~ By Tom Boggie

This is the time of year that race fans love, but when you’re trying to keep up with everything that’s going on, like I do, it can become a big pain in the butt. There’s racing almost every night; big wins and big wrecks; and storylines that get neglected.
But I’ll try to keep up. Here goes.

DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ: If you read last week’s 4th Turn (Come on, admit it. There have to be a couple of diehards out there), I made a point that Jack Lehner had wrecked his only race-ready modified the previous Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. On the Wednesday after the wreck, Lehner had stated on his Facebook page that he was going to change his priorities and concentrate on the Super DIRT Series for the rest of the year, which I assumed meant he wasn’t going to be back at Albany-Saratoga on a regular basis.

So guess who I saw when I walked into the pits last Friday? Yup, the Ginja Ninja.
He and his crew had built a new car in a week (the new Bicknell chassis had been sitting in his shop for use later in the season) and thought they might as well come to Malta and give it a test drive.

They were also motivated by the fact that the DNF the previous week would translate into an improved starting position (he lined up seventh for the feature) and when the night was over, he had a runner-up performance. Not a bad maiden voyage.

I asked him if all the hard work and long hours during the week had been worth it. “A win would have been nicer,” he said with a smile.

THE 93 OR THE 111? Okay, what will Demetrios Drellos do this week?

After weeks of struggling behind the wheel of the Ed Munger-owned modified at Albany-Saratoga, he brought his own family-owned car to the track last week and picked up his first win since taking the checkered flag in the Super DIRT Series race at Malta on Sept. 21, 2019.

The 111 that Drellos drove Friday night is his Super DIRT Series car: Bicknell chassis, Billy the Kid engine, Fox shocks; all top-shelf stuff (“This is our pride and joy,” said Drellos). And starting fourth didn’t hurt.

So now what?

“We’ll take it week to week,” Drellos said after his win. “The 93 is a good piece, but we wanted to try this. We’ve finally got a good result to show for all the hard work we’re putting in. Even on the Super DIRT Series, we’ll run good for 90 laps and then something will happen.”

He almost had that type of result last Friday. After Mike Mahaney brought out the first caution on lap 26 of the 35-lap feature, putting Drellos and Lehner side-by-side, Drellos had a couple of shaky laps.

“I knew after the restart that I had to put more front brake in the car and when I was doing that, it threw my momentum off for a couple of laps. But the car felt good all night.”

FRIESEN ON A ROLL. This is the time of year that Stewart Friesen shines, and last week was no different.

Last Thursday, he won the special Richie Evans Remembered feature at Utica-Rome Speedway. The 61-lap race paid $6,161 to win, but with bonus money, Friesen took home just shy of $8,000.

Then, on Saturday, he won the annual Lou Lazzaro Memorial feature at Fonda Speedway, picking up another $4,444, plus bonuses. That victory came on Friesen’s 38th birthday.
On Sunday, it was off to Weedsport for the Hall of Fame 100 Super DIRT Series race. He won that too, cashing in another $10,000.

His win streak stopped on Tuesday, when he finished third in the South Jersey Shootout at Bridgeport.

Don’t forget, Friesen also swept the twin 22-lap features at Fonda on Dave Lape Tribute Night earlier this season. If a track is going to honor a legend, it’s a good bet that Friesen will be in victory lane.

Friesen’s win at Weedsport Sunday gave him a 27-point lead over Matt Sheppard (who finished 12th) in the Super DIRT Series point race. But there’s been a lot of discussion lately about Friesen not being eligible for the championship because he didn’t register as a “platinum” driver. After the Weedsport win, Friesen told the DIRTcar public relations staff, “We’ll try to get as many points as possible and see how everything works out.” Friesen will miss two of the remaining Super DIRT Series races because of conflicts with other series.

MORE FROM MALTA
Elmo Reckner was a no-show at Albany-Saratoga last Friday. He went to Utica-Rome on Thursday for the Richie Evans tribute race and wrecked his modified in the first consolation race, when he jumped the cushion and went into a violent barrel-roll. According to reports, Reckner went to the hospital on Friday after experiencing concussion-like symptoms.

Drellos became the 12th different modified winner this season. I believe the record was set in 2001, when there were 17 different winners in 19 weeks of racing. The only two-time winners that year were Brett Hearn and Dave Camara.

Matt DeLorenzo and Chip Meehan had what has to be one of the closest finishes in Malta history in the third modified heat last Friday. Meehan, running the inside line, beat DeLorenzo to the finish line by .009 seconds.

Speaking of Meehan, hunch bettors might want to put a couple of dollars on him to win Friday night’s modified feature. Meehan runs the number 32C, and Friday night is Stan Da’ Man Night, honoring the father of promoter Lyle DeVore. Stan, a custom and vintage car enthusiast who died in 2016, loved ‘32 Ford coupes and Friday night’s theme will be the No. 32, with the 32-lap modified feature paying $3,200 to win and modified heat race winners receiving $320 bonuses.

Friday will be the fifth annual Stan Da’ Man Night. Previous winners are Brett Hearn (2017), Ken Tremont Jr. (2018), Rocky Warner (2019) and Friesen (2020). Last year, Friesen passed Marc Johnson coming out of the fourth turn on the last lap to get the win.

Only two drivers have top-10 finishes in all four previous events: Keith Flach has finished eighth, fourth, fifth and 10th, and Don Ronca has finished ninth, eighth, seventh and seventh.

AROUND THE TRACKS
It was good to see my old friend Bobby Varin back in victory lane last Friday, after he drove one of the Siri house cars to his first career win at Outlaw Speedway. That was the 156th modified victory of Varin’s career.

I remember watching Varin when he started racing street stocks with Max Phillips’ son at Fonda. His first major accomplishment came in 1995, when he won the Super DIRT Series race at Fonda, driving the Phillips’ No. 18.

During his prime years, Varin was one of the best extra distance racers in the Northeast. Included among his wins was the July 4 race at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse when he was driving the Harrell Trucking 35; a 100-lap big-block/small block challenge race at Albany-Saratoga in 2001 when he was driving the Jim Bobar-owned No. 6; Brett Hearn’s “Big Show” race at Albany-Saratoga in 2012 when he was behind the wheel of Andy Romano’s Glen Ridge car; and the Eastern States 200 in 2008 when he was driving the Heinke/Hollard No. 4.

During his career, Varin won 11 races that ran 100 laps or more. That included three wins in the New Yorker 200 at Utica-Rome when he was driving the Dave Cruickshank-owned Dover Brakes No. 00.

Devil’s Bowl Speedway honored many of its past stars last weekend on Legends Night, and Justin Stone then went out and won the 67-lap sportsman/modified feature, taking the top prize of $2,500. Finishing second was Justin’s father Todd, a three-time track champion who was one of the drivers honored.

The other highlight came in the limited sportsman B-main, when 79-year-old Frank Hoard Sr., racing for the first time in 12 years, won the last-chance qualifier.

Garrett Poland picked up his first career 602 sportsman win at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park last Sunday. A former slingshot driver who ran with the limited sportsman for most of the 2020 season, Poland finished second to Travis Green on Sunday, but Green was later disqualified for failing post-race inspection.