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Racing Around: Pierson wins Albany-Saratoga feature, moving up from 13th spot
For the second straight week, rain forced the cancellation of racing at the local speedways, with Albany-Saratoga Speedway being the exception.
The Great Race Place beat the rain Friday night and Adam Pierson topped the field, ending a two-year winless streak with his victory in the 35-lap modified feature.
Running the low line, Pierson picked his way to the front from his 13th starting spot, taking the lead from Ryan McCartney with 11 laps to go. Matt DeLorenzo made a late-race charge to roll into the runner-up spot with two laps to go but could not chase down Pierson before the checkers fell.
Jack Speshock followed Pierson and DeLorenzo across the line in third with McCartney finishing a career-best fourth and Keith Flach fifth. Kenny Tremont Jr., Rich Ronca, Jack Lehner, Brian Calabrese and Peter Britten rounded out the top 10.
A pair of veteran drivers showed they still know the way to the Albany-Saratoga Victory Lane.
Ron Proctor, who turned 70 earlier this month, and 64-year-old Michael Ballestero topped the fields in the dual 20-lap sportsman features.
Proctor used his front row starting spot to grab the lead and held off the challenges of Dylan Madsen to record his first feature win of the season. Andrew Buff finished third, followed by Chris Jakubiak and Zach Buff.
Ballestero started 10th in the second feature and took the lead from Scott Duell on a lap 17 restart and held off Tim Hartman Jr. for his second win of the season. Joey Scarborough was third followed by Brandon Darrah and Pat Jones.
With his victory, Ballestero moves into a tie with Hartman Jr. for most career sportsman wins with 35.
Jordan Modiano picked up the first Pro Stock victory of his career over Shane Henderson, Jay Corbin, Luke Horning and Pete Stefanski.
The dual Limited Sportsman features produced a pair of first-time winners.
Kyle Swart recovered from a late-race bobble and held off the charge of Mike Arnold to collect his first career victory. Chase Zimmer finished third with Dylan Grogan fourth and E.J. Gallup fifth.
In the second Limited Sportsman feature 12-year-old Connor Crane moved from third to the lead on the opening lap and never looked back as he picked up the victory over Joe Venditti, Dakota Green, Dan Sequin and Chad Gregory.
Jason Meltz grabbed the lead on the fifth circuit around the speedway and pulled away to win the 20-lap street stock feature over Chris Stalker, Jeff Meltz Sr., Jimmy Duncan and Matt Mosher.
Elmer Montville picked up his second win of the season in the 4-cylinder mini stock feature over Adam Montville, David Frame, Justin Ramsey and single-cam winner Kyle Lamfear.
Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action Friday night with a full regular race card plus a large fireworks display.
Albany-Saratoga Speedway results
June 23
NAPA MODIFIEDS: ADAM PIERSON, Matt DeLorenzo, Jack Speshock, Ryan McCartney, Keith Flach, Ken Tremont Jr., Rich Ronca, Jack Lehner, Brian Calabrese, Peter Britten, Mike Mahaney, Don Ronca, Ronnie Johnson, Marc Johnson, Jeremy Pitts, Jessey Mueller, CG Morey, Vinnie Visconti, Robert Bublak, Justin Stone, Kris Vernold, Brandon Daley, Matt Depew. DNS: Demetrios Drellos, Neil Stratton.
NORTHEAST PAVING & SEALCOATING SPORTSMAN: (first feature, 20 laps): RON PROCTOR, Dylan Madsen, Andrew Buff, Chris Jakubiak, Zach Buff, Mike Coffey Jr., Chad Edwards, Travis Witbeck, Chris Crane Jr., Taylor Wason, Elliot Lussier, Derrick McGrew Jr., Mike Jeske, Jon Miller, Dave Baranowski Jr., Marty Kelly III, Jim Osgood, Justin Barber, Travis Billington.
NORTHEAST PAVING AND SEALCOATING SPORTSMAN (second feature, 20 laps): Michael Ballestero, Tim Hartman Jr., Joey Scarborough, Brandon Darrah, Pat Jones, Daryl Nutting, Scott Duell, David Boisclair, Bryce Breault, Taylor LaPlante, Jeff Washburn, Michael Wagner Fitzgerald, Floyd Billington, Tyler Rapp, Jason Bruno, Dan Grignon, Eric Mack, Mike Benson, Nick Lussier.
SARATOGA MASONRY SUPPLY PRO STOCKS: JORDAN MODIANO, Shane Henderson, Jay Corbin, Luke Horning, Pete Stefanski, Brandon Emigh, Chucky Dumblewski, Rich Crane, Jason Casey, Jay Casey, Kyle Hoard, Kim Duell, Phil Difiglio, Dom Denue, Pete Vila, Dean Charbonneau, Jaxson Ryan.
HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN (first feature, 15 laps): KYLE SWART, Mike Arnold, Chase Zimmer, Dylan Grogan, EJ Gallup, Nick Arnold, John Santolin, David Zelker, Timmy Wilmot, Walter Cook, Mike Engwer, Phil Arnold, Brandon Tyler, Alex Palmer-Sawyer, Steve Burch.
HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN (second feature, 15 laps): CONNOR CRANE, Joe Venditti, Dakota Green, Dan Seguin, Chad Gregory, Tanner Coon, Nick Auspelmyer, Ron Delease, Mike Parodi, Scott Towslee, James Galarneau, Mike Baker, Damian Anderson, Jordan Hill, Sara Arnold.
LAKE AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: JASON MELTZ, Chris Stalker, Jeff Meltz Sr., Jimmy Duncan, Matt Mosher, Josh Hemming, Mike Bussino , Josh Bussino, Patrick Cram, Jason Barrett, Fred Shippee, Dana Van Veghten, Al Relyea, Nick Napoli, Ray Pierre Jr., Tim McFarland, Dan Buell, Joey Wilson.
GREG’S TOWING FOUR-CYLINDERS: ELMER MONTVILLE, Adam Montville, David Frame, Justin Ramsey, Kyle Lamfear (first single-cam finisher), Josh Ramsey, Daniel Joubert, John Mason, Josh Rheome, Brenden Lauzon, Robert Garney, Tom Hill, Olivia Swinton, Brittany Ladd, Chris Duffney Jr., Ashlynn Ramsey.
RAINED OUT, AGAIN
Rain again forced the cancellation of racing for the third straight week at Utica-Rome Speedway and second-straight week at Fonda Speedway, Lebanon Valley and Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
Devil’s Bowl opted to move its Saturday night program to Sunday night.
Glen Ridge Motorsports Park pulled the plug on its Sunday night race program Saturday night due to saturated grounds and more inclement weather expected.
The local speedways announced they will be adjusting their schedules and will release updated schedules soon.
Before the rain forced the cancelation of Friday’s race program, Matt Sheppard, JaMike Sowle and Willie Decker picked up modified heat race victories, while Jim Rothwell, Blaine Klinger and Alan Hodge won the sportsman qualifiers. Brett Belden and Nick Stone won the pro stock heat races and Cliff Haslun won the Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Series Antique Division feature.
THURSDAY NIGHT SHOW AT U-R
Utica-Rome Speedway will switch from its normal Friday night time slot to Thursday night to host the Bill Shea Memorial.
The Empire Super Sprints (ESS) will join the Thunder on the Thruway Series events featuring a $4,000-to-win modified feature, $1,500-to-win Crate 602 Sportsman main and $1,000-to-win pro stock feature.
