Romano records first win of the year

MALTA - Lapped cars are like women. Some days, you hate to have them around. Other days, you love to see them.

A.J. Romano has been on both ends of the spectrum. On opening day at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, a lapped car cost him what looked like a sure win. But on Friday night, lapped traffic helped him get his first victory of the season in the 358 modified feature at the Malta track.

Unable to shake pesky Tim Dwyer late in the race, Romano snaked his way through three lapped cars to get a cushion, and then walked off to a three-second victory, his first win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway since May 24, 1996.

Just as happy in victory lane were Romano’s car owners - his father, Andy and his brother, Mike. For years, Mike Romano had tried to get his younger brother to switch to a Bicknell chassis (Mike Romano is a distributor for Bicknell), but A.J. was determined to stick with a Troyer. But during the offseason, A.J. finally gave in, and agreed to run a Bicknell on a fulltime basis at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. It’s obviously paid off.

Tires were also a big story Friday night. An omen of things to come came on lap eight, when Mike Ballestero blew his left front. In the next couple of laps, both Brett Hearn and Matt DeLorenzo also suffered flat left front tires, a trend that was disturbing to everyone, including the leaders.

Romano, who started fifth because of a run of bad finishes during the month of June, only needed three laps to get the lead away from Randy Hotaling and in between cautions, Romano was flying. But the yellows kept things interesting.

Dwyer, who had started 10th, rocketed into the No. 2 position on lap 15, and then used lapped traffic to catch Romano on lap 23.

Because the two leaders were running different lines, the fans were treated to some incredible side-by-side racing, but that ended on lap 28, when Romano saw an opening in a pack of three lapped cars. The hole shut before Dwyer could get there, allowing Romano to pick up the win. “Those yellow flags were giving me nightmares,” said Romano after the race.

So was the fact that lapped cars can be very erratic.

“The lapped traffic did a great job out there, and with the track slippery at both ends, that’s what I needed,” Romano said.

Gene Munger, who’s had a miserable start to the season, finally got the gorilla off his back and finished third, his first top-five finish of the season. Jack Cottrell came across the finish line fourth, and Jack Johnson was fifth. Completing the top 10 were Stewart Friesen, Don Scarborough, Ronnie Johnson, DeLorenzo and Don Ronca. Hearn, who had to pit for a fresh tire, wound up 11th while defending track champion Ken Tremont Jr. again struggled, finishing 15th, a lap down to the leaders.

Erik Mack proved that he’s no one-win wonder by recording his second victory of the season in the 20-lap Line-X Modified feature. Mack, who is one of the quickest learners on the CVRA circuit, made a three-wide move around Derrick McGrew and Dan Bublak on lap 12 to get the lead, and joined Tim Clemons as the only two-time winners in the division this season. Clemons, who started 14th in the Parillo 17, put on a good show and got up for second, taking that spot away from McGrew on lap 16. McGrew, still looking for his first win of the year, was third, with Bublak fourth and Rich Ronca fifth.

Henry Tanner held off a persistent challenge from Butchie Irwin to get his first victory of the season in the 20-lap Amsoil pro-street stock feature. Tanner, who started fourth, took the lead away from Bernie Companion on lap 12, but by that time, Irwin, who had started eighth, was running third.

Irwin, who has dominated the division to the point where his rivals are starting to point some fingers, moved into second on lap 14 and hung right on Tanner’s rear bumper, and at the finish, Tanner had a 0.217-second margin of victory, with Companion third.

Chris Busta, who started the year with a three-race winning streak, recorded win No. 4 in the Rentway Limited feature, and Matt Thomas (six-cylinder) and John Baldwin (four-cylinder) won the Pro-Built Mini-Stock features. Thomas’ win was his second of the year.

The annual Summer Sendoff will be held Friday night, with all divisions in action, Racing will begin at 7 p.m.

MODIFIEDS: A.J. ROMANO, Tim Dwyer, Gene Munger, Jack Cottrell, Jack Johnson, Stewart Friesen, Don Scarborough, Ronnie Johnson, Matt DeLorenzo, Don Ronca, Brett Hearn, Ron Proctor, Randy Hotaling, Lucas Baker, Ken Tremont Jr., Scott Noel, Todd Ryan, Paul Cirincione, Chuck Higley, Mike Perrotte, Frank Hoard Sr., Craig Simmons, Mike Ronca, Mike Ballestero.

LINE-X MODIFIEDS: ERIK MACK, Tim Clemons, Derrick McGrew, Dan Bublak, Rich Ronca, Tony Ballestero, Ricky Davis, Jack Swinton, Jeff Sukup, Chris Garrity, Tim Hartman, Mike Tholin, Ed Pieniazek Jr., Jimmy Cottrell, Stan Lemiesz, Joe Budka, Dick Bisson, Neal Erickson, David Towns, Mike Pinke.

PRO-STREET STOCK: HENRY TANNER, Butchie Irwin, Bernie Companion, Lori Cary, Scott Duell, Joe Santoro, Chris Maxon, Cale Kneer, Robert Langevin, Jimmy Eaton, Vince Santoro, Dean Charbonneau, Tom O’Connor, Bob Schmidt, Walt Brownell Jr., Rob Muscanell, Adam Tranka, Matt Anatriello, Don Piper, William Smith IV, Brian Holbritter, Steve Burega, Ed Frank, Jeremy Pitts.

RENTWAY LIMITEDS: CHRIS BUSTA, Kevin Van Chance, Richard Burke, Jim Monroe Jr., Byron Westcott, Brian Ashline, Johnathon Coon, John Filarecki, Adam Stoddard, Rich Holmes, Thomas Conroy, Mike Pfau, Ed Sears, John Morris Jr., Dave Emigh, Jim Monroe, Mike Ostrander, Bill Burlingame, Bob Smith, Lucas MacIsaac.

PRO-BUILT MINI-STOCKS (SIX-CYLINDER): MATT THOMAS, Richard Mrzyglod, Brian Myers Jr., Amanda Clemens, Jeremy Brownell, Tim Glowowski, Dan Petronis, Raymond Galusha, Elmer Montville Jr., Dan Uber, Emerson Ostrander, Art Howe, Randy Mann, Brett Osgood.

PRO-BUILT MINI-STOCKS (FOUR-CYLINDER): JOHN BALDWIN, Michael Cranston, Jamie McCarthy, Kevin Connors, Chris Cary Jr., Matt Corbiel, Lewis Kusalonski, Gene Unser Jr., Randy Senecal, David LaBarge.