MALTA - At the end of the 2000 season, Don Ackner was saying his good-byes, and sliding into retirement. On Friday night, he was back in victory lane at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. After ending his short retirement in late June, the 51-year-old Ackner became the 14th different modified winner at Albany-Saratoga Speedway this season, as he walked off with his 29th career victory.
Ackner’s victory ruined an outstanding night by Brian McKenzie, who started on the pole and appeared to be on his way to his first career victory. But a late yellow flag killed McKenzie’s momentum, and allowed Ackner. back behind the wheel of the Jerry Kearns 97, to get the victory.
Restarts played right into Ackner’s hands all night. The first 16 laps of the race were run under green, allowing McKenzie and Matt DeLorenzo to pull away from the pack and open up a sizable lead. But Ackner, who had started 12th, had worked his way up to fourth when the first yellow flew on lap 17, when Ron Dwyer slowed in the second turn and got tagged by Don Mattison.
Three laps after the green came back out, Ackner went around the outside of Mike Perrotte for third and on lap 28, used the inside line to elbow his way past DeLorenzo into second. McKenzie held his line, but when Ron Proctor and Chuck Higley tangled on the front straightaway on lap 28, bringing out another yellow, McKenzie’s bid for the victory went out the window.
Following the restart, Ackner first looked to the top, and then decided to go back to the bottom and finally took the lead on lap 33. The race was red-flagged on lap 34 when Vince Quenneville Jr. slammed into the rear end of Frank Hoard Sr.’s car, after Hoard lost a wheel when he was pinched into the wall on the front straightaway.
The next restart allowed Dave Camara, who put on a late charge, to move past McKenzie to finish second. McKenzie was third, his best career finish at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. DeLorenzo hung on for fourth, with Perrotte fifth.
Completing the top 10 were Ron Proctor, Jim Ryan, Tim Laduc, Ken Tremont Jr. and Don Scarborough, who was behind the wheel of the Goodemote No. 5.
Gary Gates came off the pole in the sloppy 20-lap sportsman feature to notch his first win of the season, and second career victory. The sportsman had trouble getting used to the new surface that track officials had put down in the last two weeks and before one lap was completed, two cautions flag had already been displayed, both involving Mike Ballestero, and on the third restart, the field was lined up single file.
That allowed Dick Bisson and Gates to set the pace, and that’s the way they ran, caution after caution, with Rich Ronca waiting for a mistake by the leaders. Gates finally passed Bisson for the lead on lap 14, and Bisson saw his chances for a good finish evaporate on lap 18, when he went over the first turn banking and fell back in the pack.
Ronca came across the finish line second, the best finish of his two-year career, while Frank Hoard Jr. finished third, Jack Gentile was fourth and David Peek was fifth. A total of seven caution flags flew in the feature, extending the 20-lap race to over 36 minutes in length.
Don Sharp Jr. of Grafton, N.H., turned in an impressive performance and came away with his first win of the season in the 20-lap feature for the Empire Super Sprints. Justin Barger, who won both his heat and the Walt’s Hobby Dash, had to settle for second, while John Karklin Jr., who had posted a win at Devil’s Bowl Speedway earlier in the month, was third.
Don Daniels outran David Cook and Jon Coon to win the hobby stock feature, and Jason Duncan (four-cylinder) and Jeff Monroe (six-cylinder) were victorious in the cruiser division features. The six-cylinder event featured some outstanding side-by-side racing, as Monroe, Chris Busta and W. Jon Smith were all in a position to win in the last two laps.
Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action with the third annual Coors Light Big Block/Small Block Challenge on Friday night. The 100-lap feature will pay $3,000 to win, and all home track rules, including tire rules, apply. In addition, all 2000 track champions will be guaranteed starters. There will also be tire bonuses in effect. The first car across the finish line using Hoosiers will receive two new Hoosier tires, while the first car across the finish line using Goodyears will receive a set of Goodyear tires.
Racing will begin at 7 p.m.
MODIFIEDS: DON ACKNER, Dave Camara, Brian McKenzie, Matt DeLorenzo, Mike Perrotte, Ron Proctor, Jim Ryan, Tim Laduc, Ken Tremont Jr., Don Scarborough, Jason Becker, Todd Ryan, Chuck Higley, Jack Cottrell, Scott Noel, Frank Hoard Sr., Vince Quenneville Jr., Andy Bachetti, Don Mattison, Gene Munger, Ron Dwyer, Mike Ronca, John Kollar.
SPORTSMAN: GARY GATES, Rich Ronca, Frank Hoard Jr., Jack Gentile, Jim Becker, David Peek, Dick Bisson, Kim Duell, Sput Shaw, Mike Boomhower, Jason Herrington, Stan Lemiesz, John Harrison, Neil Erickson, Gerry Conroy, Randy Salisbury, Derrick McGrew, Tigger Matthews, Brent Bouplon, Tony Ballestero, Tim Hartman, Paul Cirincione, Tom Proctor, Mike Ballestero, Tim Adair.
HOBBY STOCKS: DON DANIELS, Dave Cook, Jon Coon, Dan Daniels, Mike Traylor, Mike Ostrander, Vince Santoro, Glen Evans, Ron Tollner, Adam Stoddard, Mike Tholin, Fred Harris, Kevin Sawyer, Grant Rice, Jim Mabb, Jim Monroe, Lori Cary, Gary Michaud.
FOUR-CYLINDER CRUISERS: JASON DUNCAN, Jim Monroe, John Richter, Elmer Montville, Kevin Connors, Chuck Gauthier, Jon Atwell, No. 74, No. 57, Mike Burdo, Joe Naccarato, Ben Ladd, Dan Uber, Mike Carman, Kevin Van Chance, Ben Durie.
SIX-CYLINDER CRUISERS: JEFF MONROE, Chris Busta, W. Jon Smith, Foster Ribsemann, Tim Pelech, Matt Thomas, Luke MacIsaac, No. 78, Dave Kennedy, Randy Rathbun.