Gonyo cleans house at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA –  Leon Gonyo must have brought a broom to Albany-Saratoga Speedway Friday night, because he made a clean sweep.

After winning his heat race and the DeNooyer Dash for Cash, Gonyo went back out and picked up the first win of his career in the 35-lap modified feature at the historic Malta track.

Gonyo is no stranger to Albany-Saratoga Speedway. When the Champlain Valley Racing Association converted from big blocks to small blocks in 1985, the veteran from northern New York was a regular at both Albany-Saratoga and Devil's Bowl.

He had a lot of success at Devil's Bowl, winning five features, including the Yankee 200 in 1986, and had his share of top five finishes at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, as well. He finished second to Hector Stratton in one of the Twin 25s that kicked off the 1986 campaign and was second on two occasions in 1987, getting beat by C.D. Coville and later Mike Perrotte.

He started on the pole Friday night, and almost got knocked out of the race on the first lap, when he tangled with Matt Depew. But track officials ruled that Depew was the aggressor, putting Depew to the rear and returning Gonyo to his spot on the front row.

Randy Hotaling led the first lap, but once Gonyo got in the lead, he was in control, and came away with a very popular victory, becoming the 10^th different winner in the modified division this year.

Don Ronca, still looking for his first win, had another strong run and finished second for the second time in three weeks. Kris Vernold came across the line third, followed by Keith Flach and Marc Johnson.

Andy Durie posted his second win of the year in the 25-lap sportsman feature. Durie went right to the front and never made a mistake, holding off Fred Proctor to get the win.

Sheldon Martin, who had nothing but bad luck in the month of July, started August on a positive note, chalking up his second win of the campaign in the 30-lap pro-stock feature. An early caution allowed Mike Scorzelli and Martin to move to the top two positions, and Martin took the lead midway through the feature. He easily pulled away from the field, enjoying a 3.4-second margin of victory over Kim Duell at the finish.

Mike Ostrander led flag-to-flag to record his first win of the year in the 25-lap Renegade feature. Dan Older was a tight second, with Frank Monroe third.

Harold Lavair continued to dominate the Bomber Warrior class, chalking up his eighth win of the season. Lavair started on the tail end of the nine-car field, but took the lead on lap seven in the 20-lap feature.

All divisions will be in action on Kids Night on Friday, Aug. 13. Racing begins at 6:45 p.m.

MODIFIEDS: LEON GONYO, Don Ronca, Kris Vernold, Keith Flach, Marc Johnson, Mike Bruno, Chris Ross, Don Scarborough, Ken Tremont Jr., Jim Ryan, Joe Williams, Dave Manny, Andy Lindeman, Randy Hotaling, Rich Ronca, Matt Depew, Ron Proctor, Don Mattison.

DENOOYER DASH: LEON GONYO, Kris Vernold, Jim Ryan, Chris Ross, Keith Flach, Randy Hotaling.

SPORTSMAN: ANDY DURIE, Fred Proctor, Adam Tranka, Hunter Bates, Jason Herrington, Paul Dunham Jr., Luke Klob, Cody Sargen, Jason Rheome.

PRO-STOCKS: SHELDON MARTIN, Kim Duell, Darryl Carl, Jim Monroe Jr., Mike Scorzelli, Mike Paquin, Jeremy Houghtaling, Chad White, Kevin Van Chance.

RENEGADES: MIKE OSTRANDER, Dan Older, Frank Monroe, David Emigh, Brandon Emigh, Jon Miller, Bill Duprey, Josh Coonradt, Dan Petronis, Jeremy Jones, Bill Burlingame, Rowdy Birch.

BOMBER WARRIORS: HAROLD LAVAIR, Colin Clow, John Lindblade, Dan Older Jr., Jeremy Hayes, Mike Cranston, Ken Hulbert, Mark Lindblade. DQ: Al Houghtaling