MALTA, NY – The Albany-Saratoga Speedway completed season number two under the leadership of Lyle Devore a few months back and while the DIRTcar Modified division gained most of the headlines, the remainder of the divisions that compete weekly at the four tenths of a mile oval more than did their part to prove the track’s nickname true.

The Great Race Place played host to some of the strongest Sportsman, Novice Sportsman, Pro Stock, Street Stock and Four Cylinder fields in the region. When the final checkered flag waved on Friday evening September 6th Jeremy Pitts (Sportsman), Chris Murray (Novice Sportsman), Rob Yetman (DIRTcar Pro Stock), Kenny Martin, Jr. (Pro Stock AIM Warrior Series), Bill Duprey (Street Stocks), Mark Lindblade (Four Cylinder Single Cam) and Todd Goldstein (Four Cylinder Dual Cam) all were crowned track champions.

Jeremy Pitts claimed his first Sportsman division track championship in 2013. Pitts visited victory lane for the first time ever at Albany-Saratoga on May 3rd and followed it up with another on May 31st. Joining Pitts with two feature wins were second place in points Derrick McGrew, Mike Tholin and rookie Connor Cleveland. Cleveland started the season in the Novice Sportsman division where he won three of the first four events.

A total of eight drivers won a single event during the season. Those drivers were Cody Bleau, Robert Bublak, Jr., Frank Hoard, III, Jack Gentile, Matt Pappa, Mike Ostrander, Jack Swinton and Scott Duell. Like fellow rookie Cleveland, Pappa started the season in the Novice Sportsman divisions. Pappa graduated to the Sportsman division on July 26th. He won not only the Novice Sportsman feature that night but the Sportsman division event.

The Sportsman division at Albany-Saratoga once again averaged more cars per week than any other Sportsman division in the Capital District. In 2013 the division averaged 35.38 cars per event. A total of 12 drivers won the 16 events held for the division.

Pitts would claim the track title by 22 points over McGrew. McGrew’s two feature wins moved his career win total to 18 in the Sportsman division at Albany-Saratoga. He now sits in a tie for fourth on the all-time feature winners list with Tony Ballestero. Mike Ballestero (32 wins), Tim Hartman, Sr. (26 wins) and Tim Clemons (25 wins) hold positions one through three on the all-time list.

Bleau would finish the season third in points, a distant 76 markers behind McGrew. Scott Duell and Andy During would complete the top five. Brett Wright finished the season sixth in the standings followed by Robert Bublak, Jr., Frank Hoard, III, Cleveland and Dave Baranowski, Jr.

The Novice Sportsman division completed their first season at the Great Race Place. Chris Murray would claim the track title over Timothy Davis, Ricky Davis, John Lindblade and Jesse Edwards. Feature winners included Cleveland, Pappa and Timothy Davis (three each), Jack Bublak (two wins) and Edwards, Murray, David Emigh, Pete Jeske and Colin Bokus (one win each). The division averaged 17.20 cars this season and was tops in the Capital District. A total of nine drivers won the 16 feature events held in 2013 with three drivers (Cleveland, Pappa and Timothy Davis) graduating to the Sportsman division.

Rob Yetman used eight feature wins to propel himself to the 2013 DIRTcar Pro Stock track championship. Yetman opened the season by winning three of the first four events with his nearest points rival Kenny Martin, Jr. winning two of the first five events.  Ed Thompson would win the June 14th feature event with Martin returning to victory lane a week later. Yetman then went on a torrid win streak, winning the next four points paying events.

Rookie Byron Wescott won the DIRTcar Pro Stock Series event as part of Hearn’s 5th Annual Big Show. Sophomore Pro Stock campaigner Dan Older, Sr. put his machine in victory lane on August 2nd with rookie Dave DePaulo doing the same on August 16th. Older would return to victory lane on August 23rd with Yetman securing his track championship with a win on August 30th. Kim Duell would close the season with a win on September 6th.

In all the division averaged a respectful 16.41 cars per event in 2013 with seven drivers winning the 17 feature events held for the division. Yetman would win the track championship over Martin, Older, Duell and Brandon Emigh. Cale Kneer missed the top five by a mere six points while Wescott, Dean Charbonneau, Dave DePaulo and Jeff Washburn completed the top ten.

The DIRTcar Pro Stock division also competed in the AIM Warrior Series with Martin picking up the championship. Duell would finish second with rookie Wescott third, Older fourth and Emigh fifth. In all, four events were held with four different feature winners – Martin, Duell, Older and Yetman.

Bill Duprey would win only one event (July 26th) however his consistent finishes earned him the Street Stock division track championship. Josh Coonradt would finish second in the final standings with Randy Miller third, Scott Lawrence fourth and Justin Smith fifth.

A total of 16 events were held during the 2013 season with nine different drivers earning feature wins. Miller would lead all with four wins while Coonradt visited victory lane three times. Recording two feature wins a piece were Yule Cook and David Shippee. Including Duprey a total of five drivers won a single event in 2013; those drivers were Matt Mosher, Ken Conroy, Smith and Paul Braymer. The average car count for the season was 20.25 which was well above average for the Capital District.

The Four Cylinder division was split into Single Cam and Dual cam divisions for the 2013 season however they raced together.  The division ran nine events in 2013 with Todd Goldstein claiming eight overall wins with Steve Ryan claiming one.  The division averaged 13.11 cars in their limited appearances.

Mark Lindblade would claim the Single Cam track championship over Dan Older, Jr., Lance Robertson, Joe Tallman and Jeff Donnelly, Jr.  Lindblade won seven Single Cam events while Older won twice.

Goldstein claimed the Dual Cam track championship over David Frame, Steve Ryan, Jake Currier and Pete Vila. Goldstein won eight Dual Cam events with Ryan claiming one.