MALTA - Thirteen is supposed to be an unlucky number, but you’ll never be able to convince Gene Munger of that. Munger became the 13th different modified winner at Albany-Saratoga Speedway this season when he outran defending track champion Dave Camara in Friday night’s 35-lap modified feature. Munger and Camara had been teammates earlier in the season, as Munger drove Camara’s backup car while Munger’s car owner, Mike Richards, was getting a motor freshened to put under the hood of his Richardsdale Farms-sponsored car.
But on Friday night, Munger treated Camara like an obnoxious in-law who showed up unexpectedly for dinner, totally ignoring the challenges of Camara’s new Camara Slate-sponsored Teo Pro car to finish with a 1.29-second margin of victory. The win, Munger’s fourth career victory at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, also allowed Munger to pull into a tie with Camara for most wins on the Champlain Valley Racing Association circuit, as both now have three victories in the 2001 season.
Munger had looked strong as the end of June, getting a third-place finish on June 29, and then finishing second to Jack Cottrell on July 6. But in the last two weeks, Munger was little more than a spectator.On July 13, he only ran four laps of the feature and was the first car out, finishing 24th. The next week, he pulled out after 17 laps, finishing 22nd. Those two bad finishes put him right near the front Friday night, and that was all he needed, as the motor in the Richardsdale Farms car was humming, and Munger picked up the easy win.
Camara, bidding for his second straight CVRA overall point championship, was a comfortable second, while Matt DeLorenzo was third, his best finish ever at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. Frank Hoard Sr. was fourth, followed by Tim Laduc. The remainder of the top 10 consisted of Ken Tremont Jr., Mike Ronca, Andy Bachetti, Don Ackner and Todd Ryan. Heat race winners were DeLorenzo, Munger and Hoard.
The Ballestero brothers continued to dominate the sportsman division. One week after Tony Ballestero picked up his second win of the year, his older brother, Mike, found his way back to victory lane for the second time this season. Mike Ballestero’s other win came on May 25. Ballestero completely overpowered the field, finishing with a 3.7-second lead over Jason Herrington, Frank Hoard Jr. was third, with Dick Bisson fourth and Tony Ballestero fifth.
As has been the trend recently, the pro-stock division produced the best feature of the night, as Fred Little held off Joe Santoro to pick up his fourth win of the season. Little and Santoro have dominated the division in 2001, and renewed their battle Friday, with Little coming out on top. Dean Charbonneau came across the finish line third, with Bob Schmidt fourth and Mike Paquin fifth. Paquin, the defending Albany-Saratoga Speedway champion, is in one of the worst slumps of his career, and is still winless at the Malta track in 2001.
Gary Michaud charged from the rear of the field, and won a three-car battle to come away with his second win of the year in the hobby stock feature. In the closing laps, Michaud, Don Daniels and Mike Tholin all had thoughts about getting the win, but it was Michaud, who had finished second in the B main just to qualify for the feature, who hit the stripe first, 0.3 seconds ahead of Daniels, who was less than a car length ahead of Tholin at the finish line.
Chris Busta ended the Dave Kennedy-W. Jon Smith stranglehold in the six-cylinder cruiser division while Jon Atwell won the four-cylinder cruiser feature.
During intermission, a collection was taken for sportsman driver John Bellinger, who was injured in a bad flip the previous week. The collection raised nearly $3,000 for Bellinger, who had to have surgery after breaking his jaw of four places. In the week following Bellinger’s accident, in collections at Devil’s Bowl, Albany-Saratoga’s go-kart racing facility and on Friday night, CVRA fans, drivers and officials donated nearly $5,000 to the Bellinger family.
Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action Friday night, with the Empire Super Sprints coming in for their second appearance of the season. The first stop produced one of the most exciting finishes ever at Albany-Saratoga, as Dan Kaszubinski passed 16-year-old Kyle Drum coming out of the fourth turn on the last lap to get the win. Racing Friday night will begin at 7 p.m.
MODIFIEDS; GENE MUNGER, Dave Camara, Matt DeLorenzo, Frank Hoard Sr., Tim Laduc, Ken Tremont Jr., Mike Ronca, Andy Bachetti, Don Ackner, Todd Ryan, Ron Proctor, Brian McKenzie, Jim Ryan, Jack Cottrell, Vince Quenneville Jr., Brian Gerrain, Don Mattison, John Proctor, Ron Dwyer, Jason Becker, Wayne Jelley, Chuck Higley, Mike Perrotte, Scott Noel.
SPORTSMAN: MIKE BALLESTERO, Jason Herrington, Frank Hoard Jr., Dick Bisson, Tony Ballestero, Tim Hartman, Gary Gates, John Harrison, Jimmy Becker, Tom Proctor, Gerry Conroy, Ricky Davis, Jack Gentile, Stan Lemiesz, Ned Erickson, Randy Salisbury, Bob Matthews, Rich Ronca, Ray Martindale, Sput Shaw, Elmo Reckner, Paul Cirincione, Kim Duell.
PRO-STOCKS: FRED LITTLE, Joe Santoro, Dean Charbonneau, Bob Schmidt, Mike Paquin, Steve Burega, Ed Pieniazek, Adam Tranka, Charlie Koenig, Tigger Driscoll, Bill Smith, Matt Anatriello, Mike Fritz, Carl Vladyka, Randy Brownell, Dave Uline, Terry Stacy, Chris Maxon, Jason Brownell, Jeff Sukup, Brian Holbritter.
HOBBY STOCKS: GARY MICHAUD, Don Daniels, Mike Tholin, Chris Reckner, Mike Ostrander, Glen Evans, Adam Stoddard, Dave Daniels, John Morris Jr., Vince Santoro, Fred Harris, Dan Daniels, Ken Towne, Jim Monroe, Curtis Condon, Roy Fifield, Mike Traylor.
SIX-CYLINDER CRUISERS: CHRIS BUSTA, Jeff Monroe, W. Jon Smith, Foster Ribseman, Dave Kennedy, Luke MacIsaac, Randy Rathburn, Matt Keller.
FOUR-CYLINDER CRUISERS: JON ATWELL, Jason Duncan, Mitch Gries, Jim Monroe, Kevin Van Chance, Bill Lehman, Mike Carman, Kevin Connors, John Richter, Elmer Montville, Mike Burdo, Chuck Gauthier, Dan Uber.