Perrotte scores big win

MALTA - Mike Perrotte once again saved his best for last.

Refusing to give in to the disappointments of a frustrating season, Perrotte finally shook the monkey off his back Friday night, winning the 50-lap Run What Ya Brung special, presented by Target, at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Perrotte drew the pole for the third leg of the Run What Ya Brung Series and led flag-to-flag to pick up the top prize of $5,000. But because he was also running a CVRA legal small block and Goodyear track tires, Perrotte also earned a $1,000 bonus for the first small block across the finish line, making Friday night’s victory one of his biggest paydays ever.

"This has been a real tough season for us, and we’ve been down all year because of it," said Perrotte after his second victory of the season. "But this puts a lot of punch back into our program."

There was a definite trend to Perrotte’s victory Friday night. For the second straight season, he won the final 358 modified race of the year at Albany-Saratoga. And his only other victory this year came in the track’s Night of the Wild in May, when his crew first came up with the idea of using an oversized panel, which Perrotte refers to as a storm door, on the modified.

But Perrotte never felt comfortable until the checkered flag fell Friday night, and for good reason. He had been extremely fast in the first two legs of the Run What Ya Brung series, but had failed to finish either event. There had also been numerous nights during the regular season when he had a good starting position, but his car didn’t finish 35 laps. So even though he was out front the entire way, there was always the sense that something would go wrong.

But nothing ever did.

Perrotte, who had the second-best time during time trials, became the third different winner in the series, joining Dave Lape and Jeff Trombley, who finished second in Friday night’s race. The series is offering a $20,000 bonus to the first driver to notch three wins. The schedule for the 2004 series will be announced at a later date.

Friday night’s 50-lapper got off to a bad start, when Randy Hotaling and Butch Jelley came together in turn four, with Hotaling bouncing off the inside wall on the first lap and taking down a sponsor’s sign in the infield. Perrotte went right to the front, as the packed house watched some dynamite action behind the leader.

Billy Pauch, making a rare appearance at the speedway, was hooked up early and charging around the top of the race track, but on lap 16, he pushed a little too hard and went off the racing surface, dropping from fourth to 11th and taking himself out of contention for the $5,000 payday.

Trombley, who started third, couldn’t keep up with the high-flying Perrotte on the long runs, but there were enough cautions to give Trombley hope. But Perrotte kept taking the high line on the restarts, and that proved to be the place to be.

Lape, who was also making his presence felt in the Andy’s Speed Shop big block, had a rear tire go down on lap 43, ending his night and bringing out the final caution of the race. But again, Trombley couldn’t overtake Perrotte on the restart, and Perrotte took the Adirondack Motorsports small block on to an impressive win.

Pauch, who had the fastest time during time trials, cranking out a lap of 15.322 seconds, finished third, followed by Mike Ronca and Jack Johnson. Ronca earned a $500 bonus for being the second small block across the finish line.

Completing the top 10 were Bob Savoie, fan favorite Kenny Brightbill, Don Ronca, Ron Dwyer and Tim Laduc.

Pauch and Perrotte were the only two drivers to crack the 15-second barrier in time trials, as Perrotte turned a lap of 15.783 seconds.

Tim Hartman finally broke his dry spell in the 20-lap sportsman feature, picking up his ninth victory of the season. The 2003 track champion dominated the division in the middle portion of the schedule, but hadn’t been to victory lane since July 25.

With the sportsmen starting heads-up, Hartman came off the front row and led every lap to get the victory, beating Jack Swinton to the finish line by 1.232 seconds. Although Swinton was denied his first career victory, his second-place finish was his best performance ever at Albany-Saratoga. Erik Mack was third, with Joe Budka fourth and Derrick McGrew fifth.

Carl Vladyka outran Joe Santoro to win the 20-lap pro-street stock feature, and Dan Daniels led every lap but the first one to win the hobby stock feature. Luke MacIsaac was first under the checkered flag in the cruiser division feature.

Although the modified portion of the racing schedule at Albany-Saratoga Speedway has been completed, there’s still plenty of exciting action ahead. The track will switch to its fall schedule on Saturday, Oct. 4, for the World Series of Racing. The full day of racing will include an open competition 50-lap sportsman feature, paying $750 to win, and a 50-lap feature for CVRA-legal pro-street stocks, which will pay $500 to win. Hobby stocks and cruisers will also be in action, and there is also an enduro on the card. Racing on Oct. 4 will begin at 4 p.m.

Information about upcoming events at the speedway can be obtained by calling (518) 587-0220.

MODIFIED (TARGET 50): MIKE PERROTTE, Jeff Trombley, Billy Pauch, Mike Ronca, Jack Johnson, Bob Savoie, Kenny Brightbill, Don Ronca, Ron Dwyer, Tim Laduc, Gene Munger, Mike Ballestero, Stan Lemiesz, Dave Lape, Rich Ronca, Ron Proctor, Tom Proctor, Jeff Sheely, Todd Ryan, Butch Jelley, Ryan Odasz, Lance Harting, Brian Weaver, Randy Hotaling.

SPORTSMAN: TIM HARTMAN, Jack Swinton, Erik Mack, Joe Budka, Derrick McGrew, Jimmy Cottrell, Tony Ballestero, Neal Erickson, Fred Proctor, Dan Boni, Chris Garrity, Colleen Salisbury, Ken Anatriello, Dan Humes, Keith Flach, Cass Bennett.