The 4th Turn: September 5, 2024
~ By Tom Boggie
Before I start dissecting Peter Britten’s championship season at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, I’ve got a little story to tell you.
Last Monday, I went up to the Saratoga Race Course for the final day of the 2024 thoroughbred racing meet. I met some friends up there, and we were going to enjoy a couple of hours in The Post bar because they had a horse running later in the day.
I had my program handy, just in case something jumped out at me and I wanted to make a bet. There was a heavy favorite in the third race, but I saw that Katie Davis had a live long shot and put some money on her. The horse went off at 15-1, put on a late charge and finished second, letting me pocket almost triple my bet.
As I was standing at the bar, I happened to look up at the television monitor, which was showing the winner’s circle celebration, and who did I see but Frank Witz. Yes, that Frank Witz, owner of Witz Roofing, a long time sponsor of both Jack and Ronnie Johnson (and who also has his name on Jordan Hill’s limited sportsman). Witz was wearing an orange polo shirt with white trim.
Oh, don’t tell me, I thought.
I opened my program up again and saw, in the small print, the owners of the winner of the third race were listed as Witz, Imperio and Rodriguez. Their silks are white with orange sleeves, collar and cap.
I knew, from past trips to Saratoga, that Witz’s crew usually hangs out at The Post, so when he returned, I congratulated him on his win and when I mentioned the orange shirt and silks, he said, “Yeah, that’s for Jack.”
He then added, “Today’s Jack’s birthday.”
If Jack Johnson was still alive, he would have turned 80 on Monday.
Of all the hunch bets I’ve made over the years, I missed the biggest one. From now on, I’m going to pay closer attention to the small print.
Now, back to Britten.
There aren’t many dirt track drivers who want to be known for their consistency. But it’s really hard to ignore just how consistent the well-liked Australian was this season.
To begin with, Britten finished every lap of every feature run at Albany-Saratoga this season. He only had one win, on the second night of the season in April, but he finished in the top five in 11 of the 18 regular-season races and finished in the top 10 every week but one. The only time he wasn’t in the top 10 was in the Super DIRTcar Series Don Davies Memorial, when he finished 16th.
As a result, he won his second modified championship at Malta by 22 points over Marc Johnson.
“Obviously, I would have liked to win more races,” said Britten after the feature, in which he finished ninth, after starting 24th. “There were nights when I felt I was good enough to win, but finished second or third. It’s a little disappointing, but when you’re buried in the handicapping, it makes it even harder (to win). Even on the night I won, we started 16th. It’s a catch-22. If you’re finishing well, you’re going to get buried in the handicapping.
“To me, winning championships is what’s most important,” he added. “That’s what you start out the season doing, thinking about winning championships. It was fun to run against Marc every night this year. He was fast every week, but we were just a little more consistent.”
Although Johnson recorded his fourth win of the season last Friday, the two-time champion was obviously disappointed by not getting that third crown. His downfall was a June slump, when he had just one top-five finish in three starts.
“Of course, I’m disappointed,” he said. “I’ve been working my ass off this year. Honestly, I thought I still had a chance at getting a tie. I thought Peter finished seventh last week (Britten finished sixth) and I thought if I won, I could still tie him. But before the feature, I heard he already had it locked up and thought, “Oh, ****.”
In typical Johnson fashion, he stuck to the bottom last Friday while everyone else was trying to rim-ride.
“My car worked anywhere,” he said. “I knew the top was going away, and I was comfortable on the bottom, so I figured that’s where I’d park it.
“I’m not done yet,” he added. “I want to get a Series win. That’s been our goal since my small block days, and now, I want it more than ever.”
MORE FROM MALTA
Talk about a bad night. Todd Ryan began his night by hitting the wall during modified warmups. “I don’t know if I hit water or what. It shot me right into the wall,” he said. His night ended when he blew the motor in his car on the 26th lap of the modified feature.
When I was walking through the pits before warmups started, I found Britten siping his own tires. “This is not the glamorous part of the business,” he joked.
Colton Emigh, the nephew of pro stock driver Brandon Emigh, recorded his first limited sportsman win last Friday, holding off Jimmy Duncan by .281 seconds. “The car was hooked up tonight,” Emigh said in victory lane. “I had been running the top all night long. I thought there was better bite up there.”
Tim Hartman Jr. had secured his fifth sportsman title the previous week, and came across the finish line eighth last Friday. “It’s been a good season,” he said in victory lane. “The track was different every week, and that threw us a curve. We improved our versatility this year, and that really helped. Now we’ll get ready for the fall races and see if we can get a couple more (wins).”
Talk about getting the monkey off your back. Tyler Rapp, who chalked up his first sportsman win of the season last Friday, hadn’t even finished in the top five all year. He qualified for 13 of the 17 features, and had cracked the top 10 twice, finishing ninth both times. But he stuck it out, and finally got back into victory lane Friday. That was his second career win, the first coming on May 12 last year.
There’s going to be a ton of racing Friday night at Albany-Saratoga, highlighted by the Upstate Chevy Dealers Autism Awareness Night pro-stock feature, organized by Jordan Modiano, which will pay $10,000 to win. Chad Jeseo is the defending champion, but if I’m not mistaken, he hasn’t turned a wheel at Malta this year, which could be a problem. Modifieds have been added to Friday’s card, which will also feature the DiCarlo Auto Body 358 Shootout Series (which will pay $2,400 to win), sportsman, limited sportsman and street stocks.
The points season for limited sportsman will end Friday, with Nick Brundige going in with a 37-point lead over Chase Zimmer. The 20-year-old Brundige, who never raced anything on four wheels before this season, recorded his first limited sportsman win at Devil’s Bowl on Aug. 25, which I think gave him 10 wins for the season, with four at Albany-Saratoga and five at Glen Ridge Motorsports. Brundige is a prime-time driver, as three of his wins at Malta came in features that paid bonuses to the winner. He took home $500, courtesy of Gary and Patricia Van Alstyne, on June 22; got a $300 payday on July 6 because of bonus money added by Dan Odell; and got another $500 on Aug. 17, in what was the Gary Van Alstyne Memorial, following his sudden death.
AROUND THE TRACKS
As everyone knows by now, the Mr. Dirt Track USA race at Lebanon Valley was rained out last Saturday and has been rescheduled for June 25, 2025. If I was a betting man (Wait, I am. Refer to the second paragraph), I would say that Albany-Saratoga’s first SDS race next year will be held on Tuesday, June 23, with a June 24 rain date.
Matt Janczuk recorded his second straight win in the Vermont 200 at Devil’s Bowl last Sunday and with lap money, walked off with somewhere in the neighborhood of $15,000. Janczuk led 162 of the 200 laps. Brian Calabrese, who had to qualify through one of the LCQs, finished fourth after starting 29th.
Anthony Perrego didn’t win a race last weekend, but finished third In the Coalcracker at Big Diamond on Sunday and then hustled up to Vernon to finish third in the New Yorker at Utica-Rome, which was run Monday after being postponed by rain on Sunday. Billy Pauch won the Coalcracker, which paid $15,000 to win, and Matt Sheppard (despite running part of the race with a broken shock tower) was in victory lane again after the New Yorker, which paid $10,000 to win.
Jack Lehner finished fourth in the New Yorker, continuing his plethora of good finishes in major races this year. The “Ginga Ninja” is due for a big win.
Glen Ridge suffered its sixth rainout of the season last Sunday. The final racing card of the season will be held this Sunday, but rain is again in the forecast.
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