MALTA – All the pieces finally fell into place for Justin Stone Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

The third-generation driver from Middlebury, Vt., came out of the fourth row, hounded Brian Calabrese for most of the race and chalked up his first modified victory in the 35-lap Next Generation Roofing feature at the historic Malta track.

Stone, in only his second full season running in the top division, had been in the position to get a win on numerous occasions in the past two years, but kept coming up short.

“This is a humbling sport,” said Stone in victory lane. “My father always tells me to be patient, and that my time will come. I guess it was my time tonight.”

Calabrese might have felt it was his time, as well. Also looking for his first modified win, Calabrese was running in the top three, with pole-starter Brendan Darrah and Stone during the first half of the feature. Calabrese got the opportunity he needed on lap 16, when Marc Johnson brought out the yellow when he got knocked around in the front straightaway.

Calabrese got a big run coming out of the second turn on the restart, and had the lead at the completion of lap 16. Following another restart, Stone took over the No. 2 spot on lap 23 and the stage was set for a wild finish.

Calabrese survived another restart on lap 24, but a yellow on lap 28 proved to be his downfall. On that restart, Stone had the low line coming out of the second turn, cleared Calabrese and then blocked his lane to take the lead for good.

Stone, whose grandfather Gardner (late models) and father Todd (modifieds) are also in the record books at Albany-Saratoga, led Calabrese and Darrah across the finish line, with Kolby Schroder fourth and Ronnie Johnson fifth.

“The track had a lot of character tonight,” said Stone. “I bounced hard a couple of times in (turn) three, but once I got that figured out, the car was good. The restarts helped me. I could cool the tires down and I could roll the middle. It was nice to race with the guys up front and race clean like we did.”

Calabrese said he wasn’t bothered by the restarts. “I think I hit them all perfect,” he said. “On the last one, I got a little tight in one and when he got by me, I tried going back to the bottom, but he had already gotten away from me.”

Because of all the bad weather during the spring, the Sprint Cars of New England (SCoNE) hadn’t raced since April 19, but when they made their first appearance ever at Albany-Saratoga Friday, Jordan Poirier picked right up where he left off.

Poirier, who won the series’ opener at Airborne Park in Plattsburgh on April 19, drew the pole and led all 25 laps in the sprint car feature.

Danny Varin, who had started third, cut into Poirier’s big lead when Poirier got into traffic late in the race. With six laps to go, the two leaders came out of the fourth turn about two car lengths apart, with Varin down low and Poirier high. But going into the first turn, Varin nearly made contact with the car of Mark Reynolds, allowing Poirier to get some breathing room. Poirier then survived three late cautions to get the win.

Completing the top five were Dalton Rombaugh, Matt Tanner and Travis Billington.

Nick Brundige posted his first career win in the 25-lap sportsman feature, which paid $1,060 to win through sponsorship from Greenacres Landscaping. Brundige, who had started seventh, was sitting behind leader Scott Bennett when a caution came out on lap 19, and when Bennett suddenly pulled into the pits, Brundige inherited the lead. Following him across the finish line were Taylor Wason, Daryl Nutting, Chris Jakubiak and Zach Buff.

Tyler Rapp won the Four States Enterprises Sportsman Dash for Cash, picking up a $200 bonus.

Jimmy Duncan started on the pole and led flag-to-flag to come away with his first career in the 25-lap pro stock feature, which paid $1,060 to win through sponsorship from Ghent Wood Products. Duncan was a frequent winner in the street stock division before moving up to the pro stocks late in the 2024 season.

Brandon Emigh finished second, with Kyle Hoard third, Pete Vila fourth and Rich Crane fifth.

Alex Smith also notched his first career win Friday night, winning the 20-lap limited sportsman feature. That race was marred by a first-lap, red-flag incident that included nearly half the field. Kevin Groff took the hardest hit, when he launched over the front end of Lucas Duncan, landed on his roof and wound up on his side.

Smith, who started on the outside of the front row, took the lead away from pole-sitter Sarah Arnold on lap four and held off Nick Arnold for the win, even though Smith bounced off the slower car of Zach Mecca on the final lap.

Chris Murray was declared the winner of the street stock feature, which got the checkered flag after just 17 laps before of curfew restrictions. Murray had the lead when the second- and third-place cars of PJ Cram Jr. and Al Relyea made contact in the first turn on lap 18. Something broke in the front end of Relyea’s car and he soared off the first turn into the trees and the car caught fire. Officials at the scene reported that Relyea was unhurt, but it would take some time to get the car extricated, so the race was checker-flagged.

NEXT GENERATION ROOFING MODIFIEDS: JUSTIN STONE, Brian Calabrese, Brendan Darrah. Kolby Schroder, Ronnie Johnson, Matt DeLorenzo, Jack Speshock, Jeremy Pitts, David Schilling, CG Morey, Neil Stratton, Mike Mahaney, Robert Bublak, Derek Bornt, James Meehan, Chris Curtis, Don Ronca, Peter Britten, Todd Buckwald (subbing for Adam Pierson), Josh Masterson, Jack Lehner, Marc Johnson, Rich Ronca, Jessey Mueller, Demetrios Drellos, Kris Vernold, Felix Roy, Matt Depew.

DOUG WHOLEY’S IDEAL EXCAVATING SPORTSMAN: NICK BRUNDIGE, Taylor Wason, Daryl Nutting, Chris Jakubiak, Zach Buff, Chris Crane Jr., Dylan Madsen, Connor Crane, Michael Wagner-Fitzgerald, Tim Hartman Jr., Dave Baranowski, Alex Palmer-Sawyer, Cody Ochs, Tanner Coon, Michael Ballestero, Scott Bennett Jr., Tyler Rapp, Bryce Breault, Derrick McGrew Jr., Elliot Lussier, Chad Gregory, Craig Wholey, Phil Arnold, Jon Miller, Mike Benson, Nick Lussier, Joey Scarborough, Scott Towslee.

SARATOGA MASONRY SUPPLY PRO STOCKS: JIMMY DUNCAN, Brandon Emigh, Kyle Hoard, Pete Vila, Rich Crane, Kim Duell, Caden Dumblewski, Jaxson Ryan, Jason Casey, Chris Stalker, Shane Henderson, Jay Casey, Jordan Modiano, Phil Difiglio, Pete Stefanski, Chucky Dumblewski, Chris Wemple, Joe Wilson.

HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: ALEX SMITH, Nick Arnold, Bodie Marks, Cordell Younger, Colten Emigh, Bobbi Hults, Jeff Lehner, Devon Palmer, John Santolin, James Galarneau, Sarah Arnold, Brandon Tyler, Dylan Shippee, Dan Seguin, Jarron Maguire, Lucas Duncan, Mike Baker, Steve Burch, Noah Carlo. Sloan Cherko, Craig Coons, Derrik Emigh, Kevin Groff, Jordan Hill, Zach Mecca, George Palmer, Dave Zelker.

CORNELL’S AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: CHRIS MURRAY, Shane Wetherington, John Filaracki, Dana Van Veghten, Andrew Fitzgerald, Fred Shippee, Anthony King, Derek Van Veghten, Josh Hemming, Dan Madigan, Jake Middleton, PJ Cram, Al Relyea, Matt Mosher, Dave Cook, Mark Burch, Tim McFarland, Damian Ward.

SCONE SPRINT CAR SERIES: JORDAN POIRIER, Danny Varin, Dalton Rombaugh, Matt Tanner, Travis Billington, Chase Moran, Matt Hoyt, Scott Holbomb, Chad Miller, Will Hull, Tyler Chartrand, Kadyn Berry, Floyd Billington, Jake Williams, Troy Comeau, Mark Reynolds, Shawn Lawler, Chris Donnelly, Nick Kruger, Tunk Berry, Caiden Herbert, Jeff Trombley, Kyle Smith, Fred Proctor.