Friday April 22, 2011 Results
Results from FRIDAY APRIL 22, 2011 (updated 12:30 p.m. 4/23/11)
(OFFICIAL RESULTS) MALTA – A new era kicked off at Albany-Saratoga Speedway Friday night with a new face in victory lane.
Jake Zakrzewski Jr. of Schuylerville, N.Y., who has “Wild Thing” printed across the back of his firesuit, lived up to his reputation, outdueling Joe Williams of Schenectady, N.Y., to win the 35-lap NASCAR Modified feature at the historic Malta track.
The 20-year-old Zakrzewski, who began his career late in the 2010 season in a new Teo chassis, took the lead for good with four laps left in the feature and went on to take the first checkered flag of his career.
“Joey is a great runner, and I knew he was going to be tough,” said Zakrzewski after a wild victory lane celebration. “He ran with the 358s here last year and did really well, so I knew he was going to be tough to beat.”
Williams, who started in the second row, appeared to have the field covered early in the NASCAR Modified feature. He had dominated his heat race, and looked just as good in the feature, only needing three laps to get the lead.
“Wild Thing” had started 10th and was slowly working his way up while Williams stretched out his lead. But on lap 14, Dave Manny sailed off the third turn to bring out the first caution, putting the field back on Williams’ rear bumper.
Zakrzewski had worked his way up to fifth when he nearly ran into disaster. The Proctor cousins, Ron and John, were battling for second when they came together coming out of turn two on lap 20. Both cars got sideways, which forced Bobby Hackel IV, who was fourth at the time, to jump on the brakes. But “Wild Thing” was just far enough back that he wove his way through the mishap, and came out in second place.
On the restart, Zakrzewski stuck right to Williams’ rear bumper, and snaked into the lead on lap 24. But one lap later, Williams got to the inside in turns one and two and regained the lead.
But “Wild Thing” kept working the inside, and found some room on the inside in turn four on lap 31 to get the lead for good.
Williams admitted he made a mistake after the lap-20 restart. “I thought I had a big lead, so I was only running half-throttle,” he said. “I screwed up.”
Zakrzewski said he got a little too much adrenaline flowing when he took the lead for the first time on lap 23.
“When I got the lead, I got a little excited and overdrove the car,” he said. “When he passed me back, it was like a little warning to me. When I got the lead back, I made sure I just held my line.”
Zakrewski had taken part in a test-and-tune session on Thursday, turning about 80 laps in the car, and “Wild Thing” left that session feeling pretty confident.
“I knew I had the equipment, and knew it was going to be up to me to pull it all together.” he said.
Hackel came across the finish line third, followed by Alex Bell and John Proctor.
Vermont invader Jacob McGrath, a veteran of the ACT Tour, won the 30-lap pro late model feature, also his first win at Albany-Saratoga.
McGrath opened up a big lead midway through the feature, but it soon became apparent that another Vermont invader, Chris Wilk, was just sitting back, cooling his tires, as he made a big run with five laps to go. But McGrath withstood the constant pressure, and in the closing laps, left Darryl Carl and Wilk to battle for second. Carl and Wilk bounced off each other on the final lap, doing some cosmetic damage to both cars, and Carl came away with the No. 2 spot, with Wilk third, Sheldon Martin fourth and Chad White fifth.
However, after post-race inspections, McGrath’s car was deemed illegal for a weight issue. The win was taken away from him, along with the winner’s points. He will be penalized by moving his car to last place in the finish and will only receive last place points. Second place finisher Darryl Carl was officially declared the feature winner.
The INEX Legends, who will be part of the regular program this season, also pumped some excitement into the fans, and 13-year-old Matt Pappa of Nassau, N.Y., who graduated to Legends from go-karts, went flag-to-flag to get his first career win. Another member of the INEX Young Lions division, 14-year-old David Schilling, was second, with Steve Miller third.
Frank Monroe took the checkered flag in the Renegade feature, and Harold Lavair Jr. got the win in the Bombers Warriors feature.
All divisions will be back in action on Friday, April 29, and the racing card will also feature a 50-lap enduro.
NASCAR MODIFIEDS: JACOB ZAKRZEWSKI JR., Joey Williams, Bobby Hackel IV, Alex Bell, John Proctor, Cody Sargen, Fred Proctor, Hunter Bates, Ron Proctor, Luke Klob, Justin Haas, Paul Dunham Jr., Dave Manny, Mike Bush.
PRO LATE MODELS: DARRYL CARL, Chris Wilk, Sheldon Martin, Jim Monroe, Dan Petronis, Dave Emigh, Mike Paquin, Carl Guilefuss, Kevin Van Chance, Randy Miller, Jim Monroe Jr., Brandon Emigh, Mike Scorzelli, Jacob McGrath (penalized).
