Laduc finally ends drought

MALTA - If wins were food, Tim Laduc would have starved to death by now.

Since moving up to the modified division in 2000, Laduc has found out that mastering Albany-Saratoga Speedway is about as easy as deciphering Chinese math. But on Friday night, he finally put it all together, and picked up his first win in a year and a half in the 35-lap 358 modified feature at the historic Malta track.

The last time the former Champlain Valley Racing Association Sportsman Driver of the Year sat in victory lane at Albany-Saratoga Speedway was Sept. 21, 2001, when he won the season-ending 50-lap feature, his first modified win at Malta.

Since then, he’s been just as fast as his competition, but his luck has been awful, and at times, his car has been as reliable as an old windshield wiper in a blizzard.

He should have ended his drought two weeks ago, as he dominated the first three-quarters of the modified feature before a broken brake caliper ended his great run.

But there were no mechanical failures or cases of driver error Friday night, as Laduc, who won the Albany-Saratoga Speedway sportsman point title in 1999, held off defending track champion Brett Hearn by 0.256 seconds to get the victory.

Because of a string of bad finishes (18th, 17th and 16th in his last three starts), Laduc sat on the pole for Friday night’s feature, and that’s right where he stayed.

Hearn, who started 15th, had the Madsen Motorsports small block humming from the start and was sitting seventh at the midway point of the race, but he then found another gear and began picking off cars one by one. First, it was Mike Ronca, then it was Gene Munger, then it was Don Mattison, putting Hearn third with nine laps to go. On lap 29, Hearn passed Ken Tremont Jr. for second and set out after Laduc, but Laduc wasn’t going to let another golden opportunity slip away, and he held off Hearn for the victory.

Tremont finished third, followed by Jack Cottrell and Mattison.

Cottrell made the most of what had been a frustrating night. He crashed in his heat race, and then barely qualified for the feature after starting in the rear of a 17-car consi. He lined up 22nd in the feature, but turned in an impressive top-five finish.

Completing the top 10 were Munger, Mike Perrotte, Ronca, Don Scarborough who was making his first appearance of the season at Albany-Saratoga, and Matt DeLorenzo. Dave Camara, looking for his third straight, win, dropped out on the 16th lap, the victim of a broken rear end.

The Empire Super Sprints pulled into Malta for the first time in 2003, with Mike Lutz picking up his first win ever at Albany-Saratoga, holding off a late charge from eight-time ESS champion Mike Woodring.

Chris Maxon outran Butchie Irwin and Bob Schmidt to record his first victory of the season in the 20-lap pro-street stock feature. Maxon started fourth in the 24-car field, but only needed five laps to get to the front of the pack.

Hollywood Joe Santoro had the Lazzaro Autobody 00 hooked up early and on lap 13, snatched the lead away from Maxon. But a caution two laps later allowed Maxon to regain the lead and on lap 17, Santoro dropped out of the race with mechanical problems.

That left Irwin, running the CVRA Chevy spec engine, to make a late run at Maxon. Irwin turned the fastest lap of the feature in the late going, but he didn’t have enough left to get around Maxon, who beat Irwin to the finish line by just 0.184 seconds.

Schmidt, who has been Mr. Consistency in the first six weeks of the 2003 season, finished third, followed by Dean Charbonneau and Don Daniels.

Byron Westcott, who got his start at Albany-Saratoga Speedway racing in enduros, got the win in the 15-lap hobby stock feature. Despite starting 14th, Westcott made a quick charge through the pack, got the lead on lap eight and pulled away for an easy victory, his first of the season at the Malta track. Jeff Monroe was second, with John Morris Jr. third, Mike Tholin fourth and Jim Monroe III fifth.

The cruisers were split up for the first time this season, with Keith Wright winning the six-cylinder race, and Dave Kennedy taking the checkered flag in the four-cylinder division.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action Friday night, with its first annual Topless Night. All spectators who drive to the races in a convertible will be admitted free of charge, and will be allowed to display their car on the green behind the main grandstands.

The racers will also discover something new when they return to the track Friday. Less than eight hours after Laduc’s victory, truckloads of new clay were being hauled into the speedway for a resurfacing project.

MODIFIEDS: TIM LADUC, Brett Hearn, Ken Tremont Jr., Jack Cottrell, Don Mattison, Gene Munger, Mike Perrotte, Mike Ronca, Don Scarborough, Matt DeLorenzo, Frank Hoard Sr., Scott Noel, Don Ackner, Randy Hotaling. Rich Ronca, Jack Johnson, Mike Ballestero, Derrick McGrew, Stan Lemiesz, Ray Hoard, Ronnie Johnson, Dave Camara, Todd Ryan, Ron Proctor.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: CHRIS MAXON, Butchie Irwin, Bob Schmidt, Dean Charbonneau, Don Daniels, Carl Vladyka, Vince Santoro, Lori Cary, Steve Burega, Bill Eaton, Tom O’Connor, Matt Anatriello, Jim Groncki, Jason Brownell, Charlie Koenig, Joe Santoro, Randy Brownell, Walt Brownell, Mike Paquin, Cale Kneer, Jay Fitzgerald, Roy Fifield, Henry Tanner, C.J. Brooks.

HOBBY STOCKS: BYRON WESTCOTT, Jeff Monroe, John Morris Jr., Mike Tholin, Jim Monroe III, Jim Monroe Jr., Chris Busta, John Coon, Kevin Van Chance, Adam Stoddard, Curtis Condon, Keith Guilder, Ed Frank, Nathan Chaves, Russell Farr, John Filarecki, Mike Carmen.

SIX-CYLINDER CRUISERS: KEITH WRIGHT, Dave Emigh, Jeremy Brownell, Brian Myers, Rich Mrzyglod, Matt Thomas, Butch Ryan, Ron Zagata, Amanda Clemon, Arthuir Howe, Elmer Montville, Emerson Ostrander, Ken Wooley.

FOUR-CYLINDER CRUISERS: DAVE KENNEDY, Kevin Connors, Jon Atwell, James McCarthy, Mitchell Cranston, Joe Naccarato, John Sullivan, Brittany Ladd, Matt Corbiel, Robert Ross, Ben Durie.