Kenny Martin Takes King Of Dirt Pro Stock Series Opener At Malta

Story By: ROB HAZER / KING OF DIRT – MALTA, NY – For the second year in a row at Albany-Saratoga Speedway the Lazzaro’s Auto Body King Of Dirt Racing Pro Stock Series began the season with the Pro Stock Classic presented by Speed’s Garage. Once again it did not disappoint, as fans were treated to an epic full-fender battle that saw Kenny Martin earn his first career KOD victory in the biggest Pro Stock tour race of the season.

Jeff Washburn and Brandon Emigh would lead the field to the green for the 30-lap Pro Stock classic, with Washburn leading early. His lead would be short lived as Emigh grabbed the top spot on lap four, however a fast and stubborn Washburn would regain the top spot just a lap later.

First yellow of the race flew on lap five for Dean Charbonneau spun to a stop in turn two. The field would reset for a double file restart, which saw Washburn go back to leading with Emigh now battling on the high side.

Behind the lead duo there was two and three wide racing through the field including a spirited battle with two powerhouse title contenders in Robbie Speed and Rob Yetman. Jon Routhier was running solidly in the top five early on battling with J-Tees Fast Timer of the day Dave DePaulo and Luke Horning.

Lap 15 saw the second yellow of the event when Brandon Gray lost the handle on the 00vt in turn four. He would fire it back up and rejoin the field at the tail.

Cousin Luke Horning made his presence felt at the midway point running high, wide, and handsome thrilling the fans as he now battled for the top spot. With this entire situation going on there was a Krazy guy quietly making his way forward.

On lap 18 Kenny Martin Jr. made some three-wide moves that ultimately earned him the top spot. Martin now led with Speed and Yetman racing through the top 12 to the front splitting cars and racing hard.

In the closing stages of the Pro Stock Classic they were still racing three wide, as Luke Horning, Yetman, and Speed had an intense battle inside the top five for position. Nick Stone had a strong showing in until the manimal got just a bit wide off turn two dropping over the bank and loosing a number of spots.

KOD Pro Stock feature winner last season Dan Older was another driver patiently working his way forward to race inside the top 10 along with the Jason Casey race rod, but all this was behind Kenny Martin who would bring home the win Friday night during the Pro Stock Classic, which is the biggest Pro Stock tour race of the season worth championship points.

Behind Martin rounding out the top ten were Horning, Speed, Yetman, Emigh, Stone, Older, DePaulo, Casey, and Norm Loubier.

KOD NOTES: 36 Pro Stocks strong at Albany-Saratoga for the KOD full-fender opener. The Pro Stock Classic uses the championship point scale making it the biggest race on the schedule. Great to see KOD Pro Stock competitor Dean Charbonneau back behind the wheel at the Pro Stock Classic. Dean had some trouble with the ticker, but was cleared to wheel once again and made his debut with the series at Malta. Robbie Speed who improved nine spots during the Classic earned the Saratoga Masonry hard charger. Jason Casey also improved nine positions, but as always finishing position is the tiebreaker. Kim Duell had improved seven positions. KOD has revived the waive lap, which had folks on their feet and driver hands in the air connecting with their fans.

WORD FROM THE PROMOTER: It was an epic Pro Stock Classic for sure. Feedback from drivers was overwhelmingly positive and that’s what our goal is each and every KOD race. Track was in great shape and my hats off to Lyle DeVore and staff for their hospitality as always. At the end of the day I was proud of the Pro Stock guys for a really clean race. It was intense and they raced with respect for one another. It was another great day at Albany Saratoga.

LAZZARO’S AUTO BODY KING OF DIRT RACING PRO STOCK SERIES PRESENTED BY SPEED’S GARAGE PRO STOCK CLASSIC FEATURE FINISH AT ALBANY SARATOGA SPEEDWAY (30 LAPS) – 1) Kenny Martin, 2) Luke Horning, 3) Robbie Speed, 4) Rob Yetman, 5) Brandon Emigh, 6) Nick Stone, 7) Dan Older, 8) Dave DePaulo, 9) Jason Casey, 10) Norm Loubier, 11) Jon Routhier, 12) Rich Crane, 13) Byron Wescott, 14) Kim Duell, 15) Jason Meltz, 16) Brandon Gray, 17) Dean Charbonneau, 18) Mike White, 19) Nick Arnold, 20) Chuck Dumblewski, 21) Ernie Greenier, 22) Dan Madigan, 23) Devon Camenga, 24) Darryl Older, 25) Josh Rozelle, 26) David Emigh, 27) Jay Casey, 28) Chris Wemple, 29) Jay Fitzgerald, 30) Jeff Washburn.

King Of Dirt Racing Pro Stock Heat Race #1 Results (8 Laps) – 1) Dave DePaulo, 2) Robbie Speed, 3) Jeff Washburn, 4) Dan Older, 5) Byron Wescott, 6) Kim Duell, 7) Devon Camenga, 8) Josh Rozelle, 9) Mike White, 10) Matt Roberts.

King Of Dirt Racing Pro Stock Heat Race #2 Results (8 Laps) – 1) Ernie Greenier, 2) Jason Casey, 3) Jay Casey, 4) Dan Madigan, 5) Norm Loubier, 6) Chuck Dumblewski, 7) Todd Hoffman, 8) Darryl Older, 9) Ivan Joslin.

King Of Dirt Racing Pro Stock Heat Race #3 Results (8 Laps) – 1) Kenny Martin, 2) Jon Routhier, 3) Rob Yetmn, 4) Dean Charbonneau, 5) David Emigh, 6) Jay Fitzgerald, 7) Chris Wemple, 8) Sparky Reilly, 9) Walt Brownell.

King Of Dirt Racing Pro Stock Heat Race #4 Results (8 Laps) – 1) Brandon Emigh, 2) Nick Stone, 3) Luke Horning, 4) Rich Crane, 5) Brandon Gray, 6) Jason Meltz, 7) Nick Arnold, 8) Justin Knight, 9) Yates Lansing (DNS).

King Of Dirt Racing Pro Stock B-Main results (8 Laps) – 1) Kim Duell, 2) Chuck Dumblewski, 3) Deon Camenga, 4) Jason Meltz, 5) Nick Arnold, 6) Josh Rozelle, 7) Darryl Older, 8) Mike White, 9) Jay Fitzgerald, 10) Chris Wemple, 11) Sparky Reilly, 12) Matt Roberts, 13) Ivan Joslin, 14) Justin Knight, 15) Todd Hoffman, 16) Walt Brownell, 17) Yates Lansing (DNS).

J-Tees Screen Printing Timed Hot Lap Results – 1) Dave DePaulo (18.967), 2) Ernie Greenier (19.077), 3) Kenny Martin (19.078), 4) Brandon Emigh (19.296), 5) Robbie Speed (19.347), 6) Jay Casey (19.420), 7) Rob Yetman (19.429), 8) Luke Horning (19.485), 9) Jeff Washburn (19.504), 10) Dan Madigan (19.511), 11) Dean Charbonneau (19.512), 12) Jason Meltz (19.526), 13) Kim Duell (19.537), 14) Jason Casey (19.547), 15) David Emigh (19.602), 16) Brandon Gray (19.616), 17) Byron Wescott (19.626), 18) Chuck Dumblewski (19.629), 19) Jon Routhier (19.682), 20) Rich Crane (19.764), 21) Dan Older (19.766), 22) Todd Hoffman (19.767), 23) Walt Brownell (19.795), 24) Nick Stone (19.894), 25) Josh Rozelle (19.938), 26) Norm Loubier (19.965), 27) Jay Fitzgerald (20.150), 28) Nick Arnold (20.197), 29) Devon Camenga (20.379), 30) Ivan Joslin (20.436), 31) Chris Wemple (20.462), 32) Justin Knight (20.497), 33) Mike White (20.511), 34) Darryl Older (20.636), 35) Sparky Reilly (20.838), 36) Yates Lansing (21.934), 37) Matt Roberts (21.946).

J-Tees Screen Printing Fast Timer – Dave DePaulo

Dirt Dog Gear Lap Leaders – Jeff Washburn (1-3), Brandon Emigh (4), Jeff Washburn (5-7), Brandon Emigh (8-17), Kenny Martin (18-30).

Newcomer Of The Race – Brandon Emigh

Saratoga Masonry Hard Charger – Robbie Speed (+9)