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Johnson Leaves Canandaigua Victory Lane Black & Blue After Advance Series Win
Canandaigua, NY – September 20, 2008 – By Tom Skibinski, Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series PR Director
Steering the black & blue no. 1J Spra-King Racing Special in another command performance, Alan Johnson rallied past Tim Fuller to capture his second Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series victory in three weeks and close out Labatt Blue RaceFest on Saturday at Canandaigua Speedway.
The eighth career Advance Series win for Johnson at Canandaigua pushed the all-time track Modified feature race winner’s total to 116, including a pair registered at the Ontario County Fairgrounds oval in Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified tour competition.
“I was real fortunate, them guys gave me a great ride and everything worked out,” said Johnson, 50, after scoring his second Advance Series win in just four tries aboard the potent JPM-powered Jake Spraker Used Cars & Trucks/Bicknell entry. DIRTcar Racing NorthEast’s winningest Big-Block Modified driver made a successful debut in the same ride at Cayuga County Fair Speedway back on August 31.
“It feels great because you never know when you’re going to win again and never know when your last win will actually be just that. I appreciate these guys giving me this car to run, just wish I could’ve had it to start off in April. Better late than never I guess,” smiled Johnson, after notching his 49th career Advance Series win to once again tie him for fourth all-time with current tour points leader Billy Decker.
After leading 78 laps in the headline ‘Labatt Blue 100’ on Saturday, Fuller settled for second-place, four car-lengths back, while Canandaigua regular Gary Tomkins, Decker and rising star Ryan Phelps rounded out the front-five in round number 23 of the 26-race series.
With track conditions much improved from the previous night when 11 cautions slowed the 358-Modified Series show, only two yellow flags unfurled on Saturday to entertain the Land of Legends fans for 91 laps of green flag racing. While the Small-Block 75-lapper needed an hour to complete, the mighty Big-Blocks cruised around the ultra-smooth fairgrounds’ half-miler 100 times in 38 minutes with Johnson leading the way.
Despite Fuller posting the fastest Integra Shocks Time Trial (17.660 sec./101.925 ave, mph) to claim his first award of the season, the Edwards, New York pilot re-drew fifth to begin the feature inside row three. Johnson finished second in the fourth and final qualifying heat after being clocked fourth fastest out of 33 open-wheel entries yet more importantly grabbed the pole-position start to lead-off the 50-mile main.
As expected, A.J. Slideways jumped out front at the drop of the first green flag with Fuller charging into third behind front row starter Decker after just one circuit. Johnson had already established his preference for running the low side and Fuller took advantage and blasted by as the leaders rounded turn four to complete lap seven.
While Johnson settled into second behind Fuller, Decker and Tomkins jockeyed back and forth for the show position as Brett Hearn and recently crowned Canandaigua high point man Steve Paine joined in the pursuit. Continuous green flag action brought the leaders in traffic early on with Tomkins moving into third for the first time on lap 22 and Paine cracking the top-five by lap 30.
Big-Block rookie campaigner Michael Storms slowed entering turn one to incur the first yellow flag on lap 38 and afford the field a brief breather as Fuller had lapped up to the 15th-place car of fellow north country speedster Frankie Caprara. On the ensuing restart, Johnson snuck underneath Fuller for the lead on lap 42 but Fuller never blinked and returned to the point the following lap with relative ease.
At the halfway mark, Fuller and Johnson remained the front runners with Decker back ahead of Tomkins for third while Paine and Hearn battled in front of Ryan Phelps, who was putting forth his best effort of the season aboard the Big Red Towing no. 99 Dave Miller Auto Body/Bicknell mount. Matt Sheppard, previous night’s 358-Mod winner Jimmy Phelps, Vic Coffey, Dale Planck and Caprara were the only drivers scored on the lead lap with still 50 laps to go.
Tomkins moved under Decker to regain the third spot on lap 61 and after just two more times around, Holley Hard Luck driver Caprara slowed off the track with tire problems to force caution lights on for the final time and bring the lead pack together once more. Johnson had been tracking down Fuller over the past dozen circuits, however, the slowdown thwarted his best laid plans and he was forced to regroup for the final run.
The green was back out on lap 67 and two laps later Decker stole third from Tomkins at the same time fast-moving Ryan Phelps grabbed fifth from Hearn. Johnson managed to reel in Fuller as the laps clicked off and traffic continued to be a major factor down the stretch. With Fuller drifting high in the corners, Johnson made his final move stick low between turns three and four, and with 15 laps still to go was back out front for the time being.
Possibly surprised yet not shaken, Fuller never let A.J. out of his sight and pressured him for the duration. Fuller shadowed Johnson in every corner and down both straightaways with traffic turning back his best effort time after time. A final gasp on the last lap proved the same as every other, with Fuller fading behind by four car-lengths as Johnson took the checkers for the first time at Canandaigua since 2005.
“I had a few minor issues at the end and never thought we were going to catch Fuller, I think the lapped cars slowed him down a bit,” figured Johnson, who scored his last Advance Series win at Canandaigua in September of 2002. The Middlesex, New York veteran recorded his first Modified win at the Ontario County Fairgrounds in 1975 at the age of 18. “The outside grove slowed down a lit bit so it kinda messed him up but he had an awful fast car.”
“With about 10 to go I was real fortunate the lapped cars were going high because I lost the brakes after a brake calliper broke off. So if they didn’t get out of the way I would’ve been in trouble.”
“It’s good to win because maybe I can get Jake (Spraker, owner) to go to a few more races. It’s all about making a little bit of money and paying the bills, that’s what we’ve gotta do. If we can keep the car up front I imagine we’ll make a few more shows,” added Johnson, who was also joined in victory lane by crew chief Eric Kingsley ---the other half of the Spra-King tandem--- who maintains the car throughout the week in his Phoenix, New York shop.
Frustrated by a second straight second-place finish in two nights at Canandaigua, runner-up Fuller was forced to play the bridesmaid role for yet another Mr. DIRTcar Championship Series race in wine country.
“Every place I ever been lapped traffic goes to the bottom, but tonight there was just too much (traffic) on the top,” lamented Fuller, 40, after securing his second top-five finish in just four Advance Series events run this season. The ’07 World of Outlaws Late Model Series top rookie, who finished second to Hearn in last year’s Mr. DIRTcar title chase, has logged two full-fender wins this season and was in quest of a second career Big-Block win at Canandaigua on Saturday behind the wheel of the potent JL Motorsports no. 19 Street Wise Fight Wear-G&R Auto Parts/TEO entry.
“Of course Alan’s good on the bottom. You know, good for him, he’s had a rough season, he needs a win and to jump in that car and go the way he did, he did a real good job. At the end of these races he’s always there. We had a nice car rolling through the middle and that’s where the lapped traffic was. So it kind of put the pinch on me and opened his door. Sometimes you win on lapped traffic and sometimes you lose, no big deal.”
“Its tough the first couple laps (LM to Mod) you jump in but once you get a few hot laps in its okay. It just comes right back to second nature really. This is what I started driving so it comes right back. These guys right here, they’re in this game, in their element, and we’ve been out of it awhile so we still sometimes pick wrong. But I couldn’t ask for a better car tonight, this is the best I’ve been at Canandaigua. And this is what racing’s all about. You can use all 3-4 grooves of racing and it was black slick from top to bottom, the way it should be. They did a great job to turn this track around from last night. It was in beautiful shape, I’m just glad to be able to come here and run competitively,” Fuller remarked.
Aside from DIRTcar NE win leader Decker, undoubtedly the hottest driver in Advance Series competition over the last month has been Clifton Springs, New York chauffeur Tomkins, whose third-place finish on Saturday accompanied by two wins, a pair of seconds, another third and fourth in the past seven races have been the best among tour travelers.
“I have to thank my crew, we weren’t very good tonight even though we time trialed decent and ran decent in the heat,” admitted Tomkins, 42, who finished second in points at Canandaigua to 10-time track champion Paine despite netting four feature wins during the regular season. “We just knew something was missing.”
“Mike (Payne, crew chief) went through the car after our heat and found something, finally. We made some adjustments to it, still not perfect, but it was good enough for third. Anytime you can pass Billy Decker anywhere, and I did it three times tonight, and finish behind two great drivers, probably the best Modified driver ever and Fuller’s no slouch, I gotta say that’s a pretty good night.”
“That last caution I didn’t need because we were good in traffic. I felt like I could move around a little bit better than those guys in traffic, until that last caution. Then the car wasn’t quite as good even though I was catching them again. Just had to get it to run the line I wanted but its still a great race car. Its been phenomenal since we brought it out (mid-August), so easy to drive, and our Mastin motor is a big part of it. I keep telling Mike he could probably drive it fast, too. Once again, I have to thank Doug (Dulen, owner) for putting up with us and of course putting the money behind us. Without all the people you see around we wouldn’t be standing right here,” pointed out Tomkins, who owns 43 feature wins (6th all-time) at Canandaigua with two coming in the series.
The 2008 Advance Auto Part Super DIRTcar Series returns to action next Saturday, September 27 when Rolling Wheels Raceway Park hosts the 22nd World Series Weekend highlighted by the BPG 200 for Big-Blocks.
Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series Race #23 – Canandaigua Speedway, September 20, 2008 ‘Labatt Blue 100’ Big-Block Modified Event Summary
Feature
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER
1 1 1j Alan Johnson/Middlesex,NY($6,000)
2 5 19 Tim Fuller/Edwards, NY
3 4 84 Gary Tomkins/Clifton Springs,NY
4 2 91 Billy Decker/Unadilla,NY
5 17 99 Ryan Phelps/Fulton,NY
6 6 20 Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ
7 9 7x Steve Paine/Waterloo,NY
8 14 98h Jimmy Phelps/Baldwinsville,NY
9 16 32c Vic Coffey/Leicester,NY
10 11 77x Dale Planck/Cortland,NY
11 7 9s Matt Sheppard/Waterloo,NY
12 18 3 Justin Haers/Phelps,NY
13 12 99 Charlie Donk/Macedon,NY
14 8 29 Jeff Brownell Jr./Waterloo,NY
15 22 49 Billy Dunn/Watertown,NY
16 23 99L Larry Wight/Phoenix,NY®
17 24 6 Pat O'Brien/Kingston,ONT
18 15 99b Chuck Bower/Lansing,NY
19 27 19h Chris Higgins/Syracuse,NY®
20 20 87 Shawn Donath/S. Onondaga,NY®
21 10 91h Chad Homan/Macedon,NY
22 19 fx1 Frankie Caprara/Watertown,NY
23 28 44 Shannon Whaley/Pavilion,NY
24 25 13 Tony Steiner/Jamesville,NY®
25 13 79 Mike Storms/Wantage,NJ®
26 30 28p Eldon Payne,Jr./Hopewell,NY
27 29 7g Paul Guererri/Geneva,NY®
28 3 6t Pete Taylor/Marcellus,NY
29 21 56 Vince Vitale/Phoenix,NY
30 26 27j Danny Johnson/Rochester,NY
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