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Johnson Cruises to Win in Ransomville’s “Battle
at the Border” By Dave Sully (Ransomville, NY) The incomparable Danny Johnson returned to Ransomville on Friday, July 2nd for the first annual Battle at the Border, a 75 lap Independence Day themed 358 Modified event and promptly took the $5,000 top prize and a $300 bonus awarded to the top five American finishers, as he led every lap. Johnson grabbed the pole with the second last draw of the top twelve qualifiers and that was the closest his competitors got this night as he blitzed the field of 29 cars, with only some encounters with lapped cars to make it interesting. The race had only one minor caution on lap 14, with the final 61 laps run clean and green. It remained for the rest of the field to play catch up and hope for a caution to have a shot at the “Doctor,” who was operating in front of his main sponsor, Waste Management, also sponsoring the event, and was at least part of the reason that he was there, after shifting his allegiance to Accord earlier this season. Brett Hearn, who went off ninth, and Pete Bicknell, who went off fifth, became his chief competition, after Johnson shook off some early pressure from outside polesitter Robbie Krull. Because of the lack of cautions, lapped cars played a role as the race played out, with Johnson incurring heavy traffic around lap 50 and again around lap 66, but each time he was able to maneuver through, with neither Hearn nor Bicknell, who had a spirited battle for second, able to get close enough to make a serious move. At the line, it was Johnson well ahead, followed by Hearn, Bicknell, Krull, who was strong all night, and defending track champion, Todd Burley completing the top five. There were only nine cars on the lead lap at the end. In typical “Johnson speak,” he noted, “I’ve got a great working car, and I’m just a lucky individual. The car rotates the turns really good and that’s what it takes, when the car gets around as good as it does.” Regarding tire strategy for starting on the pole, he added, “It’s a great race track here and the tires work really well, so it really wasn’t an issue. You can run hard or you can run soft, whatever you want to do. It doesn’t really matter how you run it.” Hearn, who is not running the 358 series and travels to different tracks on Friday nights, enjoyed himself, declaring, “It was fun. The track was racy, and we could move around. I thought right from the drop of the green we had a good car. We started moving towards the front, and I kept the 27 in sight, but, you know, anytime he’s on the pole he’s going to be a tough guy to get by.” Regarding his race with Bicknell, Hearn added, “I probably used more tire trying to pass him than I wanted to. By the time I really got by him, I made one short run to get close to the front, but then we got caught up with the lapped cars and I was getting a little bit loose. I couldn’t get by the lapped cars quickly enough.” For his part, Bicknell observed, “Real early the car was great, I could go anywhere, and then I started working on that middle. It kind of felt like I glazed a tire up, so I went back to the bottom. I probably should have kept working that middle. It was hard to see in bottom of three. I kept hitting the berm a little and that would throw me out and I’d have to backpedal. As soon as I did that I’d get loose coming off, just started spinning the tires too much. The track was pretty good. It was just trying to find the right spot to keep the momentum up.” Seventeen year old Allan Wills, from Ransomville, son of former sportsman and modified star, Kevin, made it two wins on the season, winning the 25 lap Sportsman Feature. He started on the outside of the front row, outgunned Tony Purgarich to the first turn and ended up leading every lap. Only a lap 15 caution for debris slowed another cleanly run event. Twin 15 lap Street Stock Features, both rugged affairs, with plenty of bent sheet metal, went to Scott Krull, from Niagara Falls, his first, and Jaren Israel, from Wilson, his third. NOTES: A large crowd was on hand on a perfect night for the well-publicized event……….. Stewart Friesen drove the 1A this night, but a lap 56 encounter with the fourth turn wall relegated him to a 24th place finish…………..Sportsman standout Ryan Susice, after getting permission from DIRTcar and track officials, so as not to jeopardize his sportsman status, made his 358 debut, driving the Mike Nash car. He qualified through his heat, started nineteenth, stayed out of trouble, and finished eighteenth, after finishing sixth in the Sportsman Feature………..To add some flavor, the unique format for the event had the top five Americans or the top five Canadians receive a $300 bonus if one of their countryman won the race…….There were nine Canadians in the twenty-nine car starting field. MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (75 laps) – DANNY JOHNSON, Brett Hearn, Pete Bicknell, Robbie Krull, Todd Burley, Chad Brachmann, Scott Kerwin, James Michael Friesen, Randy Chrysler, Ricky Richner, Jeff McGinnis, Boyd MacTavish, Mat Williamson, Rich Vinson, Tommy Flannagan, Tim Jones, Adam Ferri, Ryan Susice, Anthony Rizzardo, Bob Broomfield, Sam Crogan, Jon Miller, Scott Just, Stew Friesen, Justin Sharp, Dave Just, Steve Schumacher, Todd Gordon, and Rick Hoctor. Heat winners were Kerwin, Krull, and Bicknell. SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH: (25 laps) – ALLAN WILLS, Ed Cain, Mark Chiddy, Greg Martin, Steve Miller, Ryan Susice, Mike Williams, Tony Purgarich, Nate Reynolds, Derek Smith, Don Spatorico, Jesse Cotriss, James Henry, Sandy Pembleton, Mark Potter, Dave Small, Doug Coons, Dan Norton, Brett Martin, Jeff Cosgrove, Tony Pangrazio, Jipp Ortiz, and Justin Wright. Heat winners were Greg Martin, Miller, and Chiddy. STREET STOCK FEATURE FINISH #1 (15 laps) – SCOTT KRULL, Don Rappleyea, Derrick Borkenhagen, Charles Harvey, Gerald Poole, Tim Kott, Jake Stefanski, Mark Loveland, Chad Livermore, Kyle Wendt, Brian Lonneville, Ken Camidge, and Roger Israel. Heat winners were Krull, Roger Israel, and Dell. STREET STOCK FEATURE FINISH #2: (15 laps) – JAREN ISRAEL, Brandon Sherwood, Mike Greenawalt, Kenny Washburn, Billy Coleman, Randy Zimmerman, Chris Burek, Jon Richael, Tim Hall, Joseph Rickard, Tim Raymond, Pat Dell, and Webb Nashwinter. |
