~ By Tom Boggie

Turn out the lights, the party’s over.

Yeah, I realize there’s still some dirt track races to be run, but as far as I’m concerned, the Eastern States 200 pulled the curtain on the 2020 racing season, even though COVID-19 actually did that a long time ago.

Besides, I’m getting tired of writing out Stewart Friesen’s name. If I had been smart, I would have created a macro early in the season so all I had to do was press “control” and a single letter to get his name.

Has there been a 4th Turn column this season that didn’t include his name? I doubt it. No matter where you looked, he was making news. How about him leading the pack into the tri-oval on the final lap of the NASCAR Gander World Truck Series at Talladega, only to get snake-bitten by the draft heading to the checkered flag?

How about him looking like a winner in the Truck Series race at Texas last weekend, only to be taken out by Johnny Sauter while they were racing for the lead? How pissed do you think Friesen was about that one?

Friesen finished second to Mat Williamson in last Saturday’s Eastern States 200 at Orange County Speedway, despite pitting for fresh tires on lap 164 of the 200, one week after following Williamson across the finish line in the Summer Showdown 200 at Port Royal, which paid $53,000 to win. You’ll remember that Friesen blew his primary motor during qualifying and had to take a provisional for the 200 at Port Royal. Even when the guy wasn’t winning, he was making headlines.

Look at the numbers Friesen has put up this season. He had 63 starts, recorded 27 wins and had 52 top-five finishes. That’s a 42.8 winning percentage. Who does this guy think he is, Ted Williams? (If you’re not up on your baseball history, Williams was the last player to hit over .400 for a full season).

Friesen is sure to make more headlines before 2020 is over, but I won’t be using any more ink on him (actually there’s no ink involved, but you get my drift). Talk to you again next spring, Stewart.

MORE OBSERVATIONS
Just a couple of other quick observations about the 2020 season.

If you’re Mike Mahaney, how are you feeling right now? Mahaney was undoubtedly one of the best drivers in the Northeast this year, and culminated the campaign by winning his first modified championship at Albany-Saratoga Speedway for car owner George Huttig.

But Mahaney only won one race – the first race of the season at Albany-Saratoga on June 12. Following Eastern States weekend, when he finished third in the 200, he was 1-for-47. He did chalk up 18 top-five finishes and was only out of the top 10 nine times in those 47 starts. But is it a satisfying season when a team as good as the Adirondack Auto outfit only wins one race?

You can bet that Peter Britten will be happy when the calendar turns to 2021. Britten had what has to be the most frustrating season of his career. To date, he has 50 starts, no wins and only eight top-five finishes.

Ditto for Rocky Warner. The Flying Squirrel went winless in 42 starts. He did finish in the top 10 50% of the time, but when you’ve got Warner’s racing background, top 10s don’t cut it anymore.

Does anyone remember a season in which there were so many bad wrecks at Albany-Saratoga Speedway? The three that I remember most are Ken Tremont Jr.’s violent flip in the first turn after making contact with Chip Meehan, Chad Jeseo destroying his pro stock after slamming into the front stretch wall after contact with Scott Towslee, and the frightening limited sportsman crash on the frontstretch involving Scott Bennett Jr. and Jared Powell.

And how about all the photo finishes at Albany-Saratoga? Friesen had a couple, Tim Hartman Jr. nosed out Brian Calabrese in a sportsman feature and Al Relyea recorded a wild street stock win over Jeff Meltz Sr., even though the front wheels of Relyea’s car were on the hood of a lapped car driven by Harold Chadderton.

The 2020 season was also the first time in seven years that the Duell family didn’t get an opportunity to celebrate in victory lane at Albany-Saratoga. Since 2013, either Kim Duell or his son Scott (or both) won at least one feature, but that streak came to an end this season. The streak started during the final week of the 2013 campaign, when Kim won the pro stock feature and Scott sat in victory lane after a 50-lap run-whatcha-brung sportsman feature.

I wish Don Ronca had announced his retirement in victory lane after his modified win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Sept. 4. How many chances does anyone get to walk away from a sport after a victory? The win on Sept. 4 gave Ronca the distinction of winning a feature in five consecutive decades (1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s), a milestone that few drivers have been able to achieve. His first win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway came on July 11, 1986. The win on Sept. 4 was the 13th modified victory at the Malta track for the two-time track champion.

So now we’ll head off into the winter with a lot of questions to answer. The one that will be haunting me until next April, or whenever Albany-Saratoga reopens, will be, “Is Tim Hartman Jr. really leaving this time?”