Malta, NY – The Albany-Saratoga Speedway kicked off Independence Day Weekend in style with double Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified feature events, the second leg of the King of Dirt Pro Stock Series and a massive fireworks display. When all was said and done, Brett Hearn, Kenny Tremont, Jr. and Nick Stone sat in victory lane.
Other winners during the evening were Rocky Warner (Sportsman), Rob Lanfear (Limited Sportsman), Hunter Sanchez (Street Stocks) and Phil DeFiglio (Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinders).
Brett Hearn came into the first 35 lap Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified feature event trailing Tremont in the point standings by a mere eight points. When the checkered flag waved on the held-over feature from June 12th, Hearn would not only be the winner but be leading by 16 points in the standings.
Ray Hoard and Justin Barber led the field to the green with third place starter Brian Gleason taking the early lead. The first part of the event was plagued by cautions and a couple of red flags. On lap two Jessey Mueller spun and while under yellow, Tremont had mechanical issues which forced him pit side. He would return but finished 11th. One lap later the red flag would stop the field when third place in points – Peter Britten, rolled the Jerry Darrah number 14 in turn three. He was able to walk away.
The final restart of the event occurred on lap 12 following a spin by Jimmy Cottrell. Gleason held the lead on the restart with Hearn running second, Hoard third, Ronnie Johnson fourth and Neil Stratton fifth. Johnson moved past Hoard for third on lap 14 and two laps later Hearn took over the top spot. While position two through five changed numerous times over the last half of the race, Hearn was checked out. He picked up the win over Ronnie Johnson, Stratton, Matt Delorenzo and Mark Kislowski.
Tremont was able to bounce back and pick up the win in the regularly scheduled 35 lap event. Matt Depew and Bobby Hackel, IV led the field to the green with Depew taking the early lead. Depew held the top spot for the first 15 laps before giving way to Hackel. Delorenzo also moved past Depew on lap 15 as the trio raced three wide for the race lead. Delorenzo would take over the lead on lap 16 while Tremont moved past Depew for third.
The Sand Lake Slingshot then moved past Hackel for second on lap 17 and Delorenzo for the lead on lap 19. Once out front Tremont would not be caught. Tremont picked up career win number 65 and his third of the season at the Great Race Place over a hard charging Hearn, Delorenzo, Marc Johnson and Kislowski. Heat races for the 30 car field were won by Cottrell, Depew and Hoard.
Rocky Warner won the 25 lap Sportsman feature event. Jack Bublak and Nick Lussier led the field to the green with Bublak taking the early lead over Chris Murray, David Constantino and Jack Gentile. By lap five Bublak had a ten car length lead over Lussier however a caution for a slowing Chris Johnson erased his advantage.
Bublak would remain the leader on the restart with Lussier and Constantino following. On lap nine Lussier took over the top spot, forcing Bublak to second. The lead duo of Lussier and Bublak battled side by side, trading the lead numerous times each lap until lap 20. On lap 20 the Flying Squirrel earned his name. Warner found a gap between the side by side battle between Bublak and Lussier and took advantage of it to make it three wide heading into turn three. He made the move stick and they raced side by side by side through turn four with Warner emerging as the race leader.
Once out front Warner checked out on the field to pick up his second win of the season at the track and fourth of his career. Constantino finished second with Lussier third, Bublak fourth and Joey Scarborough fifth. Heat races for the 30 car field were won by Murray, Lussier and Gentile.
Nick Stone picked up the win in the 30 lap King of Dirt Pro Stock Series event. The win keeps the defending Fonda Speedway Track Champion perfect for the season on the King of Dirt Series.
Jeff Washburn and Kenny Martin, Jr. led the field to the green with Washburn taking the early lead. After a Bernie Companion spin, racing resumed with Walt Brownell out front. Brownell held the top spot until a lap six restart for Martin who stopped on the back stretch. When racing resumed a new battle for the lead emerge between Robbie Speed and Nick Stone. By lap ten the duo pulled away from the field with Rob Yetman taking over third from Brownell.
The trio battled for the top spot until Dan Older, Sr. made contact with Yetman on a lap 18 restart. The contact caused Yetman to spin with a handful of drivers piling in. On the restart Stone was the race leader but Speed was all over him. Stone would eventually pull away for the win over Speed, DePaulo, Cale Kneer and Kim Duell. Heat races for the 30 car field were won by Speed, Brownell and Ed Thompson.
Rob Lanfear picked up his first career Limited Sportsman feature event. Lanfear took the lead early and held on the pick up the win over Zach Daurio, Andrew Buff, Chris Ronca and Pat Jones. Heat races for the 22 car field were won by Ronca, Ken Conroy and Lanfear.
Hunter Sanchez won the 20 lap Street Stock feature event. Frank Monroe was the first to lead the event before giving way to Sanchez on lap eight. Once out front Sanchez held off hard challenges from Randy Miller to pick up the win. Miller finished second with Al Relyea third, Bill Duprey fourth and Jim Monroe fifth. A total of 24 drivers entered the event.
Phil DeFiglio picked up the 15 lap Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinder event. Robert Garney led the early portion of the event before giving way to DeFiglio. Once out front DeFiglio pulled away for the win over Kenny Stager, Ben Grant, Floyd Billington and Garney.
The Great Race Place comes back to life on Tuesday night, July 7th as Brett Hearn presents the Big Show 7 presented by the Recovery Sports Grill, Ferris and VP Race Fuels. Kenny Wallace will also be on hand and in competition. The Sportsman division will be on the card as well. The gates will open at 4 PM, with an autograph session to take place between 5-6 PM and racing to begin at 7 PM. The autograph session is scheduled to include the stars of the Super DIRTcar Series, the top Albany-Saratoga track regulars and Kenny Wallace. For more information about Albany-Saratoga Speedway please log on to www.albany-saratogaspeedway.com.
Modified Results from 06/12 (35 Laps) – 1) Brett Hearn, 2) Ronnie Johnson, 3) Neil Stratton, 4) Matt Delorenzo, 5) Mark Kislowski, 6) Marc Johnson, 7) Brian Gleason, 8) Keith Flach, 9) Hector Stratton, 10) Alex Bell, 11) Ken Tremont Jr, 12) Rob Pitcher, 13) Bobby Hackel IV, 14) Elmo Reckner, 15) Rich Scagliotta, 16) Dylan Scribner, 17) Tyler Dippel, 18) L.J. Lombardo, 19) Jessey Mueller, 20) C.G. Morey, 21) Ray Hoard, 22) Cass Bennett, 23) Justin Barber, 24) Brian Whittemore, 25) Jimmy Cottrell, 26) Matt Depew, 27) Rich Ronca, 28) Don Ronca, 29) Mike Perrotte, 30) Peter Britten, DNS) Anthony Perrego, DNS) Pep Corradi, DNS) Don Mattison, DNS) Mike Minick, DNS) Kris Vernold, DNS) Brett Wright
Modified Results from 07/03 (35 Laps) – 1) Ken Tremont Jr, 2) Brett Hearn, 3) Matt Delorenzo, 4) Marc Johnson, 5) Mark Kislowski, 6) Keith Flach, 7) Peter Britten, 8) Don Ronca, 9) Mike Perrotte, 10) Alex Bell, 11) Tyler Dippel, 12) Elmo Reckner, 13) Matt Depew, 14) L.J. Lombardo, 15) Rob Pitcher, 16) Bobby Hackel IV, 17) Jessey Mueller, 18) Neil Stratton, 19) Hector Stratton, 20) C.G. Morey, 21) Cass Bennett, 22) Dylan Scribner, 23) Ray Hoard, 24) Jimmy Cottrell, 25) Anthony Perrego, 26) Ronnie Johnson, DNS) Justin Barber, DNS) Brian Gleason, DNS) Rich Ronca, DNS) Brian Whittemore, DNS) Rich Scagliotta
Sportsman Results (25 Laps) – 1) Rocky Warner, 2) Dave Constantino, 3) Nick Lussier, 4) Jack Bublak, 5) Joey Scarborough, 6) Derrick McGrew, 7) Jeremy Pitts, 8) Scott Duell, 9) Hunter Bates, 10) Tim Hartman Jr, 11) Colin Bokus, 12) Jack Speshock, 13) Dave Baranowski Jr, 14) Jake Scarborough, 15) John Proctor, 16) Joe Orlando, 17) Pete Jeske, 18) Mike Burdo, 19) Chris Murray, 20) David Schilling, 21) Stan Lemiesz, 22) Robert Bublak, 23) Jack Swinton, 24) Adam Gage, 25) Mike Tholin, 26) Jack Gentile, 27) Chris Johnson, 28) Connor Cleveland, DNS) Nick Anatriello, DNS) Jon Miller
Limited Sportsman Results (15 Laps) – 1) Rob Lanfear, 2) Zach Daurio, 3) Andrew Buff, 4) Christopher Ronca, 5) Pat Jones, 6) Ken Conroy, 7) George Dorvee, 8) Scott Flanders, 9) John Stowell, 10) Scott Bennett Jr, 11) Ben Brownell, 12) Reggie Bonner, 13) Diana Huyck, 14) Brandon Pitcher, 15) Clint Bonner, 16) Matt Westcott, 17) Nick Fretto, 18) Mike Coffey, 19) Johnny Chesnut, 20) Bob Schmidt, 21) Gary Derocher, DNS) Emily Quinn
King of Dirt Series Pro Stock Results (30 Laps) – 1) Nick Stone, 2) Robbie Speed, 3) Dave Depaulo, 4) Cale Kneer, 5) Kim Duell, 6) Dean Charbonneau, 7) Dan Older, 8) Chuck Dumblewski, 9) Walt Brownell, 10) Gus Hollner, 11) Jason Casey, 12) Ken Martin, 13) Luke Horning, 14) Daniel Sanchez, 15) Scott Lawrence, 16) Randy Miller, 17) Devon Camenga, 18) Pete Porter, 19) Steve Burch, 20) Rob Yetman, 21) Jay Casey, 22) Norm Loubier, 23) Ed Thompson, 24) Kevin Loomis, 25) Bernie Companion, 26) Brandon Emigh, 27) Mark Burch, 28) Jeff Washburn, 29) Byron Wescott, 30) Dan Madigan
Street Stock Results (20 Laps) – 1) Hunter Sanchez, 2) Randy Miller, 3) Al Relyea, 4) Bill Duprey, 5) Jim Monroe, 6) David Shippee, 7) Nathan Dahoda, 8) Josh Coonradt, 9) Darrell Older, 10) Jordan Kasper, 11) Damon Anderson, 12) Matt Mosher, 13) John Morris Jr 14) Joe Wolcott, 15) Fred Harris, 16) Jay Severson, 17) Frank Monroe, 18) Ron Redman Jr, 19) David Cook, 20) John Hayes, 21) Curtis Condon, 22) Mike Arnold, 23) Jim Cutler, 24) Mark Dwyer, DNS) Jeremy Hayes
4 Cylinder Combined Results (15 Laps) – 1) Phil DeFiglio, 2) Ken Stager, 3) Steve Ryan, 4) Mike Parodi, 5) Robert Garney, 6) Dave LaBarge, 7) Brett Horlacher, 8) Need Driver Name, 9) Ben Grant, DNS) Steve Jones
4 Cylinder Single Cam Results – 1) Mike Parodi, 2) Robert Garney, 3) Dave LaBarge, 4) Brett Horlacher, DNS) Steve Jones
4 Cylinder Dual Cam Results – 1) Phil DeFiglio, 2) Ken Stager, 3) Steve Ryan, 4) Need Driver Name 5) Ben Grant