It’s Been A Great Start To 2018 For Matt DeLorenzo At Albany-Saratoga

Column By: LAURIE FALLIS / RPW – MALTA, NY – Last Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, I got the chance to head into the pits and was able to catch up with Matt DeLorenzo, a driver who has been able to visit victory lane at the speedway in 2018 as he prepared action at the “Great Race Place” with eyes on Tuesday’s Big Show X.

DeLorenzo has had a resurgence so far this season with his racing and his team has been working extremely hard to get things right.

“We struggled last year and just had a lot of bad luck,” he said. “This year, things seem to be clicking a lot better and I’m happy.”

DeLorenzo and his team decided to go back to their comfort zone and purchased a new Bicknell over the winter months for this season.

“The designs on the cars keep changing and I feel like we keep chasing it,” he said. “We just wanted to get back to where we started and that’s with a Bicknell chassis.”

The 3D has been fast all year but with 30-plus cars starting each week, it can be tough to get to the front of the features at Malta this season.

“If you have problems in the heat race, your starting 30th, not 20th,” the driver replied. “Last week, we started up close to the front, the car ran very well and won. But now, we will be starting towards the back once again. I really enjoy racing here.”

DeLorenzo, a veteran of Albany-Saratoga, couldn’t say enough about the facility so far this season.

“Lyle (DeVore, track promoter) has does a great job on the track,” he said. “It’s always smooth and a fun place to race. It has the best in the business racing here and you’re always running two and three wide. To top it off, it’s great running in front of a full house.”

As you can see, nobody has dominated with all the different winners. With his win, DeLorenzo told me it gave his team a great morale boost and he looks forward to keeping it going.

I asked the driver as he was getting ready to go out for warm-ups, something he normally doesn’t do, if he was doing anything to prepare himself for Tuesday night.

“They will be having time trials that night so we are trying something in warm-ups,” he said of what his plans were this past Friday. “The car has been real tight in heat races so we want to take advantage of the home track and get things right for Tuesday.”

I then asked Matt why he runs on Friday night’s and we rarely see him run any place other than the Malta oval.

“We are at a point in our lives where we are just doing it for the fun and Friday’s work out perfect,” he said. “My children are getting older and I don’t want to miss out on the things they are doing. If we have the chance to travel we will, but my main focus is Friday nights racing weekends with my family, traveling all over to my girls softball games.”

Look for the #3D to show the invaders that they better bring their “A game” because this driver and team are one class act, on and off the track.