MALTA – All it took was one restart for LJ Lombardo to turn a good night into a great one.

Lombardo used a restart to take the lead away from Alex Yankowski and then went on to win Friday night’s 60-lap SuperDIRT Series race that kicked off the 60^th season of racing at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Even though Lombardo was a regular at Albany-Saratoga a few years ago, Friday night’s win, which was worth $7,500, was his first career victory at the historic Malta oval.

Yankowski, who started on the outside pole and jumped right into the lead, dominated the first half of the feature, which was run under all-green conditions. Although he got into lapped traffic by lap 17, he was able to make all the right moves to stay out front. Lombardo, who had started on the pole, didn’t have time to pay attention to what Yankowski was doing, because he had his hands full trying to hold off Tim Sears Jr. and Mike Mahaney.

But things changed midway through the feature. Yankowski had a devil of a time in his attempt to put Neil Stratton a lap down, and that allowed Lombardo to close the gap on the leader. On lap 31, Stratton and Lombardo banged together in the third turn, with Stratton spinning around to bring out the only caution of the race.

Yankowski chose the inside for the restart and when SDS starter Dave Farney threw the green, Lombardo got wound up on the top and got the lead as he and Yankowski completed lap 32.

And that’s how they stayed, as Lombardo was able to keep up his momentum on top as the track slicked up in the second half of the race.

“When Alex chose the bottom on the restart, I was able to change lanes and get the lead,” said Lombardo, who also won his heat race. “If it hadn’t been for that, I wouldn’t be standing here.”

“When the caution came out, I saw there was still some brown and decided to take my chances on the bottom,” said Yankowski. “Hey, you must be doing pretty good when you’re disappointed with a second.”

Sears Jr., Mahaney and Erick Rudolph completed the top five. Rudolph, who started 12^th, was the only driver in the top five who hadn’t been involved in the six-man redraw.

Sears Jr. also won the Billy Whittaker Cars and Trucks fast time award after turning a lap of 15.738 seconds in time trials.

Chris Jakubiak, who suffered through a frustrating 2024 season, got 2025 off on the right foot as he led flag-to-flag to win the 25-lap sportsman feature, which paid $1,060 to win through sponsorship from Cordova Plumbing and Heating.

Jakubiak, who had just three top-five finishes during the 2024 campaign, had the dominant car Friday night. After starting on the outside pole, he went right to the front and caught the rear of the field after just 10 laps.

The only caution of the race came out on lap 16, and Jakubiak once again pulled away, leaving invader Donovan Lussier and Joey Scarborough to battle for second. Lussier won that battle, holding off Scarborough, while defending track champion Tim Hartman Jr. got up for fourth after starting 13^th.

Beau Ballard, the defending pro stock champion at Albany-Saratoga, also led from flag-to-flag as he began defense of his track championship. A late caution wiped out a huge lead by Ballard and created a wild finish.

Pete Stefanski and Rich Crane had been locked into a heck of a battle for second, with Stefanski securing that spot just before the final yellow came out with two to go.

On the restart, Stefanski got too high in the second turn, allowing both Crane and Kim Duell to get by, and Duell came away with the runner-up spot when something broke on Crane’s car.

SUPER DIRT SERIES DIAMOND ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: LJ LOMBARDO, Alex Yankowski, Tim Sears Jr., Mike Mahaney, Erick Rudolph, Mat Williamson, Matt Sheppard, Matt DeLorenzo, Anthony Perrego, Justin Stone, Marc Johnson, Tim Fuller, Felix Roy, Jimmy Phelps, Jack Lehner, Alex Payne, Michael Trautschold, Ronnie Johnson, Darren Smith, Jack Speshock, Bob McGannon, Larry Wight, Adam Pierson, Neil Stratton, Billy Decker, CG Morey, Daniel Johnson.

SPORTSMAN: CHRIS JAKUBIAK, Donovan Lussier, Joey Scarborough, Tim Hartman Jr., Dylan Madsen, Connor Crane, Jon Miller, Pat Jones, Cody Ochs, Bryce Breault, Derek Wagner, Dave Baranowski, Mike Benson, Taylor Wason, Joe Judge, Scott Towslee, Daryl Nutting, Derrick McGrew Jr., Elliot Lussier, Chad Gregory, Nick Arnold, Alex Palmer-Sawyer, Tyler Rapp, Michael Wagner Fitzgerald, Jess Washburn, Dan Grignon, Chris Crane Jr., Zach Buff.

PRO STOCKS: BEAU BALLARD, Kim Duell, Shane Henderson, Pete Stefanski, Brandon Emigh, Chucky Dumblewski, Kyle Hoard, Dean Charbonneau, Jay Casey, Caden Dumblewski, Jimmy Duncan, Jason Casey, Slater Baker, Chris Wemple, Mike Baker, Josh Bussino, Pete Vila, Rich Crane, Joe Wilson, Jaxson Ryan, Phil Difiglio, Chris Stalker.