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Friday May 24, 2024, ~ MALTA NY– Want some good advice? Never count out Jessey Mueller.
After a run of bad luck contributed to mediocre finishes for the last four weeks, Mueller completely turned the tables Friday night and held off two-time modified champion Marc Johnson to chalk up his first win of the season in the 35-lap NAPA Modifieds feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
For the second straight season, Mueller saved his best for Memorial Day Weekend. Last year, he recorded his only win of the year at Albany-Saratoga on May 26.
Mueller started fifth in the bulky 30-car field Friday night, and immediately went to his favorite spot – the outside groove – to watch as Matt Depew and modified rookie Brandon Darrah dueled for the early lead.
Darrah had the top spot when the first caution of the night came out on lap 10, when David Schilling came to a stop against the front inside barrier, after cars had gotten bottled up coming out of the fourth turn.
Mueller, who had started fifth, jumped into second on the restart, and then rocketed by Darrah around the outside of turn four on lap 11 to take the lead.
There was some great racing behind the lead duo, as Johnson; Jack Lehner, who was looking for his second win in a row; and Jeremy Pitts were putting on a show. Then, on lap 15, Johnson went under both Lehner and Pitts to go from fifth to third.
When Don Ronca lost power on lap 22, another yellow came out and bunched the field, putting Johnson right next to Mueller. Even though Mueller had been running the top while Johnson was hugging the bottom, Mueller choose the inside for the restart. He knew he had a good car, and on the restart, fired quickly, went back to the top exiting the second turn and kept his momentum up, denying Johnson a chance to get the lead.
Johnson never gave in, and waited for Mueller to bobble, but Mueller was perfect the rest of the way, taking the checkered flag and getting his eighth career win by a 0.392-second margin.
“I had a fast car,” said Mueller in victory lane. “I was nervous starting next to Marc because he’s so good and he’s got so much experience here. But I was able to hold him off. Winning here is always incredible.”
Lehner crossed the finish line third, with Peter Britten fourth and Brian Calabrese fifth. For the third straight week, Britten has to come from deep in the field, as he started 25th.
Johnson didn’t go away totally empty-handed, as he won the 25-lap DiCarlo Auto Body 358 Shootout, the second leg of the six-race series.
If they gave a move of the night award, Johnson pulled it off on lap seven. Battling for position with Schilling and Ronnie Johnson, Marc Johnson saw an opening between the other two cars, mashed the throttle and rocketed from fourth to second. That proved to be the winning move, as Marc Johnson then grabbed the lead away from Andrew Buff on a restart on lap 10, and drove to an easy victory. Buff held off Robert Bublak Jr. for second. Matt DeLorenzo, who won the first leg of the DiCarlo Series, and Chris Curtis completed the top five.
Kim Duell recorded his first win of the season in the 25-lap pro stock feature, enabling him to increase his points lead. The victory was the 30th of his career, breaking a tie with Rob Yetman for the top spot on the all-time pro stock win list.
The finish of the pro stock feature was a wild one. Jordan Modiano looked to in control of the race until a bizarre series of events. When the field was under caution on lap 18, Modiano pulled into the infield, giving the lead to Jason Casey. Casey and Duell then raced side by side, with Casey low and Duell high, for the remainder of the race. But on lap 24, Casey bobbled coming out of the fourth turn, allowing Duell to put his Twister chassis into the top spot, beating Casey to the finish line by 1.3 seconds.
Duell earned $1,000 for his win through sponsorship from Online Performance.
Brendon Gibbons dominated the 25-lap sportsman feature, finishing with a 4.5-second margin of victory over Craig Wholey. Gibbons collected $1,000 for his first win of the season through sponsorship from HICO Fabrications. Gibbons started on the outside of the front row, and only needed four laps to take the lead for good. Wholey spent most of the race watching Gibbons’ rear bumper, finishing second, with Zach Buff third.
Chris Jakubiak won the Four States Enterprises sportsman Dash for Cash, picking up a $200 bonus.
Nick Brundige came away with his first career win in the 20-lap limited sportsman feature. After starting eighth, he took the lead coming out of the fourth turn on lap five and held off a late charge from Dakota Green to get the win. Tanner Coon finished third.
Chris Stalker outran Jason Meltz to win the 20-lap street stock feature. The win was Stalker’s second of the season, while Meltz was making his first appearance of the year at Albany-Saratoga. Matt Mosher crossed the finish line third.
NAPA MODIFIEDS: JESSEY MUELLER, Marc Johnson, Jack Lehner, Peter Britten, Brian Calabrese, Jeremy Pitts, Robert Bublak Jr., Mike Mahaney, Brendan Darrah, Matt DeLorenzo, Ryan McCartney, Ronnie Johnson, Rich Scagliotta, Rich Ronca, Demetrios Drellos, Kolby Schroder, Scott Huber, Josh Masterson, Jack Speshock, Kyle Armstrong, CG Morey, Justin Stone, James Meehan, Todd Ryan, Matt Depew, Derek Bornt, Neil Stratton, Don Ronca, Eric Mack, David Schilling.
DICARLO AUTO BODY 358 SHOOTOUT SERIES: MARC JOHNSON, Andrew Buff, Robert Bublak Jr., Matt DeLorenzo, Chris Curtis, David Schilling, Mike Mahaney, Garrett Poland, Joey Coppola, Walt Hammond, Chris Brisson, Jeff Reis, Ray Hall Jr., Brandon Daley, Angelo DiCarlo, Matt Woodruff, Bill August, Jim Introne, Ronnie Johnson, Floyd Billington, Tyler Jashembowski, Walter J. Hammond
IDEAL EXCAVATING SPORTSMAN: BRENDON GIBBONS, Craig Wholey, Zach Buff, Taylor Wason, Dan Grignon, Chris Jakubiak, Michael Wagner Fitzgerald, Alex Bell, Chris Crane Jr., Connor Crane, Mike Benson, Justin Buff (subbing for Daryl Nutting), Mike Coffey Jr., Dave Baranowski Jr., Cody Ochs, Joey Scarborough, Tim Hartman Jr., Tyler Rapp, Cody Bleau, Elliiot Lussier, Mike Ballestero, Alex Palmer-Sawyer, Dylan Madsen, Scott Duell, Nick Lussier, Travis Witbeck, Scott Towslee, Tony Farone, Bryce Breault.
SARATOGA MASONRY SUPPLY PRO STOCKS: KIM DUELL, Jason Casey, Kyle Hoard, Chucky Dumblewski, Rich Crane, Slater Baker, Beau Ballard, Caden Dumblewski, Luke Horning, Mike Hill, Pete Vila, Shane Henderson, Jordan Modiano, Dom Denue, Jay Casey, Rob Yetman, Jay Corbin, Brandon Emigh.
HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: NICK BRUNDIGE, Dakota Green, Tanner Coon, Nick Auspelmyer, Alex Smith, Chad Gregory, Mike Baker, David Zelker, Nick Arnold, James Galarneau, Dan Seguin, John Santolin, Mike Block, Sloan Cherko, Cordell Younger, Matt Jordan, Lucas Duncan, Dan Odell, Sara Arnold, Chase Zimmer, Matthew Gebo, Jordan Hill, Steve Burch, Maclain Campbell.
CORNELL’S AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: CHRIS STALKER, Jason Meltz, Matt Mosher, PJ Cram Jr., Al Relyea, Ray Pierre Jr., Dan Madigan, Jeff Meltz Sr., Damien Ward, Josh Hemming, Mark Lester, Tim McFarland, Mike Duggan, Mark Burch, Jimmy Duncan, Derek Van Veghten.
