MALTA – Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

Despite throwing sparks out of the right rear of his car for the last dozen laps, Chris Hile pulled away from Matt DeLorenzo to win Tuesday night’s 71-lap Super DIRTcar Series “Summer Starter” at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

In picking up the first Super DIRTcar Series win of his career, Hile walked off with a $7,500 payday.

And those sparks? He didn’t even know about them until starter Dave Farney told him in victory lane after the win.

“I had no clue,” he said. “The car wasn’t showing any signs of anything. I was just trying to keep the car under me. This place is tough. It’s fast, and eats up tires hard. I was trying to play it safe.”

Hile drew the pole for the 71-lap feature, but it was outside front-row starter Anthony Perrego who got the early jump and went into the lead. Adam Pierson, who started third, took the No. 2 spot away from Hile coming out of the second turn on lap four, but the next time around, Hile was again running in the second position.

When the leaders caught the rear of the field on lap 13, things began to happen. Pierson regained the No. 2 spot in traffic on lap 16, and Steve Bernard brought out the first caution of the race on lap 18.

On the restart, nine-time Super DIRTcar Series champion Matt Sheppard fell off the pace, bringing out another yellow, and made a quick stop in the hot pit before rejoining the field.

A red flag came out on lap 29, when Mathieu Desjardins rolled his car in the first turn. On the next restart, Hile, who was running the high line, got back by Pierson for second on lap 31.

Hile caught Perrego on lap 36 and tried to make a pass for the lead in the second turn, but Perrego drifted up to block Hile’s momentum, forcing Hile to regroup for another run at the leader.

That move came following a restart on lap 39, when Hile finally put his modified in front.

Pierson worked his way under Perrego for second on lap 44, and it quickly became apparent that there was something wrong with Perrego’s car. With Perrego backing up, DeLorenzo, who had started fifth and had been relatively quiet for the first half of the race, moved into third on lap 46.

Tim Fuller, who was running in the top five, brought out another yellow when he lost power on the backstretch, and Demetrios Drellos, who had started ninth, suddenly found himself running with the lead pack.

Drellos took the No. 2 spot away from Pierson on lap 51 and one lap later, Perrego was done for the night, coming to a stop on the backstretch.

When another caution came out on lap 67, it became apparent that Drellos had a flat left front tire, which allowed DeLorenzo to move back into second on the restart on lap 68. Hile finished with a 1.7 second margin of victory over DeLorenzo, while Pierson finished third. Peter Britten, who started 13^th, worked his way back up to fourth, while Drellos held on for fifth with the flat tire.

“This is pretty awesome,” said Hile after the race. “Last year, we won the championship at Brewerton, but to win our first Series race here, it’s pretty awesome.”

“Chris was fast,” said DeLorenzo. “I really didn’t have anything for him.”

Pierson thought he had a good shot at winning the feature, but the cautions hurt him.

“We had a good car right out of the gate,” he said. “It took a little bit to come in, especially on the bottom. Then I got a good run on Hile and thought I had him, but then, the cautions started. It seemed like it was caution after caution, and it was taking me too much time to get the heat back in the tires.”

Completing the top 10 were Sheppard, who came from the rear to finish sixth; Tim Sears Jr., Mat Williamson, Marc Johnson and Ronnie Johnson.

Among the drivers who failed to qualify were 13-time Albany-Saratoga Speedway champion Ken Tremont Jr., and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Stewart Friesen.

The racing card also included a pair of sportsman features, which each paid $1,000 to win through sponsorship by Cordova Plumbing and Heating.

Cody Ochs held off four-time champion Tim Hartman Jr. to win the first feature, while veteran Mike Ballestero picked up the victory in the second feature, winning a spirited battle with Mike Coffey Jr.

In the second feature, Ballestero snatched the lead away from pole-position starter Coffey on a restart on lap 16. As the leaders came down to take the white flag, Coffey made contact with Ballestero coming out of the fourth turn, but Ballestero hung on for his 34th career victory at Albany-Saratoga.

Ochs and Ballestero became the 14^th and 15^th different winners in the 16 sportsman features held so far this season. Ochs started on the pole in the first feature, but never made a mistake in outrunning Hartman Jr.

SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES SUMMER STARTER (71 LAPS): CHRIS HILE, Matt DeLorenzo, Adam Pierson, Pete Britten, Demetrios Drellos, Matt Sheppard, Tim Sears Jr., Mat Williamson, Marc Johnson, Ronnie Johnson, Felix Roy, Darren Smith, Jimmy Phelps, JF Corriveau, Michael Maresca, Don Ronca, Mike Mahaney, Larry Wight, Justin Stone, Anthony Perrego, Tim Fuller, Steve Bernard, Marcus Dinkins, Jack Lehner, Billy Decker, Max McLaughlin, Mathieu Desjardins, Ronnie Davis III.

NORTHEAST PAVING & SEALCOATING SPORTSMAN (first feature, 20 laps): CODY OCHS, Tim Hartman Jr., Chad Edwards, Ron Proctor, Mike Arnold, Dave Baranowski Jr., Jon Miller, Eric Mack, Zack Sobotka, Taylor Wasson, Drew Cormie, Joey Scarborough, Mike Benson, Tyler Rapp, Floyd Billington, Brandon Darrah, Justin Comes, Dylan Grogan, Austin Comes, Scott Towslee, Dylan Madsen, Mike Baker, Dan Grignon, Scott Zenecker, Elliott Lussier.

NORTHEAST PAVING & SEALCOATING SPORTSMAN (second feature, 20 laps): MIKE BALLESTERO, Mike Coffey Jr., Derrick McGrew Jr., Chris Crane Jr., Zach Buff, Andrew Buff, Travis Witbeck, Chris Jakubiak, Brady Cordova, Pat Jones, Nick Lussier, Scott Duell, Daryl Nutting, Connor Crane Jr., Matt Rich, Jeff Washburn, Dan Seguin, Marty Kelly III, Jim Osgood, Justin Barber, Kyle Swart, Tommy D’Angelo, David Boisclair, Chad Gregory, Bryce Breault.