Johnson Dodges Spin For Monaco Modified Win At Star

Jake Johnson had accepted his fate. Locked into a no-pit strategy with twenty laps left, chasing Matt Swanson and Matt Hirschman, and outperforming the rest of a tough Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series field, a third-place finish looked fine.

Then came the contact.

With 25 fewer laps in this year’s MMTTS visit to Star Speedway, Jake Johnson was still able to seal the deal. (STS/Jeff Brown)

Johnson capitalized on the chaos out front, then fended off Woody Pitkat in the closing circuits to win Saturday night’s MMTTS Star 100 at Star Speedway.

Almost a year after mastering the Epping, N.H. quarter-mile for his first Modified victory, Johnson was exuberant in celebrating his second.

“Once that contact happened, I seen them spinning,” he said. “I held it to the floor, and I wanted to get those spots back!”

Johnson’s win last summer came in only his fifth MMTTS start, with the ground-pounders still a fresh addition to his racing repertoire. This year, the Rehoboth, Mass. racer returned to Star with the same car and setup, but with a year’s worth of experience to work with.

Rolling off twelfth, though, Johnson had plenty of experience in front of him to pick through. Chris Pasteryak set a blistering pace out front, gapping Sam Rameau as outside polesitter Hirschman rode in fifth. When Bryan Narducci spun in turn one to bring out the first caution flag at lap 45, Johnson still had ground to make up.

So when the field came to the pits for a tire swap and adjustments, Johnson stayed out.

Stephen Kopcik and Richard Savary were the only other drivers to stay on track, with Hirschman gridding fourth for the restart. Kopcik, a dual threat atop the pit box and behind the wheel, showed the way for a few laps, but Johnson found his way past to take the lead on lap 52, with Hirschman following in his tire tracks.

Despite his older tires, Johnson kept Hirschman at bay through a lap-68 yellow for Derek Robbie. Swanson lined up third for the restart, but the run was short-lived as a turn-three pileup claimed Mikey Flynn and David Arute.

Chris Pasteryak led the opening 45 laps from the pole, but was sent for a ride late in the running. (STS/Jeff Brown)

Hirschman had been pressuring Johnson for the lead, but the choose cone vaulted Swanson into the conversation. Johnson held firm on old tires, but Hirschman suddenly had his hands full as Swanson powered into second and then took the lead.

Early leader Chris Pasteryak was sent around with 25 laps to go, bringing out another caution. Johnson had slipped to third, with Hirschman and Swanson battling for the lead on fresher tires. “At that point, I just accepted what happened,” Johnson said. “I was like, all right, we’re going to focus on getting this third place, and staying close to these guys. Let’s not overdo it, we’ve got old tires, we’ve got to take care of them.”

Swanson edged out Hirschman on the restart, but Hirschman turned up the pressure, looking low as Swanson slammed the door shut in every turn. Coming off turn four, the two made contact, with Swanson spinning across Hirschman’s nose and down the frontstretch. Johnson kept his foot in it, taking the lead from Hirschman as the yellow flew.

Hirschman protested the lead swap, but the veteran’s night turned even more frustrating when officials waved the black flag for aggressive driving, sending “Big Money Matt” to the tail of the field. Johnson was firmly back in the lead, with Pitkat second. Todd Patnode, who held off Hirschman in a physical finish to win Star’s open-competition Racers Honoring Racers 100 earlier in the month, had started deep in the field but cycled through to third.

Woody Pitkat (#88) and Todd Patnode have recent wins at Star Speedway, but neither could chase down Jake Johnson in the final stretch. (STS/Jeff Brown)

But even with fresher tires, neither Pitkat nor Patnode could chase down Johnson, who led the final nineteen circuits en route to victory.

“We took it easy there for a little bit, got my rhythm going, and then the second I saw the smoke, it was go time,” Johnson said. “We’re back in it, baby!”

Johnson said that Patnode’s no-pit strategy a few weeks before had certainly played into crew chief Ryan Stone’s scheming.

“It definitely came up in discussion, and the one thing we had to think about there was, they didn’t have a choose cone,” he said. “So the choose cone definitely gives a little advantage to the guys that come in and pit. And it showed tonight. Both Matts got by me, but needless to say, we had a really great run without them even having contact.”

Matt Swanson held off Matt Hirschman after pit stops, but contact between the two ended victory hopes for both Matts. (STS/Jeff Brown)

Pitkat, who finished second to Johnson last year, finished in the runner-up slot for a second straight year. Patnode was third across the line. Kopcik, one of the other drivers not to pit in the 100-lap event, was fourth in his first visit to Star, with Brian Robie rounding out the top five.

Savary held onto sixth at the end, ahead of MMTTS Thunder Road season opener winner Ronnie Williams. Veteran Les Hinckley was eighth, with Vermont’s Joey Jarvis and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour winner Austin Beers closing out the top ten.

Hirschman, who finished 21st last year after a controversial one-lap penalty for speeding in the pit area, rallied back to 11th.

Swanson, the points leader entering the evening, limped to a 17th-place finish, leaving him tied with Pitkat atop the standings. Hirschman, who has won all but one MMTTS title in the series’ history, is four points back in third, uncharacteristically winless after three races.

Johnson, who skipped the season-opening tilt at Thunder Road, is not part of the title talk. Instead, he is focused on depth of experience, with a part-time ride in the Boehler family’s legendary “Ole Blue” on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Since teaming up with the Boehlers last year, Johnson has two poles, two top-five finishes, and eight top-tens in thirteen starts.

The 2020 Snowflake 100 winner has largely stepped back from fendered cars, running select American-Canadian Tour races for Hartwell Motorsports. With his Modified star rising, experience in the open-wheeled cars has been the focus.

That experience has not changed how Johnson drives, so much as how he prepares.

“I don’t think I’ve changed my personality of driving much, but it definitely has taught me a lot as far as knowing what I need out of a race car, to have that successful long run, and knowing how to adapt when the circumstances aren’t perfect for you,” he says. “That’s definitely what it’s taught me the most. Anyone can go out and drive it, but it’s putting the entire pieces and puzzle together that makes it tricky.

“We’ve been really working on it. We’ve gotta make these races, we’ve gotta complete them, get up front, and the better we can build on that and the better I can get at that, the more victories we’ll see.”

The twenty-year-old is only a couple years into that process, with two wins in a competitive class to show for it.

There are plenty more victories to come.

Unofficial Results
Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series Star 100
Star Speedway
1. (15MA) Jake Johnson
2. (88) Woody Pitkat
3. (24) Todd Patnode
4. (1) Stephen Kopcik
5. (25NH) Brian Robie
6. (99) Richard Savary
7. (50) Ronnie Williams
8. (06) Les Hinckley
9. (04) Joey Jarvis
10. (13) Austin Beers
11. (60) Matt Hirschman
12. (07) Kyle Bonsignore
13. (76) Kirk Alexander
14. (5CT) Chris Pasteryak
15. (9) Chase Dowling
16. (02) Mike Collins
17. (25) Matt Swanson
18. (3) Bryan Narducci
19. (50R) Sam Rameau
20. (24MA) Mikey Flynn
21. (55) Ryan Doucette
22. (75) David Arute
23. (55CT) Teddy Hodgdon
24. (27) Derek Robbie
25. (76CT) Dana DiMatteo

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