The 4th Turn: May 1, 2025
~ By Tom Boggie
Well, here’s something you don’t see all the time.
Last Friday, before the rain settled around Malta, Albany-Saratoga Speedway promoter Lyle DeVore hustled the program along and got four features in the books.
And in three of them, the winner was in victory lane for the first time in his career.
Felix Roy won the DiCarlo Auto Body 358 Series “Flying Farmer 31”, Pete Stefanski won the pro stock feature and Gary English Jr. picked up the win in a wild limited sportsman feature.
Let’s start with Stefanski. Talk about dedication. The distance from Stefanski’s home in North Tonawanda to Malta is about 280 miles one way, a four-and-a-half hour haul, give or take. He started showing up at Albany-Saratoga on a regular basis last season and although he’s been a threat every Friday night, he didn’t get his first win until last Friday.
But the 54-year-old is no stranger to success. Last season, he won the fifth DIRTcar Pro Stock Series championship of his illustrious career. That title was his first in a span of 15 years, and he earned it by beating Albany-Saratoga Speedway champion Beau Ballard by 15 points. He also sits at the top of the DIRTcar Pro Stock Series all-time win list with 28 victories.
In 2022, Stefanski was also voted one of the 50 greatest drivers all-time at Super DIRT Week.
He had four top-five finishes at Malta last year, including a pair of seconds, both times finishing behind Brandon Emigh.
He was helped by a heads-up start last Friday, leading from flag-to-flag and holding off a hard-charging Kyle Hoard by .138 seconds.
“This is a tough place to get around,” said Stefanski after the win. “I’ve had awful luck here, and it definitely helped to start up front.
“I don’t know if maybe I got too conservative for a while there. I was basically on cruise control. But when I heard him (Hoard), I knew I had to pick it up. I’m just glad to come out with a win.”
Then there’s Roy, the 20-year-old who was the DIRTcar 358 Series champion in 2023 and the big block modified series Rookie of the Year last season.
Roy also started on the pole. But he never got any time to relax. In the first half of the race, he had to battle with Mike Coffey Jr., who is running 358s this year, and following a caution on lap 17, he had to put up with a persistent Chris Curtis.
Then, to make matters worse, he nearly got taken out by a lapped car. Two laps from the end, Roy came rocketing out of the fourth turn on the inside and the lapped car of Jeffrey Reis picked that time to turn left and try to get into the infield. The two cars came together, but Roy gathered his car back in and went on to the win.
“Obviously, the pole made it easier for me,” said Roy. “I’ve done good here almost every time. I love this place. That’s why I decided to come here weekly.”
Last Friday marked just the 10th time Roy has raced at Albany-Saratoga. Like Stefanski, he makes a long haul, covering about 175 miles one way from his home in Napierville, Que., which is about 20 miles south of Montreal.
He must love autumn in Saratoga County, because he always excels at Malta Massive Weekend. In 2023, he finished seventh in the 358 race and second in the Super DIRTcar Series race, which was a tribute to the career of Kenny Tremont, and last year, ran second in the small block race and eighth in the SDS feature.
During the offseason, he brokered a deal with Elmo and Chris Reckner of Elmo’s Speed and Supply to have the Reckners maintain a big block for him, so he’ll be a regular at Malta throughout the 2025 season. All he has to do is drive down and climb into the car.
Actually, Felix wasn’t the one who got the deal in motion. It was his grandfather, who was picking up some parts the Roy racing team had purchased from Elmo’s. During the course of the conversation, Roy’s grandfather asked Elmo and Chris if they knew anyone who would put Felix in a car or who would be willing to maintain one for him. Funny how those things work.
Finally, we have Gary English Jr. He isn’t a Friday night regular at Malta. He’s hails from Vermont and does the bulk of his racing at Devil’s Bowl. He usually comes to Albany-Saratoga before Devil’s Bowl opens, getting his car ready for the Bowl. If I’m not mistaken, English has three career wins at the Bowl since jumping into a limited sportsman in 2020.
He was in the right place at the right time last Friday. Bodie Marks, a 13-year-old in his first season in an open-wheel car and who is being mentored by Ronnie Johnson, started on the pole and was dominating the feature until a caution on lap 13. James Galarneau, who had started third, used the restart to jump into second and then used a crossover move in the second turn to take the lead away from Marks.
As the two leaders came into the third turn, Marks got into the left side of Galarneau’s car, knocking him around, and Marks was then sent to the rear of the field by track officials for taking out the leader.
That gave the lead to Mike Block, with English Jr. now second, and he used the subsequent restart to get the lead.
Marks wound up 14th after the incident, while Galarneau went to the pits and was credited with a 17th place finish.
On Saturday, Marks put this post on his Facebook page: “With six to go, we got beat on a restart by the 9J and got back to him entering 3. I got underneath him and thought I would clear him, but the car pushed up the track and we made contact. Unfortunately ending his night and any chance we had, as I was sent to the rear for contact. I would like James to know I’m sorry for what happened. It wasn’t intentional.”
NOTES AND WHAT NOT
Talk about starting the season on a sour note. Limited sportsman driver John Santolin got into the fourth turn wall during warmups, climbed the wall and rolled his car over. “I got too wide in four and got sucked into the wall,” said Santolin.
DeVore has added the rained out modified feature from last week to Friday’s card. That will be the first event of the night. If the track’s heavy, keep an eye on Matt DeLorenzo, Demetrios Drellos and Jessey Mueller. They all love the outside.
Lebanon Valley rained out again last Saturday and will return to action this Saturday, with the big blocks making their debut and racing for $5,000 to win.
As good as Roy looked in his 358 last Friday, he struggled in his big block. He only finished sixth in his heat, which will put him deep in the pack for the remainder of Friday’s carried-over feature.
Oh, nuts. l almost forget to mention that Glen Ridge Motorsports Park kicks off its season Sunday, with all divisions in action.
The post The 4th Turn: May 1, 2025 appeared first on Albany-Saratoga Speedway.