Malta, NY – At the 2015 awards banquet, Australian sensation Peter Britten told the large crowd news he did not want to have to share. The news was he would not be a regular at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway in 2016. He did say that he would be back whenever he could. On Friday night, he certainly was back at the Great Race Place as he picked up the season opening, $3,000 to win Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified feature event win. The win was his first as an invader to the speedway.Other feature winners during the evening were Jeremy Pitts (Sportsman), Robbie Speed (DIRTcar Pro Stock), Jack Lehner (Limited Sportsman), Hunter Sanchez (Street Stock) and Steve Ryan (Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinders).The winner on opening night in 1993, Don Ronca and Stewart Friesen led the Upstate GMC Dealers DIRTcar Modified field to the green with Ronca taking the early lead over Friesen, Matt Delorenzo, Peter Britten and Kenny Tremont, Jr. Britten would take third from Delorenzo on lap one as Friesen challenged Ronca for the lead. Friesen would take the lead soon after with Britten in second, Ronca third, Delorenzo fourth and Brett Hearn fifth. Tremont fell to sixth.The caution flag waved on lap seven when Brian Whittemore spun in turn four. On the restart rookie Ricky Davis spun and collected Neil Stratton and Kris Vernold. When racing resumed Friesen quickly opened up a ten car length lead over Britten, Ronca, Delorenzo and Hearn. By lap ten Ronca and Delorenzo battled for position number three as Tremont moved past Hearn for fifth. On lap 13 Keith Flach took sixth from Hearn.

Delorenzo moved past Ronca for third on lap 15, forcing Ronca to fourth. Tremont took fourth from Ronca on lap 18 with Marc Johnson following past. On lap 20 Friesen hopped over the cushion in turn four which allowed Britten to take over the lead. The caution waved on lap 21 when Kris Vernold came to a stop.

On the restart Britten held the lead with Tremont moving to second and Delorenzo third. Friesen slid through the pack and on lap 23 came to a stop in turn four. Friesen took the Halmar International machine behind the wall.

When racing resumed Britten held the lead over Tremont, Johnson, Delorenzo and Keith Flach. Whittemore would bring out the caution flag on lap 28 when he made contact with the outside wall exiting turn four. The restart would see the top five remain the same except for Delorenzo who took the BBL Companies mount to the top side. He quickly moved past Johnson for third and set his sight on Tremont in second. He took over second on lap 34 but that is where his charge would end.

Britten would pick up the win over Delorenzo, defending track champion Tremont, Johnson and Flach. Heat races for the 34 DIRTcar Modifieds were won by Ronca, Friesen and Delorenzo.

“I have to thank Al Heinke and everyone involved with the team,” Britten said. “This is a great deal. I want to thank all of the fans, I really appreciate it.”

A pair of young guns – Connor Cleveland and Chad Edwards led the 25 lap Sportsman feature event to the green. A caution before a lap could be completed would force an early restart. On the restart Cleveland took the lead over Edwards and Derrick McGrew. Adam Gage would bring out the caution flag on lap three, forcing a restart.

After a spin on the restart, racing resumed Cleveland held the lead with Edwards, Tim Hartman, Jr., Cody Bleau and David Schilling following. Schilling took over fourth on lap seven with Jeremy Pitts following to fifth. By the halfway point Pitts took over fourth from Schilling.

Edwards took the lead from Cleveland on lap 14 in heavy traffic. Hartman moved into second on lap 17 with Pitts following to third. Mike Ostrander spun on lap 19 forcing a restart. Edwards and Hartman would bring the field back to the green with Edwards now battling Pitts for the lead after a lap. The caution flag waved on lap 20 for a jingle in turn one.

On the restart Pitts held the lead over Edwards and Hartman. Dave Constantino spun in turn two on lap 21, forcing a caution. On the restart Pitts pulled away and would not be caught, picking up the win over Edwards, Hartman, Schilling and Cleveland. A total of 33 Sportsman entered the event with heat races being won by Cleveland, Edwards and McGrew.

“The track is perfect tonight,” Pitts said. “I like it. I have to thank all of my sponsors.”

Dean Charbonneau and Dan Madigan led the field to the first green flag of the season with Madigan slowing causing a jumbling of the field. During the incident Brandon Emigh and Danny Wood went off the back stretch. On the restart Charbonneau took command with Jeff Washburn and Walt Brownell following.

As the leaders clicked off lap five they held nearly a straightaway advantage over the rest of the field. Rookie driver Josh Rozell spun in turn two on lap five, nearly collecting the rapidly closing leaders. After a spin a lap following the restart racing resumed with Charbonneau the leader over a three way battle behind him between Brownell, Robbie Speed and Washburn.

A right rear flat tire on the Lussier’s Auto Body machine of Norm Loubier on lap ten would regroup the field. Charbonneau led on the restart with Speed taking second. Speed moved past Charbonneau for the lead on lap 12. Brownell followed to second. The yellow flag waved on lap 13 for debris off the Nick Arnold machine. Following a spin on the restart, Speed continued to pace the field.

In the end no one could catch the man with Speed in his name. Speed picked up the win over Nick Stone, Brownell, Charbonneau and Madigan. Heat races for the 22 DIRTcar Pro Stocks went to Charbonneau, Madigan and Emigh.

“The guys gave me a super hot rod,” Speed said. “Lyle (DeVore) did a great job on the track tonight. We have dedicated ourselves to Albany-Saratoga, it is going to be our home track.”

Jack Lehner and Rob Lanfear, Jr. brought the Limited Sportsman field to the green with Lehner taking the early lead. On lap 13 Lehner closed in on slower traffic with Brandon Pitcher running a distant second. Pitcher took advantage of the slower traffic to close in on Lehner. John Stowell spun in turn two on lap 17 with Pitcher being involved after the spin. Lehner held the lead on the restart and would pull away for the win over Justin Severance, Zach Daurio, Randy Miller and Lanfear. With 19 Limited Sportsman pit side heat races were claimed by Lehner and Lanfear.

Jason Meltz and Scott Lawrence led the field of Street Stocks to the green with Meltz taking the early lead. Meltz held on to the top spot until giving way to Hunter Sanchez on lap six. From there Sanchez pulled away for the win. Meltz finished second with Josh Coonradt third, David Shippee fourth and Darrell Older fifth. A total of 16 Street Stocks entered the event.

Steve Ryan won the Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinder feature event. Ryan took the lead early and was never challenged. Ben Grant finished second with Mike Parodi third.

The Albany-Saratoga Speedway returns to action Friday night April 29th with all weekly divisions in action. The Greg’s Towing and Repair Four Cylinder division will also be on the card along with the first event of the Featherfoot Warrior Series for Sportsman. For more information on the Albany-Saratoga Speedway log onto the track website at www.albany-saratogaspeedway.com or visit us on Facebook.

51st Season Opener Modified Results (35 Laps) – 1) Peter Britten, 2) Matt Delorenzo, 3) Ken Tremont Jr, 4) Marc Johnson, 5) Keith Flach, 6) Brett Hearn, 7) Elmo Reckner, 8) Jessey Mueller, 9) Don Ronca, 10) Brian Gleason, 11) L.J. Lombardo, 12) Shaun Pangman, 13) J.R. Heffner, 14) Rich Ronca, 15) Bodie Bellinger, 16) Matt Depew, 17) Hector Stratton, 18) Neil Stratton, 19) Jimmy Cottrell, 20) Rob Pitcher, 21) Demetrios Drellos, 22) Ricky Davis, 23) Brian Whittemore, 24) Mark Kislowski, 25) Stewart Friesen, 26) Ray Hoard, 27) Bobby Hackel IV, 28) Kris Vernold, 29) Jim Nagle, 30) Todd Morey, 31) Justin Barber, DNS) Cass Bennett, DNS) Ryan Darcy, DNS) Ronnie Johnson

Sportsman Results (25 Laps) – 1) Jeremy Pitts, 2) Chad Edwards, 3) Tim Hartman Jr, 4) David Schilling, 5) Connor Cleveland, 6) Jason Gray, 7) Cody Bleau, 8) Rocky Warner, 9) Joey Scarborough, 10) Jon Miller, 11) Jamike Sowle, 12) Daryl Nutting, 13) Ken Conroy, 14) Jack Speshock, 15) Scott Duell,16) Chris Johnson, 17) John Proctor, 18) Floyd Billington, 19) Christopher Ronca, 20) Dave Constantino, 21) Jim Introne, 22) Nick Anatriello, 23) Andrew Buff, 24) Mike Coffey, 25) Mike Ostrander, 26) Justin Smith, 27) Nick Lussier, 28) Adam Gage, 29) Hunter Bates, 30) Jackie Brown, 31) Derrick McGrew, 32) Robert Bublak, DNS) Pat Jones

Limited Sportsman Results (15 Laps) – 1) Jack Lehner, 2) Justin Severance, 3) Zach Daurio, 4) Randy Miller, 5) Rob Lanfear, 6) Jacob Volpi, 7) Nick Fretto, 8) Gary Derocher, 9) Mike Block, 10) James Meehan, 11) Scott Bennett Jr, 12) Brandon Pitcher, 13) Derek Bornt, 14) Travis Billington, 15) Anthony Alger, 16) Stephen Kneer, 17) John Stowell, 18) Bob Schmidt, DNS) Diana Huyck

Pro Stock Results (25 Laps) – 1) Robbie Speed, 2) Nick Stone, 3) Walt Brownell, 4) Dean Charbonneau, 5) Dan Madigan, 6) Kim Duell, 7) Byron Wescott, 8) Gus Hollner, 9) Bill Smith, 10) Nick Arnold, 11) Dave Depaulo, 12) Pete Porter, 13) Josh Rozelle, 14) Zach Welch, 15) Brandon Emigh, 16) Kevin Loomis, 17) Jeff Washburn, 18) Ed Thompson, 19) Dan Older, 20) Norm Loubier, 21) Chuck Dumblewski

Street Stock Results (20 Laps) – 1) Hunter Sanchez, 2) Jason Meltz, 3) Josh Coonradt, 4) David Shippee, 5) Darrell Older, 6) Nathan Dahoda, 7) Damon Anderson, 8) Mark Burch, 9) Jeff Meltz Sr, 10) Scott Lawrence, 11) Paul Braymer, 12) John Hayes, 13) Luke MacIsaac, 14) Jake Currier, 15) David Pelis, 16) Yule Cook

4 Cylinder Combined Results (15 Laps) – 1) Steve Ryan, 2) Ben Grant, 3) Mike Parodi, 4) Chris Andrew, 5) Jason Lang, 6) Tyler Burch, 7) Will Ryan, 8) Brett Horlacher, 9) Patrick Meehan, 10) Shawn Morrison, 11) Shane Maynard, 12) T.J. Marlitt, 13) Robert Garney, 14) Jeff Piscatelli, 15) Josh Wood, 16) Merton LaBounty

4 Cylinder Single Cam Results – 1) Mike Parodi, 2) Tyler Burch, 3) Will Ryan, 4) Brett Horlacher, 5) Shane Maynard, 6) Robert Garney, 7) T.J. Marlitt, 8) Merton LaBounty

4 Cylinder Dual Cam Results- 1) Steve Ryan, 2) Ben Grant, 3) Chris Andrew, 4) Jason Lang, 5) Patrick Meehan, 6) Shawn Morrison, 7) Jeff Piscatelli, 8) Josh Wood