The 4^th Turn

~ By Tom Boggie

As Scooby Doo would say, “Rut Row!”

Heading into the final night of points racing at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, defending sportsman champion Tim Hartman Jr. finds himself in an unfamiliar position.

Second.

Hartman Jr., who won his first championship on the final night of the regular season last year, took over the points lead on July 5 and has been there ever since, until now.

Ironically, I had been talking to his dad, Tim Hartman Sr., about the points race prior to last Friday’s racing at Albany-Saratoga. “Bruce Richards always told me not to worry about points,” said Hartman Sr., who has three sportsman championship trophies at his house. “He said, ‘If you win the race, you get the most points.’ That’s what Timmy is trying to do, win races.”

Well, that didn’t happen last Friday. On the first lap of the sportsman feature, Justin Buff, who had started fifth, got out of shape in the fourth turn and the field started to check up behind him. Hartman Jr., who had started 18^th, got hit in the rear end and went off on a hook, before even completing a lap.

When Connor Cleveland finished ninth, he regained the points lead. Going into Friday night’s final points race, he has an eight-point advantage over Hartman Jr.

If you’ve been paying attention to the sportsman division this year, Cleveland won the first race of the season and sat on top of the points until July 5. Cleveland finished 12^th on June 28, and then lost the lead on July 5, when he finished fourth while Hartman Jr. was picking up his third win of the season.

Cleveland has been playing second fiddle in the sportsman division for the last three years at Albany-Saratoga. Still looking for his first track championship, he lost to Jeremy Pitts by three points in 2016, finished 22 points behind Rocky Warner in 2017 and ended up six points behind Hartman Jr. last season.

The modified and pro stock titles will also be decided Friday night. In the modified division, 2016 champion Marc Johnson leads Matt DeLorenzo by 18 points.

Johnson is no stranger to tight points races. Last year, he lost the championship to Brett Hearn by 10 points and in 2016, he beat Hearn by a single point for his only title.

DeLorenzo has never won a title at Albany-Saratoga, and he’s probably going to need some luck to do it Friday. About the only hiccup Johnson has had this summer was when he wrecked and finished 25^th in the “Stan Da Man 32” on July 26.

Josh Coonradt only has to start the pro stock feature to wrap up his first championship in that division. He’ll add that crown to the street stock championship he won in 2016.

DIRT TRACK USA

Remember when Howie Commander’s biggest race of the season was the highest-paying regular-season modified show of the year? Oh well, those days are gone, but there will be a lot of hungry drivers going after the top prize of $25,500 in Saturday night’s 101-lapper on the high banks.

Included in the field will be Hearn, who won his 13^th track championship at the Valley last year before returning to his former home of Orange County Speedway for 2019. Hearn last won Mr. Dirt Track USA in 2016.

Ken Tremont Jr. is the defending champion in Mr. Dirt Track USA, showing up with a new car last year to take home the $25,500, the first time it had been raised from $17,500. Tremont has finished in the top five in the last four Mr. Dirt Track features, with a fourth in 2017, a third in 2016 and a fifth in 2015.

Because the track will only be offering show-up points for the 101-lap Super DIRT Series race, Tremont locked up his 14^th big block modified point title with a seventh-place finish last week.

AROUND THE TRACKS

After picking up his 136th career win at Albany-Saratoga last Friday, Hearn recorded his first big block win of the season at Orange County on Saturday and sewed up the modified championship in the process. That will get him a $40,000 bonus.

Andy Bachetti also has a good weekend. He won Friday night’s feature at Accord, and then won his seventh small block modified feature of the year at the Valley on Saturday to secure the championship (his eighth overall) in that division. Bachetti also ran third Tuesday night in the STSS South Region race at Georgetown, Del.

Jessey Mueller’s season to forget continued last Friday at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. Early in the modified feature, he got into the rear end of Jeff Rockefeller’s car in the second turn and as the field continued under yellow, Mueller gave Rockefeller’s car a shove with his bumper. Track officials black-flagged Mueller for the incident, putting him 32^nd in the final order of finish.

I bet that not many people know that Jeff Sheely finished sixth at Afton last Friday, his best finish of the season.

Jack Speshock came away with his second win in as many weeks during one of the Twin 20s at Devil’s Bowl last Sunday. Tremont finished third in both races, and won the hard charger award in both races. He started 12^th in the first 20-lapper and 23^rd in the second.

Devil’s Bowl will be running the Vermont 200 for sportsman/modifieds on Sunday. The winner will get $10,000. Promoter Mike Bruno is also offering a $2,000 bonus if the winner is a regular weekly sportsman competitor. Hearn won the Vermont 200 last year.

Mike Ballestero ended his retirement and rejoined the sportsman field at Albany-Saratoga last Friday. Ballestero is the all-time win leader in that division with 32 victories. His brother Tony has been running fulltime this year, and Mike Tholin has been making occasional appearances. Geez, what’s next? Derrick McGrew Sr. and Hartman Sr. climbing back behind the wheel? Might as well get Randy Hotaling, too, and start running an old-timers division.

Last week’s four-cylinder feature at Albany-Saratoga was dedicated to Charlie Stoddard, who died at the age of 84 on Aug. 16. After serving in the Army for three years, and having a 35-year career at the Watervliet Arsenal, Stoddard built his first race car at the age of 65 (his son Adam and nephew Mike Tholin were both racing at the time), and, according to his obituary, won his first race at the age of 69. But in researching old records, the only win I can find for Stoddard came on May 26, 2006 at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, when he won the four-cylinder mini-stock feature. That gave Stoddard, who was born in 1935, the distinction of being the oldest feature winner ever at the historic Malta track, but if the records I found are correct, he was either 70 or 71 (depending on the month of his birth date, which I couldn’t find) when he recorded his win at Albany-Saratoga, not 69. Stoddard was buried following a military honors service at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville.