Tremont comes alive

MALTA - Just as Muhammad Ali used his rope-a-dope tactics to regain the heavyweight championship from George Foreman in 1974, Ken Tremont Jr. is using a similar tactic in his attempt to regain the track title at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

After letting his opponents slug it out and pound on their equipment during the hottest weeks of the summer, Tremont has come off the ropes swinging with both hands, and chalked up his first victory of the season Friday night on New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

The win also allowed Tremont to extend his streak of winning at least one feature to 11 straight years. More important, it allowed him to regain the point lead. Coupled with Brett Hearn’s fifth-place finish, Tremont moved ahead of Hearn by one point in the battle for the modified point title at the Malta track.

Tremont dominated the competition at Albany-Saratoga Speedway during the 1990s, winning six straight titles from 1993 to 1999. But the title in 1999 was the last time he had the crown at the speedway, and that hasn’t set well with the Tremont racing team.

A string of consistent finishes kept Tremont in the hunt for the 2003 title until he finally broke through Friday night, becoming the 10th different winner in the modified division this season.

Starting from the third row, Tremont didn’t waste any time getting to the front. He was already sitting second when Mike Perrotte got into the concrete wall on the front straightaway., bringing out the first caution of the night on lap four.

Tremont used the restart to rocket past Don Mattison for the lead on lap six, and the 115 then was on cruise control the rest of the way, as Tremont finished with a 3.277-second margin of victory over Ronnie Johnson to record his 36th career victory at the track.

Johnson and Don Scarborough put on a good battle for second. Johnson had taken the No. 2 position on lap 21, and Scarborough, who had started 14th, moved into third on lap 26.

One lap later, the two nearly took each other out of the race, as both cars made contact with the wall in turn one. But both drivers gathered their rides back in, and Johnson edged out Scarborough for the runner-up spot, Johnson’s best finish since he chased Hearn across the finish line on June 20.

Jack Cottrell finished fourth, with Hearn fifth. Mattison faded to sixth at the finish, with Jack Johnson seventh, Don Ackner eighth, Matt DeLorenzo ninth and Ron Proctor 10th.

Dave Camara, the 2001 modified point champion, wasn’t in competition Friday night. The Camara team was fined and put on probation for the remainder of the season following an incident in the pits at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Aug. 10, and their status for the rest of the year is uncertain.

Derrick McGrew drove to his second straight win in the 20-lap sportsman feature. McGrew and David Peek put on a good show, swapping the lead and battling side-by-side until McGrew put the John Kollar-owned small block on the point for good on lap 17. Joe Budka did an outstanding job to finish second, after starting 14th in the 18-car field. Point leader Tim Hartman also came from deep in the pack to finish third, while Peek faded to fourth and Jack Swinton finished fifth.

There was also a repeat winner in the pro-street stock feature, as Lori Cary picked up her third victory of the season. Cary was awarded the win on Aug. 8 on a disqualification, but she really earned the victory on Friday night. After starting eighth, she steadily worked her way to the front and finally took the lead away from Henry Tanner III on the 17th lap of the 20-lap feature. Cary then pulled away, winning by nearly a full second. Tanner was second, with point leader Butchie Irwin third, Joe Santoro fourth and Chris Maxon fifth.

Mike Tholin solidified his lead in the hobby stock point standings with his third victory of the season. A rash of early restarts allowed Tholin to move up quickly from his sixth-row starting position, and he took the lead away from John Filarecki on lap five.

Chris Busta made a late charge to finish second, with John Morris Jr. third.

Jeremy Brownell picked up his second straight win in the cruiser feature, holding off both Luke MacIsaac and Brian Myers.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will return to action Friday night, with the Central New York Mini-Sprints joining the regular CVRA divisions. Racing will begin at 7 p.m.

MODIFIED: KEN TREMONT JR., Ronnie Johnson, Don Scarborough, Jack Cottrell, Brett Hearn, Don Mattison, Jack Johnson, Don Ackner, Matt DeLorenzo, Ron Proctor, Don Ronca, Gene Munger, Ray Hoard, Randy Hotaling, Frank Hoard Sr., Tom Proctor, Scott Noel, Mike Ronca, Mike Perrotte.

SPORTSMAN: DERRICK MCGREW, Joe Budka, Tim Hartman, David Peek, Jack Swinton, Stan Lemiesz, Jimmy Cottrell, Dan Bublac, Ken Anatriello, Doug Sheely, John Lutes, Ray Martindale, Dick Bisson, Fred Proctor, Erik Mack, Rich Ronca, Brian MacKenzie. DQ: Jason Herrington.

PRO-STREET STOCK: LORI CARY, Henry Tanner III, Butchie Irwin, Joe Santoro, Chris Maxon, Adam Tranka, Carl Vladyka, Bob Schmidt, Jimmy Eaton, Steve Burega, Dean Charbonneau, Matt Anatriello, Scott Duell, Jim Groncki, Cale Kneer, Brian Holbritter, Vince Santoro, Tom O’Connor.

HOBBY STOCK: MIKE THOLIN, Chris Busta, John Morris Jr., John Filarecki, Jim Monroe, Bob Smith, Dan Daniels, Kevin Sawyer, Kevin Van Chance, Tim Ippoliti, Byron Westcott, Jeff Monroe, Adam Stoddard, David Emigh, Jim Monroe III, John Laviolette, Brian Ashline, Robert Ross.

CRUISERS: JEREMY BROWNELL, Luke MacIsaac, Brian Myers, Rich Mrzyglod, Joe Naccarato, Jamie McCarthy, Kevin Connors, No. 111, Brittany Ladd, Matt Corbiel, Thomas Welch, Mitch Cranston, Amanda Clemens, Matt Galusha, Nick Wadman, Tracy Ash, Bill Bradley, Mike Dow.