On Saturday evening March 8th, the staff, fans and competitors who call the Albany-Saratoga Speedway home gathered at the Holiday Inn – Saratoga Springs to honor the accomplishments of the 2013 racing season. In all, 47 different drivers in six divisions brought home awards during the ceremony that was completed in just over three hours.

Veteran track announcer Dan Martin served as emcee for the event. He opened the evening with a review of the 2013 season and the unmatched success that Albany-Saratoga Speedway regulars had at Super DIRT Week XLII.

Following Martin’s lead off review, track promoter Lyle DeVore took to the microphone to give the annual state of the track address.

“First and foremost I would like to thank all of you for coming out and supporting this event and the performers of the 2013 racing season,” DeVore said. “My feeling is we had some unbelievable racing and that we have the greatest competitors there are. I am proud of each and every one of you who raced with us and supported us throughout the 2013 season.”

“I would like to give a special thanks to Shannon Donnelly for helping us out with the DJ service, the officials, the workers and everyone who on Friday nights make Albany-Saratoga what it is,” DeVore continued. “I want to give a big shout out to Jay Terry who handles our 50/50. The one person that I really want to send a big thank you to is my fiancée Marcy who lives with me and deals with the day to day operations both at Albany-Saratoga and Lebanon Valley. She is the one who coordinated this banquet.”

DeVore would continue with some changes and the big news that everyone was waiting for.

“The big news that came about in the off season was that we have extended our lease to the 2018 season. We are making the commitment not only to keep Albany-Saratoga where it is but to make it bigger and better. There are several improvements that we are looking forward to. We did resurface the race track and the backstretch is now wider. We are going to build a V.I.P. Tower which will house our sponsors. This is just another way of making it bigger and better for the future.”

“Another change that has happened is that Robin Yasinsac-Gillespie has stepped down from our public relations position due to personal commitments. I would like to welcome Toby LaGrange; he is the one who is going to be handling all of our public relations this year. For you racers he is a great tool and is open and willing to help anybody promote their sponsors and race team. He will do whatever he can do. I am just glad to have him on board, he has already done a remarkable job and we look forward to him being a part of our team.”

DeVore then mentioned a possible change in the way the restarts are held at the speedway. The track is considering utilizing the double file restart procedure that the Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints have made popular.

“We are considering this to try and make it a little more racier and enjoyable for the fans,” DeVore said. “It is a consideration and is not set in concrete. It would be just like the ESS, you would go double file but if you couldn’t restart you would go single file. Any input that anyone has I would surely appreciate.”

The third year promoter’s attention then turned to some special events for the upcoming season.

“We have a lot of exciting events on the schedule,” DeVore said. “We are going to once again have the Mike Ronca Memorial Race and be home to Brett Hearn’s Big Show. On June 6th we are going to have a race in memory of the late Marc Hughes. Derrick McGrew is willing to work along with the track and we are going to make this event bigger and better than anyone could ever imagine. On September 12th we are going to have the Northeast Nationals for the Sportsman class. It is a Grit Series event and we are looking forward to building it into maybe a weekend event in years to come.”

A number of door prizes were given out during the evening courtesy of numerous businesses. All banquet attendees were given three raffle tickets as they entered, which were used to draw the prizes. Those businesses included Morris Ford, DKM Fabrication, Speedway Illustrated, Fun Plex Fun Park, Upstate Ink, Recovery Sports Grill (Malta), Rock Auto, Kustom Keepsakes, Extreme Graphics, 518 Graphics Design, Holiday Inn Saratoga, Area Auto Racing News, Gater Racing News, Checkers Out Speedway and Bobco Video.

Tickets were also donated for the following events – Brett Deyo’s Hard Clay Open at the Orange County Fair Speedway, the Night of Fire at the Lebanon Valley Dragway, Super DIRT Week, the World of Outlaw Late Model Series event at the Fonda Speedway, the Super DIRTcar Series event at the Fulton Speedway and the Mr. DIRT Track USA event at the Lebanon Valley Speedway.

The first of the awards to be handed out were to division rookies. Taking the Rookie of the Year honors were Brian Gleason (DIRTcar Modified), Connor Cleveland (Sportsman), Byron Wescott (DIRTcar Pro Stock) and Damon Anderson (Street Stock).

Next up were the divisional point standings awards. The second through tenth place drivers in the final point standings were honored with plaques and point fund money. The second through tenth place finishers were as follows:

DIRTcar Modified – Kenny Tremont, Jr., Marc Johnson, Matt Delorenzo, Ronnie Johnson, Peter Britten, Stewart Friesen, Jeff Trombley, Jeremy Wilder and Keith Flach.

Sportsman – Derrick McGrew, Cody Bleau, Scott Duell, Andy Durie, Brett Wright, Robert Bublak, Frank Hoard, III, Connor Cleveland and Dave Baranowski, Jr.

DIRTcar Pro Stock – Ken Martin, Jr., Dan Older, Sr., Kim Duell, Brandon Emigh, Cale Kneer, Byron Wescott, Dean Charbonneau, Dave DePaulo and Jeff Washburn.

Street Stocks – Josh Coonradt, Randy Miller, Scott Lawrence, Justin Smith, Ken Conroy, David Shippee, Paul Braymer, Damon Anderson and Jody Thew.

The Novice Sportsman competitors were not racing for points however the top three drivers – Chris Murray, Timothy Davis and Ricky Davis were honored with Outstanding Performance awards.  In 2014 the division will be called the Limited Sportsman.

There were three categories of special awards given out to drivers following the track awards.

The Spirit Award is a new award for the 2013 season. It is designed to honor the driver who helps promote the Albany-Saratoga Speedway and racing. The inaugural award winner was Colin Bokus. Bokus, a second generation driver endured a hard wreck at the track last season, however, that did not stop him and his team from putting the car back together so they could represent the track and our sport at the Saratoga County Fair a short time later. He would win his first ever event later in the season.

The Memorable Moments Awards were given to drivers in the DIRTcar Modified, Sportsman and DIRTcar Pro Stock divisions. They went to Marc Johnson and his underfunded team for winning twice during the season and finishing third in the final point standings despite missing one race due to mechanical issues. Connor Cleveland would earn the award in the Novice Sportsman division after bursting on the scene from the karting ranks in April and winning three of the first four Novice Sportsman feature events. The father-son duo of Kim (Pro Stock) and Scott Duell (Sportsman) won the award for both winning their respective division’s feature events on the final night of racing at Albany-Saratoga.

Kenny Martin, Jr. was honored as the Featherfoot Warrior Pro Stock Series champion. The four race series was put on by Ron Mensing, who operates one of the two trucks at the speedway. In 2014 the series will be held for the Sportsman division.

The final awards of the evening were the biggest, as they crowned the 2013 Albany-Saratoga Speedway track champions.

Sussex, New Jersey super star Brett Hearn was crowned the DIRTcar Modified track champion for the seventh time. He visited victory lane four times including the Super DIRTcar Series event that he promotes, The Big Show. He scored nine top five finishes and 16 top tens.

“First and foremost I want to thank all of you guys for giving us a great place to race on Friday nights,” Hearn said. “It makes that long drive up the thruway that much more special. I want to say thank you to my teammates for their efforts, this championship catapulted us to the Super DIRTcar Series championship, which is our biggest goal of the year. I want to thank my girlfriend Melissa who drives up the thruway every week with us.”

“I am extremely excited about The Big Show,” Hearn continued. “For the first time we are going to include the Sportsman division in the show, it is going to be an interesting format – features only. I can go on the record tonight and say that we are going to pay $10,000 to win.”

In the Sportsman division Jeremy Pitts earned his first track title. He brought home the title on the heels of a pair of feature wins, nine top five finishes and 14 top ten finishes.

“I want to thank everyone who has made this possible,” Pitts said. “I want to thank Lyle and the staff for giving us a Friday night home and all of our sponsors and my crew who put in long hours in the shop. In this sport we are lucky enough to meet some good people, some people who you can call good friends, like Derrick McGrew, Andy Durie and Marc Hughes. Marc was a great guy – he was one of us, thanks Marc, rest in peace.”

Rob Yetman would bring home the DIRTcar Pro Stock division track title. Yetman scored eight feature wins, 13 top five finishes and 15 top tens. He also earned his 100th overall feature win during the season.

“I want to thank Lyle and everyone,” Yetman said. “They did a great job with Albany-Saratoga and Lebanon Valley, running back and forth from both places. I have to start with Glen, my main man, he has been with me for five or six years, you are the backbone of this team. It has been great running with all of the guys in this division.”

Bill Duprey was crowned the Street Stock division champion. He won one event during the season. The Vermont driver has had success on both the dirt and the asphalt.

“We definitely enjoy the dirt a lot more,” Duprey said. “We are looking forward to coming back to Albany-Saratoga this year. Hopefully we can win some more this year and stay consistent.”

In the Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinder division Mark Lindblade (Single Cam) and Todd Goldstein (Dual Cam) were crowned champions. Lindblade won seven of nine races this season and will be making the move to the Street Stock division this coming season. In 2014 the division will once again be sponsored by Greg’s Towing and Repair.

The Albany-Saratoga Speedway will open their gates on Sunday afternoon April 13th with a practice session. The 2014 season will officially open on Friday evening April 18th. Please visit www.albany-saratogaspeedway.com for more details including the 2014 track schedule.