JACK JOHNSON WINS USNA GREEN MOUNTAIN 200 IN THRILLING FASHION IN THREE WAY DUEL
SYRACUSE, NY…..It’s an old racing cliché that the most important lap to lead is the last one. Jack Johnson did just that in a thrilling three way duel that saw him capture the United Speedways of North America (USNA) Green Mountain 200 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Fair Haven, VT. Johnson held off last lap challenges from pole sitter Dave Camara and Billy Decker as the top three crossed the finish line within a car length of each other.
Camara, who won the M2 Race Systems Pole Award with a time of 18.219 in M2 Race Systems Pole Qualifying, shared the front row with Johnson as the field took the green flag in the first 100-lap segment of the event. Camara led lap one, only to find Johnson blasting under him the following lap to assume the point. The first yellow of the race flew on lap 6 when Bucky Kell had front end problems and stopped at the entrace to turn one.
As the race resumed, the field went green on lap 12 and did not see yellow lights again until lap 69. During the extended green flag session, Johnson pulled away from Camara and found himself working heavy lapped traffic. Camara lost the second spot to Brett Hearn, but regained it after a battle through traffic. Frank Cozze moved into the top ten along with Jeff Heotzler, who came from mid pack into the top ten by the lap 25 mark. Jamie Mills was also holding on in the top ten while Decker began to charge forward.
After Camara regained the runnerup spot from Hearn, he started to chase down Johnson while Hearn was joined in torrid battle with Cozze, Decker, and Mills. They swapped positions several times as the laps wound down to the halfway break. Johnson’s torrid pace resulted in just ten cars being on the lead lap at the lap 100 mark.
After the 15 minute halftime break, the race resumed with Johnson and Camara again playing rabbit and greyhound through lapped traffic. Hearn actually faded several spots in the first half of the second run, dropping as far back as sixth spot, while Decker’s setup had improved. Decker fought heavily with Cozze for a good portion of the second segment before he was able to break clear.
Hearn got himself back into contention in the middle stages of the second segment and battled with Decker for the third spot for several laps before Decker sped away. Up in front, Johnson was winning the lead battle on open track, but when the leaders moved into traffic, Camara was able to close in, even mounting some serious challenges for the lead on more than one occasion.
A couple of restarts and some shifts of lapped cars allowed Decker, who had been as far as a third of a lap back, move in on the lead duo to make for a three way battle. Inside of ten laps to go, the crowd on hand was on their feet as Camara began testing Johnson on the high side, while Decker slid in under Camara. The trio diced back and forth. Starting the final lap, Camara committed to the outside lane and pulled even with Johnson for a moment on the backstretch. Decker slipped underneath Camara going into turn three and swept to the outside, almost drawing even with Johnson. As the three roared to the checkers, Johnson held off Decker by less than half a car length, with Camara just a half car length behind Decker. Hearn, the Garden State 200 winner, had to settle for fourth, with Cozze taking fifth. The rest of the top ten was filled out by Heotzler, Bob Svoie, Jeff Trombley, Jamie Mills, and Craig Von Dohren, who was one lap down at the finish.
Jack Johnson became the third different winner of the USNA season with his Green Mountain 200 victory. Dave Camara won the $750 M2 Race Systems Pole Award. Qualifying heats were won by Johnson, Hearn, Cozze, and Savoie. Mitch Gibbs was the consolation winner.
The next USNA event will be the New York 200 at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Saturday, July 8.
RACE SUMMARY-USNA GREEN MOUNTAIN 200
DEVIL’S BOWL SPEEDWAY, FAIR HAVEN, VT
QUALIFYING HEAT WINNERS: Jack Johnson, Brett Hearn, Frank Cozze, Bob Savoie.
CONSOLATION RACE WINNER: Mitch Gibbs
GREEN MOUNTAIN 200-JACK JOHNSON, Billy Decker, Dave Camara, Brett Hearn, Frank Cozze, Jeff Heotzler, Bob Savoie, Jeff Trombley, Jamie Mills, Craig Van Dohren, Steve Bottcher, Brian Swartzlander, Randy Sherlock, Mitch Gibbs, Roger Laureno, Bill Tanner, Jeff Hoffman, Jimmy Horton, Brian Davis, Rich Eurich, Bud Christmann, Todd Ryan, Eddie Marshall, Jack Cottrell, Bucky Kell, Tom Moore, Dave Calaman, Richie Smith.