Munger Bounces Back

MALTA - Gene Munger wasn’t going to let something like a broken steering box prevent him from nailing down a long-awaited victory.

Battling an ill-handling race car and holding off a late charge from Ken Tremont Jr., Munger picked up his first win of the season Friday night in the 35-lap 358 modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

The win was Munger’s fifth career victory at the Malta track, and his first since July 27, 2001.

The win also erased some of the frustration Munger endured on opening day. when he lost oil pressure in the Richardsdale Farms 75 during warmups. After borrowing a ride in his cousin, Dave Camara’s, backup car, Munger was later involved in a wreck with Camara in the feature.

And don’t think the problems disappeared Friday night. Again, a mechanical problem plagued the Richardsdale Farms team, but this time, Munger simply refused to let it ruin his night.

The same can’t be said for defending track champion Brett Hearn, who proved that he’s only human on Friday. After Don Mattison and Jack Cottrell came together on the second lap of the feature, Hearn tried to thread the needle, but clipped Mattison’s car with the front end of the Brioschi-sponsored small block. The damage was bad enough to end Hearn’s night, placing him last in the order
of finish, completing just one lap.

That was Hearn’s first real DNF at the speedway in two years. In the only race he didn’t finish during the 2002 season, Hearn elected to stay in the pits after track officials refused to give him a courtesy lap when he came in with a flat tire.

Munger, who started on the outside pole Friday night, quickly built up a huge lead over Don Ackner, who had started third, but it was evident that Munger was having some sort of problem in the Mike Richards-owned car early in the race. On lap 11, Munger got completely sideways going through the fourth turn, and had to back out of the throttle to gather the car back in. But he had such a
big lead that he was able to correct his mistake without losing the top spot.

After the race, he explained that the steering box had broken, causing handling problems.

Tremont, who had started 13th in the field, took advantage of a caution to move into the No. 2 position. On lap 15, the yellow came out when Jack Johnson, who was running seventh at the time, was knocked around the first turn by Ray Hoard as they battled for position. After the field regrouped for the restart, it took Tremont just two laps to get by Matt DeLorenzo for second.

Hoard, who had started 11th, later moved into third, creating a good three-car battle.

Tremont did everything he could to put the 115 into the lead, twice pulling even with Munger on the inside of the speedway during the last five laps of the feature. But Munger held his line, and kept
wrestling the car until he passed under starter Bob Bigelow’s checkered flag, getting a much-deserved victory.

Tremont finished second while Hoard finished third. his second top-five finish in three weeks. Jack Cottrell rebounded from his lap-two incident with Mattison to finish fourth, with DeLorenzo fifth.

Completing the top 10 were Scott Noel, Jack Johnson, Ackner, Ron Proctor and Ronnie Johnson.

Tim Hartman covered the field to win the 25-lap sportsman feature. Taking advantage of the heads-up starting procedure that was put into effect for the class last season, Hartman led every lap and beat Joe Budka to the finish line by a whopping 6.351 seconds. The victory was Hartman’s eighth career win in the division. Jason Herrington finished third, with John Bellinger fourth and Rich Ronca fifth.

Hollywood Joe Santoro drove to his second straight victory in the 20-lap pro-street stock feature.Santoro started seventh in the field, but only needed eight laps to get the lead away from Lori Cary.

Although Santoro stayed in front for the rest of the feature, he didn’t have an easy time. Bob Schmidt, who is already staking his claim to the track title, pulled into second on lap 15 and chased Santoro, finishing just 0.411 seconds behind in the runner-up spot. Schmidt has finished second in all three pro-stock races so far this season. Chris Maxon finished third, followed by Butchie Irwin and Cary.

Jeff Monroe outran Jim Monroe and Jeff Washburn to win the hobby stock feature. Robert Ross and Brian Myers Jr. won the cruiser features and Mike Garda finished first in the 50-lap enduro.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action Friday, staging its first Night Of the Wild. The modifieds will be running Twin 20s, with points being awarded in each feature, and the winner of each race getting $1,000. Sportsman will be running 30 laps for $600 to win. Sail panels of any size will be allowed in both divisions, as will be front nose wings. But no roof wings will be allowed. There will also be no weight rule for the Night Of The Wild.

The pro-street stocks and hobby stocks will also be running extra distance races for increased purses. Grandstand admission will be $15, and racing will begin at 7 p.m.

MODIFIEDS: GENE MUNGER, Ken Tremont Jr., Ray Hoard, Jack Cottrell, Matt DeLorenzo, Scott Noel, Jack Johnson, Don Ackner, Ron Proctor, Ronnie Johnson, Mike Ballestero, Mike Perrotte, Randy Hotaling, Frank Hoard Sr., Dave Camara, Dave Manny, Todd Ryan, Chuck Higley, Don Mattison, Brett Hearn.

SPORTSMAN: TIM HARTMAN, Joe Budka, Jason Herrington, John Bellinger, Rich Ronca, Derrick McGrew, Erik Mack, David Peek, Bill Cody, Dan Bublak, Ken Anatriello, Stan Lemiesz, Jeff Sukup, Keith Nichols, Fred Proctor, Jack Swinton, Doug Sheely, Ed Pieniazek Jr., Jimmy Meka, Dick Bisson, Ray Martindale, Jimmy Cottrell.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: JOE SANTORO, Bob Schmidt, Chris Mason, Butchie Irwin, Lori Cary, Steve Burega, Brian Holbritter, Don Daniels, Vince Santoro, Adam Tranka, Carl Vladyka, Jason Brownell, Matt Anatriello, Tom O’Connor, Cale Kneer, Bernie Companion, Randy Brownell, Dave Uline, Charlie Koenig, Mike Wheeler, Dean Charbonneau, Henry Tanner, Roy Fifield, Walt
Brownell.

HOBBY STOCKS: JEFF MONROE, Jim Monroe, Jeff Washburn, Mike Tholin, Jim Monroe, Bob Smith, John Morris Jr., John Filarecki, Dan Daniels, Adam Stoddard, Kevin Van Chance, Rusty Palmateer, Byron Westcott, Chris Busta, Curtis Condon, Pat Cram, David Emigh, No. 32.