Albany-Saratoga Regulars Dominate Super DIRT Week XLII
MALTA, NY – After 42 years Super DIRT Week is still the pinnacle of northeast Dirt Modified racing. This past week the drivers who call the Albany-Saratoga Speedway home took the Moody Mile by storm, further emphasizing that the best of the best compete each and every Friday night along Route 9 in Malta.
Of the 17 major events held amongst the four divisions at Super DIRT Week, drivers who call the Great Race Place home on Friday nights claimed the top spot 11 times. In baseball terms, the Albany-Saratoga drivers batted .647 for the weekend.
The on track action started on Thursday afternoon with time trial qualifying for both the DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds and DIRTcar 358 Modifieds. When all qualifying was completed track regulars Stewart Friesen and Ronnie Johnson sat on top of the final standings, earning the pole position for Saturday and Sunday’s championship events.
“We made a couple adjustments after practice and (motor builder) Chuck Cici did some tuning on the engine and it worked great,” Friesen said after earning the pole for the Syracuse 200 with a lap of 30.237 seconds. “It’s just a good combination and we made good adjustments.”
Johnson’s lap of 31.754 seconds put the third generation driver on the pole for the Salute to the Troops 150, DIRTcar 358 Modified Championship.
“Carol and Alton (Palmer) put this car away to save it just for coming here,” Johnson said. “We just run it here and we usually unload a top-10 car, but I never dreamed we’d be on the pole with it. I didn’t know how good we were because you’re out there by yourself. I’ve run a lot of time-trial laps and felt like that was the fastest one and I come in and I’m 10th or 12th, so you never know. But when I took the white flag lap I saw the (number) 76 up on the board so I knew we must have been pretty good.”
The second full day of Super DIRT Week XLII would see track regulars sit on top in all four divisions. Friesen would win the first of the DIRTcar Modified Triple 20 events while 2013 Albany-Saratoga Speedway track champion Brett Hearn claimed the second. Marc Johnson would put his plain white, Troyer chassis machine in victory lane in the second of the DIRTcar 358 Modified Twin 20 qualifying events. The Guilderland driver would finish eighth in the Salute to the Troops 150 on Saturday.
“We put everything into this, we work really hard and we’ve run well here, so we’re really excited,” said Johnson. “The first year we were here (in ’09) we finished ninth, won the Rookie of the Race and won the Hard Charger Award. The next year we finished sixth and led some laps, and last year we were good but overheated. We feel pretty good about our chances tomorrow.”
In the Sportsman ranks Brett Wright earned the pole position for the DIRTcar Sportsman Championship and won the first of the Triple 10 qualifying events. He would finish fourth in Saturday’s event. Wright was driving a 2005 Bicknell chassis machine.
“The car felt real good out there,” Wright said. “The track was pretty fast and I just held it to the floor going in the corner and hoped for the best. Fortunately it stuck. It (2005 Bicknell) works great for us. We get a lot of help from Kenny Tremont and he likes to run an older-style car like this sometimes too.”
Also visiting victory lane on Friday evening was DIRTcar Sportsman pilot Jeremy Pitts who won the second of the Triple 10 qualifying events. Pitts would finish second in the DIRTcar Sportsman Championship.
“We got the lead, stayed nice and smooth and counted the laps,” Pitts said. “Last year we started 12th, blew a motor and got back up to fifth. Hopefully we start a little further forward and keep it going.”
Hearn would continue the success of Albany-Saratoga Speedway regulars into Saturday when the Sussex, New Jersey superstar won the Salute to the Troops DIRTcar 358 Modified Championship. The win was his fifth career victory in the event.
“The Moody Mile is just that,” Hearn said. “It took one away from me last year when maybe I almost could have done it, and then it gave me one back this year. That’s the way it works. Last year we had a less-conservative strategy starting last in the race. We tried to stretch our fuel mileage beyond means and (the Syracuse Mile) took one away from us right at the very end. This year it turned around and gave us one back.”
Rob Yetman, the 2013 Albany-Saratoga Speedway DIRTcar Pro Stock Track Champion dominated the division during Super DIRT Week XLII. The Castleton driver won the pole position for the BACC-OFF Pro Stock 25 and the event itself.
“The car has been just unstoppable all weekend,” Yetman said. “At the drop of the green, I knew I was good.”