MALTA, N.Y. — Matt DeLorenzo claimed his second consecutive and fourth overall DIRTcar modified feature win Friday night at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway on a program that almost didn’t happen.
When track officials turned on the track lighting after hot laps, more than half of the lights did not work, prompting a warning to teams at the driver’s meeting that the program might end at dusk.
But the track crew managed to scurry around and procure a bevy of portable lights from an area construction firm that lit the track almost as well as the normal lighting and the show went on as scheduled.
DeLorenzo’s big-block score backed up an earlier win in the 358 modified finale, causing him to offer, “I might have paid for our motor rebuild” with a knowing laugh.
Jack Lehner looked to be on his way to his first win of the season in the 35-lap big-block finale, as he jumped from third to first on the opening lap and built up a solid lead while DeLorenzo worked from fifth to second with Marc Johnson in tow.
But Lehner’s run came to an abrupt end shortly after he caught the tail of the field on lap 13. The next time around, he dove under Kris Vernold on the backstretch only to have Vernold move down a lane, turning the leader around and wrecking his car bad enough that it had to be cradled off.
That put DeLorenzo on the point and while Johnson could get even on a trio of restarts using the middle lane, DeLorenzo always scooted away as the laps went on. They hit the stripe that way with Adam Pierson third ahead of Peter Britten and Jessey Mueller.
“We figured something out last week and we’re way better now,” tipped Johnson. “I was better than Matt on the long runs but every time I’d catch him, the yellow would come out.”
“We went from seventh to third and I’m happy with that,” added Pierson. “No mistakes by the driver tonight and that helped. But I’m not sure of our tire selection. Those two had on different compound tires and we couldn’t begin to catch them.”
Meanwhile, DeLorenzo was basking in the double wins, with the big block score giving him the back-to-back bonus as well when combined with last week’s score.
“Jack was quick at the start and I was pacing myself,” he recalled. “But I couldn’t get around the outside of him when I gave it a try so I’m not sure how it would have turned out if he didn’t tangle with the lapped car. Once we got the lead, we were set. The car was really good on restarts because this motor has great response when it’s time to go.”
Mike Mahaney advanced from 13th to lead the second five, which included Robert Bublak, Justin Stone, Felix Roy and David Schilling.
Mahaney ran second to DeLorenzo in the 358 finale after they started first and third, respectively.
The duo immediately ran away from Walter Hammond Jr., who held third early on, but Felix Roy worked steadily forward from eight to show third at the checkers. Chris Curtis, Hammond, Neil Stratton, Andrew Buff and Britten trailed.
Tim Hartman Jr drove from mid-field to claim the Sportsman feature, worth some $1,060, over a fast-closing Connor Crane, Scott Towslee and Chris Crane Jr. while Kyle Hoard prevailed over Brandon Emigh and Jason Casey in the Pro Stock feature.
