Malta, NY – It was the final Friday night race schedule for the management team at Albany Saratoga Speedway and they didn’t disappoint.  A 50-lap ‘Run What Ya Brung’ feature event for the Sportsman division headlined the schedule.

Frank Hoard III and Bobby Hackel IV used the extra distance to put on a fantastic show for the fans.   A heads up start allowed the fast cars the opportunity for a front spot and Hackel wasted no time securing the race lead.   But on the third circuit Hoard took the lead and that would begin a long sought battle between the two.  Add to the mix ― three rounds of heavy lapped traffic with track positions being swapped back and forth with Hoard owning the first part of the event and Hackel laying ownership on the back half.

Hackel held on for the win, his third visit to victory lane with the Twisted Tools #97 for the 2012 race season.

“A couple of the restarts helped me ― a couple got me real nervous and I was trying to get the tires real warm, I didn’t want them to seal up,” said Hackel during post-race ceremonies.  “We had some lucky breaks tonight.  He [Hoard] had one bobble and I was right there.”

Hoard followed Hackel across the line and was followed by Rocky Warner, Mike Tholin and Tim Hartman Jr.

Warner came all of the way from an 18^th place starting position and spent a good portion of the race running a solid top five.

All season Yule Cook has been fast and has been in contention for a win in the Street Stock division, but something always seem to happen to him.  Not this week.  Cook took the race lead on lap three and before picking up his first win of the 2012 season he put on a great show with Bill Duprey.

“We got a good starting spot in the heat race and we finished that off pretty good,” said Cook after the win.  “A little bit of time in the garage does good.”

Unfortunately with only a handful of laps remaining a racing incident with Cook and Duprey forced Duprey out of the race and he ended up 11^th.

“I went a little bit over the berm coming out of turn four,” said Cook.  “I corrected it and went kind of straight and he must have been drifting right with me so it’s unfortunate.”

Paul Mulrain, Ken Conroy, David Shippee and Matt Mosher rounded out the top five.

Mark Lindblade took the lead on the fourth lap in the 4 Cylinder Combined Feature event.  Second place finisher, Phil Defiglio came all the way from 11^th place but couldn’t take the race lead from Lindblade.  The win was Lindblade’s fifth win of the season at the ‘Great Race Place.’

Jon Taisey won the 50-lap Enduro.

Bits:  It was also the first Enduro of the season for the new management team…  The Sportsman theme was ‘Run What Ya Brung’ so several teams were sporting sail panels and side wings… Frank Hoard was the fastest in pre-race hot laps.  Hoard had a sizable lead in the third qualifying event…  The first three Sportsman qualifying event winners had some sort of creative design on their automobile.  The fourth QE was secured by Baranowski who was riding his regular Friday night look…  Usually a feature-only division, this was the first time all season that the Street Stock drivers were given the opportunity to run qualifying events…  J & J Racing [Jim Monroe] and Miller Motorsports [Russ Miller] put up some cash for top three Street Stock feature event finishers…  Albany Saratoga Speedway management will host the ‘Eve of Destruction’ at the Malta oval on Saturday night.  Visit the speedway’s website for more information.

Budget Sportsman A-Feature (30 Laps) – 1. Bobby Hackel IV, 2. Frank Hoard III, 3. Rocky Warner, 4. Mike Tholin, 5. Tim Hartman Jr, 6. Jeremy Pitts, 7. Johnny Marsh Jr, 8. Andy Durie, 9. Mike Ostrander, 10. Mike Burdo, 11. Nick Lussier, 12. Paul Dunham, 13. Jake Scarborough, 14. Mark Hughes,  15. Douglas Hancock, 16. Stan Lemiesz, 17. Mike Jeske, 18. Brett Wright, 19. Dave Baranowski Jr, 20. Elliott Lussier, 21. Joe Orlando, 22. Pete Jeske, 23. Skip Shippee, 24. Ron Casey, 25. Floyd Billington, 26. D.J. Brundige, 27. Jon Miller, 28. Jack Gentile, 29. Jack Swinton, 30. Shannon Donnelly, 31. Leo Sousie, 32. Derrick McGrew, DNS. Kenny Aanonsen Jr

Street Stock (20 Laps) – 1. Yule Cook, 2. Paul Mulrain, 3. Ken Conroy, 4. David Shippee, 5. Matt Mosher, 6. Jody Thew, 7. Scott Lawrence, 8. John Hayes, 9. Randy Miller, 10. Nathan Dahoda, 11. Bill Duprey, 12. Paul Braymer, 13. Dave Stickles, 14. Josh Coonradt, 15. John Lindblade, 16. Jay Severson, DNS. Jason Barrett, DNS. Rowdy Burch, DNS. Ben Newsome, DNS. Justin Smith – Paul Mulrain is the 2012 Street Stock Champion

4 Cylinder Combined (15 Laps) – 1. Mark Lindblade, 2. Phil Defiglio, 3. Anthony Alger, 4. Hunter Sanchez, 5. Stephen Goodness, 6. Pete Vila, 7. Keith Tesiero, 8. Dan Older, 9. Keith Tesiero Jr., 10. Marty Poole, 11. Art Clement, 12. Dave Labarge – Art Clement is the 2012 4 Cylinder Dual cam Champion

4 Cylinder Single Cam (15 Laps) – 1. Mark Lindblade, 2. Anthony Alger, 3. Keith Tesiero, 4. Dan Older, 5. Keith Tesiero Jr., 6. Dave Labarge – Dan Older is the 2012 4 Cylinder Single Cam Champion

4 Cylinder Dual Cam Results (15 Laps) – 1. Phil Defiglio, 2. Hunnter Sanchez, 3. Stephen Goodness, 4. Pete Vila, 5. Marty Poole, 6. Art Clement

Enduro Results (50 Laps) – 1. Jon Taisey, 2. Rick Taylor, 3. Brandon Uline, 4. Alicia Granger, 5. Christina Miller, 6. David Bogdan, 7. Stephanie Duell, 8. Ernie Darrah, 9. Nick Gifford, 10. Jacob Currier, 11. Jeffrey Donnely, 12. Chris Ronca, 13. Kyle Dieterle, 14. Wayne Russell Jr, 15. Arnie Naparty, 16. Brittney Sprague, 17. Ken Walthers, 18. Ken Tarbell