~ By Tom Boggie

Even if you don’t know the backstory, Kris Vernold’s victory at Albany-Saratoga Speedway last Friday night was still a feel-good story.

Here is a journeyman driver, getting his first career modified win on the dirt surface at Malta. He had been to victory lane once before, on Aug. 20, 2010, the first season that former promoter Bruce Richards went back to the original asphalt racing surface.

But if you know the backstory, it becomes even better. Vernold is a disciple of Hall of Famer Don Ackner. He got his introduction to racing by working on Ackner’s car. Vernold proudly carries Ackner’s No. 97 on the side of his car.

And when I asked him last Friday why he keeps coming back week after week, he pointed to members of his crew behind the car and said, “I do it for these guys. These are Donnie’s guys.”

After doing some deep-diving earlier this week, I determined that Vernold started racing on a regular basis at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in 2003, and joined the Friday night cast at Albany-Saratoga in 2007. During that season, Vernold ran a total of 21 races, and only had one top-10 finish, a 10^th at Devil’s Bowl on July 22.

Getting back to the Bowl for a minute. There are 137 different drivers on the all-time win list at the Bowl, but Vernold isn’t one of them. During his career, he finished second twice; to Tim LaDuc on Championship Night in 2008 and to Todd Stone in 2009.

Until last Friday, his best finish at Albany-Saratoga had been a third, behind Ken Tremont Jr. and Brett Hearn, on May 25, 2018. He only competed in 10 events last year, never finishing in the top 10.

And he got off to a late start this year, missing the first three races of the season.

“We were waiting for motor parts,” he said. “I only have one motor. I also work a lot of hours and sometimes, it’s hard for me to get here.”

But last Friday, all the stars were aligned, so to speak. Vernold started on the outside pole, but by the end of the first lap, modified rookie Justin Stone had the lead and was flying. When the only caution came out on lap 23, Vernold was able to come off the bottom and shoot past Stone’s suddenly ill-handling race car and a dozen laps later, the No. 97 was back in victory lane for the first time in 13 years.

Vernold disclosed after the race that he thought he had blown it just before the caution came out.

“I was gaining on him (Stone), but just before that (the caution), I hit the wall coming out of four and thought I had bent something,” he said. “I got a bad vibration.”

He got a little emotional after the win, and rightfully so. “So many drivers have helped me out over the years, helping me get the car set up, and these guys (his crew), I couldn’t do it without them. I’ve got great sponsors who have stuck with me. I can’t believe this. I’m just so happy and thankful.”

He’s considered calling it quits, but has never really reached that point. “When Kenny (Tremont) said this was going to be his last year, I talked to him and told him I’ve had thoughts like that myself,” said Vernold.

Then he smiled, and added, “I guess this will keep us coming back for a while.”

MORE FROM MALTA

While I was watching the battle for the lead between Stone and Vernold on Friday, I noticed that Stone, who was running the top, was going a little wider on every lap and on the restart, he picked the outside and never had a chance going into the first turn.

“The car had been getting tighter and tighter,” said his father, Todd, after the race. “He had all rear brakes, and he couldn’t steer the car on the last restart. But we’re getting close.”

The car that Justin Stone drove Friday night was a brand-new chassis, and the team had just put the primary motor back in, so keep an eye on the rookie. He could be in victory lane before the season is over.

If I was a betting man, I would have put my money on Mike Mahaney last Friday. He easily won his heat, and then picked up the $200 bonus in the Four States Enterprises Dash for Cash. The former track champion has been having a run of bad luck and as a result, was starting fifth in the modified feature.

But Mahaney only completed four laps of the feature, and pulled in, the victim of motor problems. “We just put this one in yesterday,” said car owner George Huttig. “We had problems with the other one on Wednesday (when Mahaney finished 17^th on the night of make-up features).”

In the last four races at Albany-Saratoga, Mahaney has finished 12^th, 16^th, 17^th and 28^th.

You had to feel bad for Steve Burch. Racing with a heavy heart on the two-year anniversary of his father Bob’s death, Burch led the first 14 laps of the first limited sportsman feature, but drifted too high in the fourth turn on the final lap and Connor Crane snuck through the hole to get the victory.

I’ve never seen as many close finishes as I did last Friday. Both sportsman features ended in photo­finishes and if this had been the old days of hand-scoring, both would have probably been called dead heats. Jim Osgood beat Zach Buff to the finish line by four-thousandths of a second in the first feature and Andrew Buff had a margin of victory of 12-thousandths of a second over Michael Wagner Fitzgerald in the second feature. Wagner Fitzgerald even pulled up for a victory lane shot on the front straightaway, thinking he had won the race.

And the night actually had a dead heat, when Jaxson Ryan and Kyle Hoard hit the scoring loop at the same exact time in the first pro stock heat.

The modifieds are scheduled to compete for $4,000 to win on Friday, if the weather cooperates.

AROUND THE TRACKS

Everyone in racing was stunned to hear of the death of Lebanon Valley Speedway pro stock driver Steve LaRochelle last weekend. LaRochelle, who was 25, was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident on Friday and died on Saturday.

Mike Bussino, a Friday night regular at Albany-Saratoga, won last Saturday night’s Boomers’ Street Stock Classic at the Valley, taking home the top prize of $2,000. Bussino is back racing fulltime this year after a battle with cancer.

The modified feature at the Valley was postponed because of rain. Instead of double features this week, Valley officials have opted to run a 50-lap feature with double payoffs and double points.

DIRTcar held its three-night SummerFAST Super DIRTcar Series this week. Mat Williamson won Monday night’s 60-lap race at Brewerton, which paid $7,500 to win. Jack Lehner started on the pole and finished fifth. Luke Horning won the DIRTcar Pro Stock Series feature.

The Series race scheduled for Tuesday at Fulton was rained out. Matt Sheppard took home the top prize of $7,500 at Canandaigua on Wednesday. Mahaney finished second while Lehner was third, his best finish ever in a points-paying race in the Series. The first race of the DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series was also on the card, with Albany-Saratoga points leader Andrew Buff getting the win, which was worth $1,500.

Eight cars were on hand Sunday for the inaugural RUSH Late Model Series race at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park. Series regular Chris Homan got the win, with newly crowned Fonda Speedway modified champion Demetrios Drellos second. Two-time Glen Ridge sportsman champion Brian Pessolano recorded his first career 358 Modified win, while Adam Fusco came away with his first career limited sportsman win, after making the move up from slingshots this season.

Stewart Friesen kept busy by racing at Ohsweken Speedway in Canada earlier this week. On Monday, he finished sixth in the 100-lap NASCAR Pinty’s Series race, and also finished second in the 360 sprint car feature that shared top billing on the card. Rain pushed Tuesday night’s racing card to Wednesday, On Wednesday, Friesen had another runner-up performance in the 360 sprint feature. He was running in the top five of the second Pinty’s 100-lapper when he made contact with another car and had to go to the pits for repairs, finishing 22^nd.

Max McLaughlin, who was a substitute driver for Peter Britten on Aug. 9 at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut this weekend at Watkins Glen.

Glen Ridge Motorsports Park will be hosting the second race in the DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series Sunday.