Albany-Saratoga Got Some Racing In Friday, But Mother Nature Got The Final Say

Column By LAURIE FALLIS / RPW – MALTA, NY – With the forecast not so optimistic for the night of racing action at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway, the hopeful fans still came out strong to see some great short track racing.

It started out looking as if we would have a great night. With the smell of race fuel and track food in the air, it was nice to be back to the “Great Race Place” for this writer. It is always awesome to hear the horsepower of the cars roaring around the track…a track which was very fast, tacky and smooth Friday evening.

With most weathermen calling for Tornadoes and with numerous amount of cyclones on the track, the racing program succumbed to the lightning and heavy rains that came in after the heat races were completed. The limited Sportsman were able to make it to lap 11 when the red flag came out for Lou Torris, as he barrel rolled his machine down the back stretch after making contact with another car.

The pits were packed with drivers eager to get on the track. Second generation driver Max McLaughlin has stated that he will be making Malta his Friday night track.

“I love the track and it has the best fans and the place is always packed,” McLaughlin said. “They do a great job here but it doesn’t matter what surface we’re racing on, dirt or asphalt, as long as I’m racing.”

After warm-ups, the track was in great shape. The fans knew they were going to see some fast, exciting action.

The Modifieds held three heats with over 30 cars taking the green flag in their respective qualifying races. Those events were won by Jessey Mueller in his DKM Cyclone chassis, Ronnie Johnson in his 2RJ and Elmo Reckner. Sportsman heats were won by Jake Scarborough, Jim Osgood and Daryl Nutting. Again, over 30 cars tried to qualify and move on to the Sportsman main event.

The Pro Stocks had a solid field of cars, roughly 25 to be exact, on hand and it was the 00x of Josh Coonradt, “Cousin” Luke Horning and Chucky Dumblewski taking the heats. Limited Sportsman winners were Matt Rich, Travis Billington and Micheal Wagner Fitzgerald. Another 30+ cars were on hand attempting to make the Limited A-Main.

Only feature run on the night was the the Limited Sportsman and it was the #20 of Matt Rich that started on the pole and led all 11 circuits until the red flag for Torris’ accident. There were five cars involved and Torris was unharmed, but the car had heavy damage.

Then the dark clouds and lightning came in. As everybody made their way to their vehicles, the skies opened up and the rain came down with high winds. Thus, track management had no choice but cancel the show. The 50/50 from Tuesdays opening night, which was over $2,000, was never claimed and was to have been the night’s second prize. Make sure you by a ticket next week. Remember, it only takes one ticket so make sure you get yours.

Well Mother Nature gets the victory once again. I think it’s time to tear her down because she has to many victories at to many tracks. Can she “legally” be that good?

Also, the background in victory lane has a new look. We all were looking forward seeing the cars in front of the new sign.

Friday night was a big tease of what was to come. The ‘Great Race Place’ will be in action next Friday night and let’s hope Mother Nature’s “teardown” does the trick for some nice racing weather.

Remember to always thank our service men and women who make the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom. Everybody be safe and see you at the dirt track.