RPW Column: Sometimes, It’s Just Racing; Inside Keith Flach’s Rollover Friday At Albany-Saratoga

Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – MALTA, NY – Sometimes, it’s just racing.

Unfortunately, Friday night at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Keith Flach got a taste of that statement when his #43 ended up rolling over on the first circuit of the Modified feature.

“I saw an opportunity to try and make ground with the car in front of me going that was going to the bottom / middle of the track,” Flach said. “I made the same move last week and passed a car or two off of turn 2. Unfortunately, this time I got in the hole wrong and my car bounced, dug in and rolled.”

Flach fired from the 10th starting position at the start of the 35-lap feature. That was one spot ahead of Demetrios Drellos. Drellos didn’t get the start he was hoping for so he had a front row seat for Flach’s rollover.

“Keith moved to the extreme top entering the turn,” Drellos said. “I drove in the middle of the track, though the slick, just trying to make ground on the start of the feature. I saw Keith’s car hop once…then twice…then by the third time, I saw his belly pan. That’s when I knew it wasn’t good.”

Once the accident happened, track officials immediately threw the red flag so that safety personnel could attend to Flach’s machine.

“I was waiting to here if Keith was ok,” he said. “Thankfully, he was.”

In speaking with both drivers on Saturday morning, each stated mutual respect for the other and reiterated that no contact was made during the accident.

“Demetrios and I have always races each other clean,” Flach said. “He and I have never had an issue on or off track and that still holds true. This accident was all on me.”

Drellos has the same amount of respect for the Ravena, NY driver.

“Keith’s always been a class act to race with,” Drellos said. “We’ve given each other respect when racing and last night was no different.”

Now, Flach and his team are faced with repairing the Bicknell race car they competed with on Friday night. However, that may be easier said than done.

“It didn’t look that bad at the track,” Flach said. “However, after looking at it this morning (Saturday) with the body off, we think the cage might be bent. That will require us to replace the frame. Most of the running gear seems fine aside from the front axle so hopefully it will be an easy swap once we get a replacement chassis.”

Unfortunately, as of now, it’s unclear as to the availability of a new Bicknell frame, or even a timetable for one. With that said, Demetrios made a gracious offer in the short term to Flach.

“I told Keith that if he needed a frame, I have a new frame sitting at Elmo’s that I haven’t picked up yet,” Drellos said. “It’s just a spare and I told him I’d order another one if need be. This way, he wouldn’t have to wait if he needed to rebuild to get back next week.”

Flach was extremely appreciative of the offer and is planning to call Bicknell today (Saturday) to see what the situation is.

“We have a second car completely ready from Bristol,” Flach said. “We also have another car that just needs to have some suspension changes made. I really appreciate Demetrios’ offer though. That proves that we may battle on track, but if in need, we’re there for each other.”

Sometimes, things happen on track. Sometimes, it’s just racing.