July 1, 2011: MALTA – Joe Williams didn’t need firecrackers to start his July 4 holiday
weekend with a bang.

Pumped up by a boisterous $20-a-carload, fireworks-craving crowd, Williams
drove to his fifth win of the season Friday night in the 35-lap NASCAR
modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Williams went on a tear in May, winning four straight features before
having his streak stopped by veteran Ron Proctor on June 10.

Then, like the rest of the racing world, Williams had to pace the floor as
he sat at home through two straight rainouts.

But the holiday weekend brought great weather and a great crowd, and
Williams put on another great show.

Fred Proctor set the pace at the beginning of the 35-lap feature, but two
early restarts helped Williams progress from his eighth starting spot, and
by lap six, he was third, behind Proctor and Bobby Hackel IV.

Williams worked his way around Hackel on lap 10 and only needed three more
laps to take the lead away from Proctor.

Another yellow on lap 21 bunched the field, but once the green came back
out, Williams quickly moved out to a three-car advantage.

But that didn’t mean the action was over. All eyes were now on Ron
Proctor, who had started last in the 21-car field. Proctor, who has suddenly hit
on a perfect setup, had patiently worked his way to the front, and took over
second on lap 23. But he just didn’t have enough to make a serious run at
Williams, who hit the finish line with a 0.572 second cushion.

Hackel was third, his best finish of the season, and Jessey Mueller and
Mike Bruno completed the top five.

Bruno kept the holiday crowd on its feet in the final 15 laps. After an
incident with Fred Proctor on lap 21, Bruno was sent to the rear of the
field, but put together a heck of a charge to get back into the top five.

Mike Scorzelli, who had nothing but bad luck in the first month of the
season, finally got the monkey off his back and came away with his first win
of the year in the 30-lap pro late model feature. Scorzelli, who had three
wins last season, started on the pole and went flag-to-flag to get the
victory Friday night. After no top-five finishes in the first four races of the
season, Scorzelli has finished third, fifth and first in his last three
starts.

Bruno put pressure on Scorzelli in the closing laps, but had to settle for
second. He was followed by Brandon Emigh, Dan  Petronis and David Emigh.

Disqualifications marred both the Renegade and Bomber Warrior features.
Paul Mulrain was first under the checkered flag in the Renegade feature, but
was disqualified when he refused to have his engine inspected, according
to track officials. That gave the win to Rowdy Burch. That was Burch’s
second victory of the year, and on both occasions, Mulrain finished ahead of him
and was disqualified.

Colin Clow was awarded the victory in the Bomber Warriors feature when
Harold Lavair came up light on the scales.

Matt Pappa continued to dominate the INEX Young Lions division, running
his winning streak to seven races, and Reed Thompson got the victory in the
75-lap enduro. Arnie Naparty and Josh Masterson followed Thompson across the
finish line.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be hosting USG Corporation Night on July 8,
with all divisions in action. Fans will also be  able to see some
fine-looking hot rods, as the Firebird Club will be holding a cruise-in.

NASCAR MODIFIEDS: JOE WILLIAMS, Ron Proctor, Bobby Hackel IV, Jessey
Mueller, Mike Bruno, Alex Bell, Robert Hackel, Paul Dunham  Jr., Dave Manny, Fred
Proctor, Dylan Smith, Cody Hunt, Jacob Zakrzewski, Luke  Klob, Skip
Shippee, Hunter Bates, Cody Sargen, Billy Mueller, Jason Reome, Tom Rotondaro,
John Proctor.
PRO LATE MODELS: MIKE SCORZELLI, Mike Bruno, Brandon Emigh, Dan Petronis,
David Emigh, Darryl Carl, Randy Miller, Carl Guilefuss, Ron Richter.
RENEGADES: Rowdy Burch, Josh Coonradt, Frank Monroe, Andy Smith, Matt
Livingston, Bill Burlingame. DQ: Paul Mulrain.