~ By Tom Boggie

Now that Malta Massive Weekend is in the books, do you know what that means?

It’s hockey season!

Now, Albany-Saratoga promoter Lyle DeVore can put on his Washington Capitals hat and go back to watching Alex Ovechkin continue his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record, a record that no one ever thought would be broken.

Gretzky finished his career with 894 goals, and only Hall of Famer Gordie Howe hit the 800 mark, finishing with 801. Ovie, who is 37, begins the 2022-23 season with 780 and could catch The Great One with two very good (and injury-free) seasons. Don’t forget, Ovechkin scored 50 goals last year.

But let’s not get carried away. First, let’s put a wrap on the racing season. Yeah, yeah, I know there’s a lot of racing left. But as far as I’m concerned, once they imploded the grandstands at the New York State Fairground in Syracuse, the season ends when the Capital District tracks close their doors.

Although there were a lot of good stories at Malta Massive Weekend, DeVore got one of the biggest responses when he made a little speech prior to Saturday night’s Super DIRTcar Series race.

“I want to thank all the Albany-Saratoga regular fans for giving us one of the best seasons we’ve ever had,” said DeVore. “And don’t believe everything you’ve read or heard. This is still a race track, and it will stay a race track. It hasn’t been sold, and it’s not for sale. We will be back here for opening night on April 14, 2023.”

Cue the applause. Well, I guess I know what I’ll be doing on Friday nights next summer.

The Weekend had its share of thrill-of-victory and agony-of-defeat moments.

The agony was evident on the face of Adam Pierson. The low-budget competitor out of East Corinth, Vt., who once described himself as a “redneck from Vermont” in a Podcast, drew the No. 3 spot in the Super DIRTcar Series race and had the lead by lap two. That’s where he stayed until lap 84, when he made a hard right and turned into the pits while still leading the race, the victim of a vibration in the motor.

After it was over, he was sitting in his hauler, trying to put a happy face on his great run against the best drivers in Northeast dirt track racing. But the smile soon faded.

“I really needed this one,” he said, referring to the fact that he would have made $11,000 if he had won the race. “The car was just rolling. I just let it do what it wanted to do.”

While Pierson, who skipped being part of a friend’s wedding party to race at Malta, was accepting condolences in his hauler, Matt Sheppard stood a couple of yards away, getting congratulations for his victory. I’m still amazed that Sheppard literally came out of nowhere to get the win. “This is not my best track, we’ve struggled here a lot,” he said after the race. “I’m shocked to win here. We were working on this thing all night, trying to make it better. Then, the last 40 laps, it came alive.

“I just told my crew, I had no idea I won,” he said. “I knew Adam was leading and I thought he checked out on us. Then, late in the race, I looked over at the scoreboard (the DIRTvision video board that had been erected in the infield) and saw my number, and then when it was over, they said, ‘9S, go to the scales.’”

One of the other drivers who had a memorable night was pro stock driver Rich Crane. Prior to the DIRTcar Pro Stock Series race, Crane was presented with a special award from fellow competitor Jordan Modiano, who raised over $10,000 for Autism Awareness with his benefit race two weeks ago. Crane won that race, earning over $4,800 in purse and bonus money, and said in victory lane that he was going to donate all the money back to Modiano’s charity. Last Saturday, Modiano gave Crane an award inscribed with “for inspiring humanity,” and all of the pro stock competitors came out on the frontstretch to join in the celebration.

Crane later went out and won the Pro Stock Series race, despite a rash of restarts.

“The car was good on restarts and I knew if I could get through (turns) one and two, I’d be OK,” said Crane, who took home a total of $1,750 for the win, which included a $250 bonus from Bart Contracting. “But I was worried about the tires cooling down and sealing up.

“I beat the best tonight,” he added. “I’m lucky that this is my home track. Lyle did an awesome job, and the track was perfect.”

Nick Stone finished second, even nudging Crane with two laps to go as they came out of the fourth turn, but had to settle for runner-up spot. Asked by a member of the DIRTvision crew if there was anything else he could have done to get around Crane, Stone replied, “Not cleanly.”

“We had a good season, for running a minimal number of races,” added Stone. “I’ll probably run even less next year. I’ve been doing this for 25 years now.”

Another driver who came away with a good feeling was Travis Witbeck, who finished second to Canadian invader Cedric Gauvreau in Friday night’s 40-lap DIRTcar Sportsman Fall Championship Series race. “On that last restart (after Tyler Stevenson rolled his car in turn one following contact with Daryl Nutting), I got my doors blown off,” said Witbeck, who passed Pat Jones for the No. 2 spot on lap 32. “I’m just a nobody. It felt good to run with these guys.”

Jones, who finished third, was back at Malta after taking some time off.

“We took a month off, and this is our first time back,” he said. “I don’t know what went away at the end. He (Gauvreau) drove by me like I was nothing. I don’t know if the tires sealed up or what. We’ll have to take a look at it and figure it out.”

Gauvreau, who had posted back-to-back DIRTcar Northern Series victories at Mohawk International the previous weekend, made his five-hour trip from Quebec pay off, as he won a total of $3,100 for winning his heat and getting his first career victory in the feature.

The dedication award has to go to four-cylinder driver Daniel Joubert. Joubert is recovering from surgery to repair a broken leg, but he put his crutches aside long enough to compete in Friday night’s race, telling track announcer Dan Martin via text that he wasn’t going to miss Malta Massive Weekend just because he had a broken leg.

Jimmy Phelps won Friday night’s 40-lap big block modified race, which guaranteed him of starting no worse than 13th in Saturday night’s Super DIRTcar Series race. “The last several years, we’ve left here shaking our heads,” said Phelps, whose only other win at Albany-Saratoga came in 2015. “But we feel like we’re in the ballpark this year.”

Then, he sounded almost prophetic. “With the Super DIRT Series deal, if you don’t draw well or you’re off a tick, you’ll be coming from the B-main, or worse.”

Which is exactly what happened on Saturday. Phelps set fast time, but then pulled out of his heat with steering box problems. He used his guaranteed starting spot to start 13th, and finished 10th.

Former Albany-Saratoga modified champion Marc Johnson brought out a new Bicknell chassis, and had a very good weekend. He finished third on Friday night, behind Phelps and Stewart Friesen, and was fourth on Saturday.

I’ll be keeping an eye on what develops over the next couple of weeks and if anything newsworthy happens involving one of the Malta regulars, I’ll get something posted. Like if Matt DeLorenzo decides to retire. But I’ll probably be the last to know. He never tells me anything.

On a sad note, former Lebanon Valley driver Sammy Barlow passed away earlier this week after being in failing health for a number of years. When Lebanon Valley started its spectator division in 1978, Barlow turned a 1968 Plymouth Road Runner into a race car and won four races in his first season at the high banks. He won the street stock feature during the Race of Kings weekend in 1983, and later competed in the 320 class before moving up to big blocks in 1992. He ended his racing career at the end of the 2003 season.

Barlow, who for years was one of the pace car drivers at the Valley, was also one of the founding fathers of North East Stock Car Old Timers (NESCOT) and NESCOT’s S.A.M. (Superior Achievement in Motorsports) Award is named in Barlow’s honor.

Rest in peace, Sammy.