Jimmy Cottrell records first modified win


MALTA – It took more than five years, but a member of the Cottrell family has finally made it back to victory lane in the 358-modified division at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Jimmy Cottrell, who is only in his second season in a 358-modified, led flag-to-flag Friday night to record the first victory of his career in the premier division at Albany-Saratoga.

Cottrell, who had two wins in the sportsman division before moving up in 2006, is the son of Jack Cottrell, who retired at the end of the 2005 campaign. Jack Cottrell retired with five career wins, the last coming on July 2, 2002. Everything fell into place for Jimmy Cottrell on Friday night, as he came off the pole and never had to worry about a restart, as all 35 laps of the feature were run under green.

And when it looked like Matt Sheppard might become a problem late in the race, Sheppard had a rear tire lose air, which ended his threat.

“It has been a long year,” said Cottrell, whose only top-10 finish before Friday night had been a ninth on May 18. “We have struggled, but we just kept on fighting and fighting, and tonight, it all came together for us.”

Defending track champion Brett Hearn, who had started 16th, took advantage of Sheppard's deflating tire to finish second, but was nearly a full second behind Cottrell when the checkered flag flew. Sheppard hung on for third, followed by Ken Tremont Jr. and A.J. Romano. Romano had been running third before he slipped off the racing surface with four laps to go, allowing both Hearn and Tremont to get by.

Mike Ketchum drove to his second win of the season in the special 76-lap feature for sportsmen, which had been rained out earlier in the season.

Ketchum and Mark Kislowski kept the large holiday weekend crowd buzzed with a great side-by-side battle. Ketchum kept the John Kollar-owned 10% down low, while Kislowski was running a higher groove. Ketchum moved in front for the first time on a restart on lap 53, but another restart seven laps later allowed Kislowski to go back out on the point.

The two swapped the lead on two more occasions before Ketchum went on top for good on lap 68.

Rich Ronca put on a late charge and hit the finish line second, with Matt Depew getting up for third. Kislowski hung on for fourth, and Josh Hohenforst finished fifth.

Chuck Towslee drove to his first career win in the 25-lap pro street stock feature. Towslee, who started on the pole, got around Bill Smith IV for the lead on lap six and went on to become the 11th different winner in the division this season. Following Towslee across the finish line were Jeff Washburn, Vince Santoro, Jim Monroe Sr. and Cale Kneer.

The limited division also had a new face in victory lane, as Dan Petronis picked up his first win of the year. Petronis got the lead on lap three and survived a couple of late restarts to hold off Mike Minick. Mike Ostrander hit the stripe third, followed by D.J. Brundige and Mark Lester.

Phil DeFiglio won the six-cylinder mini-stock feature, and Travis Tromans was the winner in the four-cylinder division.

Double points will be on the line on Friday, Sept. 7, when Albany-Saratoga hosts Championship Weekend, which will feature Hometown Heroes and Veterans Night. All divisions, including the budget sportsmen, will be in action, with racing beginning at 6:45 p.m.

MODIFIEDS: JIMMY COTTRELL, Brett Hearn, Matt Sheppard, Ken Tremont Jr., A.J. Romano, Matt DeLorenzo, Don Ronca, Elmo Reckner, Frank Hoard Sr., Todd Stone, Jeff Trombley, Tony Kawalchuk, Keith Flach, Marc Johnson, Mike Perrotte, Mike Ronca, Ronnie Johnson, Vince Quenneville Jr., Tim Hartman, Richard Davis III, John Proctor, Ron Proctor, Don Ackner.

SPORTSMAN (76 LAPS): MIKE KETCHUM, Rich Ronca, Matt Depew, Mark Kislowski, Josh Hohenforst, Rob Langevin, Mike Tholin, Eric Mack, Stan Lemiesz, Tyler Curtis, Dick Bisson, Kory Sandstedt, Chris Busta, Dave DePaulo, John Willis, Joe Santoro, Pep Corradi, Jack Gentile, Cass Bennett, Neal Erickson, Dustin Delaney, Whitey Slavin, Chris Johnson, Ken Anatriello.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: CHUCK TOWSLEE, Jeff Washburn, Vince Santoro, Jim Monroe Sr., Cale Kneer, Bill Smith IV, Dan Madigan, Lori Cary, Kim Duell, Bernie Companion, Greg McGill, Tom Stack, Matt Anatriello, Randy Miller, Pete Broderson, Darryl Carl, Kevin VanChance, Josh Joseph, Jesse Edwards Jr., Jeremy Pitts.

LIMITIEDS: DAN PETRONIS, Mike Minick, Mike Ostrander, D.J. Brundige, Mark Lester, Mark Burch, Steve Holcomb, Mike Pfau, Amanda Clemens, Harry Coonradt, John Morris Jr., Rich Holmes, Joe Mulvaney, Ken Conroy, Mark Dwyer, Jim Monroe Jr., Tommy Primeau, Rich Burke, John Filarecki, Dan Older, Paul Mulrain, Nick Lussier.

MINI-STOCKS: PHIL DEFIGLIO, Travis Tromans, Howard McEachron, Dan Lorenc, Michelle Catone, Erin Older, Mike Cranston, Ray Galusha, Chris Hutchinson, John Baldwin, Jason Dickson, Rick Howe, Dan Older Jr., Ted Fitzgerald, Jason Rheome, Jamie McCarthy, Charlie Stoddard, Shane Marks.