Flach breaks through at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA –  Keith Flach didn't let a late caution spoil his night Friday at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

After having a huge lead negated by a yellow on lap 29, Flach easily pulled away from Mike Bruno after the restart, and went on to record his first career victory in the 35-lap modified feature at the historic Malta track.

Flach became the seventh different modified winner in eight weeks of racing at Albany-Saratoga. Only Bruno, who won back-to-back features on May 14-21, has been to victory lane more than once.

Randy Hotaling came off the pole and set the pace for the first eight laps, but Flach, who had started fifth in the field, used an early caution to gain some ground, and then moved past Hotaling for the lead on lap nine.

While Flach was setting a torrid pace, all eyes were on Bruno, who had started 17^th in the field. It was evident he had one of the fastest cars on the track from the drop of the first green flag, and by lap 15, he had worked his way into the top five.

It only took Bruno five more laps to move into second, but by that time, Flach was already getting into lapped traffic, creating a huge gap between the top two cars.

That gap was negated on lap 29, when the final caution flag came out, putting Bruno right on Flach's rear bumper. But it didn't matter, as Flach got a good jump when the green came back out and hit the finish line more than two seconds ahead of Bruno.

Marc Johnson, who had picked up his first career win earllier in the season, finished third, with Ken Tremont Jr. fourth and Hotaling fifth.

Johnson also picked up a bonus by winning the Denooyer Dash.

Father knew best in the 30-lap pro-stock feature, as Kim Duell took the victory, holding off his son, Scott, to get his second consecutive win.

The Duells had started side-by-side in the second row, but it was Kim who got the quick jump, grabbing the lead on lap two. Scott used a restart on lap five to move into second, and three laps later, made a move on his father to get the lead.

But the caution came out again on lap 11, for an incident involving Darryl Carl and Sheldon Martin, and Kim Duell used that restart to move back out on the point.

Mike Scorzelli soon joined the duel of the Duells, and worked his way around Kim Duell on lap 23 to get the lead. But Scorzelli's night came to a premature end two laps later, putting Kim Duell back in front, and he finished with a 0.338-second margin of victory over his son.

Carl charged back to finish third, with Chad White fourth and Carl Guilefuss fifth.

Jason Herrington ran his winning streak to three races in the sportsman division, taking the lead on lap nine and pulling away from Fred Proctor to get the victory.

Brandon Emigh won the 25-lap Renegade feature, outrunning Jon Miller and Dave Emigh to come away with his second win of the season, and Ken Duell got his first win of the year in the Bomber Warriors division, snapping Harold Lavair's five-race winning streak.

Albany-Saratoga will be staging “Proud to Be An American Night” on Friday, July 2, to celebrate the 4^th of July holiday. All divisions will be in action, and the track will also put on its annual spectacular fireworks display.

MODIFIEDS: KEITH FLACH, Mike Bruno, Marc Johnson, Ken Tremont Jr., Randy Hotaling, Chris Ross, Ron Proctor, Kris Vernold, Jim Ryan, Don Ronca, Dave DePaulo, Dave Manny, Leon Gonyo, Andy Lindemann, Joe Williams, Don Scarborough, Rich Ronca, Mike Perrotte, Matt Depew, Derrick McGrew.

DENOOYER DASH: Marc Johnson, Randy Hotaling, Don Scarborough, Jim Ryan, Ron Proctor, Rich Ronca.

PRO-STOCKS: KIM DUELL, Scott Duell, Darryl Carl, Chad White, Cal Guilefuss, Jim Monroe, Jeremy Houghtaling, Nick Stone, Mike Paquin, Russ Miller, Sheldon Martin, Mike Scorzelli.

SPORTSMAN: JASON HERRINGTON, Fred Proctor, Andy Durie, Luke Klob, Hunter Bates, Chris Johnson, Cody Sargen, Adam Tranka, Marc Hughes, Paul Dunham Jr., Angelo DiCarlo.

RENEGADES: BRANDON EMIGH, Jon Miller, David Emigh, Dan Older, Mike Ostrander, Ben Durie, Dan Petronis, Bill Burlingame, Frank Monroe, Randy Alger.

BOMBER WARRIORS: KEN DUELL, Harold Lavair, Ken Hulbert, Dan Older Jr.