~ By Tom Boggie

Watching Matt DeLorenzo race is like reading a good John Grisham novel.

I’m always entertained, and usually, I’m not sure of the ending until it’s over.

I mean, how do you explain what DeLorenzo pulled off last Friday to record his first NAPA Modified win of the season at Albany-Saratoga Speedway?

How often do you see a leader, with as much experience as DeLorenzo, lose the lead, drop back to fourth, and then come away with the checkered flag because of misfortune to the two cars in front of him?

He’s definitely got a flair for the dramatic.

In case you didn’t see it, or read about it, here’s a quick recap.

DeLorenzo, who turned 49 in March, started 10th and originally took the lead as he and Jeremy Pitts came down the front straightaway to complete lap 10.

DeLorenzo hooked his right rear tire against the cushion, which in the old days used to be C.D. Coville territory, and kept the lead until the 35-lap feature was slowed for a number of cautions, for flat tires and broken suspensions, the result of running against that nasty cushion.

Pitts used a restart to regain the lead on lap 22, but on another restart on lap 23, Pitts went too high in the fourth turn, allowing DeLorenzo to put the 3D back on front.

On lap 25, Pitts tried a slide job in the second turn, and DeLorenzo countered with a crossover move going down the backstretch.

Pitts suffered a flat tire on lap 26, putting Marc Johnson into second, and Johnson got a big run coming out of the second turn on lap 28 to drop DeLorenzo back to second.
Three laps later, Jessey Mueller, who was driving like Meatloaf’s “Bat Out of Hell,” took over the No. 2 spot and set his sights on Johnson.

All DeLorenzo could do was watch and wait … and what did he see? Mueller jumped the cushion in the third turn and spun out with two to go. Johnson made a hard right into the pits under caution, as he had sheared the right rear radius rod right off his car, and DeLorenzo got the win.

“I’m whupped,” said DeLorenzo after the race. “The track was good on both the top and the bottom, but that cushion was nasty. I started to get a push when I was on the bottom. Pitts got by me, then Marc got by me, then Mueller got by me. But I think it would have been a good race, if we had gone to the end. The car unloaded great. It’s been fast right out of the box.

“When Marc showed me his nose, I went to the bottom and that might not have been the right thing to do,” he added. “I thought if I whoa-ed it down and kept it straight, I might be OK.”

Mueller knew he let a win get away.

“Oh, we WERE going to win it,” he said after the race. “I was about ready to smoke around both of them, but the cushion bit me. I was surprised it didn’t bite me earlier, because I was really beating up the car.”

DeLorenzo is no stranger to dramatic finishes. Last season, he finished second on back-to-back Friday nights, first to Ken Tremont Jr. by 0.116 seconds and the next week to Jack Lehner by 0.172. After the runner-up finish to Lehner, he said, “I’m just trying to help out Lyle (track promoter Lyle DeVore). If I keep getting these photo finishes, I’m sure he can get more fans.”

His biggest win at Albany-Saratoga came in 2009, when he won the 100-lap CVRA vs. The World, which paid $10,000 to win. He also pulled out a win in the opening race of the 2008 season, when Tremont blew his motor with two laps to go in a 50-lapper, handing the win to DeLorenzo.

DeLorenzo now has 16 career wins at Albany-Saratoga and he gives most of the credit to his brother, Mike, who is his crew chief, and teammate Brian Gleason. “They’re the ones who are in the garage every night,” DeLorenzo said.

He also stated that his brother spent a lot of time in the offseason working with the coil package, and it appears it’s paid off.

DeLorenzo’s win last Friday also pulled him with 12 points of leader Peter Britten in the modified division, but don’t be surprised if DeLorenzo abandons the point chase. He hadn’t planned on running both Albany-Saratoga and Fonda (where he already has two wins) this season and once he starts following the travel softball circuit in the summer with his daughters, racing won’t be the top priority.

But right now, he’s putting on a heck of a show.

In doing some research this week, I discovered that DeLorenzo has the distinction of being a runner-up in a modified feature at Malta 32 times. In fact, during the 2002 season, he finished second in four straight races, and each time, Brett Hearn was the winner. DeLorenzo has finished second to Hearn 12 times at Albany-Saratoga. DeLorenzo’s other big nemesis is Tremont, who has taken the checkered flag in front of DeLorenzo seven times.

MORE FROM MALTA

Matt Depew finished 13th in the modified feature last Friday, but for a while, he wasn’t even sure if he would make the field. His engine was misfiring during hot laps and when the Depew crew went to work, they found there was water in the fuel. “I’m not sure how it happened, or how much got into the fuel cell,” he said.

Just how quick was DeLorenzo? He went from sixth to first on the first lap of his heat race.

Jack Speshock can’t shake his run of horrible luck. He was a DNF again last Friday, the victim of a broken suspension. He’s due for a big night.

Pat Jones got his first win of the year in the 25-lap sportsman feature, leading flag to flag after starting on the pole. “We haven’t had the best of luck,” he said in victory lane. “We hadn’t even finished a feature before tonight.”
The modifieds weren’t the only ones falling victim to flat tires. Kim Duell was hanging right with the leaders in the pro stock feature when his right rear tire disintegrated on lap 13.

Greg’s Towing will be sponsoring a Sportsman Special on Friday night at Albany-Saratoga. Greg Davis will be putting up $100 bonuses for the drivers who finish fifth, 10th, 15th, 20th and 25th in the feature.

AROUND THE TRACKS

Two weeks ago, Eddie Marshall was sitting home, recovering from the COVID-19 virus. Last weekend, he was in victory lane at Lebanon Valley after chalking up his first big block win of the season. Bobby Hearn must have been one happy man Saturday, because Marshall is one of the biggest supporters of Hearn’s TEO Pro chassis.

I picked Tim Hartman Jr. to win last Friday’s sportsman feature at Albany-Saratoga, and like most of my picks lately (I bet heavily on Epicenter to win the Kentucky Derby, and look how that worked out), he didn’t come in. But he did win the Andrew Sherman Memorial Saturday night at Lebanon Valley, which was worth $2,000. Despite finishing 12th at Albany-Saratoga, Hartman moved past Chris Johnson to take the sportsman division point lead.

Marty Kelly III, who used to be a regular in the sportsman division at Albany-Saratoga, celebrated his 23th birthday in style last Saturday. After graduating from Castleton University in the afternoon, he finished second to Todd Stone in the sportsman/modified feature at Devil’s Bowl.

Give me some of whatever Danny Varin is having. Armed with a new car sponsored by St. Lawrence Radiology, Varin has won the first three features in the Empire Super Sprints series.

Matt Sheppard started on the pole and led all 75 laps to win Wednesday night’s Super DIRT Series race at Can Am Speedway. The race, which paid $7,500 to win, went all green. Stewart Friesen finished second, while the top finishing Albany-Saratoga regulars were Britten (10th) and Lehner (11th).

The DIRT Pro Stock tour was also at Can-am, and drew only 15 cars. I’ll bet that had a lot do to with the rising gas prices.

Stone’s win at Devil’s Bowl was his first since 2014. He said during the offseason that he and his son Justin would both be competing for the Devil’s Bowl title this season.

The Buff brothers, Andrew and Justin, finished 1-2 in last Sunday’s 602 modified feature at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park.

It’s not too early to start looking ahead to Lebanon Valley’s first SDS race, the King of Spring 100 on Monday, May 30. The 100-lapper will pay $13,500 to win.