MALTA, N.Y. — A special night is on the horizon for the Super DIRTcar Series when it returns to Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Tuesday.
Hall of Fame motorsports journalist Don Davies will be honored with the Don Davies New York Modifieds 76 — a 76-lap, $7,600-to-win event featuring a race within a race.
Along with the purse money, drivers can cash in on more than $13,000 worth of bonuses throughout the night.
DIRTcar Pro Stocks and DIRTcar Sportsman are also on the card — two classes that Davies enjoyed every Friday night. Bonus money will be available for all three divisions.
Wednesday, June 26, will be the rescheduled date if weather hinders the event.
The Race Within a Race
Tuesday’s Don Davies New York Modifieds 76 will feature a unique format, a “race within a race,“ something Davies wanted to see in an event.
The 76-lap Feature will be run in two segments. The first segment will be 46 laps, followed by an invert of four, six or eight – drawn randomly by the leader on lap 46. The leader atlLap 46 will receive a $2,000 bonus. Segment two is a 30-lap sprint for the $7,600 prize.
Ant-Man Leads the Pack
Anthony Perrego finds himself alone at the top of the Super DIRTcar Series points standings for the first time in his career.
The Montgomery driver wrestled the lead from Peter Britten with a second-place finish at Big Diamond and enters Albany-Saratoga Speedway with an eight-point lead over the Aussie.
Perrego has found past success at Albany-Saratoga, winning the 2021 track championship and earning his first Super DIRTcar Series win at the Malta oval during OktoberFAST in 2020.
He’s yet to finish outside the top five in six series events this season.
Britten, a two-time Albany-Saratoga champion, currently leads the track standings entering this weekend.
“The Batman” scored a win at the facility on April 26 and aims to reclaim the Super DIRTcar Series points lead at his home track. He finished fourth and fifth in last year’s series stops.
A win by the Aussie would be his fourth Super DIRTcar Series victory.
Mat Williamson and Matt Sheppard enter the Don Davies New York Modifieds 76 third and fourth in the standings, respectively.
Both drivers are looking to rebound after both failed to earn a top-five in either stop at Albany-Saratoga last year.
Out of the two Series champions, Sheppard is the only one with a series victory at the “Great Race Place,” winning during Malta Massive Weekend in 2022.
Home Track Advantage
For the first time this season, the Super DIRTcar Series visits a dirt track where its full-time competitors race weekly.
Britten, Jack Lehner, Mike Mahaney, Justin Stone and C.G. Morey each call Albany-Saratoga Speedway home on Friday nights.
So far, Lehner and Mahaney are the only two who have reached victory lane. Lehner scored his victory on May 17 while Mahaney earned a DIRTcar 358 Modified win last Friday.
Of the five Albany-Saratoga regulars who race with the Super DIRTcar Series, Mahaney has had the most success, scoring his first two series wins at the track.
Ready to Play Spoiler
The Super DIRTcar Series stars are only part of the stout field that races every Friday at Albany-Saratoga.
Chasing Britten in the battle to be track champion is Marc Johnson, who has a Big Block and 358 Modified victory at the track in 2024.
Johnson has knocked on the door of a Super DIRTcar Series win twice, earning two seconds in back-to-back races in 2022 at Albany-Saratoga and Lebanon Valley Speedway. He enters the event with momentum after winning the Slate Valley 50 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Father’s Day.
Two other former Albany-Saratoga Speedway track champions to watch are Matt Delorenzo and Demetrios Drellos.
The 2022 track champion, Delorenzo finished second to Chris Hile in last year’s “Summer Starter” at the track, tying his best Super DIRTcar Series finish.
Meanwhile, defending track champion Demetrios Drellos earned his lone Super DIRTcar Series victory during the inaugural Malta Massive Weekend in 2019, leading all 100 laps. The Queensbury driver is aiming for his second checkered flag of the season at the track on Tuesday after winning on May 31.
Drellos finished fifth during the Summer Starter last year.
Friesen Heats Up
Stewart Friesen has been consistent in his two Super DIRTcar Series championship season starts, finishing third at Weedsport and winning at Big Diamond.
Four of Friesen’s 45 series wins have come at Albany-Saratoga, including his triumph during Malta Massive Weekend last September.
He already has a win at Albany-Saratoga in 2024, finding victory lane during the track’s opening night in April.
Friesen enters the Don Davies New York Modifieds 76 with five straight top-five finishes in points-paying Super DIRTcar Series races.