Ackner Outduels Cottrell at Albany-Saratoga

Albany-Saratoga Speedway

Results for August 4, 2000

MALTA - Happy Birthday to me. Don Ackner put a special touch on his 50th

birthday celebration Friday night, out dueling Jack Cottrell to win the

35-lap 358 modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

The win, the 28th of Ackner’s career at Albany-Saratoga, temporarily put

a stop to one of the worst seasons of his career. Many drivers have bad

luck, but Ackner has just been downright bad. In the first 13 races of the

season, he had no top-five finishes, with his best performance being a

seventh, in the first race of the season.

That put him on the pole in Friday night’s feature, and created another

thrilling side-by--side race that has become the trademark of

Albany-Saratoga Speedway this season. Ackner, who was the Albany-Saratoga

modified point champion in 1991, got the early jump on the field and led the

first three laps, but Brian Gerrain then spun out going down the backstretch

and wound up on top of the Jersey barrier in the third turn, bringing out

the first caution of the night.

On the restart, Dave Manny, who had started next to Ackner in the front

row, got a good jump coming off four, and took over the lead. He and Ackner

ran side-by-side until Ackner regained the lead on lap 10, and by that time,

Cottrell, who had started sixth, was running third.

The second caution of the night came out on lap 12, when Scott Noel got

crossed up in the fourth turn. Although Noel was able to correct and keep

going, the cars of point leader Dave Camara, Gene Munger, Mike Perrotte and

Eddie Maxon stacked up behind him. The field then ran just one more lap

before another multi-car incident, involving Gerrain, Maxon, Perrotte,

Camara, Chuck Higley and Jeff Betit brought out the caution again, and sent

Camara to the pits for good.

When the race went back to green, Cottrell had his Farrell Oil-sponsored

modified hooked up on the top of the race track, and took the lead away from

Ackner on lap 16. The two leaders then switched lanes, with Cottrell going

to the bottom and Ackner, who has a reputation for just running the bottom,

moving to the outside groove.

Cottrell appeared to be stretching his advantage by lap 24, but Ackner

quickly caught up, and had the fans on their feet as he raced door-to-door

with Cottrell. The action was so close that the two cars banged off each

other as they passed the flag stand on the 28th lap. But the top was

obviously the place to be, as Ackner continued to build momentum, and then

made the final pass for the lead on lap 32, essentially blowing out the

candles on Cottrell’s attempt to spoil his party.

The duel for the lead overshadowed a great run by Kenny Aanonsen, who

sat third and waited for the two leaders to make a mistake. But Aanonsen had

to settle for the No. 3 position, with modified rookie Tim LaDuc fourth and

Ron Proctor fifth. Completing the top 10 were Todd Ryan, Mike Ronca, Vince

Quenneville Jr., Scott Noel and John Harrison.

Defending track champion Ken Tremont Jr., trying to cut into Camara’s

point lead, was running in the top 10 until the final four laps, when

mechanical problems dropped him to 14th in the final order of finish.

In the 20-lap sportsman feature, Mike Ballestero finally got a map out

and found his way back k to victory lane, his first win since opening day on

April 16. Although he started eighth in the lineup, Ballestero took

advantage of two early cautions to take the lead away from rookie Lucas

Baker on the fourth lap and drove to an easy win in the caution-plagued

event. David Peek came up with the best finish of his career, passing Sput

Shaw on the final lap to come across the finish line second. Floyd

Billington and Baker were right behind Shaw at the finish.

The 20-lap pro-street stock feature was filled with crashes, and when

the dust finally settled, Fred Little had his third victory of the season.

Little took the lead away from Ernie Grenier on lap 13, and then held off

Grenier to get the victory. Bob Gile finished third, with Dan Madigan fourth

and Bernie Companion fifth.

Mike Marsche picked up the win in the hobby stock feature, Pete Knapp

had the upper hand in the four--cylinder cruiser class and W. John Smith

continued to dominate the six-cylinder cruiser division.

An enduro will be added to the racing schedule on Friday night. Racing

will begin at 7 p.m.

MODIFIEDS: DON ACKNER, Jack Cottrell, Kenny Aanonsen, Tim LaDuc, Ron

Proctor, Todd Ryan, Mike Ronca, Vince Quenneville Jr., Scott Noel, John

Harrison, Hector Stratton, Jim Ryan, Matt DeLorenzo, Ken Tremont Jr., Brian

McKenzie, Dave Leckonby, Dave Manny, Chuck Higley, Brian Gerrain, Bob

Savoie, Jeff Betit, Dave Camara, Mike Perrotte, Eddie Maxon, Gene Munger.

SPORTSMAN: MIKE BALLESTERO, David Peek, Sput Shaw, Floyd Billington, Lucas

Baker, Tom Proctor, Jack Gentile, Jason Herrington, Rob Ray, Gerry Conway,

Mike Boomhower, Stan Lemiesz, Ken McGuire, Randy Salisbury, Jimmy Davis, Tim

Hartman, Kim Duell, Jake Zak, Tony Ballestero, Rich Ronca, Don Mattison,

Rick Davis, Jimmy Becker.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: FRED LITTLE, Ernie Grenier, Bob Gile, Dan Madigan, Bernie

Companion, Rick French, Mike Paquin, Joe Santoro, Adam Tranka, Walt

Brownell, Phil Sherman, Dave Uline, Ray Salisbury, Bill Smith, Randy

Brownell, Al Hunter, Dean Charbonneau, Matt Anatriello, Chris Maxon, Charlie

Koenig, Carl Vladyka.

HOBBY A MAIN: MIKE MARSCHE, Rob Muscanell, Jason Armer, Glen Evans, Mike

Ostrander, John Morris Jr., Jim Monroe, Bill McDonald, C.J. Brooks, Ken

Town, Don Daniels, Jeff Daubert, Dave Peretta, Jeff Davis, Adam Stoddard,

Smokin’ Joe, Ray Michaud, Dan Daniels, Jeff Assman, Mike Tholin.

HOBBY B MAIN: JASON ARMER, Smokin’ Joe, Jeff Davis, Adam Stoddard, Ken Town,

Ron Tollner, Joey Trudeau, Chris Reckner, Cecil Reynolds, David Peck, Gary

Michaud, Tony Condon, Todd Dunston.

FOUR-CYLINDER CRUISERS: PETE KNAPP, Bill Marshall, Jim Monroe Jr., Mike

Carmen, Dave Kennedy, Mitch Gaies, Ben Ladd, No. 21, Ken Crowe, Ed Mason,

Dave Campbell, Randy Rathbun.

SIX-CYLINDER CRUISERS: W. JOHN SMITH, Jeff Monroe, Chris Busta, Rick

Mrzyglod, Lucas MacIsaac, No. 67, No. 43, Randy Manhey, Dan Uber, Jon

Atwell, Ron Earfrato.