Friday June 20, 2025 Results
MALTA – Just when you thought Don Ronca didn’t have any more tricks up his sleeve, he pulled out another one Friday night.
The 66-year-old Ronca, a two-time modified champion at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, used conditions that perfectly suited his racing style to pull off a huge upset in the 35-lap Next Generation Roofing modified feature at the historic Malta track.
In recent years, a dry slick track, combined with a good starting spot and a long green flag run, has been the recipe for success for Ronca. He did it last year, recording his only win of the season on June 14, and did it again on Friday night, one year and one week apart.
After starting fifth, Ronca was little more than a spectator early in the race. Pole-sitter Kris Vernold jumped out to a quick lead, but after two straight cautions on lap two disrupted the beginning of the feature, Josh Masterson caught Vernold and they began racing side-by-side.
Neil Stratton, who had started ninth, had one of the fastest cars on the track and joined the battle for the lead on lap 11.
But at that time, Ronca made a decision to move to the top, and got past Stratton for third coming out of the fourth turn on lap 15. Keeping his momentum up on the outside, he made quick work of both Masterson and Vernold and grabbed the lead for good coming out of turn two on lap 17.
He quickly opened up a comfortable lead, and although he had a little problem when he caught the rear of the field, where he found James Meehan and Tommy D’Angelo racing side-by-side, he never slowed enough to let Stratton get within striking distance and went on to record his 15th career win at Malta.
Remember those two cautions on lap two? The remainder of the feature was all green.
“It’s been a tough year, so far,” said Ronca after the race. “On practice night, I ended up on my roof. Actually, the car has been good all year, but I’ve had nothing to show for it.”
With Ronca out to a big lead, the attention went back to the battle for second, where Jessey Mueller was putting heavy pressure on Stratton. Mueller, who had started seventh, tried to get by Stratton on the inside on lap 33, but couldn’t make the move stick. The next time around, he charged by Stratton to finish in the No. 2 position.
He admitted after the race that he thought that pass was for the lead.
“I looked up at the lap counter and saw it was 32 in, and thought, it was now or never,” he said. “So I just blew it in and when I got by him, I thought it was for the lead.”
Stratton crossed the finish line third, with Todd Ryan, who came out of retirement last year for a couple more seasons of racing, was fourth, his first top-five finish of the year. Masterson completed the top five.
The DiCarlo Auto Body 358 Shootout Series was the co-feature on the card, and Mike Mahaney led flag-to-flag to record his first small block modified win of the season at Albany-Saratoga, with David Schilling second and Ronnie Johnson third.
Early in the race, it looked like Johnson, who was flying around the top, was going to be a serious contender, but a yellow flag on lap seven broke his rhythm, and he was never a threat again. Felix Roy, who had won the first two legs of the DiCarlo Series, finished fourth.
Tim Hartman Jr., the defending champion in the sportsman division, picked up his first win of the season in the 25-lap feature Friday night, taking home $1,060 through sponsorship from Emerick Associates.
Hartman started 10th and took the lead away from pole-sitter Dan Grignon coming out of the fourth turn to complete lap 19 and six laps later, Hartman Jr. chalked up his 46th career win at Malta.
Connor Crane finished second, with Grignon third. The sportsman results are unofficial, however, because a protect was filed concerning the legality of Hartman’s motor.
Pete Stefanski, who had never won a race at Albany-Saratoga until this year, chalked up his fourth win of the campaign and regained the points lead in the progress in the 25-lap pro stock feature. Stefanski , who started eighth and earned $1,060 for the win through sponsorship from Benson’s Pet Center, held off Chris Stalker in a green-white-checkers finish, with Shane Henderson completing the podium. Stalker earned a $200 bonus by winning the Four States Enterprises Dash for Cash.
Dan Odell recorded the first win of his career in the 20-lap limited sportsman feature. Odell started on the pole and led all 20 laps, and looked to be on his way to a very easy win when the caution flew on lap 18, bunching the field and putting Nick Arnold right next to the leader. But Odell got a great restart, and beat Arnold and Adam Tranka to the finish line.
“I saw Nick on the restart, and knew he was fast,” said Odell, who debuted a brand-new chassis Friday night. “I just hoped I could get a good restart, and stay in front of him.”
PJ Cram pulled off an improbable win in the 20-lap street stock feature. Cram had started deep in the field and wasn’t even close enough to watch a great battle between Mark Burch and Matt Mosher, who were running side-by-side for the lead and trading paint on almost every lap.
But a caution on lap 17 changed everything. Cram was sitting third, and when Mosher left the bottom open, Cram hit the opening and came away with the lead on lap 18, and went on to his third win of the year, with Mosher second and Burch third.
The four-cylinders were also on Friday night’s card, with Adam Montville leading flag-to-flag to win the 15-lap feature. Kyle Lanfear, making his first appearance of the season at the speedway, came from deep in the field to finish fourth overall and first in the single-cam division.
NEXT GENERATION ROOFING MODIFIEDS: DON RONCA, Jessey Mueller, Neil Stratton, Todd Ryan, Josh Masterson, Ronnie Johnson, Mike Mahaney, Jack Speshock, Kris Vernold, Marc Johnson, Rich Ronca, Justin Stone, David Schilling, Adam Pierson, Felix Roy, Rich Scagliotta, Matt DeLorenzo, Brendan Darrah, Kolby Schroder, Brian Calabrese, Peter Britten, James Meehan, Tommy D’Angelo, Jeremy Pitts, Derek Bornt, Matt Depew, CG Morey, Robert Bublak, Jack Lehner, Chris Curtis, Allen Hammond.
DICARLO AUTO BODY 358 SHOOTOUT SERIES: MIKE MAHANEY, David Schilling, Ronnie Johnson, Felix Roy, Neil Stratton, Ryan Dolbear, Matt DeLorenzo, Chris Curtis, Garrett Poland, James Fadden, Mike Coffey Jr., Peter Britten, Brendan Gibbons, Eric Mack, Dale Gray, Andrew Buff, Allen Hammond, Brian Whittemore, Walter J. Hammond, Angelo DiCarlo. Robert Bublak, Walter Hammond Jr., Joe Pravia, Todd Morey.
DOUG WHOLEY’S IDEAL EXCAVATING SPORTSMAN (results unofficial pending tech): TIM HARTMAN JR., Connor Crane, Dan Grignon, Michael Ballestero, Mike Benson, Jon Miller, Taylor Wason, Scott Bennett Jr., Chris Jakubiak, Joey Scarborough, Jeff Washburn, Cody Ochs, Jeff Watson (subbing for Elliot Lussier), Craig Wholey, Michael Wagner-Fitzgerald, Chris Crane Jr., Owen Lewis, Scott Towslee, Tanner Coon, Zach Buff, Daryl Nutting, Dylan Madsen, Nick Brundige, Derrick McGrew Jr., Drew Cormie, Alex Palmer-Sawyer, Chad Gregory, Dave Baranowski, Ron Proctor, Bill August.
SARATOGA MASONRY SUPPLY PRO STOCKS: PETE STEFANSKI, Chris Stalker, Shane Henderson, Rich Crane, Brandon Emigh, Kyle Hoard, Jason Casey, Chucky Dumblewski, Jaxson Ryan, Dean Charbonneau, Jimmy Duncan, Jordan Modiano, Kim Duell, Pete Vila, Caden Dumblewski, Jay Casey, Mike Baker.
HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: DAN ODELL, Nick Arnold, Adam Tranka, Jordan Hill, Mike Baker, Lucas Duncan, Steve Burch, Bodie Marks, Cordell Younger, James Galarneau, Jarron Maguire, Alex Smith, Dan Seguin, Sloan Cherko, Colton Emigh, Devon Palmer, Damon Anderson, Sarah Arnold, Mike Block Sr., Noah Carlo.
CORNELL AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: PJ CRAM JR., Matt Mosher, Mark Burch, Andrew Fitzgerald, Josh Hemming, John Filarecki, Dana Van Veghten, Dan Buell, Chris Murray, Jake Middleton, Dave Cook, Tim McFarland, Damian Ward, Derek Van Veghten, Dom Denue, Jason Barrett.
GREG’S TOWING FOUR-CYLINDERS: ADAM MONTVILLE, Josh Reome, Josh Ramsey, Kyle Lanfear (first single-cam finisher), David Frame, John Mason, Chris Duffney Jr., Ashlynn Ramsey, Ben Ladd, Chris Charbonneau, Lindell Condon, Chris Danylieko, Jack Kennedy, Josh Ramsey Jr., Daniel Joubert, Taylormarie Reome, Tyler LaBarge.
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