Tremont dominates feature at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA –  The Professor is proving to be a darn good student.

Ken Tremont Jr., who makes his living teaching at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, N.Y., put five weeks of learning to good use Friday night, as he recorded his first victory of the season in a convincing fashion in the 35-lap, double-point “Spring Champiionships” modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

The win, the 54th of Tremont's career at Albany-Saratoga, marked his first victory on the new asphalt surface at the historic Malta track.

During the month of May, Tremont had three top-10 finishes, including seconds to Marc Johnson and Chris Ross. But on Friday, the defending track champion had his own graduation day.

After rocketing into the lead on lap five, Tremont showed the domination that made him an 11-time track champion, easily pulling away to one of the more lopsided victories of the season. When Tremont hit the finish line, runner-up Dave DePaulo was over 12 seconds behind.

“Everything I thought I knew. I had to relearn on asphalt,” said Tremont in victory lane after the win. “We came to the track today with a set-up that we thought would work, and we still had to make adjustments to the car between warm-ups, the heat race, the dash and the feature. It was all a matter of adjustments with shocks and springs. Now, the trick is to keep up with it to keep the car going good.”

Even though Tremont dominated the feature, Johnson, Mike Perrotte and Kris Vernold kept the crowd buzzing with a whale of a battle for third. Perrotte and Johnson both got around Vernold on lap 26, and Perrotte did his best to overtake DePaulo for the No. 2 spot late in the race. But when Perrotte slipped up trying to get around the outside of DePaulo in the closing laps, Johnson hit the opening and came away third.

DePaulo, a former sportsman competitor when the track was dirt, was pleased with the best finish of his career. “Finishing second to Kenny is like a win for me,” he said. “I definitely like the blacktop better."

Perrotte and Don Ronca completed the top five, the first top-five finishes of the season for both drivers.

Johnson took home the cash in the Denooyer Dash.

Paul Dunham Jr. held off Jason Herrington to come away with his first win of the season in the 25-lap sportsman feature. Dunham started on the front row and led flag-to-flag in the caution-free feature. Herringon, who started seventh, took over second on lap 10, but when the checkered flag fell, Dunham had a 0.387-second margin of victory. Fred Proctor finished third, with Chris Johnson fourth and Cody Sargen fifth.

Carl Guilefuss reached a milestone in his career, recording his first career victory in the 30-lap pro-stock feature. Guilefuss, who also started on the front row, had to survive a couple of restarts and had Darryl Carl hanging all over the rear bumper of his car for the second half of the feature. But he never made a mistake, and earned the victory. Carl, Mike Scorzelli, Joe Santoro and Sheldon Martin completed the top five.

Jon Miller came away with his second straight win in the 25-lap Renegades feature. Dan Older set the pace for the first 13 laps, but Miller, who started fifth, took over the top spot on lap 14 and stayed out front the rest of the way. Mike Ostrander got up for second, with Brandon Emigh third, Dan Petronis fourth and Older fifth.

Harold LaVair continued to have the hot set-up in the Bomber Warriors division, coming away with his second straight win.

June 11 will be Red, White & Blue Night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, with all military personnel being admitted free of charge. All divisions will be in action, with the first green flag flying at 6:45 p.n.

MODIFIEDS: KEN TREMONT JR., Dave DePaulo, Marc Johnson, Mike Perrotte, Don Ronca, Mike Bruno, Kris Vernold, Keith Flach, Chris Ross, Don Scarborough, Derrick McGrew, Pat McGrail, Chad Blair, Dave Manny, Andy Lindemann, Ron Proctor, Matt Depew, Rich Ronca, Jim Ryan, Randy Hotaling, Joey Williams.

SPORTSMAN: PAUL DUNHAM JR., Jason Herrington, Fred Proctor, Chris Johnson, Cody Sargen, Andy Durie, Marc Hughes, Hunter Bates, Luke Klob, Adam Tranka, Anthony Marro.

PRO-STOCKS: CARL GUILEFUSS, Darryl Carl, Mike Scorzelli, Joe Santoro, Sheldon Martin, Scott Duell, Fred Little, Jim Monroe, Mike Paquin, Derek Chriss, Howard Madsen, Jeremy Houghtaling, Randy Miller, Kim Duell, Jimmy Monroe.

RENEGADES: JON MILLER, Mike Ostrander, Brandon Emigh, Dan Petronis, Dan Older, David Emigh, Paul Braymer, Ben Durie, Bill Burlingame, Jonathan Hayes.

BOMBER WARRIORS: HAROLD LAVAIR, Curtis Seymour, Ken Duell, Dan Older, Colin Slow, Mark Lindblade.