8.29.14 Albany Saratoga Speedway Results
Malta, NY – With the close of the 2014 Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified season at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway one thing was certainly proven true, Brett Hearn is the man at the fast, four tenths of a mile oval. Hearn and the Madsen Motorsports team picked up their ninth feature win of the season Friday evening in the divisions finale and in the process officially was name the 2014 division track champion for the seventh time.
“This has been a phenomenal year,” Hearn said. “The racing here has been phenomenal like always and we have just been the superior team this year for the most part. My teammates have been sensational. We needed this championship for the overall DIRTcar deal and that is important to the team.”
In other action Jon Miller picked up his first career Sportsman feature event while Byron Wescott won the DIRTcar Pro Stock 25 lap feature. Rob Yetman was crowned the 2014 DIRTcar Pro Stock Track Champion. Shannon Donnelley won her first career Limited Sportsman feature event while Randy Miller was the Don Don’s Delights Street Stock feature winner.
Jimmy Cottrell and Rich Ronca led the Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified field down to starter Rich Peterson’s green flag with Cottrell jumping out to the early lead over Ronca, another second generation driver – Neal Stratton, Matt Delorenzo and Keith Flach. The first of numerous caution periods slowed the field on lap two; this one was for a spun Justin Barber. Don Mattison spun in turn two on the restart, resulting in another caution flag period.
When racing resumed Cottrell remained the race leader with Ronca, Delorenzo, Stratton and Brian Gleason following. Ronca moved to the lead on lap five while at the same time Peter Britten moved into the top five and Hearn climbed to eighth. Delorenzo took over second from Cottrell on lap seven only to have the pass negated by a Ronnie Johnson spin.
On the restart Britten powered from the fourth position to the lead before a lap could be completed. Ronca followed in second with Delorenzo third, Cottrell fourth and Stratton fifth. On lap nine Delorenzo moved past Ronca for second and set his sights on Britten. At the same time Gleason took over the fourth position. Three laps later Cottrell regained the fourth spot from Britten.
Britten looked to be well on his way to another checkered flag at the Great Race Place however on lap 12 that all changed. The Australian native slowed with a flat right rear tire, which forced the yellow flag to wave.
Delorenzo would now be the race leader and led the field back to the green with Ronca, Gleason, Cottrell and Hearn following. Todd Ryan spun on lap 14 to force another caution flag and subsequent restart. After Stratton spun on the first restart attempt, Delorenzo would lead on the second with Ronca, Gleason, Hearn and Kenny Tremont, Jr. following.
This is where Tremont and Hearn started to make their charge. They both moved past Gleason on lap 15 for third and fourth respectfully with Tremont taking second from Ronca on lap 17. Gleason slowed in turn two at the half way point forcing another caution flag period. Delorenzo led on the restart with Tremont and Hearn in pursuit. On lap 21 Flach took over fourth from Ronca while Marc Johnson would enter the top five for the first time on lap 22.
Dylan Scribner and Keith Flach would bring out the final two caution flags on lap 23 and 25 respectfully. On the final restart Delorenzo led with Tremont, Hearn, Johnson and now Britten following. On lap 27 Delorenzo, Tremont and Hearn had the crowd on their feet as they battled three wide for the race lead. They raced three wide until Delorenzo got a bit too far up the track and went over the turn one and two banking. He would fall to fifth.
Hearn then took the lead with Tremont following. Once out front Hearn pulled away to his ninth win of the season at the Route 9 facility. Tremont had to settle for second with Johnson third, Britten fourth and Delorenzo fifth. Heat races for the 24 car field were won by Stratton, Tremont and Delorenzo.
Jon Miller picked up his first career Sportsman division feature event win. Rob Maxon and Miller led the stout 32 car field to the green with Miller taking the early lead. After two caution flags slowed the event on lap one, Miller once again was the race leader over Maxon. On lap four Maxon spun in turn four, causing another caution flag period.
With Maxon relinquishing the second position due to the spin, Dave Baranowski, Jr. would be the new second place runner. Baranowski held the spot until giving way to Hunter Bates on lap 17. Bates would chase Miller for the remainder of the event but could not catch the former full fender standout. Bates held on for second with Baranowski third, Derrick McGrew fourth and Cody Bleau fifth. Heat races for the 32 car field were won by Maxon, Miller and Baranowski.
Byron Wescott picked up the DIRTcar Pro Stock season points finale. Brandon Emigh was the first to lead the event and held the top spot before giving way to Walt Brownell on a lap two restart. Brownell remained the leader until Wescott powered past on lap 22. Wescott brought home the win over Brownell, Robbie Speed, Bernie Companion and Rob Yetman. Heat races for the 18 car field were won by Emigh and Wescott.
The battle for the DIRTcar Pro Stock title came down to the final event. Yetman came into the night only one point ahead of Kenny Martin, Jr. Early on Yetman was involved in a multi-car tangle that forced him to restart from the rear while Martin was battling for a top five position. On a lap 12 restart Martin spun in between turns one and two which pretty much handed the title to Yetman. Yetman would be crowned track champion. With his win, Wescott was able to move up to the second position with Martin falling to third.
Shannon Donnelly picked up her first career Limited Sportsman feature event. Donnelly led the entire 15 lap distance to claim the win over Jack Bublak, Alissa Cody, Zach Daurio and Christopher Ronca. A total of 20 drivers entered the event with heat races being won by Bublak and Donnelly.
Randy Miller claimed his eighth Don Don’s Delights Street Stock feature event of the season. Miller took the lead from Bill Duprey on lap ten and never looked back. Miller was followed by Duprey, Damon Anderson, Al Relyea and Scott Lawrence. A total of 18 drivers entered the event.
The Albany-Saratoga Speedway returns to action this Friday night with the CRSA RaceSaver Sprint Car Series highlighting the evening. The Sportsman, Limited Sportsman, Don Don’s Delights Street Stocks, Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinders and an Enduro will also be on the card. Racing is set to begin at 7pm.
Coming up on Friday September 12th the annual Northeast Crate Nationals will take center stage. The Sportsman division will be on hand for a $2,225 to win event along with the Street Stock division and an event for the Pro Stocks. Please stay tuned for further announcements regarding this event.
Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified Results (35 Laps) – 1) Brett Hearn, 2) Ken Tremont Jr, 3) Marc Johnson, 4) Peter Britten, 5) Matt Delorenzo, 6) Neil Stratton, 7) Rich Ronca, 8) Mark Kislowski, 9) Don Ronca, 10) Elmo Reckner, 11) Keith Flach, 12) Hector Stratton, 13) Justin Barber, 14) Dylan Scribner, 15) Don Mattison, 16) Jimmy Cottrell, 17) Brian Gleason, 18) Todd Ryan, 19) Bobby Hackle IV, 20) Mike Perrotte 21) Ronnie Johnson, DNS) Matt Depew, DNS) Todd Morey, DNS) Rich Scagliotta
Sportsman Results (25 Laps) – 1) Jon Miller, 2) Hunter Bates, 3) Dave Baranowski Jr, 4) Derrick McGrew, 5) Cody Bleau, 6) Jeremy Pitts, 7) Alex Bell, 8) Mike Ostrander, 9) Colin Bokus, 10) Jack Speshock, 11) Jake Scarborough, 12) Chris Johnson, 13) Mike Burdo, 14) Nick Lussier, 15) Jack Swinton, 16) Connor Cleveland, 17) Pete Jeske, 18) Adam Gage, 19) Tim Hodge, 20) Bert Film, 21) Rob Maxon, 22) Joe Orlando, 23) Scott Duell, 24) Timothy Davis, 25) John Proctor, 26) Robert Bublak, 27) Ricky Quick, 28) David Emigh, 29) Olden Dwyer, 30) Elliott Lussier, 31) Mike Tholin, DNS) Chris Murray
Limited Sportsman Results (15 Laps) – 1) Shannon Donnelly, 2) Jack Bublak, 3) Alissa Cody, 4) Zach Daurio, 5) Christopher Ronca, 6) Ricky Davis, 7) Andrew Buff, 8) Anthony Alger, 9) Travis Billington, 10) Brandon Pitcher, 11) Matt Atwood, 12) Ron Casey, 13) Emily Quinn, 14) Wally Potter, 15) Diana Huyck, 16) Walter Cook, 17) Scott Flanders, 18) Nick Fretto, 19) Steve Wagoner, 20) Bruce Schwab, DNS) Jesse Edwards
DIRTcar Pro Stock Results (25 Laps) – 1) Byron Wescott, 2) Walt Brownell, 3) Robbie Speed, 4) Bernie Companion, 5) Rob Yetman, 6) Brandon Emigh, 7) Dan Older, 8) Bill Smith, 9) Pete Broderson, 10) Danny Wood, 11) Dave Depaulo, 12) Ken Martin, 13) Kevin VanChance, 14) Kim Duell, 15) Jeff McPhail, 16) Jeff Washburn, 17) Ed Thompson, 18) Norm Loubier
Don Don’s Delights Street Stock Results (20 Laps) – 1) Randy Miller, 2) Bill Duprey, 3) Damon Anderson, 4) Al Relyea, 5) Scott Lawrence, 6) Paul Braymer, 7) Hunter Sanchez, 8) Darrell Older, 9) Matt Mosher, 10) John Hayes, 11) Paul Mulrain, 12) Jordan Kasper, 13) Jody Thew, 14) Jason Barrett, 15) Josh Coonradt, 16) George Dorvee, 17) Jason Meltz, DNS) Chase Aussicker