MALTA – If Peter Britten had been sitting at a poker table Friday night, he probably would have filled an inside straight.

Everything fell into place for the popular Australian driver as he ran down leader Demetrios Drellos in traffic and came away with the victory in the 35-lap, caution-free NAPA Modifieds feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Oh, did I mention that he also started 15th?

Britten caught Drellos, who had started fifth, in traffic with two laps to go and hit the finish line almost two seconds ahead of Drellos, the 2023 modified champion who had been the victim of a broken rear end after running just four laps in the opening-night feature.

Drellos wasted no time taking charge of the 35-lapper on Friday, passing both James Meehan and Rich Ronca to get the lead after just two laps.

With Drellos quickly pulling away, all the good racing was going on deeper in the pack, where both Britten and Matt DeLorenzo were running in no-man’s land, on the extreme outside of the speedway. They avoided disaster on lap 12, when DeLorenzo went too high in turns one and two, had to correct and made contact with Britten, who had been running right behind him. But both escaped any damage and continued on.

Drellos caught the tail end of the field by lap 14, and Britten continued his charge on the outside. By the 20th lap, he had made his way up to fourth, but admitted after the race that he had no idea who was leading.

Britten still had to contend with Robert Bublak Jr. and Meehan, who were running second and third while Drellos was working his way through lapped cars.

Britten and Meehan made contact in turn three on lap 22, with Britten taking over the No. 3 spot, and he then rocketed around Bublak Jr. on lap 26. Now, he could get his sights set on Drellos.

The only problem was that the lapped car of Kolby Schroder was also working Britten’s line in the outside groove, so Britten had to cut to the inside, then shoot back to the top, losing a little ground.

Drellos had his hands full with the lapped car driven by Garrett Poland, who was running Drellos’ lower line, and that proved to be his downfall. While Drellos concentrated on the lapped car, Britten pounced, charging around the outside in turn two to get the lead and send the capacity crowd up to its feet.

Following Britten and Drellos across the finish line were Bublak Jr., Jack Lehner and DeLorenzo, who nipped Marc Johnson at the finish line.

“I was kind of getting nervous, running that hard for that long,” said Britten. “The car really felt good on the bottom, but then I saw Matty D. running the top, so I knew that was there if I needed it.

“I really figured we were going to get a caution. I saw Drellos and figured he was probably the leader. Then he gave me the lane I wanted and I got him.”

Drellos admitted he didn’t feel comfortable in the lead.

“I knew we all had about the same speed, except for the 21. Peter had got some magic in that car,” he said. “Every time I get passed in traffic, it seems like he’s the one doing it. But that’s racing.”

Drellos also received a $200 bonus for winning the Four States Enterprises Dash for Cash.

Tim Hartman Jr. and Rob Yetman bounced back from horrific opening nights to win the 25-lap features in the sportsman and pro stock divisions, respectively. Hartman Jr. took home $1,000 through sponsorship from Emerick Associates while Yetman’s payout was also $1,000, through sponsorship from Kim Duell’s Twister Chassis.

Hartman Jr., the winningest sportsman driver in the history of the speedway, recorded the 37th victory of his career, finishing just about a full second ahead of Craig Wholey, with Zach Buff crossing the finish line third.

Yetman, who is back running a full schedule after doing very little racing in 2023, was aided by two single-file restarts in the caution-plagued 25-lap pro stock feature as he came away with the 29th win of his career, moving him back into a tie with Duell on top of the all-time win list. Jason Casey finished second, with Duell third.

Tanner Coon held off a determined challenge from Chad Gregory to win the 20-lap limited sportsman feature, while PJ Cram Jr. drove to his second straight victory in the street stock feature.

The RUSH late models made their first appearance of the season at the speedway, with 14-year-old Brock “Bam Bam” Pinkerous, a former sportsman driver at Malta, leading the 15-lap feature flag-to-flag. He also picked up the fast time award.

NAPA MODIFIEDS: PETER BRITTEN, Demetrios Drellos, Robert Bublak Jr., Jack Lehner, Matt DeLorenzo, Marc Johnson, Brian Calabrese, James Meehan, Adam Pierson, Rich Ronca, Jessey Mueller, Jeremy Pitts, Erik Mack, Matt Depew, Ronnie Johnson, Brett Hearn, Don Ronca, Mike Mahaney, Keith Flach, Jack Speshock, CG Morey, Josh Masterson, David Schilling, Garrett Poland, Kolby Schroder, Justin Stone, Chris Bisson, Ryan McCartney.

IDEAL EXCAVATING SPORTSMAN: TIM HARTMAN JR., Craig Wholey, Zach Buff, Brendon Gibbons, Jim Nagle, Travis Witbeck, Tony Farone, Derrick McGrew Jr., Dave Baranowski Jt., Chris Crane Jr., Daryl Nutting, Mike Coffey Jr., Cody Ochs, Dylan Madsen, Joey Scarborough, Chris Jakubiak, Jon Miller, Floyd Billington, Taylor Wason, Dylan Grogan, Elliot Lussier, Taylor LaPlante, Mike Benson, Mike Ballestero, Bryce Breault, Jimmy Van Zandt, Dan Grignon, Scott Duell.

SARATOGA MASONRY SUPPLY PRO STOCKS: ROB YETMAN, Jason Casey, Kim Duell, Jordan Modiano, Rich Crane, Luke Horning, Beau Ballard, Shane Henderson, Jay Corbin, Jay Casey, Slater Baker, Kyle Hoard, Pete Stefanski, Brandon Emigh, Caden Dumblewski, Phil Defiglio, Mike Baker, Chucky Dumblewski, Jaxson Ryan, Pete Vila, Dom Denue.

HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: TANNER COON, Chad Gregory, Nick Auspelmyer, Mike Block, Steve Burch, Chase Zimmer, Timmy Wilmot, David Zelker, Nick Brundige, Mike Baker, Jordan Hill, Damian Anderson, Sloan Cherko, Lucas Duncan, Dakota Green, James Galarneau, Alex Smith, Sarah Arnold, Cordell Younger, Dan Seguin, Zach Mecca.

CORNELL’S AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: PJ CRAM JR., Jimmy Duncan, Dan Madigan, Jeff Meltz Sr., Chris Stalker, Josh Hemming, Jim McKiernan, John Filarecki, Matt Mosher, Al Relyea, Mike Duggan, Joey Wilson, Derek Van Veghten, Ray Pierre Jr.

RUSH LATE MODELS: BROCK PINKEROUS, Chad Homan, Demetrios Drellos, Rob Pitcher, Derrick McGrew Jr., Todd Dunham.