MALTA – Who said there’s no passing on a dry, slick track?

Jack Lehner shot holes in that theory Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. After starting 17th, he hugged the bottom like it was a security blanket and came away with his first victory of the season in the 35-lap NAPA Modifieds feature at the historic Malta track.

Lehner became the fifth different modified winner in as many races this season and ended a long winless drought in the process. Lehner recorded his first career win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on June 28, 2021, and hadn’t been back in victory lane since.

So you can’t blame him for wearing a huge, it’s-about-time grin in victory lane.

“I didn’t know if I was going to get there,” he admitted. “When the caution came out on lap 10, I was already up to ninth and I knew I had a good race car, but starting 17th, I was still a ways back and there was some good iron up front.”

Indeed there was, as Ronnie Johnson was starting on the outside of the front row and Brett Hearn, who tops the all-time modified win list at Malta, was starting right behind him in fourth.

Johnson only needed one lap to put his Mickles Automotive-sponsored modified out on the point and after just five laps, the top three of Johnson, Jeremy Pitts and Hearn was already strung out in front of the field.

Hearn used the first restart on lap 11 to move into the No. 2 spot and started to put pressure on Johnson, who was running low in the third and fourth turns but then drifting high in one and two in an attempt to break Hearn’s momentum, as Hearn was committed to the extreme outside.

A little foreshadowing came on lap 18, when Johnson briefly moved to the outside, forcing Hearn to dip low. But that only showed Hearn that he wasn’t going to make any progress on the bottom, and he quickly moved back to the top.

A Derek Bornt spin brought the second caution of the race on lap 22, and by that time, defending track champion Demetrious Drellos had worked his way up to third, after starting 15th, and Lehner was fourth.

After the restart, Johnson moved to the top in the second turn to block Hearn, but Hearn used his momentum to slingshot to the inside. Lehner, who had gotten a good jump on Drellos on the restart, took over second as Hearn rocketed into the lead on lap 24.

But Lehner was flying, and the next time around, sticking to the inside line, Lehner ducked under Hearn coming out of the fourth turn and had the lead for good.

Drellos pulled a wild criss-cross move on Hearn in the second turn on the last lap to finish second, with Hearn crossing the finish line third. David Schilling finished fourth and Peter Britten was fifth, after starting 24th.

“I’ve been hitting on some stuff lately,” said Lehner in victory lane. “We did something a little different tonight and it seemed to work. It seemed like I was the only one who could really run the bottom. Everyone else was slipping on top.”

Johnson, who finished seventh, also picked up a $200 bonus for winning the Four States Enterprises Dash for Cash.

The co-feature on the card was the 30-lap DIRTcar Pro Stock Series race, and Brandon Emigh defended his home turf by picking up his third win of the season at Albany-Saratoga.

Although the feature was plagued by a large number of caution flags, it still produced some wild action. It started on the first lap, when Shane Playford, who started third, ducked to the inside and went from third to first on the initial green flag lap.

Playford’s lead only lasted until the sixth lap, when Devon Camenga made a three-wide move coming out of the fourth turn and went from fourth to first in the blink of an eye.

Camenga led a group that included Caden Dumblewski, Jason Casey and Emigh, but on lap 16, Dumblewski and Rich Crane came together in the fourth turn, bringing out the sixth caution of the race.

Emigh used that restart to take the lead, and he held off Casey for the victory. Kim Duell finished third, followed by Beau Ballard and Camenga.

Cody Bleau started out the outside pole and outdueled veteran Mike Benson to record his first win of 2024 in the 25-lap sportsman feature, which paid $1,000 to win through sponsorship by DKM Fabrications. Bleau was working the top line in the Kevin Groff Racing sportsman, while Benson, who started eighth, was staying low.

Bleau seemed to be in command until a caution on lap 22. Benson snatched the lead on the restart, but the two leaders switched lanes coming out of the second turn, putting Bleau back in front and he hit the finish line .238 seconds ahead of Tim Hartman Jr., who made a late charge from his 14th starting position.

Former Albany-Saratoga pro stock champion Josh Coonradt, who moved up to the open wheel division late last year, made his first appearance of 2024 at his old stomping grounds Friday night and drove to victory in the 20-lap limited sportsman feature. Coonradt used a late restart to take the lead away from Lucas Duncan and held off Tanner Coon in a photo finish, as Coon, who was looking for his second win of the year, was just .071 seconds behind Coonradt when started Rich Petersen waved the checkered flag.

Jimmy Duncan, looking for his second straight division crown, held off Chris Stalker to win the 20-lap street stock feature, while Elmer Montville, who was driving his son Adam’s car, ended David Frame’s two-race win streak in the 15-lap four-cylinder feature. But another streak continued, as Kyle Lanfear finished third overall and is now 3-for-3 in the single-cam class.

NAPA MODIFIEDS: JACK LEHNER, Demetrios Drellos, Brett Hearn, David Schilling, Peter Britten, Matt DeLorenzo, Ronnie Johnson, Mike Mahaney, Ryan McCartney, Justin Stone, Marc Johnson, Jeremy Pitts, Kolby Schroder, Jack Speshock, CG Morey, Scott Huber, Rich Scagliotta, Brian Calabrese, Neil Stratton, Jessey Mueller, Robert Bublak Jr., James Meehan, Eric Mack, Chris Bisson, Derek Bornt, Garrett Poland, Don Ronca, Josh Masterson.

DIRTCAR PRO STOCK SERIES: BRANDON EMIGH, Jason Casey, Kim Duell, Beau Ballard, Devon Camenga, Bruno Cyr, Pete Stefanski, Kyle Hoard, Shane Playford, Shane Henderson, Slater Baker, Jaxson Ryan, Phil Defiglio, Caden Dumblewski, Brian Carter, Jay Fitzgerald, Roxanne Roy, Jay Casey, Jocelyn Roy, Dean Charbonneau, Rich Crane, Luke Horning, Jordan Modiano, Gary Silkey, Johnathon Levesque, Jay Corbin, Chuck McSpirit, Chucky Dumblewski, Dave Stickles, Chad Jeseo.

IDEAL EXCAVATING SPORTSMAN: CODY BLEAU, Tim Hartman Jr., Mike Benson, Mike Ballestero, Chris Crane Jr., Connor Crane, Taylor LaPlante, Pat Jones, Dylan Madsen, Travis Witbeck, Michael Wagner Fitzgerald, Joey Scarborough, Bryce Breault, Dylan Grogan, Daryl Nutting, Dan Grignon, Mike Coffey Jr., Brendon Gibbons, Dave Baranowski Jr., Fire Swamp, Scott Towslee, Elliot Lussier, Cody Ochs, Scott Duell, Craig Wholey, EJ Gallup, Alex Bell, Zach Buff, Travis Billington.

HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: JOSH COONRADT, Tanner Coon, Dakota Green, Jordan Hill, Chase Zimmer, Chad Gregory, Nick Arnold, Nick Auspelmyer, James Galarneau, Mike Block, Lucas Duncan, Dan Seguin, Cordell Younger, Mike Baker, Timmy Wilmot, Nick Brundige, Steve Burch, Sloan Cherko, David Zelker, Sara Arnold, Noah Carlo, Matthew Gebo, Alex Smith, Maclain Campbell.

CORNELL’S AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: JIMMY DUNCAN, Chris Stalker, Jeff Meltz, Josh Hemming, Matt Mosher, Ray Pierre Jr., Jason Barrett, Dan Madigan, Mark Burch, Josh Filarecki, Fred Shippee, Derek Van Veghten.

GREG’S TOWING FOUR-CYLINDERS: ELMER MONTVILLE, David Frame, Kyle Lanfear (first single-cam finisher), Mark Lindblad, Justin Ramsey, Josh Ramsey, Anthony Johnson, Brittany Ladd, Tom Hill, David Mullineaux, Ashlynn Ramsey, Dave LaBarge, Andrew Palmer, Ben Ladd, Chris Danylieko, Lucas Condon.