DeLorenzo gets first career win

MALTA - Matt DeLorenzo got rid of a label Friday night. No longer will he be known as the best young driver who's never won a 358-modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Taking advantage of some bad luck for defending track champion Brett Hearn, DeLorenzo took the checkered flag at the Malta track for the first time in his career in the 70-lap “Double Trouble Friday” feature.

After having his features get rained out on June 2, promoter Bruce Richards opted to run double-distance races for double points and double the purse money on Friday night, rather than the traditional double features. DeLorenzo obviously didn't mind, as he walked off with a top prize of $3,000.

The win was vindication to the young driver, who has finished second on nine different occasions at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, including one stretch in 2002 where he chased Hearn across the finish line for four straight weeks. And when Hearn took the lead away from DeLorenzo on lap 41 Friday night, it looked like DeLorenzo was going to have settle for yet another second-place finish.

But the rear suspension on Hearn's Delaney Construction-sponsored small block broke on lap 54, giving the lead back to DeLorenzo, and he cruised to the victory.

“I kept having flashbacks of the times in the past when I lost a race here in the last few laps,” said DeLorenzo in victory lane. “I kept saying to myself, please don't let something happen.”

Two early accidents knocked out a couple of contenders, including Jack Johnson and Jeff Trombley. Mike Perrotte, who hasn't won a race at Albany-Saratoga since Sept. 26, 2003, set the early pace, but DeLorenzo used a restart on lap 17 to put the BBL Construction small block into the lead, where he stayed until Hearn moved to the point.

Perrotte came across the finish line second, the first time he's even hit the top five since his last victory. Ronnie Johnson came from deep in the field to finish third, with Mike Ronca fourth and Craig Hanson fifth.

Tim Hartman made a late charge, passed Joe Santoro on the white flag lap and won the 40-lap sportsman feature, his second win of the season. Santoro, a rookie in the division, started on the outside pole and moved to the front on lap eight. Hartman, who had started 18th, used a rash of cautions to get through traffic, and was up to second after just 15 laps.

Santoro ran a strong race and looked like he was on his way to his first career win, but Hartman used his years of experience and his knowledge of the track to finally make the pass for the lead with one to go.

Following Hartman across the finish line were Santoro, Rich Ronca, Scott Duell and Joe Budka.

Veteran Kim Duell, who returned to racing last year to be part of the Lazzaro Motorsports Team, which includes his son, Scott, picked up his first career win in the 40-lap pro-street stock feature. Duell started on the outside pole and set the early pace, but then dropped back to third, behind Darrell Carl and Jeff Washburn.

But Duell, who ran hobby stocks at Albany-Saratoga in the early 1980s, and was a successful modified driver in the late 1980s and early 1990s, regained the lead on lap 17, and held off Washburn by just 0.258 seconds to get the win.

Lori Cary finished third, with Dan Madigan fourth and Bill Smith IV fifth.

Curtis Condon drove to his first win of the season in the 40-lap limited feature. Condon started fifth and got the lead for good on lap 10. Jim Monroe Jr. was a thorn in Condon's side during the closing laps of the feature, but Condon held his line and got the win, beating Monroe to the stripe by 0.468 seconds. Pete DeFiglio got up for third.

The mini-stocks ran regular distance races, as they managed to get in a feature on June 2. Ken Hollenbeck recorded his third win of the season in the four-cylinder division, while Mike Duclos dominated the six-cylinder feature to notch his first win of the year.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action on Friday, June 23, with its annual Summer Kickoff, sponsored by Want Ad Digest. All divisions will be in action, and spectator racing will make a long-awaited return. Racing will begin at 7 p.m.

358 MODIFIEDS (70 LAPS): MATT DELORENZO, Mike Perrotte, Ronnie Johnson, Mike Ronca, Craig Hanson, Gene Munger, Jimmy Cottrell, A.J. Romano, Don Ackner, Todd Ryan, Marc Johnson, Don Ronca, Keith Flach, Brett Hearn, John Proctor, Vince Quenneville Jr., Elmo Reckner, Ken Tremont Jr., Frank Hoard Sr., Todd Stone, Ron Proctor, Jimmy Davis, Jack Johnson, John Lutes Jr., Jeff Trombley, Tony Kawalchuk.

SPORTSMAN (40 LAPS): TIM HARTMAN, Joe Santoro, Rich Ronca, Scott Duell, Joe Budka, Adam Tranka, Ken Anatriello, Bill Cody, Robert Perry, Dick Bisson, Jack Gentile, Chris Johnson, Whitney Slavin, David Peek, Eric Mack, Mike Ballestero, Matt Depew, Brian Gerrain, Brian Holbritter, Cass Bennett, Ed Pieniazek Jr., Chris Busta, Paul Dunham Jr., Stan Lemiesz, Mike Tholin, David Baranowski, Mike Pinke. DQ: Neal Erickson.

PRO-STREET STOCKS (40 LAPS): KIM DUELL, Jeff Washburn, Lori Cary, Dan Madigan, Bill Smith IV, John Turco, Vince Santoro, Russ Miller, Matt Anatriello, Cale Kneer, Fred Shippee Sr., Dean Charbonneau, Greg McGill, Darrell Carl, Tom Stack, Mark Dresher, Jeremy Pitts, Jimmy Eaton, Tom O'Connor.

LIMITEDS (40 LAPS): CURTIS CONDON, Jim Monroe Jr., Pete DeFiglio, Dan Older, Jim Monroe, Jeff Monroe, John Morris Jr., Rich Burke, John Filarecki, Nick Lussier, Robert Bublak, Dan Petronis, Mike Minick, Mike Pfau, T.J. Pierce, Rich Holmes, Mike Ostrander, Paul Mulrain, Mark Emigh, Kevin Van Chance, Bob Smith, David Emigh, Brian Ashline, Brandon Emigh, Mark Burch, D.J. Brundige, Steve Holcomb, Jeremy Brownell.

MINI-STOCKS (SIX-CYLINDER): MIKE DUCLOS, Kevin Lukasik, T.J. Brunell, John Willis, Tim Anagnos, Chris McCarthy, Dan Lorenc, Amy Benacquista.

MINI-STOCKS (FOUR-CYLINDER): KEN HOLLENBECK, Mike Cranston, Charlie Stoddard, Roger Newkirk Jr., Joe Baker, Richard Lucas, Tim Sayers, John Baldwin, Brett Osgood, Travis Tromans, Jason Dickson, Jim Daniels, Andy Hickok, Ted Fitzgerald, Alecia Mason, Mike Duggan Jr.