RPW Exclusive: Mueller Dominates 358-Mod Special At Albany-Saratoga; Calabrese Crowned KOD Northeast Crate Nationals Champ

Column By: LAURIE FALLIS / RPW – MALTA, NY – If you wanted excitement at a dirt track, you should have been at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Friday night.

We had one feature winner launching to victory lane on two wheels, a darkhorse making a late race pass for the victory, an some of the best drivers battling side-by-side. What more could you ask for?

Jessey Mueller blasted into victory lane in the 358-Modified special while Brian Calabrese put the fire out on hot shoes Tim Hartman Jr, and Connor Cleveland as the underdog swooped in and took the 100-lap King Of Dirt Northeast Crate Nationals victory.

Pole setter for the 40-lap Small Block Showdown, by virtue of a heads up start, was Bobby Varin in the Palmer’s Service #76. Varin would be your early leader but a mishap on lap 6 saw Frank Hoard III take a violent flip. Hoard landed just before the pit entrance but, to the relief of everybody, he was OK.

As the race resumed, it was game on for the top two runners as Varin and young Jessey Mueller traded jabs for the lead with Varin being the heavy weight at this time in the race.

Ronnie Johnson would take over the third position from Kenny Tremont after coming from 12th and was looking to be a contender. Marc Johnson rounded out the top 5 at this point of the race.

On lap 13, the leaders would soon encounter lap traffic and would slice and dice their way through with Mueller still hot on Varin’s tail.

Luck would be on Mueller’s side as a spinning car in turns four almost collected the #19, but evasive action was taken and he would make it by. To his advantage, with the restart, he was able to show his might and powered his way on the outside to take the lead around halfway.

After consecutive cautions, the race went green with Mueller, Varin, Marc Johnson and now Rocky Warner who had made his way into the top 5. The battle, though, was with Tremont and RJ as the two battled it out side-by-side until the end with RJ getting the best of the #115 driver on this night.

Mueller was never get challenged the rest of the way and went on to his second feature of the season at the “Great Race Place.”

“The DKM chassis was just on rails,” Mueller said. “I had a great time battling with Varin for the win. That was fun.”

Varin would hold on for second with Marc Johnson third, Ronnie Johnson fourth and Tremont crossing fifth. Jimmy Cottrell brought his #8 home sixth with Warner finishing seventh. Hector Stratton, Matt DeLorenzo and Jason Herrington completed the top 10.

When the field for the Northeast Crate Nationals rolled out on the track, the fans didn’t realize the show they were about to see.

David Schilling brought the 28-car field down to the green and took the early lead. The driver that was charging hard to the front on the outside was Tim Hartman Jr. as he worked his way up quickly from the ninth starting spot.

Meanwhile, KOD Sportsman point leader Connor Cleveland took over the lead on lap 17, as he, Hartman and Schilling were all glued together.

Hartman would be on Cleveland’s tail as they entered into heavy traffic, but the battle for third was also a good race with Dave Constantino and Brian calabrese battling back and forth.

The race remained caution-free until lap 45. That was when Hartman tried to get the jump but Cleveland was too strong and regained the lead.

By the three-quarter mark, the top two were still the same but Calabrese had entered the battle, grabbing third from Constantino.

The complexity of the race changed just three laps later. Hartman took his #22 to the outside, as he and Cleveland went side-by-side with Hartman powering into the lead.

Robert Bublak, who came from 12th, was now in fourth and wanting to join the fun.

Hartman looked like he was going to be to tough to beat running the outside lane. However, he jumped the berm in turns one and two and fell back to fourth. This allowed Cleveland and Calabrese to pounce on the opportunity, taking the top two spots with Bublak following.

As the laps were clicking off, the 21c of Calabrese began to reel in the leader, taking the top spot on the inside lane with just eight laps to go.

Bublak’s car was coming on in the later stage of the race and he moved into second and began to knock on the back bumper of Calabrese. Lap cars were the only challenge ahead of the leaders, it didn’t matter. Bublak ran out of time while Brian Calabrese ran the race of his life, claiming the Northeast Crate Nationals driving a smooth, patient race.

“I saw the white flag and was waiting for someone to pass me,” he said. “No one did and this is just unbelievable.”

After the top two in the final running order came your 2018 King of Dirt Sportsman Champion Connor Cleveland. This was the second Series title of his career. Tim Hartman Jr. and Chad Edwards were fourth and fifth, respectively.

The Limited Sportsman had Derrick McGrew Jr. thinking he was going to have to finish in the runner up spot. That was until the final lap, when coming off of turn four, the leader, Scott Bennett, slowed and the young gun McGrew was right on his bumper. That caused the DKM #26 to hop Bennett’s right rear tire, blasting him into the lead in one of the most exciting finishes of the season.

Travis Billington, David Boisclair and Jason Miller rounded out your top five. Robert Garney was your 4-Cylinder Single Cam winner and Jason Lang took home the Dual Cam.