7.14.23 Albany Saratoga Speedway Results
MALTA – There was nothing normal about Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
A sun shower right as the National Anthem was completed turned a tacky racing surface into a gooey mess, and prompted a one-hour rain delay.
The Napa Modified feature was marred by an accident before the green flag even flew.
Demetrios Drellos again had the fastest car on the race track, but came away disappointed and couldn’t cash in on the Madsen Overhead Doors Back-to-Back Bonus.
And Ronnie Johnson was in the right place at the right time and won the 35-lap NAPA Modified feature, becoming the first three-time winner at the track this season. The victory was worth $3,000.
On the original start, Neil Stratton was on the pole, with Keith Flach sitting behind him. But as the pack went into the fourth turn to take the green, Flach got into the rear of Stratton’s car and the two locked together, forcing starter Rich Peterson to wave the yellow instead of the green.
When the two cars were separated, Flach went to the pits, which meant he had to relinquish his third starting spot, and instead went to the rear. That shuffled the inside line, moving Drellos from 11th to ninth, which turned out to be important.
When the field finally got the green, Stratton jumped into the lead, with CG Morey in tow, but there was Johnson, who was moved up to fifth by Flach’s departure, jumping into third.
While many of the drivers were testing the bottom, Drellos went right to the top, and was fourth after five laps. A caution came out on lap six, when Mike Mahaney suffered a flat right rear tire … the first of many in the feature … and Johnson drove by Morey on the restart to take over the second spot.
But Drellos was rolling. On lap seven. Johnson followed Stratton into the second turn on the bottom, leaving the top wide open for Drellos. He rocketed by both of the lead cars coming out of the second turn and had the lead when he hit the start/finish line.
Drellos easily pulled away from Johnson and Stratton, but on lap 17, his right rear tire exploded going into the first turn, bringing out another caution and giving the lead to Johnson.
“I must have hit some debris,” said Drellos after the race. “I’ve never had a tire explode like that.”
Johnson moved out to a comfortable lead, with Morey running the race of his life in second, but Johnson’s big lead was negated when Peter Britten had a left rear flat in the closing stages of the race.
Johnson bounced through ruts in the turns in the final five laps of the race, but still finished with a comfortable 1.057-second lead over Adam Pierson, who had worked his way around Morey for the No. 2 spot with two laps to go.
Morey finished third for the second time this season, followed by Marc Johnson and Jeremy Pitts. Drellos came from the rear of the field to finish sixth.
Asked after the race if he had been worried about his tires, Johnson said, “I wasn’t worried about them wearing out. I was worried about them going flat. We had a really rough track tonight. I was bouncing around hard out there.”
Dylan Madsen and Dan Grignon won the dual 20-lap sportsman feature, which were also marred by cautions.
The first feature got off to a rocky start, as polesitter Jeff Washburn got out of shape in the first turn and when he was hit by Jim Osgood, spun in front of the field. That incident collected a number of contenders, but Madsen was quick to jump on the brakes and pull away, only losing a couple of positions from his eighth starting position.
Osgood went on to lead the first 12 laps, but Madsen used a restart on lap 13 to get the lead and he went on to beat Bryce Breault by over three seconds for his second win of the season.
Grignon started on the outside pole and led all 20 laps in the second feature, but the big story of the race occurred on lap two, when an incident in the second turn sent Daryl Nutting into a spin, and four-time champion Tim Hartman Jr. had nowhere to go, slamming into Nutting’s car. That left Hartman Jr. with an 18th place finish.
Michael Ballestero won the Four States Enterprises Sportsman Dash for Cash, which was worth $200.
Jay Casey held off a late charge from Brandon Emigh to win the 25-lap pro stock feature, which paid $1,000 to win through sponsorship from A to Z Landscaping. Chucky Dumblewski, who is still looking for his first win of the season, started on the outside pole in the caution-plagued feature and Jay Casey, who started fourth, eventually used a restart on lap 13 to take the lead coming out of the second turn.
Emigh, who started 14th, worked his way to the front and took over second, but ran out of time in his bid to catch Casey. Dumblewski came across the finish line third.
In another caution-plagued feature, Mike Parodi avoided all the chaos and recorded his second win of the season in the 20-lap feature, which paid $50 to win through sponsorship from Gary and Patricia Van Alstyne.
Dylan Grogan made a late charge, but still finished over a half-second behind Parodi. Steve Burch finished third.
Mike Bussino came away with his second win of the season in the 20-lap street stock feature. Bussino started third and only needed two laps to get the lead. PJ Cram Jr., who was in contention for a back-to-back bonus, was racing second when something in his right rear suspension broke on lap 18, bringing out a caution. Chris Stalker tried to make a last-ditch pass on the restart, but got out of shape, allowing Jeff Meltz Sr. to finish in the runner-up position.
Adam Montville dominated the 15-lap four-cylinder feature, charging from his seventh starting position to get the lead on lap two and then outrunning Damian Ward to record his second victory of the year. But Ward was disqualified after the feature. Kyle Lanfear finished fourth overall and had the first single-cam car across the finish line.
NAPA MODIFIEDS: RONNIE JOHNSON, Adam Pierson, CG Morey, Marc Johnson, Jeremy Pitts, Demetrios Drellos, Jack Speshock, Neil Stratton, Matt DeLorenzo, Jack Lehner, Derek Bornt, Mike Mahaney, Josh Hohenforst, Vinnie Visconti, Peter Britten, Ken Tremont Jr., Ryan Maccartney, Robert Bublak Jr., Keith Flach, Brett Graham, Brandon Daley, Don Ronca, Justin Stone, Brian Calabrese, Rich Ronca, Kris Vernold.
NORTHEAST PAVING AND SEALCOATING SPORTSMAN (first feature, 20 laps): DYLAN MADSEN, Bryce Breault, Ron Proctor, Joey Scarborough, Andrew Buff, Jim Osgood, Dave Baranowski Jr., Chad Edwards, Pat Jones, Erik Mack, Mike Ballestero, Mike Benson, Marty Kelly III, Justin Barber, Tommy D’Angelo, Cody Ochs, Drew Cormie, Jeff Washburn, Chris Jakubiak.
NORTHEAST PAVING AND SEALCOATING SPORTSMAN (second feature, 20 laps): DAN GRIGNON, Nick Lussier, Elliot Lussier, Tyler Rapp, Daryl Nutting, Mike Coffey Jr., Derrick McGrew Jr., Zach Buff, Michael Wagner Fitzgerald, Travis Witbeck, Craig Wholey, Jon Miller, Taylor LaPlante, David Boisclair, Chris Crane Jr., Scott Bennett, Scott Duell, Tim Hartman Jr.
SARATOGA MASONRY SUPPLY PRO STOCKS: JAY CASEY, Brandon Emigh, Chucky Dumblewski, Rich Crane, Jay Corbin, Shane Henderson, Dean Charbonneau, Phil Defiglio, Dom Denue, Kyle Hoard, Jason Casey, Luke Horning, Kim Duell, Jordan Modiano, Ken Allen, Mike Baker, Zach Daniels, Pete Vila, Slater Baker, Jaxson Ryan, Jimmy Eaton.
HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: MIKE PARODI, Dylan Grogan, Steve Burch, James Galarneau, Nick Arnold, Alex Palmer-Sawyer, Connor Crane, Chase Zimmer, Scott Towslee, Mike Baker, John Santolin, Chad Gregory, Nick Auspelmyer, Mike Arnold, Ron Delease, Joe Venditti, David Zelker, Tanner Coon, Mike Engwer, Dan Seguin, Walter Cook, Dakota Green, Jordan Hill, Sara Arnold.
LAKE AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: MIKE BUSSINO, Jeff Meltz Sr., Jimmy Duncan, Josh Hemming, Dan Madigan, Chris Stalker, Mark Lester, Nick Napoli, Bill Thwaits, Jason Barrett, Ray Pierre Jr., Dan Buell, Mark Burch, Russell Alloggio, Pat Cram Jr., Jason Samrov, Jeff Dellea, Fred Shippee, Dylan Shippee, Matt Mosher, Tim McFarland.
GREG’S TOWING FOUR-CYLINDERS: ADAM MONTVILLE, David Frame, Josh Ramsey, Kyle Lanfear, Robert Garney, John Mason, Olivia Swinton, Brittany Ladd, Tom Hill, Matt Tedrow, Daniel Joubert, Chris Danylieko, Ashlynn Ramsey, Shawn Speed, Andrew Palmer, Jordan Terry. DQ – Damian Ward.