Albany Saratoga Results 6/5/15

Malta, NY – For the past 50 years the Albany-Saratoga Speedway has been producing exciting racing on both dirt and asphalt. On Friday evening the year-long five century celebration continued with twin 25 lap feature events for the Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified division. It was only fitting that the most dominant driver to take to the speedway in those five decades swept the evening.

New Jersey superstar Brett Hearn won both twin 25 lap feature events and in the process moved into the points lead. Each event paid full points towards the race for the track title. The first event was lined up via normal handicapping resulting from heat race qualifying, the second saw the top 15 finishers from event number one handicapped with the remainder of the field starting as they finished.

In other action Jack Gentile (Sportsman), Jeff Washburn (DIRTcar Pro Stocks), Ken Conroy (Limited Sportsman) and Randy Miller (Street Stocks) we victorious.

Teammates Matt Depew and Ray Hoard led the field to the green with Depew taking the early lead over his teammate. The caution flag would regroup the field on lap one as Mike Minnick spun in turn number two. Depew controlled the restart and held the top spot over Hoard, Matt Delorenzo, Brian Gleason and Kris Vernold. By lap four Delorenzo was all over Hoard for second.

Hoard held on to second when the race was slowed for the third time by Don Ronca who spun in turn four. Depew again held the lead on the restart with Delorenzo moving to second followed by Gleason, Jimmy Cottrell and Vernold. Cottrell moved past Gleason for third on lap six while at the same time 12th place starter Peter Britten entered the top five.  Gleason’s good run came to an end on lap eight when he slowed while running in the top five. Gleason’s mechanical troubles allowed Britten to move into fourth and Keith Flach to enter the top five.

Delorenzo moved into the lead on lap ten forcing Depew back to second. Gary Edwards, Jr. made his first start of the season at the track. The driver of the County Waste number 21 brought out the caution on lap 11 when he slowed in turn two.

On the restart Delorenzo controlled the lead with Britten, a hard charging Brett Hearn, Depew and Ronnie Johnson following. Hearn moved past Britten for second on lap 15 and then past the Fonda Speedway promoter for the lead on lap 20. After a couple of restarts on lap 17 and a final one on lap 22, Hearn held the race lead over Delorenzo, Britten, Depew and Johnson. Marc Johnson moved past Ronnie Johnson on lap 24 to take over fifth and then soon after fourth.

In the end no one had anything for Hearn who picked up career win number 120 at Albany-Saratoga. Delorenzo finished second with Britten third, Marc Johnson fourth and Depew fifth.  Heat races for the 34 car field were won by Depew, Hoard and Gleason.

Bobby Hackel, IV and Depew led the field down to the start of the second 25 lap Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified feature event with Depew again taking the early lead. Dylan Scribner brought out the first of what would be ten caution flags on three when he slowed on the back stretch. Depew held the lead on the restart with Hector Stratton, Hackel, Mark Kislowski and Vernold following.

Following restarts on laps four, five and six, Kislowski emerged as the race leader with Stratton, Ronnie Johnson, Britten and Depew completing the top five. Britten moved past Johnson for third on lap nine and then past Stratton for second a lap later. Stratton’s good run suffered a setback on lap 14 when he spun between turns three and four.

On the restart Kislowski held the lead with Britten, Hearn, Ronnie Johnson and Marc Johnson completing the top five. The caution waved again on lap 17, this time for a jingle in turn four. On the restart Kislowski led Britten and Hearn heading into turn one, as they entered turn two Britten pulled a slide job on Kislowski which resulted in contact between the two. This opened the door for Hearn on the low side and he drove right through and into the lead.

Kislowski and Britten though were saved by the caution flag as Stratton slowed in turn two. Since a lap had not been completed, Kislowski and Britten again were first and second. Hearn though took advantage of Kislowski slipping high in turn four on the restart and moved back into the lead.

In the end Hearn again was the class of the field, picking up career win number 121. Britten came home second with Ronnie Johnson third, Mark Kislowski fourth and Marc Johnson fifth.

Jack Gentile picked up his sixth career Sportsman feature event win and first in nearly two years. Mike Burdo led from the drop of the green, holding the top spot until Robert Bublak, Jr. spun in turn three on lap seven. On the restart Gentile moved the Bonded Building Material number 20 into the lead. Gentile would hold off all challengers to lead the rest of the way and pick up the win. Dave Baranowski finished second with Connor Cleveland third, Rocky Warner fourth and Hunter Bates fifth. Heat races for the 24 car field were won by John Proctor, Baranowski and Adam Gage.

Jeff Washburn won the 25 lap DIRTcar Pro Stock feature event. The win was the Vermont driver’s fourth at the track and first since 2008. Washburn would lead all 25 laps to pick up the win over Kenny Martin, Dan Older, Sr., Kim Duell and Brandon Emigh. Heat races for the 21 car field were won by Cale Kneer, Washburn and Bernie Companion.

Ken Conroy picked up the 15 lap Limited Sportsman feature event win. Chris Curtis led the first 14 laps before being bogged down by slower traffic after taking the white flag. This allowed Conroy to get along side and the duo ran an exciting last lap with Conroy crossing the finish line first by .016 seconds over Curtis. Chris Ronca finished third with Mark Rabideau and Travis Billington completing the top five. Heat races for the 24 car field were won by Curtis, Conroy and David Schilling.

Randy Miller won his fifth consecutive Street Stock feature event in a row in the divisions 20 lap event. Miller took the lead after battling from the 17th starting position. Miller was the winner over Josh Coonradt, Jim Monroe, Hunter Sanchez and Mike Arnold.

The Albany-Saratoga Speedway returns to action this Friday night, June 12th with the Sportsman division taking center stage. On tap will be the annual Mark Hughes Memorial event for the division. All weekly divisions will be in action plus the Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinders and the Vintage Modifieds. Racing is set to begin at 7 pm with pit gates opening at 4 pm and grandstand gates opening at 5 pm. For more information about Albany-Saratoga Speedway please log on to www.albany-saratogaspeedway.com.

Modified Twin 25 #1 Results (25 Laps) – 1) Brett Hearn, 2) Matt Delorenzo, 3) Peter Britten, 4) Marc Johnson, 5) Matt  Depew, 6) Ronnie Johnson, 7) Jimmy Cottrell, 8) Ken Tremont Jr, 9) Keith Flach, 10) Mark Kislowski, 11) Hector Stratton, 12) Rich Scagliotta, 13) Kris Vernold, 14) Rich Ronca, 15) Bobby Hackel IV, 16) Rob Pitcher, 17) Neil Stratton, 18) Jimmy Davis, 19) Don Ronca, 20) Brian Whittemore, 21) Jessey Mueller, 22) Justin Barber, 23) Mike Minick, 24) Don Mattison, 25) Alex Bell, 26) Mike Perrotte, 27) Ray Hoard, 28) Gary Edwards, 29) Dylan Scribner, 30) Brian Gleason, 31) Cass Bennett, 32) Brett Wright, 33) Elmo Reckner, DNS) Scott Duell

Modified Twin 25 #2 Results (35 Laps) – 1) Brett Hearn, 2) Peter Britten, 3) Ronnie Johnson, 4) Mark Kislowski, 5) Marc Johnson, 6) Ken Tremont Jr, 7) Matt  Depew, 8) Matt Delorenzo, 9) Keith Flach, 10) Rich Scagliotta, 11) Rob Pitcher, 12) Hector Stratton, 13) Jimmy Cottrell, 14) Jessey Mueller, 15) Brett Wright, 16) Ray Hoard, 17) Alex Bell, 18) Brian Gleason, 19) Brian Whittemore, 20) Neil Stratton, 21) Bobby Hackel IV, 22) Don Ronca, 23) Elmo Reckner, 24) Don Mattison, 25) Kris Vernold, 26) Mike Minick, 27) Justin Barber, 28) Jimmy Davis, 29) Rich Ronca, 30) Mike Perrotte 31) Cass Bennett, DNS) Gary Edwards,DNS) Dylan Scribner, DNS) Scott Duell

Sportsman Results (25 Laps) – 1) Jack Gentile, 2) Dave Baranowski Jr, 3) Connor Cleveland, 4) Rocky Warner, 5) Hunter Bates, 6) Jack Speshock, 7) Derrick McGrew, 8) Mike Burdo, 9) Adam Gage, 10) Nick Lussier, 11) Joey Scarborough, 12) Tim Hartman Jr, 13) Nick Anatriello, 14) Jon Miller, 15) Chris Johnson, 16) Johnny Scarborough, 17) Jeremy Pitts, 18) Dave Constantino, 19) Jack Swinton, 20) Robert Bublak, 21) Jake Scarborough, 22) John Proctor, 23) Chris Murray, DNS) Brandon Pitcher

Limited Sportsman Results (15 Laps) – 1) Ken Conroy, 2) Chris Curtis, 3) Christopher Ronca, 4) Mark Rabideau, 5) Travis Billington, 6) Andrew Buff, 7) Todd Lutinski, 8) Ben Brownell, 9) Pat Jones,  10) Emily Quinn, 11) Mike Coffey, 12) John Stowell, 13) Scott Flanders, 14) Scott Bennett Jr, 15) Reggie Bonner, 16) Gary Derocher, 17) George Dorvee, 18) Diana Huyck, 19) David Schilling, 20) Johnny Chesnut, 21) Matt Westcott, 22) Nick Fretto, 23) Zach Daurio, DNS) Roger Henion

Pro Stock Results (25 Laps) – 1) Jeff Washburn, 2) Ken Martin, 3) Dan Older, 4) Kim Duell, 5) Brandon Emigh, 6) Bill Smith, 7) Daniel Sanchez, 8) Byron Wescott, 9) Cale Kneer, 10) Dave Depaulo, 11) Norm Loubier, 12) Ed Thompson, 13) Bernie Companion, 14) Mark Burch, 15) Steve Burch, 16) Pete Porter, 17) Rocky Warner Sub for Robbie Speed, 18) Dan Madigan, 19) Chuck Dumblewski, DNS) Kevin Loomis

Street Stock Results (20 Laps) – 1) Randy Miller, 2) Josh Coonradt, 3) Jim Monroe, 4) Hunter Sanchez, 5) Mike Arnold, 6) Damon Anderson,7) Jordan Kasper, 8) Jim Cutler, 9) David Shippee, 10) Fred Harris, 11) Mark Dwyer, 12) Frank Monroe, 13) Matt Mosher, 14) Jason Meltz, 15) Ron Redman Jr, 16) Jason Barrett, 17) John Hayes