checkered flag.
Pat Ward of Genoa, N.Y., finished in that runner-up spot, nipping Sheppard by a couple car lengths at the finish line after his late-race charge saw him overtake Sheppard at the white flag. Sheppard, who led la 60 and 66-78, settled for third place, falling short of repeating his triumph in the previous night’s DIRTcar 358-Modified Series 75-lapper at Weedsport (N.Y.) Speedway.
Australian Peter Britten advanced from the 16th starting spot to place fourth and Dale Planck of Homer, N.Y., finished fifth after starting third and leading twice at mid-race (laps 59, 61-65).
The story of the evening was Johnson, who looked nothing like a potential winner when he plummeted backward in his heat race and barely made the cut in the second consolation.
“Unbelievable,” Johnson said in Victory Lane when asked to describe his vintage come-from-behind performance in front of a standing-room-only crowd. “I qualified last in the consie (actually the next-to-last transfer position) and I was ready to pack it in and go home because we just weren’t going good. We were having a bad night.
“I just can’t believe how it turned around and came our way.”
Despite making no changes to his Bicknell machine before the 100 – noting that “after the consolation we just kind of filled it up with gas and came out” – Johnson had the perfect setup for the conditions at the D-shaped Dirt Demon.
“It just came our way,” said Johnson. “As the track widened up, our car got good. I don’t how I got so good. The track just got to where it needed to be for me. I’m just a lucky boy I guess.”
Johnson steadily cut through the field, reaching the edge of the top 10 by the time the race’s second caution flag flew on lap 32 and moving up to ninth when the next yellow flag came on lap 44. He was sixth when Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who started second and led laps 1-35 before fading from contention, slowed on lap 61 and then really turned up the wick.
In short order Johnson completed his run to the front, overtaking Ward for fourth on lap 67; his older brother Alan Johnson of Phelps, N.Y., for third on lap 71; Planck for second on lap 76; and finally Sheppard for the lead with an inside move off turn four on lap 79.
Johnson went on to cross the finish line 3.267 seconds – a full straightaway – ahead of Ward’s Gypsum Racing Bicknell car.
The triumph was Johnson’s first in a half-dozen starts behind the wheel of the orange No. 27J fielded by Canadian Lisa Maroney, whose father Mike enjoyed great success as a car owner in the past with Alan Johnson.
“I feel real fortunate to have Lisa put this deal together for me,” said Johnson. “It was all put together between Lisa, (crewman) Dave Botsford and Bicknell Racing Products. They got the hot rod together for me and here we are.”
Ward, who started 13th, was the big mover in the race’s late stages. He fell out of the top five after a lap-65 restart but gained new life when the fifth and final caution flag flew on lap 81.
“We lost a bunch of spots on that one restart and I got the tires too hot,” said Ward. “Then a yellow come back out and we cooled the left rear down and were pretty good after that.”
Sheppard, meanwhile, saw his hopes for a fifth win in six DIRTcar 358-Modified Series starts this season dashed by Johnson.
“We had a pretty good car, but I could tell early that we were pretty tight,” said Sheppard, who started fifth. “We were eventually able to battle our way to the lead and I didn’t feel too bad, but I’ll tell you what – Danny was really rolling tonight. You can never count him out.”
Alan Johnson, who led laps 36-58, slipped to sixth place in the order of finish. Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., quietly advanced from the 19th starting spot to battle for a top-five finish before settling for seventh. Jimmy Phelps of Baldwinsville, N.Y., placed eighth after briefly cracking the top five midway through the race; Matt DeLorenzo of Cropseyville, N.Y., was ninth; and Mike Mahaney of King Ferry, N.Y., rounded out the top 10.
Erick Rudolph of Ransomville, N.Y., finished 11th to maintain his lead in the overall DIRTcar 358-Modified points standings with just two series events remaining in 2013.
Fifty DIRTcar 358-Modifieds were signed in for the event.
Quebec’s Mario Clair turned the overall fastest lap of the evening’s group qualifying session at 14.291 seconds. Other group fast-timers were Planck (14.310), DeLorenzo (14.508), Danny O’Brien of Kingston, Ont. (14.487) and McCreadie (14.639).
Heat winners were Planck, DeLorenzo, Clair, O’Brien and Sheppard. The consolations were captured by Phelps and Ryan Godown of Ringoes, N.J.
NAPA Super DIRT Week continues on Friday (Oct. 11) with the running of the S-T-R Trailer Repair ‘Friday Night Lights’ program at the New York State Fairgrounds. The card includes triple 20-lap big-block Modifieds heats, twin 20-lap 358-Modified heats and triple 10-lap Sportsman heats. The qualifying races are scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m.
For more information on NAPA Super DIRT Week, log on towww.SuperDIRTWeekOnline.com.
DIRTcar 358-Modified Series ‘Hurricane 100’ Finish: 1. Danny Johnson, 2. Pat Ward, 3. Matt Sheppard, 4. Peter Britten, 5. Dale Planck, 6. Alan Johnson, 7. Vic Coffey, 8. Jimmy Phelps, 9. Matt DeLorenzo, 10. Mike Mahaney, 11. Erick Rudolph, 12. Danny O’Brien, 13. Mario Clair, 14. Mat Williamson, 15. Mike Bowman, 16. Mark D’Ilario, 17. Brett Hearn, 18. Ryan Susice, 19. Kyle Weiss, 20. Carey Terrance, 21. Kevin Bates, 22. David Hebert, 23. Stewart Friesen, 24. Billy Decker, 25. Tim McCreadie, 26. Brandon Easey, 27. Ryan Godown, 28. Lee Gill, 29. Ryan Arbithnot, 30. Shawn Donath
Lap Leaders: McCreadie (1-35); A. Johnson (36-58); Planck (59); Sheppard (60); Planck (61-65); Sheppard (66-78); D. Johnson (79-100)
Caution Flags: 5 for 15 laps
Provisional Starters: Terrance (series); Bates (special event winner)
Heat No. 1 Finish (8 laps/top 4 transfer to feature): 1. Dale Planck, 2. Stewart Friesen, 3. Billy Decker, 4. Peter Britten, 5. Randy Chrysler, 6. Tyler Dippel, 7. Ryan Susice, 8. Katelyn Kane, 9. Justin Wright, 10. Gilles Godard
Heat No. 2 Finish (8 laps/top 4 transfer to feature): 1. Matt DeLorenzo, 2. Alan Johnson, 3. Ryan Arbithnot, 4. Shawn Donath, 5. David Hebert, 6. Jordan McCreadie, 7. Jeff McGinnis, 8. Pierre Dagenais, 9. Carey Terrance, 10. Yan Bussiere
Heat No. 3 Finish (8 laps/top 4 transfer to feature): 1. Mario Clair, 2. Brandon Easey, 3. Pat Ward, 4. Mike Mahaney, 5. Jimmy Phelps, 6. Danny Johnson, 7. Larry Wight, 8. Alan Therrien, 9. Justin Haers, 10. Roger Levesque
Heat No. 4 Finish (8 laps/top 4 transfer to feature): 1. Danny O’Brien, 2. Brett Hearn, 3. Erick Rudolph, 4. Vic Coffey, 5. Ryan Godown, 6. Mike Bowman, 7. Roy Bresnahan, 8. Kyle Weiss, 9. Shane Donath, 10. Kevin Bates
Heat No. 5 Finish (8 laps/top 4 transfer to feature): 1. Matt Sheppard, 2. Tim McCreadie, 3. Mat Williamson, 4. Mark D’Ilario, 5. Pat O’Brien, 6. Lee Gill, 7. Chad Brachmann, 8. Chad Chevalier, 9. Bill Mullin, 10. C.G. Morey
Consolation No. 1 Finish (10 laps/top 4 transfer to feature): 1. Jimmy Phelps, 2. Mike Bowman, 3. Ryan Susice, 4. Kyle Weiss, 5. Chad Brachmann, 6. Jordan McCreadie, 7. Yan Bussiere, 8. Pierre Dagenias, 9. Justin Wright, 10. Kevin Bates, 11. Bill Mullin, 12. Pat O’Brien (DQ – carburetor) Randy Chrysler
Consolation No. 2 Finish (10 laps/top 4 transfer to feature): 1. Ryan Godown, 2. David Hebert, 3. Danny Johnson, 4. Lee Gill, 5. Tyler Dippel, 6. Alan Therrien, 7. Katelyn Kane, 8. Justin Haers, 9. Jeff McGinnis, 10. Gilles Godard, 11. C.G. Morey, 12. Roger Levesque, 13. Shane Donath, 14. Roy Bresnahan, 15. Carey Terrance, 16. Chad Chevalier
The Super DIRTcar Series and DIRTcar Racing in the Northeast Region is brought to fans by several sponsors and partners including Hoosier Racing Tire, VP Racing Fuels, Chevy Performance Parts, NAPA Auto Parts, and Safety-Kleen. Contingency sponsors are ASI, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix, ButlerBuilt, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, KSE Racing Products, Motorsports Safety Systems, MSD Performance, Penske Shocks, Racing Electronics, Superflow and Wrisco Industries. Super DIRT Week sponsors include: Beyea Headers, Draco Springs, Fast Shafts, Fluidampr, FK Rod Ends, Fox Shocks, Pro Fabrication and Turbostart. Lighting for Super DIRT Week is brought to you by Musco Lighting