0
0
MALTA – When the night started, Jack Lehner just wanted to work the kinks out of a new car.
When the night was over, he was celebrating his second victory of the season in the 35-lap NAPA Modifieds feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
Lehner charged from his 13th starting position to become the first two-time winner in the modified division in 2024. And he did it on a night when his primary sponsor, Benson’s Pet Center, was also staging Benson’s Pet Center Night at the speedway.
“It’s funny. This is a brand-new car (a Bicknell chassis), the first time out, and we’ve got a new Kevlar motor in it,” said Lehner, who before Friday night had never won two modified features at Albany-Saratoga in the same year. “We wanted to make sure it was good for Tuesday night (the Don Davies NY Modifieds 76 Super DIRTcar Series race). It was REALLY good.”
Erik Mack, a former sportsman driver who is still looking for his first modified victory, started on the pole and set a torrid pace, with Ronnie Johnson and David Schilling right behind him.
Mack, who was running the outside line, went into turn four a little too hot on lap 10 and got sideways, which allowed Johnson to take over the lead and put Schilling into second.
And two laps later, Lehner, who was hugging the inside, took over third.
Johnson pulled up on the rear of the field on lap 14 and when he got caught behind the cars of Tommy D’Angelo and Ryan Stortini, Schilling dove to the inside in the third turn and came away with the lead.
Lehner followed Schilling’s lead and also got by Johnson.
Still hugging the inside, Lehner was getting big launches out of the second turn, and when the leaders completed lap 20, they were dead-even. Lehner had to check up momentarily when he found Derek Bornt blocking his lane, but he kept the pressure on Schilling, and on lap 22, Schilling went too high in turn four, allowing Lehner to take the lead.
The only caution of the 35-lap feature came out with two laps to go, with a chain reaction incident in the fourth turn wound up with Matt Depew sitting on the front stretch with rear suspension damage.
That put Schilling right next to Lehner for the restart, but Lehner was just too strong, easily outrunning Schilling and Johnson to the finish line.
“This race played out just like my first win,” said Lehner. “Everyone was running the top, but I could roll the bottom. That lane just opened up for me. But this car could really run anywhere I wanted.”
Points leader Peter Britten charged from his 15th starting position to finish fourth, while Ryan McCartney, who started 14th, finished in the top five for the second straight week.
Rob Yetman won the 25-lap pro stock feature, which paid $1,000 to win through sponsorship from Benson’s Pet Center. The win, Yetman’s second of the year, was the 30th of his career at Albany-Saratoga, moving him back into the top spot on the all-time win list with Kim Duell.
Yetman used a restart on lap four to move into second and seemed content to follow early leader Jordan Modiano. But with 10 laps left, Yetman moved up a lane and took the lead away from Modiano going down the backstretch on lap 19.
Jason Casey got around Modiano on the last lap to finish second, with Modiano third.
Duell gave the fans their money’s worth. On lap four, he and Beau Ballard came together going into the third turn. Duell jumped the cushion, got airborne and rolled once, coming to rest on his wheels near the treeline. But as a tow truck pulled up, Duell refired the car and drove back to the pits, getting a big round of applause from the crowd.
Pat Jones used a good starting position to record his first win of the year in the 25-lap sportman feature. Jones started fifth and finished 1.170 seconds ahead of Dylan Madsen, who had picked up a $200 bonus earlier in the night for winning the Four States Enterprises Dash for Cash.
Nick Brundige needed a late charge to come away with his second win of the year in the 20-lap limited sportsman feature, which paid $500 to win, courtesy of Gary and Patricia Van Alstyne. Brundige started 14th, and didn’t get the lead away from Matthew Gebo until lap 16, when he stayed on the gas coming out of the second turn and soared into the lead going down the backstretch. Brundige then pulled away, posting a 2.461 second margin of victory over points leader Chase Zimmer.
The wildest finish came in the 20-lap street stock race. On the final lap, Adam Tranka, subbing for Jimmy Duncan, tried to get under leader Al Relyea going through the fourth turn. The lapped car of Derek Van Veghten also played a part, as he was running more to the outside, where Relyea wanted to go.
Coming out of the fourth turn, Relyea stuck his nose inside Van Veghten, while Tranka was squeezing from the inside lane. The three cars made contact, with Tranka getting into Relyea’s left rear quarter panel. Relyea spun around, and Tranka charged to the finish line to get the win, while Relyea went into the grass and crossed the finish line backwards. Officials gave the win to Relyea, and Tranka was placed last. Chris Stalker and Mark Burch finished second and third, respectively.
Adam Montville dominated the 15-lap four-cylinder feature, leading from flag-to-flag. David Frame got by Kyle Lanfear on the final lap for second, while Lanfear had the first single-cam car across the finish line, running his winning streak to four races.
NAPA MODIFIEDS: JACK LEHNER, David Schilling, Ronnie Johnson, Peter Britten, Ryan McCartney, Mike Mahaney, Justin Stone, Brian Calabrese, Kolby Schroder, Eric Mack, Jack Speshock, Marc Johnson, CG Morey, Robert Bublak Jr., Rich Ronca, Neil Stratton, Don Ronca, Demetrios Drellos, Brendan Darrah, Matt DeLorenzo, Scott Huber, Ryan Stortini, Garrett Poland, James Meehan, Josh Masterson, Tommy D’Angelo, Matt Depew, Derek Bornt, Todd Ryan, Brandon Daley.
DOUG WHOLEY’S IDEAL EXCAVATING: PAT JONES, Dylan Madsen, Travis Witbeck, Mike Benson, Chris Crane Jr., Craig Wholey, Dylan Grogan, Tim Hartman Jr., Taylor Wason, Dan Grignon, Connor Crane, Mike Coffey Jr., Chris Jakubiak, Cody Ochs, Daryl Nutting, Tyler Rapp, Michael Wagner Fitzgerald, Zach Buff, Joey Scarborough, Scott Bennett, Scott Duell, Taylor LaPlante, Jon Miller, Brendon Gibbons, Dave Baranowski Jr., Scott Towslee, Ron Delease, Drew Cormie, Nick Lussier, Ron Proctor.
SARATOGA MASONRY SUPPLY PRO STOCKS: ROB YETMAN, Jason Casey, Jordan Modiano, Brandon Emigh, Shane Henderson, Caden Dumblewski, Kyle Hoard, Jay Casey, Chucky Dumblewski, Beau Ballard, Pete Vila, Slater Baker, Mike Baker, Kim Duell.
HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: NICK BRUNDIGE, Chase Zimmer, Lucas Duncan, Dakota Green, Sloan Cherko, John Santolin, Chad Gregory, Dan Seguin, Mike Baker, Kale Groff, Jordan Hill, David Zelker, Tanner Coon, Mike Block, Damian Anderson, James Galarneau, Sara Arnold, Nick Arnold, Matthew Gebo.
CORNELL’S AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: AL RELYEA, Chris Stalker, Mark Burch, Josh Hemming, PJ Cram Jr., Matt Mosher, Dan Madigan, Damien Ward, John Filarecki, Ray Pierre Jr., Matt Duggan, Derek Van Veghten, Dan Buell, Adam Tranka (subbing for Jimmy Duncan).
GREG TOWING FOUR-CYLINDERS: ADAM MONTVILLE, David Frame, Kyle Lanfear (first single-cam finisher), Chris Danylieko, Brittany Ladd, Ben Ladd, Tom Hill, Josh Allen.
