Clemons notches third win


MALTA - Having a fresh race car obviously made a big difference for Tim Clemons Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

After opting not to run in the CVRA vs. The World 75-lapper on Wednesday night, Clemons charged from his 11th starting position and recorded his third win of the season in the special 30-lap Line-X Modified feature on American Pride Night at the Malta track.

Clemons used a couple of early restarts to quickly move to the front of the field, and grabbed the lead away from Jimmy Cottrell on lap 10. Derrick McGrew, one of the many Line-X drivers who had raced on Wednesday night, put the John Kollar-owned small block into he No. 2 position on lap 14 and began plotting a way to get the leader.

Erik Mack, who had walked off with $600 on Wednesday night for winning the non-qualifiers race at CVRA vs. The World, started getting the Queen’s Machine cranked up with 10 to go, and put on a quick charge from sixth to third.

But Clemons never faltered in the Mike Parillo No. 17. He turned the quickest lap of the feature on lap 11, stopping the clock in 18.052 seconds, and that little display of power was a sure sign that it was going to be very tough to get around him.

At the finish line, Clemons was just under a second ahead of McGrew. Clemons now has 24 career sportsman victories at Albany-Saratoga, putting him just two wins away from tying career leader Mike Ballestero. McGrew crossed the line second, with Mack sitting third. Defending champion Tim Hartman, who had been involved in a last-lap crash on Wednesday night, was fourth, while rookie Mike Tholin brought his Jasper-powered small block across the finish line fifth.

Cottrell was sixth, while David Peek, back behind the wheel of his own small block for the first time this season, did an impressive job to finish seventh. Peek had been forced to qualify through the B main, and started 19th in the 25-car field.

Completing the top 10 were Keith Flach, Joe Budka and Ricky Davis.

Chris Busta continued his domination of the Rentway Limited class, driving to his sixth win in nine weeks of racing. Busta has been the subject of a teardown and several rumors about illegal parts, but his competitors are starting to realize that maybe the driver has something to prove with the hot streak.

The Limiteds ran 20 laps on Friday night, which helped Busta come away with the victory. Busta started 11th in the field and had trouble getting through traffic, as the race was slowed by just one caution, on lap four.

Rich Holmes, looking for his first win of the season, came out of the three hole and took the lead following the only restart, but as the green flag laps ticked off, Busta got his car humming. He finally worked his way around Bob Smith on lap 12 to take over second, and on lap 13, turned the quickest lap of the feature as he chased down Holmes.

Busta finally took the lead on lap 15, which would have been the last lap in a regular feature, and pulled away to a 1.757-second margin of victory.

Jim Monroe made a late charge to finish second, getting that spot on lap 19 and dropping Holmes to third. Smith crossed the line fourth, with Brian Ashline fifth.

The Pro-Built Mini-Stocks were also in action Friday night, with Elmer Montville (six-cylinder) and Mike Cranston (four-cylinder) getting the victories.

Montville had no trouble in his 20-lap feature, taking the lead on lap seven and outrunning Rich Mrzyglod to notch his second straight win. Cranston started fourth and led flag-to-flag to come away with his first win of the year in the four-cylinder event.

A 50-lap enduro ended the special 4th of July holiday weekend program, with Red Springer getting the win over Trevor Gavin and Jason Thooneburg.

The hot summer of racing at the Great Race Place will continue Friday night, with all divisions in action on Bikers Night. Racing will begin at 7 p.m.

LINE-X MODIFIEDS: TOM CLEMONS, Derrick McGrew, Erik Mack, Tim Hartman, Mike Tholin, Jimmy Cottrell, David Peek, Keith Flach, Joe Budka, Ricky Davis, Stan Lemiesz, Dick Bisson, Neal Erickson, Jack Gentile, Chris Garrity, Jeff Sukup, Dennis Pennock, Ken Anatriello, Bill Cody, Ed Pieniazek Jr., Tony Ballestero, Jack Swinton, Rich Ronca, Jim Proctor, Ricky Quick.

RENTWAY LIMITEDS: CHRIS BUSTA, Jim Monroe, Rich Holmes, Bob Smith, Brian Ashline, Mike Pfau, Thomas Conroy, John Morris Jr., Kevin Van Chance, Jeff Monroe, John Filarecki, Jim Monroe Jr., Adam Stoddard, Lucas MacIsaac, Tim Ippoliti, Mike Minick, Byron Westcott, Curtis Condon, Richard Burke.

PRO-BUILT MINI-STOCKS (SIX-CYLINDER): ELMER MONTVILLE, Rich Mrzyglod, Dan Uber, Tim Glowowski, Art Howe, Ray Galusha, Shea Montgomery, Amanda Clemens, Dan Petronis, Matt Thomas, Brian Myers Jr., Randy Mann, Emerson Ostrander. DQ: Jeremy Brownell.

PRO-BUILT MINI-STOCKS (FOUR-CYLINDER): MIKE CRANSTON, Kevin Connors, Matt Corbiel, Randy Senecal, Chris Cary Jr., John Willis, Matt Depew, Gene Unser Jr., Heather Combs, John Baldwin, Lewis Kusalonski, Jamie McCarthy, Patty Lucky.