Friesen Flexes His Muscle Over Malta Modifieds

Friesen Wins 5th Of Albany-Saratoga Season As Points Races Tighten

Story By: TOBY LAGRANGE / ALBANY SARATOGA SPEEDWAY MEDIA

Photos By: DAVE DALESANDRO / RACERSGUIDE.COM

Malta, NY –August 27, 2016-  Stewart Friesen and Jeremy Pitts were the big winners Friday night at the Albany-Saratoga however it was the points race in each driver’s respective division that are sharing the spotlight headed into next Friday nights action.

In the Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified division Brett Hearn holds a one-point lead over Marc Johnson heading into Friday night’s points finale. In the Sportsman division Jeremy Pitts holds a one-point lead over Connor Cleveland heading into the finale.

Hector Stratton, a staple at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway and former track champion was honored before the features began. The Bennington, Vermont driver will be hanging up his helmet at the end of the season.

He has 13 career feature wins at the track. Stratton and track announcer Danny Martin reminisced about his career at the Great Race Place before being presented with a special gift from track promoter Lyle DeVore.

Rich Ronca and Bobby Hackel, IV led the field to the green with Hackel taking the initial lead over Kris Vernold, Elmo Reckner, Rich Ronca and Jesse Mueller. Rob Pitcher would take fifth from Mueller and then fourth from Ronca on lap three. Matt Depew came to a stop in turn four on lap four to bring out the caution flag.

On the restart Hackel held the lead with Reckner second, Vernold third, Pitcher fourth and Stewart Friesen fifth. Friesen quickly closed on Pitcher and began to challenge for fourth. On lap 11 Friesen moved into the fourth position. On lap 11 Pitcher spun in turn four, forcing a caution period.

When racing resumed Hackel suffers mechanical issues and headed pit side. Reckner took over the lead with Friesen second, Vernold third, J.R. Heffner fourth and Rich Ronca fifth. Pep Corradi and Brian Whittemore spun in turn four on lap 14 to bring out the caution flag. On the restart Reckner held the lead with Friesen, Heffner, Vernold and Marc Johnson following.

At the halfway point the top five remained the same with Johnson challenging Vernold for the fourth position. The caution flag waved on lap 19 for Whittemore who spun in turn two. The restart would see Heffner break coming to the green. The second attempt at the restart would be single file with Reckner the race leader over Friesen, Vernold, Johnson and Ronnie Johnson.

Friesen took the lead on lap 26 just as the caution flag waved for Kenny Tremont, Jr. who slowed in turns three and four. On the restart Friesen holds the lead with Reckner second, Ronnie Johnson third, Marc Johnson fourth and Brian Gleason fifth. On lap 29 Marc Johnson moved past Ronnie Johnson with Brett Hearn taking over fifth. On lap 32 Marc Johnson made a big move and took over second.

Friesen would lead the rest of the way to pick up the win over Marc Johnson, Ronnie Johnson, Reckner and Hearn. Heat races for the 30 car Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified field were won by Hector Stratton, Vernold and Hackel.

Jeremy Pitts won the 25 lap Featherfoot Sportsman Series feature event. Jack Swinton and Zach Daurio led the field to the green with Swinton taking the early lead over Daurio, Daryl Nutting, Mike Ostrander and Jon Miller. Ken Conroy took over fifth on lap four. A half lap later Daurio spun in turn two. Swinton held on to the lead on the restart with Nutting and Conroy in pursuit. Conroy moved to second on lap seven with fourth place Jason Gray following on the top side and Jeremy Pitts in fifth.

Gray took over second on lap ten while Pitts moved to fourth. At the half way point Swinton held the lead over a fast Gray, Pitts, Nutting and Cody Bleau. With 15 laps complete Pitts moved to second and then challenged Swinton for the lead. Less than a lap later Pitts took over the lead. Pitts entered slower traffic on lap 18 with Gray and Swinton in his tire tracks.

Robert Bublak spun in turn four on lap 24 to bring out the caution flag and force a yellow, setting up a one lap shootout to the checkers. Pitts and Gray brought the field to the green with Pitts leading into turn one. Gray came back and the duo drag raced off turn four to the checkers, with Pitts taking the win by a nose. Gray finished second with Bleau third, Swinton fourth and Connor Cleveland fifth. Heat races for the 37 Sportsman entries were won by Swinton, Ostrander, Jon Miller and Gray. Hunter Bates won the consolation event.

With his win and Cleveland’s fifth place finish, Pitts takes over the points lead by one point over Cleveland. The results are still unofficial pending the results of the engines that were pulled for testing.

Robbie Speed won the 25 lap DIRTcar Pro Stock feature event. Dan Madigan and Jeff Washburn led the field to the green with Madigan taking the early lead over Dave DePaulo, Kim Duell, Robbie Speed and Walt Brownell. The field ran this way until lap eight when DePaulo began to challenge Madigan and Speed likewise challenged Duell. The caution flag waved on lap nine for a jingle in turn two, which included Nick Stone.

On the restart Speed moved into the lead as DePaulo suffered a flat tire. Brownell moved into second, Duell third, Dan Older, Sr. fourth and Madigan fifth. Jeff Washburn took over fifth on lap 13. A half lap later Washburn spun along with Kenny Martin in turn two, forcing a caution period. Speed held the lead on the restart over Brownell and Duell. Older took third from Duell on lap 16.

Justin Knight spun on lap 24 to set up a last lap restart. On the restart Speed held off hard challenges from Older to lead the final lap and take the win. Older finished second with Brownell third, Duell fourth and Devon Camenga fifth. Heat races for the 22 DIRTcar Pro Stocks were won by DePaulo and Duell. With the win Speed clinched the track championship.

Clint Roehrs won the 15 lap Empire Lightning Sprint feature event. Roehrs picked up the win over Doug Norrie, Jon Moore, Shilo Boyce and Alex Bell. Heat races for the 12 entries were won by Boyce and Norrie.

Chase Aussicker won the 20 lap Street Stock feature event. Aussicker was the early race leader before giving way to Josh Coonradt. Coonradt appeared to be on his way to another feature win however he broke on lap 14. This gave the lead back to Aussicker, who would hold the top spot until the finish. Jody Thew finished second with Paul Mulrain third, Paul Braymer fourth and Al Relyea fifth. Heat races for the 18 car field were won by Jeff Meltz, Sr. and Jason Meltz.

Derek Bornt won the 20 lap Limited Sportsman feature event. Gary Derocher led the first 18 laps of the feature event before spinning. Bornt held the lead on the restart and was able to hold off all challenges for the win. Brandon Pitcher finished second with James Meehan third, Mike Block fourth and Josh Neal fifth. Heat races for the 21 car field were won by Derocher and Pitcher.

P.J. Bleau won the 15 lap Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinder feature event. Josh Wood finished second with Ben Grant third, Steve Ryan fourth and Jason Lang fifth.

The Albany-Saratoga Speedway returns to action Friday night with the final points night of the season for the Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified, Sportsman and DIRTcar Pro Stock divisions. All divisions will be in action plus the Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinders. The Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified feature will pay $3,000 to win. For more information on the Albany-Saratoga Speedway please log on to www.albany-saratogaspeedway.com.

Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified Results (35 Laps) – 1) Stewart Friesen,  2) Marc Johnson, 3) Ronnie Johnson, 4) Elmo Reckner, 5) Brett Hearn, 6) L.J. Lombardo, 7) Brian Gleason, 8) Kris Vernold, 9) Keith Flach, 10) Don Ronca, 11) Bodie Bellinger, 12) Mark Kislowski, 13) Ray Hoard, 14) Rich Ronca, 15) Don Mattison, 16) Pep Corradi, 17) John Lutes Jr,  18) Ricky Davis, 19) Brian Whittemore, 20) Craig Seeley,  21) Ken Tremont Jr, 22) Jessey Mueller, 23) J.R. Heffner,  24) Matt Delorenzo, 25) Bobby Hackel IV, 26) Rob Pitcher, 27) Justin Barber, 28) Matt Depew, 29) C.G. Morey,  DNS) Hector Stratton

Empire Lightning Sprints Results (20 Laps) – 1) Clint Roehrs,  2) Doug Noorie, 3) Jon Moore, 4) Shilo Boyce, 5) Alex Bell, 6) Jesse Pruchnick, 7) Lou Torres, 8) Nick DeNyse, 9) Rick Stone, 10) Jamie Beaudry, 11) Jerry Sehn, 12) Kathy Bellen

Sportsman Featherfoot Series Results (25 Laps) – 1) Jeremy Pitts, 2) Jason Gray, 3) Cody Bleau, 4) Jack Swinton, 5) Connor Cleveland, 6) Scott Duell, 7) Daryl Nutting, 8) Ken Conroy, 9) Chris Johnson, 10) Chad Edwards, 11) Jon Miller, 12) Derek McGrew, 13) Adam McAuliffe, 14) Tim Hartman Jr, 15) Adam Gage, 16) David Schilling, 17) Mike Coffey, 18) Nick Lussier, 19) Andrew Buff, 20) Mike Ostrander, 21) Robert Bublak, 22) Rocky Warner, 23) Hunter Bates, 24) Jack Bublak, 25) Justin Comes, 26) Christopher Ronca, 27) Justin Smith, 28) Joe Orlando, 29) Zach Daurio, 30) Jack Lehner, 31) John Proctor, DNS) Jesse Edwards, DNS) Tony Farone, DNS) Doug Flynn, DNS) Tim Hartman Sr, DNS) Pat Jones, DNS) Luke Klob

Limited Sportsman Results (20 Laps) – 1) Derek Bornt,  2) Brandon Pitcher, 3) James Meehan, 4) Mike Block, 5) Josh Neal, 6) Travis Billington, 7) Jacob Volpi, 8) John Stowell, 9) Nick Fretto, 10) Rob Lanfear, 11) Scott Bennett Jr, 12) Steve Burch, 13) Gary Derocher, 14) Reggie Bonner, 15) Diana Huyck,16) Dylan Bokus, 17) Bryan Jones, 18) Ryan Heath, 19) Bob Schmidt, 20) Matt Atwood, DNS) Bruce Loomis

DIRTcar Pro Stock Results (25 Laps) – 1) Robbie Speed, 2) Dan Older, 3) Walt Brownell, 4) Kim Duell, 5) Devon Camenga, 6) Norm Loubier, 7) Kenny Martin, 8)Kenny Gates, 9) Nick Arnold, 10) Nick Stone, 11) Jeff Washburn, 12) Gus Hollner, 13) Dan Madigan, 14) Zach Welch, 15) Brian Keough, 16) Chris Wemple, 17) Josh Rozelle, 18) Yates Lansing, 19) Justin Knight, 20) Dave Depaulo, 21) Brandon Emigh, DNS) Dean Charbonneau

Street Stock Results (20 Laps) – 1) Chase Aussicker, 2) Jody Thew, 3) Paul Mulrain, 4) Paul Braymer, 5) Al Relyea, 6) David Cook, 7) Josh Coonradt, 8) Jeff Meltz Sr, 9) Jeff Davis, 10) John Hayes, 11) Jim Duncan, 12) Jason Miller, 13) Damon Anderson, 14) Scott Lawrence, 15) Joey Wilson, 16) David Shippee, 17) Mark Burch, 18) Jason Meltz

Greg’s Towing & Repair Four Cylinder Single Cam Results (15 Laps) – 1) Will Ryan,  2) Robert Garney,  3) Mike Parodi,  4) Tim Meltz,  5) Brett Horlacher,  6) Tyler Burch,  7) Dave LeBarge

Greg’s Towing & Repair Four Cylinder Dual Cam Results (15 Laps) – 1) P.J. Bleau, 2) Josh Wood,  3) Ben Grant,  4) Jason Lang,  5) Steve Ryan,  6) Dave Mullineaux,  7) Keith Tesiero Jr, 8) William Sass Jr