Friday August 29, 2025 Results
Posted on August 30, 2025 by admin
~ MALTA – Although it took five months, Jack Speshock finally got his shower Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
Speshock came out on top of a hold-your-breath battle with Brian Calabrese and Ronnie Johnson to win the 35-lap modified feature that highlighted Championship Night at the historic Malta overall.
The win, worth $3,000, was Speshock’s fourth career win at Malta and Speshock got his traditional beer shower from his crew, although he swears he doesn’t drink beer. Speshock also became the 13th different winner in the modified division this season.
Championships were also awarded in the top divisions at Malta on Friday. Mike Mahaney chalked up his second modified title, Tim Hartman Jr. walked off with his sixth sportsman title and Pete Stefanski locked up his first pro stock championship.
With Calabrese starting on the pole and Speshock lining up third, a race-long battle was inevitable in the big block modified feature, and that’s just what the fans got. Calabrese and Speshock went right to the front and started a side-by-side battle, with Speshock on the top.
After an early caution on lap five bunched the field, Johnson, who had started seventh, moved into the No. 3 spot on lap six.
Speshock was building up momentum on the outside, but Calabrese, who has been a serious contender throughout the month of August, was getting huge runs out of the second turn to maintain his lead, and all the time, Johnson was sitting back in third, watching for a place to strike.
By lap 15, Calabrese had gotten a little breathing room, opening up a three-car lead and at the same time, Johnson was starting to make a run at Speshock.
Johnson and Speshock were side-by-side on lap 20, and the next time around, Johnson ducked low in the fourth turn and rocketed by Speshock, who also had a brush with the frontstretch wall.
The leaders started to catch the rear of the field on lap 29, and quickly bunched up again. Johnson had to move to the top to find some racing room, and on lap 31, Speshock saw an opening in the third turn. He dove to the middle and threaded the needle between Johnson and Calabrese, coming out of the fourth turn with the lead when Calabrese tried to throw a slider that didn’t stick.
Speshock came away with the win, while Matt DeLorenzo, who had started eighth, nosed past Calabrese for second on the final lap. Ronnie Johnson and Marc Johnson completed the top five.
Mahaney finished sixth, which gave him an 11-point cushion over Marc Johnson in the championship race.
“When Ronnie went by me and I hit the wall, I started to panic,” said Speshock after the race. “But I told myself to just stay focused on every corner, every lap. Brian started climbing up the track and I hit him a couple of times coming out of four. But I had such a head of steam built up that I didn’t want to get off the top.”
“I’m not frustrated,” said Calabrese, who was again denied his first modified win. “I had a winning car, but the tire chunked out. If the tire didn’t go, I would have won.”
The final leg of the DiCarlo Auto Body 358 Shootout Series was also run Friday night, with Mahaney winning the 25-lap feature to put the icing on his championship night.
When the field regrouped after a caution on lap 13, Ronnie Johnson was sitting in the lead, with Felix Roy second and Mahaney third. Mahaney grabbed the No. 2 spot on the restart, and then got inside Johnson in turn two on lap 21 and came out with the lead.
He chalked up his third of the series, but Roy’s third-place finish allowed him to win the series title, as well as the track 358 modified championship.
Mike Coffey Jr. won the Four States Enterprises 358 Modified Dash for Cash, taking home a $200 bonus.
Brandon Emigh started on the outside pole and used that advantage to come away with his first victory of the season in the 25-lap pro stock feature.
Stefanski finished fifth, giving him his first championship at Malta. Kim Duell, who finished 10th on Friday night, finished behind Stefanski in the point race.
Elliot Lussier drove to his first career victory in the 25-lap sportsman feature, which paid $1,060 to win through sponsorship from Greenacres Landscaping. Lussier started on the pole and led every lap, but a number of cautions gave him some anxious moments.
Nick Brundige and Chris Jakubiak locked into a wild battle for second late in the race. Jakubiak got under Brundige for second on lap 19. Jakubiak and Brundige caught Lussier with three laps to go, but on lap 22, those two made contact, with Brundige bouncing off the front stretch wall, allowing Lussier to come away with his first career win. Brundige finished second, with Jakubiak third.
“I’m so happy,” said Lussier in victory lane. “Everything I’ve touched in my life, I’ve been able to conquer, but not this. I can’t even believe it.”
Hartman Jr. only needed to take the green flag to win his sixth sportsman championship, and that’s about all he did. He was involved in a wreck on the fourth lap and finished 27th, but still had enough points to keep his title away from Connor Crane, who finished fourth.
Alex Smith picked up his second win of the season in the 20-lap limited sportsman feature. Smith, who started seventh, used a restart on lap eight to get the lead and then held off a strong challenge from Nick Arnold. That’s the way they finished, despite a rash of restarts, and points lead Bodie Marks finished third, after starting 12th.
Matt Mosher broke PJ Cram Jr.’s two-race winning streak in the 20-lap street stock feature. Shane Wetherington started on the pole, but lost the top spot to Mark Burch on lap eight. Cram, who started 15th, made his way up to sixth by lap 10, but on a restart, Wetherington, who was running second, spun in the fourth turn and Cram had to jump on the brakes to avoid a collision, which sent him to the rear of the field.
Mosher, who had started 12th, used the back-to-back restarts to move into second and then took the lead away from Burch on lap 14. Despite one more restart, Mosher notched the win, with Burch second and Tyler Irwin, an Airborne Park regular who pilots a truck body on his street stock, was third, after starting 17th.
Adam Montville had to use a last-lap, last-corner pass to pick up his seventh win of the season in the 15-lap four-cylinder feature. Josh Reome and Montville went right to the front and quickly turned the feature into a two-car race. Late in the feature, they found Art Howe blocking their path. Reome bounced off Howe, which then allowed Montville make a big run out of the fourth turn to nip Reome at the finish line. Ben Ladd finished second overall, and won the single-cam division.
NEXT GENERATION ROOFING MODIFIEDS: JACK SPESHOCK, Matt DeLorenzo, Brian Calabrese, Ronnie Johnson, Marc Johnson, Mike Mahaney, Felix Roy, David Schilling, Justin Stone, Rich Ronca, Jeremy Pitts, Neil Stratton, Don Ronca, Derek Bornt, Josh Masterson, CG Morey, Peter Britten, Brandon Daley, Jack Lehner, Bobby Hackel IV, Adam Pierson.
DICARLO’S AUTO BODY 358 SHOOTOUT SERIES: MIKE MAHANEY, Ronnie Johnson, Felix Roy, Matt DeLorenzo, Bobby Hackel IV, Mike Coffey Jr., Peter Britten, Walter J. Hammond, Neil Stratton, James Fadden, Walter J. Hammond, Josh Masterson, Chris Curtis, Brendan Gibbons, David Schilling, Allan Hammond, Matt Woodruff, Dale Gray, Troy Audet, Garrett Poland, Brian Whittemore, Joe Pravia, Todd Morey, Taylor Wason.
DOUG WHOLEY’S IDEAL EXCAVATING SPORTSMAN: ELLIOT LUSSIER, Nick Brundige, Chris Jakubiak, Connor Crane, Dan Grignon, Michael Wagner-Fitzgerald, Zach Buff, Derrick McGrew Jr., Daryl Nutting, Michael Ballestero, Drew Cormie, Chris Crane Jr., Joey Scarborough, Chad Gregory, Cody Ochs, Josh Coonradt, Nick Lussier, Jon Miller, Alex Palmer-Sawyer, AJ Alsup, Dave Baranowski, Scott Bennett Jr., Brent Bouplon, Dylan Madsen, Jeff Washburn, Mike Benson, Tim Hartman Jr.
SARATOGA MASONRY SUPPLY PRO STOCKS: BRANDON EMIGH, Caden Dumblewski, Shane Henderson, Kyle Hoard, Pete Stefanski, Ivan Joslin, Beau Ballard, Chucky Dumblewski, Kim Duell, Jaxson Ryan, Jay Casey, PJ Cram, Justin Taylor, Jason Casey, Pete Vila, Dan Tiley, Chris Wemple, Jimmy Duncan, Nick Stone, Rich Crane, Jordan Modiano.
HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMEN: ALEX SMITH, Nick Arnold, Bodie Marks, Dave Zelker, James Galarneau, Dan Odell, Cordell Younger, Mike Baker, Jordan Hill, Jaden Pierce, Zach Delaney, Colten Emigh, Josh Carlo, Devon Palmer, Dennis Wischman, Will Palmer, Chayton Young, Jon Coon, Dan Seguin, Steve Burch, Dylan Shippee.
CORNELL’S AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: MATT MOSHER, Mark Burch, Tyler Irwin, Chris Murray, Andrew Fitzgerald, PJ Cram, Josh Hemming, Mike Duggan, Dana Van Veghten, John Filarecki, Dan Madigan, John Drake, Jake Middleton, Tim McFarland, Shane Wetherington, Fred Shippee, Derek Van Veghten, Mitchell Tucker Seguin.
GREG’S TOWING FOUR-CYLINDERS: ADAM MONTVILLE, Josh Reome, Ben Ladd (first single-cam finisher), Lindell Condon, Randy Tubbs, Art Howe, Josh Ramsey Jr., Daniel Joubert, Jayde Pope, Josh Ramsey, David Frame, Ashlynn Ramsey, Chris Danylieko, Lucas Condon.