Alan Johnson first fought to fend off Brett Hearn then staved off a late race rally by Jimmy Phelps to capture his first Super DIRTcar Series victory of the season in dramatic fashion Saturday night at Fulton Speedway.
Johnson’s 51st career series triumph was just his first top-five tour finish of 2009 after engine woes have curtailed every effort previous put forth by DIRTcar Northeast’s winningest Big-Block Modified driver.
“I gotta thank Jimmy D, he’s right here from Syracuse and came to see his motor run, he did a helluva job with it,” said Johnson, 51, who is the only driver to score at least one feature win every year since DIRTcar was established in 1976.
With the final 65 laps of the Summit Auto Group 100 run straight through under green, Johnson put on a driving clinic, gliding high and diving low as he maneuvered through traffic lap after lap.
Grabbing the lead from Hearn on a lap 35 restart, the Middlesex veteran still had to protect his position when Phelps wrestled away the runner-spot with three to go before coming up two car-lengths short of reaching Johnson in the 43-minute main. Tim Fuller and Stewart Friesen rounded out the top-five at the Oswego County oval.
“Traffic was tough, there wasn’t a lot of room out there,” Johnson remarked. “The track wasn’t really any better in one place or the other so you just had to pick and choose your spots carefully. Fortunately, it all worked out. The car was good enough where I could try and take my time and stay out of trouble.”
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