Champions show off at Albany-Saratoga

Malta, NY -- The September Fun Run brought a lot of new faces to Albany-Saratoga Speedway Friday night, but it also allowed a couple of track champions to do a little more celebrating.

Tim Hartman, who won his second straight sportsman championship at Albany-Saratoga this season, dominated the 30-lap sportsman feature, and Cale Kneer, the 2006 pro-street stock champion at Devil's Bowl, recorded his second win of the season at the historic Malta track.

Because of the heads-up start, Chris Busta and Hartman started in the front row in the sportsman feature, and Hartman put the Bruce Schell-owned small block into the front position after just one lap.

Busta kept Hartman in his sights until lap 12, when he got caught up in a jangle with Neal Erickson and Bill Bokus and had to drop to the rear of the field.

Rob Langevin, in just his second start in a sportsman after spending the majority of the season in a pro-street stock, moved into the No. 2 position after Busta's incident, but he soon had his hands full with invader Mike Ketchum, a regular at Glen Ridge. Ketchum had started 11th, but broke into the top three at the mid-point of the race, and then took the second position away from Langevin on lap 19.

Hartman maintained a comfortable lead and came away with his fifth win of the season. Ketchum hit the stripe second, with Langevin right behind him for third. Completing the top five were Whitey Slavin and Brian Holbritter. Holbritter covered a ton of ground, after starting 19th in the 23-car field after qualifying through the B main.

Kneer led all 25 laps of the pro-street stock feature, holding off Bernie Companion to get the win. Track champion Lori Cary was third, followed by Jimmy Eaton and Dean Charbonneau.

John Filarecki took the lead on lap 14 and picked up the win of the 20-lap limited feature. Robert Bublak, who was looking for his second straight victory, started third and jumped right to the front, but ran into problems on lap 13, allowing Curtis Condon to move to the point. But Condon only lasted one more lap, giving the lead to Filarecki, who had to hold off a hard-charging Dan Petronis to get his first win of the season. Petronis and Nick Lussier finished side-by-side for second and third, with Brandon Emigh fourth and Ben Durie fifth.

Chris McCarthy was the class of the mini-stock field, coming from his 15th starting position in his six-cylinder to get the victory, his eighth of the season, ahead of Brette Osgood and Ken Hollenbeck, who were both driving four-cylinders.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be holding its Friday Finale on Sept. 29, with sportsman, limiteds and mini-stocks again in action. The racing card will also feature an enduro. Enduro drivers should also check out the CVRA Web site at www.cvra.com for the October schedule, which includes the wildly popular Halloween Havoc on Oct. 21.

SPORTSMAN: TIM HARTMAN, Mike Ketchum, Rob Langevin, Whitey Slavin, Brian Holbritter, Ryan Larkin, Kyle Sheldon, Kory Sandstedt, Stan Lemiesz, Skip Shippee, Ken Anatriello, Jeff Watson, Chris Busta, Scott Duell, Mike Tholin, Dave DePaulo, Jason Herrington, Neal Erickson, Bill Bokus, Matt Depew, Rich Ronca, Neal Stratton, Tyler Curtis.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: CALE KNEER, Bernie Companion, Lori Cary, Jimmy Eaton, Dean Charbonneau, Fred Little, Darrell Carl, Greg McGill, Pete Broderson, Jon Bates, Jeff Washburn, Tom O'Connor, Matt Anatriello, Fred Shippee Jr.

LIMITEDS: JOHN FILARECKI, Dan Petronis, Nick Lussier, Brandon Emigh, Ben Durie, Ken Conroy, Dan Older, Jared McMahon, Mark Goss, D.J. Brundige, Tom Conroy, John Chapman, Merv Blackwell, Dave Stickles, Josh Coonradt, Robert Bublak, Tim Brunelle, Curtis Condon, Charles Primeau, Amanda Clemens, Jeremy Brownell, Dave Emigh, Mark Burch.

MINI-STOCKS: CHRIS MCCARTHY (6), Brette Osgood (4), Ken Hollenbeck (4), Travis Tromans (4), Tim Anagnos (6), Jim Daniels (4), Lori Fallis (6), Shane Marks (4), Steve Loomis (6), Chris Greene (4), Rennie Noradki (6), Justin Ramsey (4), Ron Zagata (6), Russ Miller, John Baldwin (4), Billy Hillman (6), Kerry Hollenbeck (6), Mike Duclos (6).