Cottrell wins feature at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA, NY - Years ago, actors in a television commercial proclaimed that they “would rather fight than switch.”

Jimmy Cottrell obviously doesn't adhere to that philosophy.

After struggling with a new car for the first eight weeks of the season, Cottrell went back to his old car a couple of weeks ago, and the switch paid off Friday night, when he drove to his second career win in the 358-modified feature at Albany-Saratoga.

Cottrell took advantage of a front-row starting position and a slick track to outrun Jack Johnson, the winningest driver in the history of the speedway, to become the eighth different winner this season in the top division at the historic Malta track.

“This old car still has some parts on it from 1999, but I have a lot of faith in it. That's why I made the switch,” said Cottrell in victory lane. “This car has my old motor in it, as well, which has about 45 horsepower less than my new motor.”

But Cottrell didn't need more horsepower. All he had to was stay glued to the bottom.

When the only caution of the feature came out at the midway point, everyone in the stands, with the exception of the Cottrell contingent, figured it was only a matter of time before Johnson, who knows the Malta track like the back of his hand, got the lead. Johnson searched every line on the speedway to find the traction he needed to get a run at Cottrell, but there was nothing there, and when the checkered flag flew, Cottrell was still over a second and a half ahead, and had his first win since Aug. 31, 2007.

“The track was slick, and I knew the bottom was going to be the place to run,” said Cottrell.

Marc Johnson finished third, his best finish of the season, with Dave Camara fourth and Ronnie Johnson fifth.

Brett Hearn arrived at the track late and had to start dead-last in the modified feature, and could only work his way up to eighth.

Mark Kislowski recorded his third win of the season in the wild 25-lap sportsman feature. Matt Depew started from the pole and set the pace for most of the feature, but things really heated up in the final five laps. Depew had his hands full with Joe Santoro , Mike Ketchum and Rob Langevin, but Langevin was then sent to the rear for an incident in the third turn with Ketchum that allowed Kislowski to move up to second.

On the final lap, Kislowski pulled to the outside of Depew going into the third turn, then quickly dove to the inside coming out of four and the cars came down the front straightway side-by-side. One theory of physics states that two bodies of mass can't occupy the same space at the same time, and that held true when the two leaders hit the first turn and tried to get through the same hole. They came together, with Depew spinning out and Kislowski going on to get the win.

He was followed by Mike Tholin, Ken Anatriello (his third straight top-five finish), Corey Gilligan and Dave Constantino.

Chuck Towslee led flag-to-flag to pick up his second win of the season in the pro-street stock division. Ed Thompson did all he could to try to run down the leader, but had to settle for second, with Bill Smith IV third.

Two was also a lucky number for rookie Cullen Howe, who notched his second win of the year in the budget sportsman feature. All D.J. Brundige could do was watch Howe's rear bumper for most of the feature, while Scott Duell worked his way up to third after starting eighth.

John Morris Jr. had to survive a couple of late restarts to come away with his first win of the season in the limited feature. Andy Durie kept the heat on Morris on each restart, but had to be satisfied with second, as Morris kept his cool and remained consistent throughout the closing laps. Ken Conroy made a strong run to get the No. 3 position.

Josh Reome drove to his second straight victory, and third of the season, in the mini-stock class.

MODIFIEDS: JIMMY COTTRELL, Jack Johnson, Marc Johnson, Dave Camara, Ronnie Johnson, Keith Flach, Jeff Trombley, Brett Hearn, Mike Ronca, Ken Tremont Jr., Mike Perrotte, Don Ronca, Elmo Reckner, Joe Williams, Matt DeLorenzo, Todd Stone, Ron Proctor, Don Mattison, Tony Kawalchuk, Vince Quenneville Jr.

SPORTSMAN: MARK KISLOWSKI, Mike Tholin, Ken Anatriello, Corey Gilligan, Dave Constantino, Chris Johnson, Pep Corradi, Derrick McGrew, Mike Ballestero, Dave DePaulo, Stan Lemiesz, Mike Ketchum, Skip Shippee, Rob Langevin, John Willis, Dave Baranowski, Rich Ronca, No. 26S, Bill Bokus, Matt Depew, Tyler Curtis, Kory Sandstedt, Joe Santoro, Chris Busta, Robert Bublak Jr., Justin Barber, Jason Herrington.

PRO-STOCKS: CHUCK TOWSLEE, Ed Thompson, Bill Smith IV, Darryl Carl, Kim Duell, James Monroe, Lori Langevin, Rob Yetman, Mike Paquin, Pete Broderson, Johnny Rivers Jr., Phil DeFiglio, Jim Monroe, Kevin Van Chance, Bob Schmidt, Vinny Santoro, Kevin Arnold, Walt Brownell, Greg McGill, Jeremy Pitts, Randy Miller.

BUDGET SPORTSMAN: CULLEN HOWE, D.J. Brundige, Scott Duell, Bryan Davis, Frank Hoard III, Pete Carlotto, Anthony Marro, Mike Visconti, Ricky Quick, Jared McMahon, Matthew Hyde, Mike Burdo, Shawn Cassidy, Scot Straight, Greg DeCamp, Paul Dunham Jr., Nick Hotaling, Ralph Denison, Ron Ayotte, Jeremy Dygert, Jon Bates, Dan Peckham, Dennis Pennock, Jimmy Eaton, Chris Thorpe, Chuck Dickioson.

LIMITEDS: JOHN MORRIS JR., Andy Durie, Ken Conroy, Dan Older, Dan Petronis, Mark Lester, John Filarecki, Mike Ostrander, Dan Carlton, David Cook, Mark Dwyer, Brian O'Reilly, Brian Ashline, Jon Miller, David Billings, Jordan Jeffalone, Rich Howe, No. 19, David Cook, Megan Purstell, Mark Burch, Shane Marks.

MINI-STOCKS: JOSH REOME, Jason Dickson, Elmer Montville, Jameson Tromans, Mike Cranston, Justin Comes, John Baldwin, Dan Older Jr., Chrus Murray, Michelle Catone, Ray Galusha, Jonathan Hayes.