~ By Tom Boggie

The more I watch Jack Lehner race, the more impressed I am.

In a relatively short period of time, at least in dirt track racing years (which are kind of like dog years, because they seem to stretch out forever), Lehner had made the climb from promising limited sportsman driver to big block modified star.

Last Friday night, he drove to his third modified win of the season at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. The only other driver with three wins at Malta this year is Marc Johnson, who I’d like to point out is 44 years old, and recorded his first win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in 2010, when Lehner was 11 years old.

In fact, Johnson is one of the reasons that Lehner was standing in victory lane last week.

“We started out the year good, but we’ve been so-so the last couple of weeks,” said Lehner. “I would be good, then the next week, not so good. I was a sixth-place car. But when Marc went so good last week, I knew we had to start searching to get better. We made a couple of changes this week, and I think we may have found something.”

Lehner started 16^th in last week’s starting grid and because the Empire Super Sprints were also on the card, the racing surface was slick and black. But that didn’t seem to deter Lehner at all.

“I knew they (the ESS cars) were going to push the cushion out quite a bit and it was going to be hard to run the top,” he said. “I told my guys I had to roll through the middle, and that’s what we did.”

It should be noted that Lehner wasn’t the only driver who was able to come from deep in the pack on the slippery surface. In fact, all of the top five finishers started at least 15^th. Peter Britten, the current high-point man, finished second after starting 18^th; Johnson finished third, after starting 15^th; Robert Bublak Jr. started 17^th and crossed the finish line fourth and Matt DeLorenzo charged from 23^rd to fifth.

DeLorenzo wasn’t even the hard charger. That distinction belonged to Mike Mahaney, who finished seventh after starting 27^th.

Lehner, who recorded his first limited sportsman win at Malta in 2016, is also gaining valuable experience on the Super DIRTcar Series. Earlier this week, he was in Canada for the three-day Canadian Series. The first two nights were run at Autodrome Drummond, with Lehner finishing 13^th on Monday and 17^th on Tuesday. The final was scheduled for Wednesday at Brockville, but that was rained out.

Prior to this week, Lehner had raced at Autodrome Drummond only three times, finishing 21^st in the SDS race in 2019, and 26^th and 16^th on the two-night Canadian Swing last year. But after Tuesday night’s racing, he posted, “Hasn’t been our night the last couple of nights. Gonna keep digging.” You have to admire that kind of attitude in a young driver.

After his win last Friday, Lehner is a solid third in the modified point chase at Albany-Saratoga, just 11 behind Johnson. Britten seems to be pretty safe on top, with a 40-point advantage lead, but with the way that Lehner has been running recently, he could make things very interesting in the coming weeks.

MORE FROM MALTA

Geez, now I know what Phil Connors, Bill Murray’s character in the movie “Groundhog Day,” went though. Every time I walk out of Malta on a Friday night, it seems like it’s a repeat of the previous week. Britten charges from deep in the pack to pull off another top-five finish; Ronnie Johnson looks strong early in the night, but then fades as the track slicks up; Demetrios Drellos earns another hard luck award.

As previously stated, Britten started 18^th last week, but finished one spot ahead of Marc Johnson to actually increase his point lead; Ronnie Johnson won his heat race, started third in the feature, had the 2RJ out in the lead for seven laps early and then faded to ninth; Drellos made contact with Kolby Schroder coming out of the fourth turn on lap four because of a mechanical issue and was done for the night. In the last two weeks, Drellos, the 2023 modified champion, has completed a total of 19 laps.

DeLorenzo, who has climbed back behind the wheel of his own 3D after experimenting with teammate Brian Gleason’s 3G for a couple of weeks, is the only driver who has finished in the top five for the last four weeks, with three thirds and a fifth.

Fans at Malta were treated to one of the best Four States Enterprises Dashes of the season last week, thanks to the pro stocks. Rich Crane and Brandon Emigh came out of the fourth turn side-by-side, and Crane crossed the finish line just 0.022 seconds ahead of Emigh. I would love to know where those transponders were placed, because when I saw the replay, I could have sworn Emigh had his nose in front.

Danny Varin won the ESS feature, his first victory at Malta in an ESS car. He does have three wins to his credit when he was racing with the CRSA Series. “This was a long time coming,” said Varin in victory lane. “I think I’ve had the lead here five times and never finished. The cushion was treacherous. You had to run it hard, but you also knew if you jumped it, you were out. When I was leading, I wanted to go hard, but I also had to be patient.”

Dan Grignon picked a perfect time to notch his first sportsman win of the season, walking off with the top prize of $1,000 through sponsorship from Crane’s Outdoor Power Equipment. Grignon, who had four limited sportsman wins before moving up, now has two sportsman victories. “I was worried about the track because of the sprint cars, but the bottom worked for me,” said Grignon in victory lane. “I knew somebody was going to be there at the end, but if I kept my car straight, I’d be alright.”

Chris Crane Jr. finished right behind Grignon, with Cody Ochs third in the tight lead pack.

Friday night will be Stan Da’ Man Night at Malta, the annual tribute to the late Stan DeVore, the father of promoter Lyle DeVore. As usual, the theme of the night will be the No. 32, with the modifieds running for $3,200 to win, modifieds heats paying $320 and a lot of other jacked up payoffs. In addition, one of the track’s newest sponsors, Glenville Funeral Home, will be paying $375 bonuses to the winner of both the dual-cam and single-cam divisions in the four-cylinder feature.

AROUND THE TRACKS

Tim Hartman Jr. needed another big break to keep his sportsman win streak alive at Lebanon Valley last Saturday. Hartman Jr. was involved in a first-lap wreck with a handful of other cars, and had to rejoin at the rear of the field. But when the feature was over, he was back in victory lane, running his 2024 win streak to 10 races and his overall streak to 12.

After the feature, Lebanon Valley officials impounded Hartman Jr.’s car, and did a thorough inspection (right down to the wiring!) earlier this week. If you want to see just how thorough the inspection was, check out Lebanon Valley’s Facebook page. There are a lot of photos. The car was deemed 100 percent legal, with Valley officials posting, “We congratulate the Hartman team for passing this inspection. We thank you for your cooperation and professionalism during this time.”

Last Sunday, Hall of Famer Billy Decker won the Wade Decker Memorial at Thunder Mountain. That was the first win for the 59-year-old Decker since Aug. 6, 2022, a string of 71 modified starts.

Glen Ridge Motorsports Park promoter Ray Sefrin really knows how to pack them in. Last Sunday, Sefrin ran 10 features for nine different classes (the four-cylinders ran two separate features), which drew just over 100 cars and slingshots. This week, the late models will return to the track for the first time since May, but this will not be a RUSH Late Model sanctioned event.

Speaking of the RUSH Tour, 14-year-old Brock Pinkerous, a former sportsman competitor at Albany-Saratoga, notched his second career Tour win last Saturday, leading all 30 caution-free laps at Stateline Speedway to take home the top prize of $3,000. Drellos made the six-hour haul from his Queensbury shop and finished seventh, his best finish ever in a Tour race.

Tough luck for Albany-Saratoga modified driver Justin Stone Monday night at Autodrome Drummond. He was leading the Super DIRTcar Series race when he hit the wall on lap 41 of the 50-lap feature and flattened his right rear tire.

Otto Sitterly, who began his racing career in the old GT division at Albany-Saratoga, also had one get away last weekend. He was leading the 50-lap Winged Super Challenge at Oswego Speedway when he detonated his motor on lap 38.