Malta, NY — When the gates closed at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway a first-time feature winner had been written into the record book for the Modified and Budget Sportsman classes and a track record, established in 1999, was broken.

Modified ace Donnie Corellis of Averill Park, NY and Budget Sportsman rookie Rocky Warner of Gloversville, NY both scored impressive first-time wins on the Malta oval on a hot summer night sponsored by Madison Wealth Management and Safelite Auto Glass.

For Corellis the triumph was his first ever win outside the boundaries of Albany-Saratoga’s sister track Lebanon Valley Speedway. Finishing second to Ronnie Johnson in the third heat, Corellis converted his pole starting position into a very strong run.  He held off a fast closing trio of previous feature winners Kenny Tremont, Jr., Stewart Friesen and Jeff Trombley, who had worked their way from mid-pack to the front.

Although the competition was tightened up six times by caution flags, Corellis held on for the popular win.

“This is huge,” stated Corellis.  “We thought we were going to have motor problems and almost didn’t come tonight.”  Driving his popular Rifenburg Construction No. 57, the “Electrifying” DC said “…my car seemed perfect.”

Rounding out the top ten in the Modified class were Mark Kislowski, Matt DeLorenzo, Elmo Reckner, Don Ronca, Dustin Delaney and Marc Johnson.

Modified runners Mark Kislowski, Ronnie Johnson, and Jeff Trombley received a bonus $200 for their heat race wins sponsored by S-T-R Trailer Repair of Glen, NY.

For the past few years Rocky Warner has built his fan base on his hard charging style of driving in the very popular Pro Stock class at local tracks.  In 2011 he gave the Sportsman class a try and made the commitment to run Budget Sportsman full time at Albany-Saratoga in 2012.

From the drop of the feature race green flag, Warner, who had started in fourth position, looked to be the car to beat.  Having taken the lead on the fourth lap, Warner was out front on lap 10 cruising home to his first ever Albany-Saratoga Budget Sportsman win.

The strong field of 45 entries in the Budget Sportsman class provided fans with six qualifying heats won by Nick Anatriello, Warner, Stan Lemiesz, Mike Minick, Frank Hoard III, and Joey Budka.

Warner’s win was his first ever win, in any class, at the “Great Race Place” Albany-Saratoga Speedway.  “The car felt good all night” stated a jubilant Warner.  “I had a limited crew tonight and they worked hard for this.  It’s real special!”

Finishing in the top five spots behind Warner were Bobby Hackel IV, Joey Budka, Brian Gleason and Mike Burdo.

One usually thinks of track records as being number of wins by a given driver in a specific division.  The track record that was broken this night was one that had been established in 1999 when the Albany-Saratoga Speedway ran 17 consecutive events.  Race 18 of the 2012 season was completed in its entirety on this night, and there are now only four Modified championship point shows remaining on the calendar.

In the Pro Stock class it was win number four for the 2012 season for Rob Yetman of Castleton, NY.  Coming from a ninth place starting position, Yetman showed a high degree of patience as he worked his way through lapped traffic and a couple of multi-car crashes, taking the lead and powering on to the win.

During his victory lane interview Yetman stated “…everything is going pretty good for us both here and on the DIRTcar Series traveling shows.  We’ve been way off but we are now right on.”  After Yetman it was Chad Jeseo, Kenny Martin, Dean Charboneau and Rob Langevin completed the top five.

The Pro Stock race was the third in the Toro Pro Stock Series and paid $500 to win for Yetman.

Added to the night’s program was a special dash event, the American Indian Movement (AIM) Warrior Dash sponsored by Ron “Featherfoot” Mensing paying $1,000 to win and $500 for second spot.  Run in a match race format, the final two-lap dash came down to two of the strongest competitors at the track, Jeff Trombley who won in his familiar No. 21J and Matt DeLorenzo who came in second in the BBL Construction sponsored No. 3d.

Randy Miller picked up his fourth win of the 2012 season in the Street Stock class with a strong run over Yule Cook and Rowdy Burch.  Last week’s winner Paul Mulrain was involved in a lap 3 crash and still managed a fourth place finish.

“Feels good to be back (in victory lane)” said Miller.  “The track was slick tonight and the racing hard,” he continued.  Miller is one of three drivers who have managed to win at the track this season with Mulrain collecting five wins and Josh Coonradt six wins.

On the schedule for the remaining weeks of August are the E.S.S. Super Sprint Car Series on August 10th, the C.J. Memorial Special on August 17th, the ACOT Midgets on August 24th and the final night of points for Modifieds, Pro Stocks, 4-Cylinders and the Toro Pro Stock Series on August 31st.

Donnie Corellis Modified Winner. Photo Dave Dalesandro/MSI Photos

*BITS*:  Ronnie Johnson continues to be the fastest in the initial warm-up session turning a best lap speed of 16.991 sec. for 84.751 mph in his Teo Pro Car No. 12A…point leader Brett Hearn was unable to compete due to illness and crew member Michael Storms strapped into the Madsen Motorsports No. 20 for the feature event.  Storms retired after four laps…Budget Sportsman runner Jim Bemiss made his first ever appearance at the Speedway but failed to qualify for the feature…Fred Proctor was a roll over casualty of the sixth heat for the Budget Sportsman.  He managed to return and qualify for the feature in the second consi…  *Many many thanks to Joann Davies for handling the press release duties in my absence….*

Madison Wealth Management, Sowle Truck Repair Modified (35 Laps) – 1. Donnie Corellis, 2. Ken Tremont Jr, 3. Stewart Friesen, 4. Jeff Trombley, 5. Mark Kislowski, 6. Matt DeLorenzo, 7. Elmo Reckner, 8. Don Ronca, 9. Dustin Delaney, 10. Marc Johnson, 11. Jamike Sowle, 12. Mike Perrotte 13. Keith Flach, 14. Rich Ronca, 15. Jimmy Cottrell, 16. Hector Stratton, 17. Tony Ballestero, 18. Chris Busta, 19. Justin Barber, 20. J.C. Flach, 21. Ronnie Johnson, 22. Matt Depew, 23. Floyd Billington, 24. John Lutes Jr, 25. Bodie Bellinger, 26. Michael Storms, 27. Erik Nelson, DNS. Brett Hearn, DNS. C.G. Morey, DNS. Ray Sitterly,  DNS. Neil Stratton

American Indian Movement Warrior Modified Dash $1,000 to Win, $500 for 2nd (3 Laps) – ROUND 1 – RACE 1 Ken Tremont Jr Defeats Don Ronca, ROUND 1 – RACE 2 Jeff Trombley Defeats Chris Busta, ROUND 1 – RACE 3 Donnie Corellis Defeats Mark Kislowski, ROUND 1 – RACE 4 Matt DeLorenzo Defeats Marc Johnson, ROUND 2 – RACE 1 Jeff Trombley Defeats Ken Tremont Jr, ROUND 2 – RACE 2 Matt Delorenzo Defeats Donnie Corellis, FINAL – A.I.M. WARRIOR DASH Jeff Trombley Defeats Matt DeLorenzo

Budget Sportsman A-Feature (25 Laps) – 1. Rocky Warner, 2. Bobby Hackel IV, 3. Joey Budka, 4. Brian Gleason, 5. Mike Burdo, 6. Mike Jeske, 7. Derrick McGrew, 8. Scott Duell, 9. Mike Minick, 10. Mark Hughes, 11. Frank Hoard III, 12. Jeremy Pitts, 13. Mike Ostrander, 14. Dave Baranowski Jr, 15. Fred Proctor, 16. Tim Hartman Jr, 17. Jack Gentile, 18. Robert Budlak, 19. Paul Dunham, 20. Chris Murray 21. Stan Lemiesz, 22. Mike Duclos, 23. Nick Anatriello, 24. Chuck Dickinson, 25. Mike Tholin, 26. Andy Durie, 27. Butch Wilcox, 28. Jon Miller

Budget Sportsman B-Feature #1 (15 Laps) – 1. Andy Durie, 2. Robert Bublak, 3. Jack Speshock, 4. Jay LaMountain, 5. Shannon Donnelly, 6. Greg Catlin, 7. Kenny Aanonsen Jr, 8. Leo Sousie, 9. Joe Orlando, 10. Jim Bemis, 11. Brad LaFountain, DNS. Nick Hotaling

Budget Sportsman B-Feature #2 (15 Laps) – 1. Tim Hartman Jr, 2. Fred Proctor, 3. D.J. Brundige, 4. Jack Swinton, 5. Brett Wright, 6. Dan Boni, 7. Bert Film, 8. Lenny Peckham, 9. D.J. Mabb, DNS. Luke Klob, DNS. Adam McAuliffe, DNS. Dan Santabarbara

Toro Pro Stock Series Race (25 Laps) – 1. Rob Yetman, 2. Chad Jeseo,  3. Ken Martin, 4. Dean Charbonneau,5. Rob Langevin, 6. Jeff Washburn, 7. Chip Smith, 8. Dave Emigh, 9. Kevin VanChance, 10. Ivan Joslin, 11. Dan Older, 12. Pat Zimmer, 13. Kim Duell, 14. Bill Smith, 15. Walt Brownell, 16. Brandon Emigh

Street Stock (20 Laps) – 1. Randy Miller, 2. Yule Cook, 3. Rowdy Burch, 4. Paul Mulrain, 5. Dave Stickles, 6. Ken Conroy, 7. Justin Smith, 8. Scott Lawrence, 9. David Shippee, 10. Phil Sherman, 11. John Hayes, 12. Jody Thew, 13. Jay Severson, 14. Luke McIsaac, 15. Chris Matteson, 16. Matt Mosher, 17. Josh Coonradt, DNS. J.T. Ronner