~ By Tom Boggie

Alright. It’s finally here. My favorite time of year.

NHL training camps opened this week!

What’s that? You thought I was talking about Malta Massive Weekend? As Tweety Pie used to say just before blowing up Sylvester the Cat in the Looney Tunes cartoons, “He don’t know me very well, do he!”

Yes, Malta Massive Weekend is here, and as usual, sponsors are coming on board so fast I can’t keep up with them.

Let’s start with the basics. Friday night includes a DIRTcar 358 Series race paying $5,000 to win, through sponsorship from Bart DeRocha and Bart Contracting; a DIRTcar Sportsman Fall Championship race, which will pay $2,000 to win; big block modified hot laps, street stocks and four-cylinders.

On Saturday, the track will host its second Super DIRTcar Series race of 2024, paying $10,000 to win and offering a guaranteed starting spot in the Billy Whittaker 200 at Oswego in October; a limited sportsman feature that will pay a minimum of $2,000 to win; and a DIRTcar Pro Stock Series race.

Anyone who was at the Friday portion of last year’s Malta Massive Weekend still talks about that night in awe. Over 200 cars signed in to the pits and I drove out of the front gate at 1:35 Saturday morning, easily the latest I’ve ever left the speedway (there were times I used to leave the Publik House much later than that, but that’s another story).

Well, that won’t be happening this year. Don’t forget, the Friday portion of Malta Massive Weekend last year also included the $10,000 to win Autism Acceptance pro stock race, which had been rained out two weeks earlier.

Here’s some of the bonus money that had been posted by early afternoon Thursday.

Bart Contracting will also be putting up $200 bonuses for the 358 heat winners on Friday, and $100 bonuses for the sportsman heat race winners.

DeRocha is also putting up a $500 bonus for any Malta regular who can win the 358 race. That means a $5,700 payday if someone like Marc Johnson wins both his heat race and the feature.

Why am I bringing up Marc Johnson? Because he’s due.

He’s never won the DIRTcar 358 Series race during Malta Massive Weekend, but he finished second in 2019 and was third three years in a row, from 2021-2023 (there was no 358 race in 2020 because of Covid). Furthermore, he won the DiCarlo Auto Body 358 Shootout Series title at Malta this season with finishes of second, first, second, third and second in the series (one race was rained out).

Back to the bonuses. On Saturday, the limited sportsman will be running for a minimum of $2,000 to win (depending on car count), through sponsorship from JCO Plumbing, Lindell Fuels, Jacquier Welding and Katie Baldwin Designs. There will also be increased payouts throughout the purse.

A couple more bonuses for Friday night’s card just rolled in. Andy’s Speed will be putting up a $500 bonus for the driver with the best overall time in the big block modified hot laps, and Elmo’s Speed and Supply is putting up $300 to the Hard Charger in the Sportsman feature. JAM Performance has put up a $400 bonus for the fastest time in the sportsman hot laps. Andy’s Speed will also be offering $100 bonuses to the big block heat race winners on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, the pro stocks will be competing for $2,000 to win, also courtesy of Bart Contracting.

And if the next two days are anything like last year, the bonuses will keep coming right up until race time.

NOTES, NOTES AND MORE NOTES

One driver you won’t see at Malta Massive Weekend is Stewart Friesen, who won the Super DIRTcar Series race at Malta last season. Friesen was at Bristol Thursday night for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and posted on Facebook that he’ll be competing at Grandview in the Freedom 76, which will pay $31,162 to win, on Saturday.

Ronnie Johnson has had a lousy year, but he found some of his old magic last Saturday when he won the 358 Modified feature at Devil’s Bowl. That was Johnson’s first win at the Bowl since taking the checkered flag in the Let Freedom Ring 100 on July 3, 2007. Johnson was also the sportsman champion at the Bowl in 1997.

I walked into RJ’s trailer last Friday when he was adjusting a shock and when I commented on his season, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, “It is what it is.” Then he smiled and added, “I hate these coil cars.”

Johnson had two cars at Malta last Friday, as Bodie Marks made his limited sportsman debut in one of Johnson’s backup cars. Marks, who recently turned 13, has had a very successful career in slingshots and looked very comfortable in his first time out in a limited. He spent his heat race running at the rear of the field, getting a feel for the car. Then, he started 20^th in the feature and finished 12^th, completing all 20 laps.

Marks later posted on Facebook, “Thank you, and a big shoutout to Ronnie Johnson for giving me this opportunity.”

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention CG Morey’s sixth-place finish in last week’s modified feature. That was just the second top-10 finish of the season for the 60-year-old Morey, with the other coming on May 3. According to Northeast Modified Facts, Morey has run a total of 402 modifieds races since 2007, and has never finished first or second. He’s finished third five times, including three times at Malta last year.

Another veteran who had a good run last Friday night was Al Relyea, who won the street stock feature. That was his second win of the year. “The last time I was in victory lane, I went across the finish line backward,” he said after the race. “At least I got to go across forward this time.”

In doing some research on Relyea, he has 17 street wins at Malta, but his first victory came in an enduro in 1999. Long before starting to race at Malta, he was one of the top runners at Lebanon Valley Speedway, winning the pure stock championship in 2008, 2012 and 2014, He notched his first street stock win at Malta on May 12, 2017 and the next year, he picked up two more wins and also had nine runner-up finishes. On seven of those nine occasions, he followed Randy “The Wheelman” Miller across the finish line.

Jessey Mueller was happy with his third-place finish in last Friday night’s John Grady Memorial modified feature. “I got pinched into the wall and thought I was going to go up in the grandstand,” he said after the race. “I really had to hang on for the last three-quarters of the race. If not for that, I could have given you guys a better show.”

Peter Britten won the John Grady Memorial feature, which paid $4,300 to win, and he hopes that will give him momentum going into Malta Massive Weekend.

“I felt really comfortable tonight,” he said. “I just hope I feel as good next week. That race has been a boogey to me.”

Nick Brundige, who won the limited sportsman championship at Malta this season, is going to have a busy weekend. He is going to try to qualify in the DIRTcar Sportsman Championship field on Friday night at Malta Massive Weekend, and will also be campaigning with the limited sportsman on Saturday.

Two Malta regulars had outstanding runs in the Fonda 200 last weekend. Jack Lehner finished second and Marc Johnson came across the finish line third. Johnson earned $10,000, the second time this season he’s had a $10,000 payday (he also earned $10,000 for winning the Slate Valley 50 at Devil’s Bowl in June). I’m not sure what Lehner’s cut of the second-place payoff of $20,000 was, but it had to be the biggest payday he’s ever had.

Did anyone notice that two Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Famers were in victory lane last weekend? Craig Von Dohren got his first win of the season at Grandview and has now won at least one feature every year for the last 45 seasons. Jimmy Horton, who was inducted this year, won at New Egypt, his first victory since 2013.

Were they handing out family discounts last Friday at Malta? Three members of the Hoard family were competing; Frank Hoard Sr. (in the sportsman division of the Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modifieds), Frank Jr. (who won the late model division of the MVVDM) and Frank Jr.’s son Kyle, who has two wins in the pro stock division at Malta this year. Also, the Arnold clan of Nick, Phil and Sara all ran together in the first limited sportsman heat.