Friday September 19, 2025 Results
MALTA – Marc Johnson has won a lot of races and taken home a lot of trophies during his modified racing career.
But on Friday night, he finally got his belt.
Johnson charged from his 15th starting position, took the lead away from “Money” Mat Williamson on lap 35 and came away with a victory in the 50-lap DIRTcar 358 Series race that highlighted opening night of the season-ending Malta Massive Weekend at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
Johnson took home $4,000 for the win, but more importantly, also earned one of the pro wrestling-inspired belts that are awarded to winners during Malta Massive Weekend.
“It’s about time,” said Johnson after chalking up the first DIRTcar 358 Series victory of his career.
Indeed it is. Since Malta Massive Weekend was created in 2022, Johnson had finished in the top five in all three 358 races, with back-to-back thirds in 2022 and 2023, and a fifth last year.
But now, he’s got his belt.
The DIRTcar 358 Series feature got off to a weird start. On lap five, Albany-Saratoga Speedway modified champion Mike Mahaney, who had started eighth, was going through the third turn when a large fireball erupted at the rear of the car. He came to a stop in the first turn and was done for the night, finishing 30th in the 31-car field.
Williamson, who drew the outside pole, then made a crossover move on early leader Joey Scarborough to take the lead following the restart.
And that’s where he stayed, while all the attention was on Neil Stratton, who passed Carey Terrance in traffic on lap 17 to take over the No. 2 position.
But everyone should have been watching Johnson, who was rocketing to the front, using both the top and bottom grooves. After making progress on the bottom, a caution on lap 22 bunched the field, and after the restart, Johnson went to the top and snatched the No. 2 spot away from Stratton to complete lap 26.
When Walter Hammond brought out another yellow, for a flat tire, on lap 29, Williamson and Johnson switched lanes after the restart, with Johnson now on the bottom, which as everyone knows is his favorite spot. The two leaders were side-by-side on lap 30 but on lap 35, Williamson got a little too high in the second turn, which allowed Johnson to gain an advantage and he got the lead for good coming out of the fourth turn.
Felix Roy, who had started 13th, made a late run to finish third, with Stratton fourth and Zachary Payne fifth.
“I just kept digging,” said Johnson after the win. “I really didn’t know if the bottom or the top was better. When Lyle (promoter Lyle DeVore) went out and watered and tilled the track before the feature, I thought, this is going to hurt me. But the track was so racy. This place hasn’t been this good for a long time.”
“He was really fast,” said Williamson of Johnson. “In three and four, I was better on the top, but in one and two, I kept making mistakes. It’s tough to keep up with those W-16s (motors) when they’re getting a weight break.”
Connor Crane won the 35-lap DIRTcar Sportsman Fall Championship Series race, finishing ahead of invader Richard Murtaugh in a battle that kept fans on the edge of their seats during the final laps.
Dylan Madsen drew the pole and set a wicked early pace, but both Murtaugh, who started fourth, and Crane, who started second, were quickly locked into a battle of their own.
When Madsen got into traffic in lap 16, both Murtaugh and Crane started breathing down his neck, and when Madsen had to elbow his way past a slower car driven by Trevor Houghton, Murtaugh pulled even and the two began running side-by-side.
On lap 20, Madsen and Murtaugh made contact coming out of the second turn, which allowed Crane to take over second, but one lap later, Murtaugh was back in the No. 2 position and he then took the lead away from Madsen on lap 23, after moving to the outside going down the backstretch.
Crane moved into second on lap 24 and then opted to move back to the top, following in Murtaugh’s tire tracks.
The action really picked up following a caution on lap 30. From that point on, the feature contained more sliders than a White Castle restaurant.
Crane tried a slider on Murtaugh in the fourth turn on lap 30, but couldn’t make it stick. The next time around, Crane pulled the same move and came away with the lead on lap 31. Murtaugh tried a slider of his own in the fourth turn on lap 32, but when that one didn’t stick, Crane was able to pull away to record his third win of the season, and his first during Malta Massive Weekend.
“I’ve got to thank Richard for running me clean,” said Crane, who finished second in last year’s Malta Massive Weekend sportsman race when his brother Chris passed him with about 10 laps to go.
“It’s only my third time here, and I wasn’t sure what to do (while battling Crane for the lead),” said Murtaugh. “I didn’t think he was going to slide me, but then he did, so I figured if he was going to do it, I was going to do it.”
The sportsman feature also was the final race of the Capital District Racing Association Series, and Tim Hartman Jr. locked up the CRDA championship by finishing 10th.
Chris Stalker held off Tyler Irwin to win the 20-lap street stock feature, and received $400 in bonus money from Croteau & Sons Service Center and Ghent Wood Products. The race was slowed by five late cautions, but each time, Stalker got a good launch on the restarts and was able stay in front of Irwin.
Josh Reome won the 15-lap four-cylinder feature, holding off JP Corrow, who started 15th in the 18-car field. Track champion Adam Montville finished third, while Damian Ward was fourth overall and had the first single-cam car across the finish line.
The big block modifieds ran hot laps in preparation for Saturday’s 100-lap Super DIRTcar Series race, and they were also chasing bonus money put up by Andy’s Speed Shop for the fastest average time over the three sessions. Unofficially, Marc Johnson won the top bonus of $500 with an average time of 16.660 seconds, while Jack Lehner was second (getting a $250 bonus) with an average time of 16.667.
DIRTCAR 358 SERIES: MARC JOHNSON, Mat Williamson, Felix Roy, Neil Stratton, Zachary Payne, Carey Terrance, Matt DeLorenzo, Darren Smith, Tim Sears Jr., Lance Willix, Erick Rudolph, David Schilling, Tim Fuller, Bobby Hackel IV, Anthony Perrego, Jackson Gill, Chris Curtis, Jordan McCreadie, Amy Holland, Ronnie Johnson, Cody Higbie, Peter Britten, Mike Coffey Jr., Walt Hammond, Joey Scarborough, C.J. Casteletti, Shaun Shaw, Willy Decker, Steve Lewis Jr., Mike Mahaney, Matt Caprara.
DIRTCAR SPORTSMAN FALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: CONNOR CRANE, Richard Murtaugh, Emmett Waldron, Gavin Eisele, Chris Crane Jr., Dylan Madsen, Nigel Pendykoski, Bodie Marks, Shane Pecore, Tim Hartman Jr., Tristan Ladouceur, Craig Wholey, Zach Buff, Dave Baranowski Jr., Nick Brundige, Ryan Barrett, Jon Miller, Michael Ballestero, Savannah Laflair, Jessica Power, Connor Prokop, Trevor Houghton, Mark Mortensen, Dylan Grogan, Derrick McGrew Jr., Tyler Stevenson, Dan Grignon, Taylor Wason, Tavian Blowers, Cody Ochs.
CORNELL AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: CHRIS STALKER, Tyler Irwin, Matt Mosher, Mark Burch, Josh Bussino, Anthony King, David Streibel, Josh Hemming, Dan Madigan, Mike Duggan, Jeff Meltz, Evan Denue, Dana Carter, Gary O’Brien, Dave Streibel, Mitchell Tucker Seguin, Jake Middleton, John Drake, Jason Barrett, Shane Wetherington, Joshua Crum.
GREG’S TOWING FOUR-CYLINDERS: JOSH REOME, JP Corrow, Adam Montville, Damian Ward (first single-cam finisher), David Mullineaux, Ben Ladd, Anthony Johnson, Dan Joubert, John Mason, Randy Tubbs, Bradley Batho, Jordan Ryder, Robert Garney, Brayden Ward, Lucas Condon, Chris Duffney Jr., Chris Danylieko, Jon Sheppard.
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