~ By Tom Boggie

Did you happen to catch that victory lane shot of Derrick McGrew Jr. after his win last Sunday in the DIRTcar Sportsman East Region Series race at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park?

That was one confident-looking smile, and it’s good to see that McGrew Jr. has his confidence back.

His win in the 40-lap race Sunday night, when he had to hold off the Buff brothers – Andrew and Zach – on a track that has been Buff territory for the last couple of seasons, was McGrew’s fifth win of the year (two at the Ridge, one at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, one at Accord, one at Brookfield).

McGrew Jr. and his father, Derrick Sr., had a tough decision to make last year. After years of struggling to try to put together a competitive big-block program, the team opted to go back to the sportsman division. After an incredible limited sportsman campaign in 2018 when, as an 11-year-old, he won 17 features and a pair of track championships, McGrew Jr. spent one season in the regular sportsman division before moving up to big blocks in 2019. And it’s been a struggle ever since, especially when it came to the engine program.

Last season, McGrew Jr. was he never was able to break into the top 10, and on more Friday nights than not, he was the first car out of the feature. After taking a couple of weeks off in late July, McGrew returned to Albany-Saratoga in the sportsman division, and has been there ever since.

Let’s face it. It’s the right move. It’s helped McGrew Jr. get his confidence back.

After his win at Glen Ridge on Sunday, McGrew said, “The car was awesome the whole race. Before the first caution, it was smooth sailing. No one could touch me. When I got to lapped traffic, the bottom lane was blocked all over the place and the driver really had to step up and really get on the wheel, and I did. I really had to work for it.”

I’m sure part of McGrew Jr.’s renewed confidence can be attributed to the fact that he earned an ARCA license during the off-season and has already had one start in the Rise Motorsports Chevrolet, owned by Tim Goulet. McGrew Jr. was scheduled to make start No. 2 last weekend in Michigan, but that deal was scrapped when the McGrew team couldn’t come up with enough sponsorship money to cover their share of expenses. McGrew Jr.’s next planned start for Rise Motorsports is Aug. 20 at the
Springfield Mile at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

I know how much time and money Derrick McGrew Sr. has invested in his son’s racing career, and it was no fun watching them struggle every week trying to keep their heads above water with that big block program. It’s good to see Derrick Jr. with a smile on his face again.

HE’S BACK

Hey, all you haters who have written off Stewart Friesen? How do you feel about his win in Sunday night’s Slate Valley 50 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Vermont, when he walked off with a total of $10,250, which also included the Hard Charger bonus, after he came from a 15th starting position to get the victory.

After the race, Friesen gave a lot of the credit to his crew chief, Tommy Conroy, who convinced Friesen to run his more potent Fonda car rather than his crate modified on the heavy track.

The victory was only the fourth on dirt so far this season for Friesen, who’s spent most of his weekends on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Sunday’s victory was also Friesen’s first feature win at the Bowl. The only other time he sat in victory lane was on Aug. 15, 2021, when he won one of the 25-lap qualifiers (which paid $1,500) prior to “The Battle at the Bowl.”

The big story at the Bowl was rough track conditions. Three straight days of rain created a very unforgiving surface. Peter Britten started on the pole and suffered a suspension problem after just 14 laps. Mat Williamson, one of the hottest drivers in the Northeast, broke a driveshaft on lap 8.

Devil’s Bowl promoter Mike Bruno even released a long statement Monday, giving his side of the story. The three sentences that stuck out most to me in that statement were, “I was wrong, and we should have pulled the plug … Do you really think I wanted it that way for a live broadcast on Flo racing for all the world to see … We made a mistake and we’ll be better for it.”

Also at the Bowl, 17-year-old rookie Evan Roberts recorded his first career sportsman/modified victory, passing former track champion Tim Laduc in the last corner on the last lap. Albany-Saratoga regular David Boisclair finished fourth, after starting 24th.

AROUND THE TRACKS

In case you haven’t heard, Albany-Saratoga promoter Lyle DeVore announced that the rained-out features from last Friday night will be held as a special mid-week show on Wednesday, Aug. 9. Fans and competitors who paid their admission fees last Friday can use their ticket stubs and wristbands for the Aug. 9 show, or they can be used for admission to races on June 23, July 7, July 14 or July 28.

When the modified feature is held on Aug. 9, keep an eye on the back of the pack, which will feature Ronnie Johnson, Ken Tremont Jr. and defending champion Matt DeLorenzo. All three failed to finish in a qualifying position in their heats last Friday (Tremont was sixth of eight, and Johnson and DeLorenzo both finished eighth) and will have a lot of ground to make up.

Marc Johnson never got a shot at that top prize in the Slate Valley 50, even though he started on the outside of the front row. On the first lap, he coasted to a stop and had to be pushed back into the pits. According to reports, fluids had leaked out of the Kevin Starchak-owned modified prior to the feature. Just another in the long list of setbacks for the team this season.

Accord Speedway in Ulster County is hoping to get cars back on the track for a practice session on Friday. There’s been no racing at the track since mid-May because of rough conditions attributed to the new clay promoter Gary Palmer put down during the off-season. That clay has since been pulled up, and the track has been resurfaced for a second time. Palmer hopes to resume a normal racing schedule on June 30.

Andrew Buff had a good weekend. He picked up a $200 bonus at Albany-Saratoga by winning the Four States Enterprises Sportsman Dash for Cash before the rains came, and then won the sportsman feature at Fulton before his second-place run to McGrew Jr. at Glen Ridge. Buff also picked up $300 in bonus money for his Fulton victory.