8.23.24 Albany Saratoga Speedway Results

MALTA – Jack Speshock may have finally found a gameplan that works.

Start outside the top 10, hug the bottom, end up in victory lane.

It worked for him on May 10, and it worked for him again Friday night as he chalked up his second win of the season in the 35-lap NAPA Modifieds feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

“It’s good to get my second win,” said Speshock in victory lane. “The first time, I started 12th, and tonight, I started 11th. Apparently, I have to start a little further back in the field.”

And apparently, he has to be fast on a night when no one else wants to run the bottom.

As the early stages of the feature progressed, pole-sitter CG Morey; Todd Ryan, who started third; and Don Ronca, who started fifth, were all anxious to run the top, and were putting on a show. But that proved to be their downfall. Ryan pulled up behind Morey on lap 14 and began to look low, but couldn’t make anything stick. That allowed Ryan McCartney, who had passed Ronca for third, to begin to pressure Ryan for second.

McCartney got underneath Ryan on lap 16 to take over the No. 2 spot and the next time around, went around Morey coming out of the fourth turn to snatch the lead.

All that time, Speshock was slowly making his way through the field, and was up to third by lap 20.

The next time around, Speshock stayed low and got past Ryan for second. By that time, McCartney had caught the tail end of the field and that was all Speshock needed. He bided his time, and then got a huge run coming out of the fourth turn on lap 25 to take over the lead. At the completion of the all-green flag feature, he had his third career victory.

“My car was hooked up on the bottom, and no else wanted to run there, just as they did the first time I won this year,” he said. “I just had to stay patient and pick them off one by one.”

McCartney finished second, the best finish of his career at Albany-Saratoga, and Matt DeLorenzo charged from 15th to third. Ryan, who came out of a long retirement this season, had his first top-five finish of the season, and Brian Calabrese finished fifth, which was just his second top-five finish this season.

Peter Britten crossed the finish line sixth, after starting 16th, and moved one step closer to his second modified point championship at Albany-Saratoga.

Michael Ballestero ended his year-long-plus winless streak in the 25-lap sportsman feature, which paid $1,200 to win through sponsorship from Crane’s Outdoor Power Equipment. The 65-year-old Ballestero, who sits second on the all-time sportsman win list at Malta with 36 wins, hadn’t been to victory lane at Malta since May 23, 2023.

After starting third in the 30-car field, Ballestero only needed four laps to get to the front and got a big break on lap 12. Just as he was going to catch heavy traffic at the tail end of the field, Tony Farone brought out the only caution of the race. Getting a good jump on the restart, Ballestero went right back to the lead and had clear sailing the rest of the way.

Craig Wholey got under Elliot Lussier coming out of the fourth turn on the final lap to finish second.

“The car was good tonight,” said Ballestero. “Jack Cottrell helped set it up tonight. My crew has never lost faith in me, but I wasn’t sure if this (winning) was going to happen again.”

Jordan Modiano started on the pole and led flag-to-flag to record his second career victory in the 25-lap pro stock feature, which also paid $1,200, thanks to Crane’s Outdoor Power Services. With the feature being run caution–free, Modiano was able to hold off a late charge by Brandon Emigh, who was looking for his sixth win of the season.

“My tires went away,” said Modiano, who will be promoting the $10,000-to-win Autism Awareness Night pro stock feature on Sept. 6. “This track is tough. It’s definitely good to be back here (in victory lane).”

The pro stocks also took part in the Four States Enterprises Dash for Cash, with Shane Henderson taking home the $200 bonus.

Rookie Sloan Cherko recorded her first career win in the 20-lap limited sportsman feature. Cherko, a graduate of the slingshot division, used a restart on lap five to get the lead and had to be perfect on two more restarts to hold off Nick Brundige for the win.

P.J. Cram Jr. passed Al Relyea coming out of the fourth turn on the final lap to record his fourth win of the season in the 20-lap street stock feature, and Kyle Lanfear bounced back after winding up on his roof one week ago to get the overall win in the 15-lap four-cylinder feature. The victory was Lanfear’s eighth single-cam win. Josh Rheome finished second overall, and had the first dual-cam car across the finish line.

Round’s Paving, which occupied the VIP Tower Friday night, put up a $200 bonus to the second-place finisher in five of the features, and split the $200 for the second-place finishers in each four-cylinder division.

NAPA MODIFIEDS: JACK SPESHOCK, Ryan McCartney, Matt DeLorenzo, Todd Ryan, Brian Calabrese, Peter Britten, Justin Stone, Mike Mahaney, Marc Johnson, Demetrios Drellos, Jeremy Pitts, Jessey Mueller, CG Morey, Kolby Schroder, Don Ronca, Scott Huber, David Schilling, Jack Lehner, Rich Ronca, Derek Bornt, Adam Pierson, Neil Stratton, Walter J. Hammond, Matt Depew, Walt Hammond Jr., Brendon Darrah, Brandon Daley, James Meehan.

DOUG WHOLEY’S IDEAL EXCAVATING SPORTSMAN: MICHAEL BALLESTERO, Craig Wholey, Elliot Lussier, Connor Crane, Mike Benson, Fire Swamp, Pat Jones, Tim Hartman Jr., Chris Jakubiak, Mike Coffey Jr., Dylan Madsen, Bryce Breault, Dan Grignon, Zach Buff, Dylan Grogan, Cody Ochs, Dave Baranowski Jr., Jeff Washburn, Tyler Rapp, Scott Bennett, Taylor LaPlante, Scott Duell, Jon Miller, Daryl Nutting, Drew Cormie, Alex Palmer-Swayer, Brendon Gibbons, Tony Farone, Chris Crane Jr., Michael Wagner Fitzgerald.

SARATOGA MASONRY SUPPLY PRO STOCKS: JORDAN MODIANO, Brandon Emigh, Shane Henderson, Caden Dumblewski, Beau Ballard, Rich Crane, Kim Duell, Kyle Hoard, Scott Duell, Chris Wemple, Chucky Dumblewski, Andy Graves, Phil Defiglio, Shawn Perez Jr., Jason Casey, Ivan Joslin, Pete Vila, Mike Baker, Hugh Page.

HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: SLOAN CHERKO, Nick Brundige, Nick Auspelmyer, Lucas Duncan, Chase Zimmer, Cordell Younger, John Santolin, Mike Block, Nick Arnold, Tanner Coon, David Zelker, Steve Burch, Blake Patrick, Colton Emigh, Jordan Hill, Alex Smith, Walter Cook, Mike Baker, Chayton Young, Owen Lewis, Noah Carlo, Dan Seguin, Gus Kamburellis, Matthew Gebo, Dakota Green.

CORNELL AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: P.J. CRAM JR., Al Relyea, Dan Madigan, Chris Stalker, Mark Burch, John Filarecki, John Hemming, Derek Van Veghten, Tim McFarland, DJ Mabb, Matt Mosher, Damien Ward, Dana Van Veghten, Ray Pierre Jr., Dan Buell, Chase Thompson, Dave Cook, Jason Barrett, Josh Bussino.

GREG’S TOWING FOUR-CYLINDERS: KYLE LANFEAR, Josh Rheome (first dual-cam finisher), David Frame, Micah Grant, Dawson Thompson, Ben Ladd, Chris Danylieko, Anthony Johnson.