Tremont repeats yet again at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA, NY - Ken Tremont Jr. aced another pop quiz Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, but he knows the big exam is coming up.

Tremont drove to his third straight win, and fourth of the season, in the 35-lap 358-modified feature at the historic Malta track, but the last two wins have come while Brett Hearn was off in Western New York and Canada, chasing DIRTcar Series points. Even Tremont realizes his real test will come when Hearn returns to Malta.

Tremont has been virtually untouchable in the last two weeks, which coincides with him debuting a new Bicknell chassis. On Friday night, he needed 22 laps to get the lead, after coming from his 18th starting position on the dry, slick track. But once he got the lead away from Floyd Billington, he buried the rest of the field, hitting the finish line a full straightaway ahead of Billington.

“When Brett comes back, we'll have to see if we have something for him now with this new car,” said Tremont in victory lane after the race.

That's only being realistic. Hearn is 5-for-7 at Albany-Saratoga this season and in the two races he didn't win, he got caught up in skirmishes with Ronnie Johnson both times.

While Tremont was easing to his fourth win of the year, the big story of the night was Billington, who was driving a former Jack Cottrell car that he recently purchased. Billington led most of the race, and recorded his best 358-modified finish ever. The last time he sat in victory lane was July 30, 1999, after his fifth and final sportsman win at Malta.

Todd Stone, Mike Ronca and Don Ronca completed the top five.

It was a good night for the Ronca family, as younger brother Rich recorded his first win of the year in the 25-lap sportsman feature. Dave Baranowski started on the pole and set the pace for the first 13 laps, but Ronca got the lead on lap 14 and went on to pick up his fourth career win. Rob Langevin got up for second, with Dave Constantino third, Baranowski fourth and Pep Corradi fifth

Rookie Marc Hughes drove to his first career win at Albany-Saratoga in the 25-lap budget sportsman feature. Hughes, who picked up a win at Devil's Bowl earlier in the year, led flag-to-flag and held off Bryan Davis for the victory. They were followed by Paul Dunham Jr., Jack Gentile and Anthony Marro.

Darryl Carl notched his third straight win in the pro-street stock division in dramatic fashion, swinging around William Smith IV on the final lap to get the victory. Walt Brownell, Jeremy Pitts and Lori Langevin completed the top five.

Mike Ostrander finally returned to victory lane in the highly competitive limited division, coming away with his second win of the year and first since May 15. Ostrander started sixth, used two early cautions to get right to the front and pulled away from Brandon Emigh and Dan Petronis.

The Empire Lightning Sprints returned to the speedway Friday night, with Jon Moore picking up his first win of the campaign. Doug Norris had to settle for second, with Scott Goodrich third.

Travis Tromans remained undefeated in the mini-stock division, winning his fifth feature in as many tries this year.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action on Friday, July 17 with all divisions competing on Black Flag Night. Racing will begin at 6:45 p.m.

MODIFIEDS: KEN TREMONT JR., Floyd Billington, Todd Stone, Mike Ronca, Don Ronca, Tony Kawalchuk, Keith Flach, Ronnie Johnson, Marc Johnson, Jeff Trombley, Ron Proctor, Dave Camara, Mike Perrotte, John Proctor, Matt DeLorenzo, Elmo Reckner, Todd Ryan, Vince Quenneville Jr., Matt Pupello, Corey Gilligan, D.J. Faulkner, Steve Hough, Don Ackner, Jimmy Cottrell, Jim Ryan.

SPORTSMAN: RICH RONCA, Rob Langevin, Dave Constantino, Dave Baranowski, Pep Corradi, Mark Kislowski, Ken Anatriello, Chris Johnson, Kory Sandstedt, Chris Busta, Pat O'Hanlon, Whitney Slavin, Skip Shippee, Randy Hotaling, Scott Duell, Dave DePaulo, Matt Depew, Adam Tranka, Tyler Curtis, Andy Boniewski, Mike Tholin, Eric Mack, Jimmy Eaton.

BUDGET SPORTSMAN: MARC HUGHES, BRYAN DAVIS, Paul Dunham Jr., Jack Gentile (DIRTcar), Anthony Marro, Pete Carlotto, Ricky Quick (DIRTcar), Derrick McGrew, Tim Hartman Jr., Frank Hoard III, D.J. Brundige, Nick Lussier, Jack Swinton, Dan Peckham, Jim Duncan, Cullen Howe, Matt Hyde, Andy Durie, Mike Burdo, Jamie Introne, Ron Ayotte, Chuck Dickinson, Chris Rheome. DQ: Scot Straight.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: DARYL CARL, William Smith IV, Walt Brownell, Jeremy Pitts, Lori Langevin, Ed Thompson, Mike Paquin, Kim Duell, Bob Schmidt, Fred Little, Chuck Towslee, Cale Kneer, Greg McGill, Jim Monroe, Randy Miller, Johnny Rivers Jr., Mike Jeske, James Monroe, Tom O'Connor.

LIMITEDS: MIKE OSTRANDER, Brandon Emigh, Dan Petronis, Dan Older, Chuck Burkhart, Jason Wood, Frank Monroe, Lucas MacIsaac, Nathan Dahoda, Dave Billings, Mitch Sequin, Brian O'Reilly, Justin Demers, Jon Miller, Joshua Coonradt, Guy Swears, Mark Burch, James Ellsworth.

EMPIRE LIGHTNING SPRINTS: JON MOORE, Doug Norrie, Scott Goodrich, Matt Norrie, Mike Kiser, Justin Phillips, Fred Hoffman, Greg Hoffman, Joe Szczapa, Jerry Sehn, Dan Nappi, Will Casazza, Steve Lepine, Shaun Gosselin, James Johnston, Christian Wright.

MINI-STOCKS: TRAVIS TROMANS, Jason Duncan, Ken Schroeder, Erin Older, Dan Older Jr., Don Latulip, Elliott Lussier, Ken Hulbert, Colin Clow, Elmer Montville, Jessica LaCross, Jason Dickson, Andrew Smith (Duke stock).