Williams gets first win at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA –  Joe Williams got his first career win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway the old-fashioned way – through hard work and determination.

Proving there's still room for a low-budget, family-owned team in racing, Williams took the lead on lap eight and did a masterful job of handling lapped traffic late in the race to win the 35-lap modified feature Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

“We've been racing week to week,” said Williams in victory lane. “My mother and father bought this Dan Bedell engine for me, and we have been fighting the fight every week.”

Ron Proctor and Randy Hotaling made up the front row for the start of the feature, but by lap two, Hotaling was at the rear of the field, after slowing on the backstretch and bringing out the first yellow.

That moved Matt Depew up to second for the restart, but the field was again bunched on lap five, after a three-car incident involving Leon Gonyo, Keith Flach and Andy Lindemann.

Williams, who had started fifth, quickly got around Depew when the green came back out and ducked inside Proctor going through turn one on lap eight to move into the lead.

While Williams was pulling away from the field, Ken Tremont Jr. and Mike Bruno, who had started deep in the field, kept the crowd entertained with some outstanding racing. Tremont finally moved into third on lap 28, but had no shot at reeling in either Depew or Williams.

“We have never gotten a lot of help, sponsor-wise, on this race car, and it was hard to get any help working on the car because all of my crew guys have lives,” said Williams. “But tonight, we kept fighting through everything and came away with the win.”

Depew's second-place finish was his best run ever in a modified at Albany-Saratoga, and came a week after doing heavy damage to his car. “We have come a long way from the early season practice sessions, because it was like the blind leading the blind as we tried to adjust to the asphalt after running on dirt for years,” he said.

Tremont crossed the finish line third, with Bruno fourth and Derrick McGrew fifth.

The Denooyer Dash was won by Don Scarborough, who would go on to finish sixth in the feature.

Kim Duell held off Darryl Carl and Sheldon Martin to come away with his first win of the season in the 30-lap pro-stock feature. Duell grabbed the lead on lap five, but was never able to shake away from Carl, who moved into second one lap after Duell got the lead.

To further complicate Duell's night, Jeremy Houghtaling brought out a caution on lap 25, bunching the field and putting Carl and Martin, who was looking for his second straight win, freight-trained behind Duell.

But Duell never wavered, and hit the finish line with a 0.260-second margin of victory over Carl, while Martin right behind him for third.

Jason Herrington won the 25-lap sportsman feature, his third victory of the campaign. Once Herrington got the lead on lap six, he left Chris Johnson and Alex Bell to battle for second. And Johnson easily won that skirmish to get his second consecutive runner-up finish.

Dan Petronis finally put it all together in the Renegade division, posting his first win of the season after a number of strong runs. Petronis jumped from the second row into a quick lead, and easily outran David Emigh and Jon Miller, who had combined to win the last four features in the Renegade class.

Harold Lavair kept his winning streak intact in the Bomber Warriors division, coming away with his fourth straight win, and Keith Shufelt won the 50-lap enduro.

Albany-Saratoga will be back in action on Friday, June 25, with its Summer Kickoff. All divisions will be in action and the Atlantic Coast Old Timers will also be at the speedway.

MODIFIEDS: JOE WILLIAMS, Matt Depew, Ken Tremont Jr., Mike Bruno, Derrick McGrew, Don Scarborough, Kris Vernold, Mike Perrotte, Marc Johnson, Rich Ronca, Chris Ross, Leon Gonyo, Keith Flach, Andy Lindemann, Scott Duell, Dave Manny, Dave DePaulo, Ron Proctor, Don Ronca, Randy Hotaling, Jim Ryan.

DENOOYER DASH: DON SCARBOROUGH, Ron Proctor, Jim Ryan, Matt Depew, Rich Ronca, Randy Hotaling.

SPORTSMAN: JASON HERRINGTON, Chris Johnson, Alex Bell, Cody Sargen, Adam Tranka, Andy Durie, Luke Klob, Anthony Marro, Jimmy Introne, Darren Williams.

PRO-STOCKS: KIM DUELL, Darryl Carl, Sheldon Martin, Mike Scorzelli, Fred Little, Scott Duell, Jim Monroe, Mike Paquin, Jimmy Monroe, Russ Miller, Jeremy Houghtaling, Carl Guilefuss.

RENEGADES: DAN PETRONIS, Dave Emigh, Jon Miller, Brandon Emigh, Mike Ostrander, Byron Westcott, Josh Coonradt, Frank Monroe, Ben Durie, Bill Burlingame, Jonathan Hayes.

BOMBER WARRIORS: HAROLD LAVAIR, Ken Duell, Curtis Seymour, Dan Older Jr., Colin Clow, Bobby Lavair.