MALTA, N.Y. — Peter Britten finally got to start within sight of the front instead of in the high teens Friday night at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway and the result was predictable: his third DIRTcar big block modified win of the season.
“Batman,” as Britten is known to his loyal fans, was scheduled to start seventh in the 35 lapper but he and Ronnie Johnson both moved up a row when Dylan Grogan and Jack Speshock scratched. This put them within sight of the early leader, outside front row starter Andrew Buff, and by lap 8 the two veterans were second and third behind rookie Buff.
Johnson drove under Buff as they hit the frontstretch on lap 11, with Britten soon duplicating the move. They ran together until they hit traffic on lap 20 and Johnson, whose car had obviously gotten tight, began struggling. Britten managed to get even with Johnson at the flagstand on lap 28, then edged by off turn four the next time around and drove away.
Meanwhile, Matt DeLorenzo and defending track champion Mike Mahaney had advanced from mid-pack to third and fourth and were staging a crowd-pleasing duel behind the lead duo. In the end, they finished that way with Buff fifth ahead of Jeremy Pittts, Marc Johnson, Brendan Darrah, Justin Stone and Matt Sheppard.
“When I caught Ronnie, I knew it was a matter of time,” tipped Britten. “I was tight early and Ronnie took off away from me so I started moving around and found the line I needed. By then, he was struggling with lapped cars and I knew I’d get him sooner or later.”
“The track got slick and I was trying to keep the car straight but I slipped up,” summed up Ronnie Johnson. “He obviously had the better car, because once he passed me he left me. By then, I was happy to hang on to second.”
For his part, DeLorenzo said he “was a little loose and after they worked the track, there wasn’t much outside and the rest was a little slick. The good news is there’s always next week!”
In the 358 modified Shootout, outside front row starter Marc Johnson and polesitter Justin Stone led the 29-car field home. Sportsman graduate Dylan Madsen started third and finished there while Mike Mahaney snared passing honors with a charge from 19th to fourth ahead of Bobby Hackel IV and Chris Curtis.
Connor Crane claimed the Sportsman win over Andrew Cormie, Tim Hartman Jr, Mike Benson and Zach Buff while Rich Crane prevailed over Jaxson Ryan, Chuckie Dumblewski and Brandon Emigh in the Pro Stock finale.
