MALTA – Sometimes, you just need the right tools to get the job done.

Back behind the wheel of his own car, and with a freshened motor under the hood, Matt DeLorenzo put on a clinic Friday night to chalk up one of the biggest wins of his career in the special “60’s Night” program at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

DeLorenzo first outdueled Justin Stone, and then held off Jack Lehner to win the 60-lap modified feature, a tribute to the track’s 60^th anniversary season, and walked off with the top prize of $6,060.

The win was DeLorenzo’s third of the season at the historic Malta track, but the other two came with teammate Brian Gleason’s car, as the team had to keep switching cars because of a rash of engine problems early in the season.

But on Friday, DeLorenzo was back behind the wheel of his own Bicknell, which was new at the beginning of the season and the engine under the hood had been rebuilt by his brother Mike, who is also his crew chief.

And, by the way, it was also Mike’s birthday.

Because Friday night’s modified feature wasn’t a regular points race, there was a draw for heats and a redraw for the feature. The redraw put DeLorenzo fourth on the starting grid.

It only took DeLorenzo four laps to take the lead away from Stone, who drew the pole, and at the same time DeLorenzo was taking the lead, Lehner, who had started fifth, was moving into third.

And that began a battle that lasted for the next 55 laps.

Lehner took the No. 2 spot away from Stone on lap seven, and by lap 13, DeLorenzo had already caught the tail end of the field.

And in the blink of an eye, his night almost came to an end.

Going into the second turn, DeLorenzo made contact with the slower car of Don Ronca, and nearly went off the backstretch. But he straightened out the car in time to maintain a slim lead over Lehner.

“I don’t know if he (Ronca) came up into me or what, but I wheel-hopped him and went into the air,” said DeLorenzo after the race. “I thought I was done.”

The first caution came out on lap 19, and on the subsequent restart, Billy Pauch Jr., who was behind the wheel of the Alton and Carol Palmer-owned No. 76, got by Stone for third.

But Pauch’s bid for the win came to an abrupt end on another restart on lap 22. Going into the second turn, Chris Curtis tried to squeeze inside Pauch and when the hole closed, the two cars came together and also collected Matt Depew, which put Pauch at the rear of the field.

On the next restart, Stone moved to the top of the speedway, and found some bite on the slippery surface, which was quickly blackening up. Stone quickly caught Lehner, and took the No. 2 spot back on lap 26.

Yellow flags on laps 37 and 38 kept the field tightly bunched, but once DeLorenzo got rolling again, he got back into slower traffic once again. He found his lane blocked by Tommy D’Angelo on lap 47, but moved way to the inside to make the pass on D’Angelo going down the backstretch to make sure Stone never got a shot at the lead.

That move left Stone and Lehner to battle for second and Lehner finally took the No. 2 spot back for good five laps to go.

Marc Johnson charged from his 19th starting position to finish fourth, passing Adam Pierson on the final lap.

“This motor was rebuilt last week,” DeLorenzo said. “We ran it a couple of weeks ago, and lost oil pressure, so Mike had to put in some new parts and redo the rod bearings. We didn’t get it into the car until yesterday morning.”

DeLorenzo said he wasn’t hampered by the rash of cautions.

“I felt good on the bottom,” he said. “I was just biding my time, trying to save the tires because I knew they were going to get hot.”

Although Lehner had his best finish of the season, he was still a little frustrated.

“I’m not upset about it, but it’s not a win,” he said. “I was definitely better on the long runs. This is a long run car. I think there was an opportunity early, when we were coming through three wide. I could have door-slammed him and if I had gotten into the clear, I would have been hard to catch. But I wasn’t going to do that to him.”

Dylan Madsen broke a long winless streak in the 25-lap sportsman feature, which paid $1,060 to win through sponsorship from KillerCrate. Madsen, who started eighth, was up to second after a restart on lap 17 and then snatched the lead away from David Baranowski Jr. on lap 20. Zach Buff then passed Baranowski Jr. with three laps left to cross the finish line second.

Madsen’s last sportsman win at Malta came on July 14, 2023.

Tim Hartman Jr. won the Four States Enterprises Dash for Cash, picking up a $200 bonus. But the defending track champion only finished 23^rd in the feature after being involved in a wreck early in the race.

Caden Dumblewski put his name into the Malta record books by chalking up his first career win in the 25-lap pro stock feature, which paid $1,060 to win through sponsorship from Greenacres Landscaping.

Dumblewski, who joined his father Chucky on the all-time Albany-Saratoga win list, took the lead away from Jay Casey on lap eight and then held off a late charge from Kim Duell to get the victory. Dumblewski celebrated the victory by doing donuts in the front straightaway and then performing a perfect backflip off the roof of his car.

Also adding his named to the all-time win list at Albany-Saratoga was Mike Baker, who won the 20-lap limited sportsman feature. The front wasn’t the place to be early in the race. Sloan Cherko spun out in the second turn on lap eight while leading the race, and Jimmy Duncan, who inherited the lead when Cherko spun out, also spun in turn two on lap 13, and was hit hard by both Alex Smith and Colten Emigh.

That incident gave the lead to Baker, who had started eighth. He survived a bumping incident with the second-place car of James Galarneau in the fourth turn with two laps to go, and held on for his first career win. Galarneau was second, with Cordell Younger an impressive third.

Matt Mosher won the 20-lap street stock feature, breaking PJ Cram Jr.’s two race win streak. Mosher and Cram dueled door-to-door in the closing stages of the race, and a late caution set up a two-lap dash to the finish. Mosher got the lead coming out of the second turn on the final lap and beat Cram to the finish line by a nose, officially by 0.085 seconds.

Jack Kennedy recorded his first win of the season in the 15-lap four-cylinder feature. Daniel Joubert finished third overall and had the first single-cam car across the finish line.

NEXT GENERATION ROOFING MODIFIEDS: MATT DELORENZO, Jack Lehner, Justin Stone, Marc Johnson, Adam Pierson, Peter Britten, David Schilling, Felix Roy, Anthony Perrego, Rich Ronca, Michael Trautschold, Brian Calabrese, CG Morey, Derek Bornt, Ronnie Johnson, Neil Stratton, Josh Masterson, Tommy D’Angelo, Mike Mahaney, Rich Scagliotta, Kolby Schroder, Billy Pauch Jr., Brendan Darrah, Chris Curtis, Matt Depew, Don Ronca, Jack Speshock.

DOUG WHOLEY’S IDEAL EXCAVATING SPORTSMAN: DYLAN MADSEN, Zach Buff, Dave Baranowski Jr., Joey Scarborough, Derrick McGrew Jr., Dan Grignon, Elliot Lussier, Chris Jakubiak, Chris Crane Jr., Michael Wagner Fitzgerald, Craig Wholey, Jon Miller, Taylor Wason, Michael Ballestero, Chad Gregory, Nick Brundige, Nick Lussier, Alex Palmer-Sawyer, Scott Bennett Jr., Mike Benson, Cody Ochs, Scott Towslee, Tim Hartman Jr., Drew Cornie, Connor Crane, Jeff Washburn, Tanner Coon (DQ).

SARATOGA MASONRY SUPPLY PRO STOCKS: CADEN DUMBLEWSKI, Kim Duell, Rich Crane, Jimmy Duncan, Chucky Dumblewski, Kyle Hoard, Jaxson Ryan, Chris Stalker, Pete Stefanski, Jordan Modiano, Jason Casey, Shane Henderson, Brandon Emigh, Chris Wemple, Jay Casey, Dean Charbonneau, Pete Vila.

HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: MIKE BAKER, James Galarneau, Codell Younger, Adam Tranka, Bodie Marks, Jarron Maguire, Sarah Arnold, Dan Odell, Nick Arnold, Steve Burch, Sloan Cherko, Damon Anderson, Jordan Hill, Colten Emigh, Nick Ryder, Dan Seguin, John Santolin, Steve Lehner, Lucas Duncan, Matt Humes, Alex Smith, Dave Zelker, Noah Carlo.

CORNELL’S AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: MATT MOSHER, PJ Cram Jr., Dan Madigan, Josh Hemming, Andrew Fitzgerald, Damian Ward, Derek Van Veghten, Dana Van Veghten, Jake Middleton, John Filarecki, Tim McFarland, Mark Burch, Mike Duggan, Chris Murray, Shane Wetherington.

GREG’S TOWING FOUR-CYLINDERS: JACK KENNEDY, Justin Ramsey, Daniel Joubert (first single-cam finisher), Lucas Condon, Josh Reome, Lindell Condon, Adam Montville, Josh Ramsey Jr., Ben Ladd, Jayde Pope, Jasper Drengler, Josh Ramsey, Ashlynn Ramsey, Chris Charbonneau, David Frame, Chris Danylieko, Dakota Desabrais, Taylormarie Reome.