Bruno wins second straight at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA –  One caution flag was the difference between winning and losing Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Given a chance to regroup on a restart with 14 laps to go, Mike Bruno put on a late charge and came away with his second straight victory in the 358-modified feature at the historic Malta track.

Bruno, who said after the race that he would have been content with a top-10 finish, took the lead away from polesitter Randy Hotaling on lap 27 and pulled away for a 4.344-second margin of victory.

Bruno, who had started 14^th in the 22-car field, hooked up with defending track champion Ken Tremont Jr., who started 12^th, early in the feature and the two quickly moved into the top 10. They kept the crowd entertained with some good side-by-side racing that, at times, also included Marc Johnson, but Hotaling was setting a good pace at the front of the field.

But the complexion of the race changed on lap 21, when Chris Ross brought out the yellow.

Just before the yellow came out, Bruno had gotten around both Tremont and Derrick McGrew to take over fifth. He picked up another spot on the restart, and on consecutive laps, darted by two more cars to move into second.

He easily ran down Hotaling, who was trying to get his first modified win since 2003, and on lap 27, Bruno went past Hotaling on the inside of turn two to get the lead for good.

“I was content just riding behind Tremont and waiting for him to make a move through the field,” said Bruno after the win. “Really, I would have been happy with a top-1o finish.”

Hotaling, who said he won a race on the original asphalt surface at Albany-Saratoga when he was 16 years old, admitted he hated seeing the yellow flag.

“As soon as the caution came out, I knew there would be someone back there,” he said. “It's funny, because when you start out front, you don't want caution flags, but when you start further back, you do.”

Johnson came across the finish line third, followed by Don Scarborough and Kyle Sheldon. Tremont, who had been battling a skipping motor throughout most of the feature, finished sixth, followed by Matt Depew, McGrew, Keith Flach and Dave Manny.

McGrew also won the Denooyer Dash for Cash.

Hunter Bates started on the pole and led flag-to-flag to come away with his first career victory in the 25-lap sportsman feature. Mark Hughes was never far behind, but had to settle for second, less than a second behind Bates at the checkered flag. Luke Klob finished third, followed by Chris Johnson and Jason Herrington.

Scott Duell, who returned to the pro-stock division this season after campaigning with the budget sportsman last year, got his first win of the year in the 25-lap feature in that division. Duell took the lead away from Bobby Schmidt on lap eight and was in control the rest of the way in the Lazzaro Motorsports 114. Sheldon Martin, who started ninth, got up for second, with Kim Duell third, Joe Santoro fourth and Jim Monroe fifth.

For the third straight week, an Emigh was in victory lane at the end of the Renegade feature, as Dave Emigh recorded his second win of the season. Mike Ostrander set the pace for the first nine laps before Emigh took control. Ostrander had to settle for second. He was followed by Dan Petronis, Dan Older and Brandon Emigh, who won last week.

The Bomber Warriors were also in action, with Harold Lavaire picking up his first win of the season.

The MRS/RoC Asphalt East vs. West Showdown, which was rained out on April 18, was also finished, with Rowan Pennink coming away with his first MRS victory of the year. Pennink suffered a flat tire on lap one, but battled from the rear to win the 100-lap feature.

Albany-Saratoga will be holding Kids Night on May 28, with all divisions in action.

MODIFIEDS: MIKE BRUNO, Randy Hotaling, Marc Johnson, Don Scarborough, Kyle Sheldon, Ken Tremont Jr., Matt Depew, Derrick McGrew, Keith Flach, Dave Manny, Joe Williams, Dave DePaulo, Ron Proctor, Jim Ryan, Rich Ronca, Mark Flach, Andy Lindemann, Chris Ross, Mike Perrotte, Jim Introne, Don Ronca, Kris Vernold.

DENOOYER DASH: DERRICK MCGREW, Randy Hotaling, Ron Proctor, Dave Manny, Matt Depew, Kris Vernold.

SPORTSMAN: HUNTER BATES, Mark Hughes, Luke Klob, Chris Johnson, Jason Herrington, Fred Proctor, Adam Tranka, Cody Sargent, Anthony Marro, Paul Dunham, Andy Durie.

PRO-STOCKS: SCOTT DUELL, Sheldon Martin, Kim Duell, Joe Santoro, Jim Monroe, Jimmy Monroe, Fred Little, Mike Paquin, Bobby Schmidt, Carl Guilefuss, Darryl Carl.

RENEGADES: DAVE EMIGH, Mike Ostrander, Dan Petronis, Dan Older, Brandon Emigh, Paul Braymer, Jon Miller, Shea Montgomery, Bill Burlingame, Josh Coonradt.

BOMBER WARRIORS: HAROLD LAVAIRE, Brent Warren, Colin Clow, Dan Older Jr., Mark Lindblade, Jon Lindblade.