MALTA, N.Y. — It doesn’t happen too often anymore, but once in a while, a “little guy” from a family team still wins.
That was the case Friday night at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway, when veteran Don Ronca shot from third to the lead on the initial break, then led the $3,000 to win 35-lap DIRTcar modified feature all the way to starter Rich Petersen’s checkered flags.
NASCAR Gander Truck Series star Stewart Friesen, also the dominant modified driver in the Northeast this season, clawed his way from a mid-teen starting spot to second, passing Bobby Hackel with one lap remaining for what he thought was another win and a $500 “back-to-back” win bonus.
But Ronca, who said he “never heard anyone close enough to challenge me,” was still a few car lengths ahead at the checkers.
Rookie Derek Borndt led the field to green but Ronca made his winning move in turn one, diving inside Borndt for a lead he would then hold onto like a dog with a bone. Hackel, who started fourth, worked his way to second on lap three and with Brian Berger and Neil Stratton in tow, spent the rest of the race challenging Ronca’s ancient HigFab chassis.
By lap 10 the leaders were lapping the backmarkers and while Hackel got alongside Ronca once in traffic, that was as close as anyone would get to the lead.
By halfway Friesen had climbed to sixth and he soon dropped Jack Lehner a spot, but he was still fifth with ten to go with Ronca a straightaway and a turn ahead of him. Lap 27 saw Friesen dispose of Berger and Stratton to show third and with four to go he’d cut the leader’s advantage to less than a straightaway.
From that point he seemingly ate the distance between himself and Hackel in one gulp and shot by Hackel with the white flag waving.
“I thought I was racing Bobby for the win,” said Friesen. “The top was too fast at the beginning and those guys got away from us, but eventually that went away and we picked them off on the bottom. It would have been a nice race to win but it is what it is!”
“This is my first win in three years and when I got to the lapped cars, I got really nervous,” tipped the elated Ronca. “I never expected 35 green laps and even without a yellow, I figured somebody would be coming for me. I didn’t know who was behind me so I just kept digging. I hit the wall once near the end lapping cars and I’m lucky the right rear is still on it. I guess this was our night!”
Lehner hit the stripe fourth, trailed by point contender Marc Johnson, Stratton, Matt DeLorenzo, Keith Flach, Berger and point leader Mike Mahaney, who earned his first DIRTcar track championship in George and Julie Huttig’s Adirondack Auto No. 35.
“I’ve won two championships at I-88 Speedway and another at Thunder Mountain but this is my first with DIRTcar,” said Mahaney, now in his second year with the Huttigs. “The handicapping here makes every week difficult, as you have to overcome a lot just to get into the top ten. By then, you usually run out of laps. You have to hustle but you can’t be too aggressive either. I tried that for a while and it cost me, so I’m really proud that we pulled it off.”
Tim Hartman Jr. claimed both the Sportsman feature and the division championship, besting Travis Bruno and Andrew Buff. He also broke a tie with his father for second on the all-time win list and now trails only Mike Ballastero.
Luke Horning and Josh Coonradt came into the night tied for first in the Pro Stock standings, then battled their way to the front and swapped the lead back and forth a number of times before Horning finally prevailed to claim both the race and the point title.