MALTA, NY – Patience paid off for Anthony Perrego Tuesday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

After chasing Ronnie Johnson for 58 laps, Perrego finally pounced with two to go and took home the top prize of $7,500 in the first leg of the six-race DIRTcar Oktoberfast presented by DIRTVision to wrap up the 2020 season at the historic Malta track.

The win was Perrego’s second of the season at Albany-Saratoga. His total earnings Tuesday amounted to $7,750, as he also earned a $250 bonus for starting on the outside pole.

Nearly $4,000 in bonus money was handed out by Bart Contracting in the three divisions that competed in the DIRT event Tuesday.

Johnson, who drew the pole, and Perrego turned the 60-lap feature into a two-car race. Johnson quickly went to the front and had a two-second lead when the first caution came out on lap 25. The only car that was able to stay within striking distance of the top two was the 3D of Matt DeLorenzo, but his night ended early when he bounced off the front straightaway wall on lap 35.

Lap after lap, Johnson raced around the top while Perrego hugged the inside.

Perrego got the break he needed when the final 20 laps were run under green-flag conditions. He kept inching forward, and was noticeably making up ground in turns three and four.

After taking the two-to-go sign from flagger Dave Farney, Perrego got a big jump coming out of the second turn, slid up in front of Johnson going down the backstretch and had the lead when he took the white flag.

Mike Mahaney, the 2020 modified point champion at Albany-Saratoga, got by Johnson on the final lap to finish second (which was worth $4,000), while Johnson, who went winless at Albany-Saratoga in 2020, crossed the finish line third.

Ken Tremont Jr. was fourth, with Larry Wight fifth, the only invading driver to crack the top five.

Johnson didn’t get his first win of the year, but he did end up earning $3,270.20, which included a $500 bonus for starting on the pole and $250 for leading the most laps without winning.

“The outside really slowed down at the end of the race, and I could see he was starting to lose his momentum,” said Perrego after the race. “I thought I could pin him in lapped traffic, but the cautions didn’t work out the way I needed. I needed that long run at the end to get by him.”

“I raced the whole race on the top,” said Johnson. “I had to live or die by the top. It just started to go away near the end, and the car got loose.”

Mahaney, who started 11th, was following Perrego on the inside during the closing laps of the race, but never got close enough to mount a real challenge to the leaders.

“It was kind of tough to do anything with those two side-by-side in front of you,” he said.

The hard charger bonus of $250 went to Matt Sheppard, who had to qualify through one of the consolation races, and finished ninth after starting 21st.

Tim Hartman Jr. put the finishing touches on his 2020 championship season by winning the 30-lap DIRTcar sportsman series race, which paid $1,000.

Invader Garrison Krentz, who made the long haul from Lockport to compete at Albany-Saratoga for the first time ever, was the big surprise of the night, starting on the pole and leading the first 24 laps of the feature.

Hartman Jr., who had started 12th, was up to fourth after 10 laps and worked his way into second just before Will Shields brought out a caution on lap 25.

Hartman Jr. then rocketed out of the fourth turn on the restart to get the lead and went on to record his fifth win of the year.

Andrew Buff, one of the hottest drivers in the division during the second half of the season, got around Krentz to secure the runner-up spot with two laps to go. Travis Bruno finished third, while Krentz was fourth in the Malta debut and got a $250 bonus for starting on the pole and another $100 for leading the most laps without winning. Mike Fowler completed the top five.

Brian Calabrese won the $100 hard charger award, coming from his 31st starting position to finish ninth.

Five was also a lucky number for Nick Stone, who came away with his fifth win of the season in the 25-lap DIRTcar pro stock feature. Stone, who also earned $1,000 for the win, started seventh and only needed eight laps to take the lead away from Scott Towslee.

Stone had to survive a number of cautions to get the win, including one incident that took out contenders Luke Horning and Josh Coonradt. They were running second and third when they took the two-to-go flags, but heading into the first turn, Horning seemed to lost the handle on his car, spun sideways and Coonradt had nowhere to go, slamming into Horning’s car.

That incident allowed Devon Camanga to cross the finish line second, his best finish ever at Albany-Saratoga. He was followed by Towslee, Chad Jeseo and Kim Duell.

Andrew Graves won the $250 bonus for starting on the pole, while Jason Casey won the hard charger award, coming from his 28th starting position to finish seventh. Towslee also picked up $100 for leading the most laps without winning.

MODIFIEDS: Anthony Perrego, Mike Mahaney, Ronnie Johnson, Ken Tremont Jt., Larry Wight, Billy Decker, Mat Williamson, Marc Johnson, Matt Sheppard, Chris Hile, Erick Rudolph, Stewart Friesen, Jimmy Phelps, Rocky Warner, Tim Fuller, Peter Britten, Max McLaughlin, Jack Lehner, Jessey Mueller, Brett Hearn, Dave Marcucilli, Rex King, Bobby Hackel IV, Matt DeLorenzo, Pat Ward, Demetrios Drellos.

SPORTSMAN: Tim Hartman Jr., Andrew Buff, Travis Bruno, Garrison Krentz, Mike Fowler, Bobby Flood, AJ Miller, Brandon Carvey, Walter Hammond, Brian Calabrese, Pat Jones, Nick Heywood, Jack Speshock, Addison Bowman, Derrick Borkenhagen, Daryl Nutting, Joe Williams, Dan Grignon, Cameron Tuttle, David Boisclair, Zachary George, Hunter Lapp, AJ Custodi, Kevin Stevens, Robert Bublak Jr., Will Shields, Tucker O’Connor, Kyle Inman, Zach Sobotka, Zachary Payne.

PRO STOCKS: Nick Stone, Devon Camenga, Scott Towslee, Chad Jeseo, Kim Duell, Jay Casey, Jason Casey, Rob Yetman, Beau Ballard, Rich Crane, Ivan Joslin, Tony Markou, Pete Stefanski, Brian Carter, Chris Crane, Buck Gasner, Jay Fitzgerald, Andrew Graves, Kevin Fetterly Jr., Eli Gilbert, Josh Coonradt, Luke Horning, Gary Silkey, Ken Gates, Timothy Bailey, Mike White, Ken Griffen, Jordan Modiano, Chuck Towslee, Jim Normyle, Burton Ward, Richard Spencer.