5.20.16 Albany Saratoga Speedway Results
Malta, NY – After back-to-back weeks of Mother Nature visiting victory lane, the Albany-Saratoga Speedway returned to action Friday night with exciting races and a pair of very popular brothers visiting victory lane. The brothers Johnson – Marc and Chris, picked up the Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified and Sportsman division feature events respectfully in front a large and cheering crowd.
In other action Nick Stone (DIRTcar Pro Stocks), Anthony Alger (Limited Sportsman), Steve Ryan (Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinders) and Jerry Sehn (Empire Lightning Sprints) all reached victory lane.
Rich Ronca and Justin Barber brought the stout Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified field to the green with Ronca taking the initial lead over Kris Vernold, Ray Hoard, Jimmy Cottrell and Barber. Eighth place starter Neil Stratton moved past Barber on lap two for fifth with Hoard taking second from Vernold a lap later. Hoard was very fast early and took the lead from Ronca on lap ten.
Ronca would not give up and stayed close to Hoard. On lap 13 the youngest of the racing Ronca brothers nosed back ahead for the lead and began an entertaining, side by side battle with Hoard for the top spot. Stratton meanwhile was making a charge as he took over the third position from Vernold around lap 15.
The lap 15 mark was also the time that Stewart Friesen began to make his move. After taking over the sixth position from Matt Depew on lap 14, the Sprakers driver took fifth from Cottrell and then on lap 17 fourth from Vernold. Meanwhile up front Ronca had opened up a three car length advantage on Hoard.
As the race reached the halfway point Johnson began to make his run. He moved into the top five on lap 18 and on lap 20 followed Friesen past Stratton for fourth. Then one lap later, Johnson would take over third from Friesen and set his sights on Hoard. On lap 24 Johnson moved into the second position with Friesen following to third.
Jesse Mueller came to a stop on lap 25 forcing the caution flag to wave. On the restart Ronca held the lead but for only a lap. Johnson, who started 19th, took over on lap 26 and two laps later Friesen followed into second. In the end Johnson would not be denied his second win of the season. Friesen brought the Halmar International machine home second after starting 17th, Stratton finished third, Elmo Reckner fourth (started 13th) and Ronnie Johnson fifth (started 14th). Heat races for 34 Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modifieds were won by Ronca, Brian Gleason and Hoard.
“This thing is unbelievable,” Johnson said of his Troyer machine. “Congrats to my brother, this is the best night. My dad is watching down. The track was great and I want to thank everyone who got me here.”
Chris Johnson won the 25 lap Sportsman division feature event. Pat Jones and Hunter Bates led the field to the green with the caution flag waving before a lap could be completed due to a tangle between Tim Hartman, Jr. and Ken Conroy. When racing resumed Jones would hold the lead over Bates and Nick Lussier. Jones’ good run would come to an end on lap two when he caught the inside berm and spun into the infield. This handed the lead to Bates.
The second caution flag waved on lap six when Jones broke and spun when trying to reenter the event from the infield. On the restart Bates was the leader followed by Johnson, Lussier, Joey Scarborough and Robert Bublak, Jr.
Johnson took over the lead from Bates on lap eight and began to open an advantage. Bublak moved past Scarborough for the fourth position on lap 11 and then past Lussier for third a lap later. In the end no one could catch Johnson who brought home his first feature win of the season over Bates, Bublak (started 14th), Scarborough (started 11th) and Jeremy Pitts (started 17th). A total of 30 Sportsman signed in to the pit area with heat races being won by Jones, Bates and Lussier.
“This thing was on rails tonight,” the ninth place starter said. “This one is for my dad for sure. I was hoping I would get one for him.”
Nick Stone won the $600 to win, DIRTcar Pro Stock feature event. The win was the first of the season for the Rotterdam resident.
Chuck Dumblewski and Dan Older, Sr. led the field to the green with Dumblewski taking the early lead over Older and Dave DePaulo. DePaulo moved past Older for second on lap six. After a pair of spins, Dumblewski would continue to lead on a lap seven restart that would see Stone take over second and Walt Brownell third.
Stone wasted little time and on lap ten was the new race leader. Once out front the 14th place starter was strong and would not relinquish the top spot. In the end Stone picked up the win over Robbie Speed, Kim Duell, DePaulo and Brandon Emigh. With 24 DIRTcar Pro Stocks in attendance heat races were won by Older, Dumblewski and Emigh.
Anthony Alger won the 20 lap Limited Sportsman feature event. Jacob Volpi led the first seven laps of the event before Nick Fretto spun on the front stretch causing a caution flag. On the restart the lead belonged to Volpi. Alger began to challenge Volpi and on lap ten moved past for the lead. Once out front Alger would pull away for the win over Zach Daurio, Volpi, Brandon Pitcher and Mike Block. Heat races for the 20 car field were won by Block and Jack Lehner.
Josh Coonradt continued his winning ways by winning the 20 lap Street Stock feature event. Yule Cook took the early race lead and held it comfortably until a lap 14 caution flag. On the restart Coonradt would take over and never look back, bringing home the checkered flag. Coonradt was followed by Cook, Nathan Dahoda, Jason Meltz and Hunter Sanchez. A total of 25 Street Stocks entered the event.
Jerry Sehn won the 20 lap Empire Lightning Sprint event. Heat races for the 13 car field were won by Clint Roehrs and Don Harvey. Steve Ryan won the Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinder feature event. Ryan brought home the win over Josh Wood, Ben Grant, Dave Mullineaux and Tim Meltz. A total of 20 drivers entered the event.
The Albany-Saratoga Speedway returns to action next Friday night with the Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modifieds and Patriot Sprint Tour taking center stage. The Sportsman, DIRTcar Pro Stock, Limited Sportsman and Street Stock divisions will also be on the card with feature only programs. For more information on the Albany-Saratoga Speedway log onto the track website at www.albany-saratogaspeedway.com or visit us on Facebook.
Modified Results (35 Laps) – 1) Marc Johnson, 2) Stewart Friesen, 3) Neil Stratton, 4) Elmo Reckner, 5) Ronnie Johnson, 6) Ken Tremont Jr, 7) Bodie Bellinger, 8) Rich Ronca, 9) Matt Delorenzo, 10) Don Ronca, 11) Matt Depew, 12) Mark Kislowski, 13) Brett Hearn, 14) Kris Vernold, 15) Keith Flach, 16) L.J. Lombardo, 17) Rob Pitcher, 18) J.R. Heffner, 19) Jimmy Cottrell, 20) Brian Gleason, 21) Hector Stratton, 22) Todd Morey, 23) C.G. Morey, 24) Ricky Davis, 25) Brian Whittemore, 26) Ray Hoard, 27) Jessey Mueller, 28) Bobby Hackel IV, 29) Justin Barber, 30) Jim Nagle, DNS) Alex Bell, DNS) Demetrios Drellos, DNS) Jesse Edwards, DNS) Craig Seeley
ELS Lightning Sprints Results (20 Laps) – 1) Jerry Sehn, 2) Clint Roars, 3) Don Harvery, 4) Rick Stone, 5) Don Bellen, 6) Jesse Pruchnick, 7) Jamie Beaudry, 8) Kathy Bellen, 9) Lou Torres, 10) Jon Moore, 11) Nick DeNyse, DNS) Shilo Boyce, DNS) Rich Wood
Sportsman Results (25 Laps) – 1) Chris Johnson, 2) Hunter Bates, 3) Robert Bublak, 4) Joey Scarborough, 5) Jeremy Pitts, 6) Nick Lussier, 7) Jack Speshock, 8) Christopher Ronca, 9) David Schilling, 10) Justin Smith, 11) Jon Miller, 12) Tim Hartman Jr, 13) Chad Edwards, 14) Jason Gray, 15) Derrick McGrew, 16) Mike Ostrander, 17) Nick Anatriello, 18) Connor Cleveland, 19) Andrew Buff, 20) Mike Coffey, 21) Adam Gage, 22) Cody Bleau, 23) Floyd Billington, 24) Ken Conroy, 25) Luke Klob, 26) John Proctor, 27) Daryl Nutting, 28) Scott Duell, 29) Jack Swinton, 30) Pat Jones
Limited Sportsman Results (20 Laps) – 1) Anthony Alger, 2) Zach Daurio, 3) Jacob Volpi, 4) Brandon Pitcher, 5) Mike Block, 6) Randy Miller, 7) Gary Derocher, 8) Jack Lehner, 9) Derek Bornt, 10) Travis Billington, 11) Rob Lanfear, 12) Stephen Kneer, 13) John Lindblade, 14) Bob Schmidt, 15) James Meehan, 16) Diana Huyck, 17) Bryan Jones, 18) Nick Fretto, DNS) Scott Bennett Jr, DNS) John Stowell
Pro Stock $600 to Win Results (25 Laps) – 1) Nick Stone, 2) Robbie Speed, 3) Kim Duell, 4) Dave Depaulo, 5) Brandon Emigh, 6) Chuck Dumblewski, 7) Walt Brownell, 8) Norm Loubier, 9) Danny Wood, 10) Gus Hollner, 11) Bill Smith, 12) Dean Charbonneau, 13) Josh Rozelle, 14) Kevin Loomis, 15) Dan Older, 16) Ed Thompson, 17) Nick Arnold, 18) Jeff Washburn, 19) Pete Porter, 20) Zach Welch, 21) Steve Burch II, 22) Dan Madigan, 23) Byron
Wescott, 24) Rob Yetman
Street Stock Results (20 Laps) – 1) Josh Coonradt, 2) Yule Cook, 3) Nathan Dahoda, 4) Jason Meltz, 5) Hunter Sanchez, 6) Joey Wilson, 7) Jeff Davis, 8) Jeff Meltz Sr, 9) Paul Braymer, 10) Rob VanAernam, 11) Jake Currier, 12) Jordan Casper, 13) Damon Anderson, 14) Matt Mosher, 15) Scott Lawrence, 16) John Filarecki, 17) Ron Redmond, 18) David Pelis, 19) David Shippee, 20) David Cook, 21) Biill Dupre, 22) Chase Aussicker, 23) John Hayes, 24) Mark Burch, DNS) Curt Condon
4 Cylinder Single Cam Results (12 Laps) – 1) Tim Meltz, 2) Robert Garney, 3) Will Ryan, 4) Dave LeBarge, 5) Brett Horlacher, 6) James Baker, 7) Bradley Batho, 8) Mark Lindblade, 9) Merton LaBounty, 10) Mike Parodi, DNS) Tyler Burch
4 Cylinder Dual Cam Results (12 Laps) – 1) Steve Ryan, 2) Josh Wood, 3) Ben Grant, 4) Dave Mullineaux, 5) David Frame, 6) Jeff Piscitelli, 7) Jason Lang, DNS) P.J. Bleau, DNS) Keith Tesiero Jr