The Doctor Makes A $20,000 House Call At Fulton’s Victoria 200
Fulton, NY…Someone said a doctor was in the house at the Fulton Speedway on Saturday, and that was “Doctor J” Danny Johnson. Not only did he surgically pick apart the 49-car starting field in the 15th annual Victoria 200, he collected over $20,000 in the process. Johnson led 189 of the race’s 200 laps, and took home the Victoria trophy for the first time ever.
A.J. Romano led the field down to the green, but Fred Cade spun into a pole tire in turn four on the opening lap and brought out a quick yellow. Cade was a guranteed starter, but he won his heat so he did not need to rely on that spot.
Caution laps counted in this event, so the green flew for a brief moment on lap five before a multi-car tangle in turn four involved several cars. After four more yellow laps, Danny Johnson drove by the 4 of A.J. Romano to lead when green flag racing resumed.
With ten on the lapboard Johnson was out front with Romano, Jimmy Horton, Ron Holmes, and the 89B of Todd Burley rounding out the top five. The race went back under caution on lap 12, as Alex Hoag, who was involved in the earlier tangle in turn four, had his misfortune continue as he wound up on the inside of the track in turn two. He was able to restart.
Johnson took off again on the restart, with Ron Holmes stepping up his pace and taking over second. Romano was still holding down third, with Billy Decker in the B& F Machine RK1 fourth and Burley fifth. Over the next few laps, Tim McCreadie in the Heroux Racing 21 moved past Burley and began chasing Decker.
The race continued under green until lap 20 when Darryl Ruggles developed a problem on his machine and stopped in turn two. The 1B of Pete Bicknell had just gotten past Burley for fifth, so when the race got back underway three laps later, the top five was Johnson, Holmes, Romano, McCreadie, and Bicknell.
Holmes tried to stay with Johnson, but the 27J opened up some ground as the race moved toward lap 50. McCreadie moved up to challenge Holmes for the runnerup spot, while Bobby Varin in the Dover Brake 00 began to show some muster and was in the top five when Alan Johnson’s 14J developed a flat tire on lap 39, turning on the yellow lights for the fifth time.
Steve Hulsizer had put his motor in the Randy Ross 91 for the day, and the New England Financial Services car was running well when he lost the handle and spun in turn one, changing the caution count to six in the first 50 laps. J.J. Michaels and Joe Plazek both ducked into the pits at this time, with Michaels being done for the day.
Through all the stops and starts, the 27J of Johnson maintained a slight advantage and left everyone else fighting amongst themselves. The 21 of McCreadie passed Holmes on lap 52 for second, but could not muster a challenge for the lead until after lap 60, when he surprised Holmes on a restart and took control briefly.
McCreadie was fast on the bottom, and Johnson was up to the task on top as the pair diced for the lead in a battle that left the record crowd cheering wildly. Johnson fought until lap 72, then managed to pin McCreadie in traffic and retake the lead. Holmes was in third place watching the duo, while Horton and Varin were filling fourth and fifth at this point.
Green flag racing prevailed until lap 89 when Dan Miller spun out on the back straightaway. Johnson continued to maintain his advantage until the halfway break, which officially ended with McCreadie, Holmes, Tim Fuller and Steve Paine running behind the leader in the top five. Vic Coffey, Jimmy Horton, Bobby Varin, Billy Decker, and John Moravec were running sixth through tenth.
After a twenty minute break to allow the drivers to change tires, add fuel, and make adjustments to their cars, the race resumed for the second 100 lap segment. Holmes made the first move of this chess match as he slipped by McCreadie and took second for a few laps.
Kirk Horton stopped his 7K on the front stretch on lap 104, adding another yellow to the history books. Johnson, Holmes, McCreadie, Fuller, and Vic Coffey were all trying to test each other to see what they had once the race got back underway.
Traffic began to play a factor as the drivers settled down for a green flag segment that would last for 27 laps. Johnson and McCreadie worked their way through traffic, with Holmes hanging on to third and a great battle developing for fourth between Coffey, Fuller, and Decker.
Holmes had his luck run out on lap 136 as he caught one of the inside pole tires in turn three and suffered damage to his front end. Jimmy Gabriel had a flat tire a few laps later as the caution bug temporarily returned. Brett Hearn had quietly slithered through the field, and on the restart following the Gabriel caution Hearn shot from 8th to 5th.
Another long stretch of green flag racing began with Johnson, McCreadie, and Decker battling furiously in and out of traffic. Decker passed McCreadie on lap 163, and two laps later Ryan Baye was involved in a jingle in turn four and his American Auger machine ended up stopped on the track in turn four.
This caution closed the field for what would be the final time, as the remainder of the race would be run under green. Johnson would be challenged off and on, but would have more than enough to stave off McCreadie and Decker in traffic, providing the key to his first ever Victoria 200 victory.
At a post-race press conference, Johnson said, “To win the Victoria 200 feels awesome. I had an awesome car today, and the traffic fell just right for us. I watched the Sportsman race last night, and I knew the top would be good for a while. I was able to run the first 100 laps and not hurt the tires too much, so I just told myself to stay focused and it worked out.”
When the checkered flag flew it was “The Doctor” Danny Johnson in victory lane. Johnson led 189 out of the 200 laps, with A.J. Romano leading 8 laps and Tim McCreadie out front for three. Finishing second through fifth were McCreadie, Decker, Steve Paine, and Vic Coffey. Tim Fuller, Brett Hearn, Pat Ward, Chuck Bower, and Bobby Varin rounded out the top ten.
A stellar field of 128 cars were on hand for the event, with 49 of them qualifying for the 200. Many of those who did not make the show were expected to remain on hand for a non-qualifiers program that was being run the next day, along with IMCA Modified and 4-Cylinder action.
15th Annual Victoria 200 Feature Finish:
DANNY JOHNSON, Tim McCreadie, Billy Decker, Steve Paine, Vic Coffey,
Tim Fuller, Brett Hearn, Pat Ward, Chuck Bower, Bobby Varin, John Moravec, Jim
Mahaney, Don Scarborough, Steve Hulsizer, Pete Bicknell, Rich Ricci, Jimmy
Horton, Jimmy Phelps, Todd Burley, Billy Wilcox, Keith Hoffman, Mike Colsten,
Jim Gabriel Jr., Donnie Wetmore, A.J. Romano, Alan Johnson, Gus Schmidt, Ted
Lamb, Alex Hoag, Dan Miller, Kayle Robidoux, Ryan Baye, Frank Caprara, Mike
Ricci, Ron Holmes, Mitch Gibbs, Darryl Ruggles, Jason Barney, Kyle Jacobs, Roger
Phelps, J.R. Hurlburt, Jerry Higbie, Kirk Horton, Joe Plazek, Don Lawson, Tim
Hindley, John Barker, J.J. Michaels, and Fred Cade.