Delorenzo Picks Up Second Of The Season At Albany-Saratoga
Story By: TOBY LAGRANGE / ALBANY SARATOGA SPEEDWAY MEDIA
Photos By: DAVE DALESANDRO / RACERSGUIDE.COM
Malta, NY –August 20, 2016- Matt Delorenzo picked up the Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified feature event win Friday night at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway. The win was his second of the season and came with the folks from Albany Rod and Customs in the V.I.P area.
Rich Ronca and Kris Vernold led the field to the green with six cars tangling in turn four before a lap could be completed. Tyler Dippel, subbing for Brett Hearn was involved as was Marc Johnson. Dippel pulled away with slight sheet metal damage while Johnson was towed to the pit area with rear end damage.
When racing was able to get under way Vernold held the lead over Ronca and Stratton. The caution lights came on once again on lap two when Rob Pitcher was involved in an incident on lap two. During the caution Dippel went pit side.
The restart would see Vernold hold the top spot over Ronca and Delorenzo. Dippel slowed on lap four to bring out the caution flag. Dippel again headed to the pit area. The restart would see Vernold take the lead over Stratton, Delorenzo, J.R. Heffner and Ronca. Dippel would not make it out in time.
Stewart Friesen meanwhile was on the move. He took fifth on lap eight and then fourth from Heffner a lap later. On lap ten Friesen challenged Delorenzo for third and the duo tangled. Friesen spun while Delorenzo continued on. Friesen went to the pit area but would not return in time.
The restart would see Vernold lead with a hard charging Heffner following. Justin Barber spun on lap 12 to force another restart. When racing returned to action Heffner took the lead over Vernold. Rob Pitcher forced a caution on lap 14. The restart would see Heffner hold the lead however Delorenzo was a close second. Neal Stratton brought out the caution flag on lap 16.
When racing resumed Heffner, Delorenzo and Johnson paced the field. Dippel slowed to bring out the caution on lap 20. When green flag racing resumed Delorenzo took the lead over Heffner, Flach, Johnson and Don Ronca. Flach moved past Heffner for second on lap 25. With two to go Delorenzo got hung up behind a slower lapped car which opened the door for Flach to close in.
Delorenzo though was able to regroup and lead the remainder of the way to pick up the win. Flach finished second with Johnson third, Heffner fourth and Ronca fifth. With their bad luck, Hearn and Marc Johnson remain one-two in points. The duo are now separated by nine points. Tremont sits third however cut the deficit to 26.
Heat races for the 33 car Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified field were won by Delorenzo, Hector Stratton and Vernold.
Chris Johnson won the 25 lap Sportsman feature event. Justin Smith and John Proctor led the field to the green with Proctor taking the early lead over Smith, Mike Ostrander, Nick Anatriello and Jack Lehner. On lap four points leader Chad Edwards came to a stop on the back stretch, bringing out the caution flag. Nick Lussier spun on the restart forcing a single file restart.
On the restart Proctor held the lead over Smith, Ostrander, Lehner and Anatriello. Andrew Buff took over fifth on lap six with Johnson getting past Buff on lap eight. Johnson had the 33J hooked up. He took over fourth around lap ten and then third from Ostrander on lap 12. Mike Coffey spun in turn two on lap 12 to force a restart.
When the racing resumed Proctor held the lead however Johnson moved to second and Jason Gray third. Johnson took over the lead on lap 15 with Proctor falling to second. On lap 15 Ken Conroy, Mike Tholin and Ostrander spun in turn four.
The restart would see Johnson hold the lead with Hunter Bates taking over second. Lap 16 would see two car get together in turn two to force a caution. On the restart Johnson held the lead over Bates, Gray, Connor Cleveland and Proctor. The caution flag waved on lap 23 due to an incident on the backstretch.
When racing resumed Johnson held the top spot over Bates and Cleveland. In the end Johnson held on for the win over Bates, Cleveland, Gray and Tim Hartman, Jr. With his third place finish Cleveland takes over the points lead over Pitts (-11), Hartman (-22), Edwards (-30) and Johnson (-35).
Dick Hicks and HiCo Fabrication added money to the purse of the feature event. Heat races for the 35 car field were won by Proctor, Smith, Johnson and Ostrander. The consolation event was won by Joey Scarborough.
Pete Porter and Dan Madigan led the field to the green with Brownell taking the early lead. Madigan settled into second with Kim Duell third. Duell would quickly close in and challenge Madigan for second. Duell would take over the second position on lap four and set his sights on a distant Brownell. Points leader Robbie Speed took over third on lap eight. Bernie Companion spun on lap ten to force the caution flag to come out.
On the restart Brownell held the lead however Nick Stone moved past Speed and Duell for second. Jeremy Pitts, filling in for Dean Charbonneau moved to fifth. Josh Rozelle spun on lap 12 to force a caution. The restart would see Brownell pull away from Stone, Duell, Speed and Pitts. Duell moved to second on lap 14 with Pitts to third. On lap 16 Pitts took over second. The caution would wave for the final time on lap 23, forcing a late race restart.
Brownell led the field on the restart with Pitts and Speed in pursuit. In the end Brownell held on for the win over Pitts, Speed, Stone and Brandon Emigh. Heat races for the 21 car field were claimed by Brownell and Speed.
Dan Grignon won the 20 lap Limited Sportsman feature. Grignon and Derek Bornt led the field to the green with Grignon taking the early lead. Grignon would lead the rest of the way to pick up the win over Jacob Volpi, Rob Lanfear, Travis Billington and John Stowell. Heat races for the 21 car field were won by Lanfear and Grignon.
Josh Coonradt won the 20 lap Street Stock feature event. The win was Coonradt’s sixth of the season at the track. Coonradt was followed across the line by Al Relya, Jason Miller, Jason Meltz and Matt Mosher. Heat races for the 22 car field were won by Mosher and Coonradt.
Chris Adams won the 15 lap Northeastern Vintage Dirt Modified Club/Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Club feature event. Ray See, Jr. finished second, Ron Sanford third, Wayne Gaige fourth and Dan McKiernan fifth.
The Albany-Saratoga Speedway returns to action Friday night with all divisions in action on Back to School night. There will be a kids raffle as well as the final event for the Featherfoot Sportsman Series. The Empire Lightning Sprints and Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinders will also be on the card. Racing starts at 7pm. For more information on the Albany-Saratoga Speedway log on to www.albany-saratogaspeedway.com.
Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified Results (35 Laps) – 1) Matt Delorenzo, 2) Keith Flach, 3) Ronnie Johnson, 4) J.R. Heffner, 5) Don Ronca, 6) L.J. Lombardo, 7) Kris Vernold, 8) Bodie Bellinger, 9) Ken Tremont Jr, 10) Brian Gleason, 11) Mark Kislowski, 12) Matt Depew, 13) Elmo Reckner, 14) Don Mattison, 15) Rich Ronca, 16) Ricky Davis, 17) Scott Huber, 18) Brian Whittemore, 19) Hector Stratton, 20) Jim Osgood, 21) Stewart Friesen, 22) Justin Barber, 23) Craig Seeley, 24) Ray Hoard, 25) Tyler Dippel Sub for Brett Hearn, 26) Jason Herrington, 27) Neil Stratton, 28) Rob Pitcher, 29) Todd Morey, 30) Jessey Mueller, 31) Bobby Hackel IV, 32) Marc Johnson
Northeastern Vintage Results (15 Laps) – 1) Chris Adams, 2) Ray See Jr, 3) Rob Sanford, 4) Wayne Gaige, 5) Dan McKiernan, 6) Link Petit, 7) John Constantino, 8) Doug Perretta,
Sportsman Results (25 Laps) – 1) Chris Johnson, 2) Hunter Bates, 3) Connor Cleveland, 4) Jason Gray, 5) Tim Hartman Jr, 6) Andrew Buff, 7) Robert Bublak, 8) John Proctor, 9) Jeremy Pitts, 10) Scott Duell, 11) Adam McAuliffe, 12) Justin Smith, 13) Nick Anatriello, 14) Mike Tholin, 15) David Schilling, 16) Jack Lehner, 17) Cody Bleau, 18) Nick Lussier, 19) Justin Comes, 20) Mike Coffey, 21) Christopher Ronca, 22) Adam Gage, 23) Jack Swinton, 24) Jon Miller, 25) Ken Conroy, 26) Daryl Nutting, 27) Mike Ostrander, 28) Jake Scarborough, 29) Joe Orlando, 30) Anthony Alger, 31) Chad Edwards, DNS) Zach Daurio, DNS) Jesse Edwards, DNS) Tim Hartman Sr, DNS) Milton Mann
Limited Sportsman Results (20 Laps) – 1) Dan Grignon, 2) Jacob Volpi, 3) Rob Lanfear, 4) Travis Billington, 5) John Stowell, 6) Brandon Pitcher, 7) Steve Burch, 8) James Meehan, 9) Ryan Heath, 10) Scott Bennett Jr, 11) Gary Derocher, 12) Diana Huyck, 13) Reggie Bonner, 14) Bruce Loomis, 15) Nick Fretto, 16) Stephen Kneer, 17) Bob Schmidt, 18) Derek Bornt, 19) Mike Block, 20) Matt Atwood, DNS) Bryan Jones
DIRTcar Pro Stock Results (25 Laps) – 1) Walt Brownell, 2) Jeremy Pitts Sub for Dean Charbonneau, 3) Robbie Speed, 4) Nick Stone, 5) Brandon Emigh, 6) Dan Older, 7) Ed Thompson, 8) Jimmy Eaton, 9) Dave Depaulo, 10) Dan Madigan, 11) Gus Hollner, 12) Kim Duell, 13) Alan Matheson Sub for Nick Arnold, 14) Josh Rozelle, 15) Bernie Companion, 16) Norm Loubier, 17) Yates Lansing, 18) Zach Welch, 19) Pete Porter, DNS) Chuck Dumblewski, DNS) Kevin Loomis
Street Stock Results (20 Laps) – 1) Josh Coonradt, 2) Al Relyea, 3) Jason Miller, 4) Jason Meltz, 5) Matt Mosher, 6) Frank Monroe, 7) Scott Lawrence, 8) David Shippee, 9) Jeff Meltz Sr, 10) John Hayes, 11) Kyle Cole, 12) David Pelis, 13) Chase Aussicker, 14) Joshua Reome, 15) Joey Wilson, 16) John Morris Jr, 17) Jim Duncan Sub for Nathan Dahoda, 18) Dave Hauser, 19) Paul Mulrain, 20) Damon Anderson, 21) Jody Thew, 22) Mark Burch, DNS) Hunter Sanchez
