Friday August 1, 2025 Results
MALTA – There’s an old saying that states that the only sure things in life are death and taxes.
But it’s a pretty good bet that Peter Britten will win a big block modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
Britten showed off some of the moves that carried him to the modified track championship last season as he outdueled Justin Stone and Jessey Mueller to chalk up his first win of the season in the 35-lap modified feature at Malta Friday night.
Since 2014, Britten has won at least one feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in 12 of 13 seasons, with the only exception being the COVID 19-shortened season, when the track ran just 14 events. Britten became the ninth different big block winner at Malta this season in a feature that was dedicated to longtime car owner and mechanic Jerry Kearns, who suffered a fatal heart attack at Malta earlier this season.
The modified feature got off to an ugly start, marred by a multi-car tangle between the third and fourth turns before the first lap was completed.
Josh Masterson and Tommy D’Angelo made contact in the third turn, with D’Angelo getting sideways between turns three and four. Neil Stratton slid sideways into D’Angelo, and the rear end of his car jumped into the air, coming down on the door panel of Matt DeLorenzo’s car.
Once that incident was cleared up, it only took two laps for Mueller, who started third, to get the lead and to no one’s surprise, Mueller went right to the top of the freshly groomed track, which got a new coating of clay during the week.
As much as Mueller loves to run the top, so does Stone, who took over the No. 2 spot on lap nine. But on lap 17, Stone bounced through a hole in the second turn and Adam Pierson, who was right behind him, had to get out of the gas and go over the cushion to avoid a crash, bringing out a yellow flag.
When the field lined up for the restart, Britten, who had started ninth, and Marc Johnson, who started 15th, were sitting fourth and fifth, respectively, and suddenly, the attention was on them.
Britten moved past pole-sitter James Meehan into third in the second turn on lap 22 and when the leaders came out of the fourth turn, Mueller drifted too high and Stone ducked down, leading that lap.
Britten opted to run the bottom, while Mueller stayed on top and Britten rocketed into second coming out of the fourth turn on lap 26.
When Britten blasted by Stone coming out of the second turn on lap 32 to take the lead, Johnson followed him and the bottom proved to be the fastest way around the track, as Johnson came away with the runner-up finish when Stone bobbled in the fourth turn on the final lap.
Britten’s victory was worth $3,000 through sponsorship by Ron Mensing’s Native Pride program.
“I didn’t think I was good enough to get there, originally,” said Britten after the win. “The track was pretty tricky early, but the more we raced, the better I went. I was good on the bottom of one and two, but in three and four, it was hard to run anywhere.”
Mueller finished fourth, with Ronnie Johnson nipping Meehan at the finish line for fifth.
The fifth leg of the DiCarlo’s Auto Body 358 Shootout Series was also held, with Mike Mahaney making a late charge to get his second win of the series and take home the winner’s payday of $2,000.
Mahaney, who started 10th, missed some great racing between Felix Roy and DeLorenzo, who shared the front row. Roy led the first six laps, but DeLorenzo took advantage of a restart on lap seven and ducked inside of Roy coming out of the fourth turn on lap nine to get the lead. But just as quickly, Roy got a big run down the backstretch and was back in front to complete lap 10.
By that time, Mahaney had worked his way up to third and blew around DeLorenzo coming out of the fourth turn on lap 15 to take over second. When the leaders got into traffic, Roy moved up to avoid the slower car driven by Allan Hammond and Mahaney pounced, ducking to the bottom to pass Roy for the lead on lap 18.
Derrick McGrew Jr. ended a long winless streak by taking the checkered flag in the 25-lap sportsman feature. McGrew, who won his first open-wheel race at Albany-Saratoga in 2018, when he was 11 years old, hadn’t been to victory lane in the sportsman division since June 30, 2023.
McGrew, who started 17th, slowly worked his way to the front and went around Elliott Lussier to get the lead with two laps to go. Dylan Madsen finished second, getting by Lussier on the final lap.
Chris Stalker came away with his first win of the year in the 25-lap pro stock feature. Stalker, who was up with the lead group midway through the race, was in the right place at the right time late in the feature. When Jason Casey and Brandon Emigh were battling for the lead, they made contact in the fourth turn on lap 20, with Casey moving into the lead and Stalker following him into second. But Casey’s left front then began to go flat, allowing Stalker to move into the lead.
On the final lap, Emigh pulled off the track and Rich Crane hit debris on the track, damaging his car, and those two incidents allowed Kim Duell to cross the finish line second, with Pete Stefanski, who was involved in an incident that brought out a yellow flag on lap 18, finishing third.
Duell also picked up a $200 bonus for winning the Four States Enterprises Dash for Cash.
Adam Tranka made his way to victory lane in the 20-lap limited sportsman feature, his first career win at Malta in that division. After starting 14th, it took Tranka half of the feature before he began to put pressure on leader David Zelker, who started third. They ran side-by-side for a number of laps, with Zelker hugging the bottom, and Tranka got the lead for good on lap 13. Zelker crossed the finish line second, with Mike Baker third.
P.J. Cram Jr. drove to his seventh win of the season in the 20-lap street stock feature. Despite starting 14th in the 16-car field, Cram used some daring moves and a restart to break into the top five after just three laps and then made the move of the night. Cram (on the outside), leader Matt Mosher and Chris Murray went into the third turn three-wide, with Cram coming out of the fourth turn with the lead and that’s where he stayed.
Mosher outdueled Josh Hemming for the runner-up spot.
Adam Montville continued to dominate the four-cylinder division, recording his fifth win of the season. Ken Hollenbeck, making his first appearance of the season at Albany-Saratoga, finished fourth overall and was first in the single-cam division.
NEXT GENERATION ROOFING MODIFIEDS: PETER BRITTEN, Marc Johnson, Justin Stone, Jessey Mueller, Ronnie Johnson, James Meehan, Matt DeLorenzo, Kolby Schroder, Brian Calabrese, Jack Speshock, Jack Lehner, Adam Pierson, David Schilling, Derek Bornt, Brendan Darrah, Don Ronca, Mike Mahaney, Kris Vernold, Josh Masterson, Demetrios Drellos, Rich Ronca, CG Morey, Felix Roy, Brandon Daley, Neil Stratton, Tommy D’Angelo, Matt Depew.
DICARLO AUTO BODY 358 SHOOTOOUT SERIES: MIKE MAHANEY, Felix Roy, Matt DeLorenzo, Brendon Gibbons, Neil Stratton, David Schilling, Brian Calabrese, Connor Crane (subbing for Chris Curtis), Kevin Chaffee, Brian Whittemore, Andrew Buff, Mike Coffey Jr., Matt Woodruff, Erik Mack, Garrett Poland, Marty Kelly III, James Fadden, Todd Morey, Chase Zimmer, Dale Gray, Angelo DiCarlo, Allan Hammond, Joe Pravia, Bobby Hackel IV, Tanner Simons, Ronnie Johnson.
DOUG WHOLEY’S IDEAL EXCAVATING SPORTSMAN: DERRICK MCGREW JR., Dylan Madsen, Elliott Lussier, Joey Scarborough, Connor Crane, Jon Miller, Dave Baranowski, Michael Wagner-Fitzgerald, Chris Crane Jr., Tim Hartman Jr., Chad Gregory, Scott Bennett Jr., Nick Brundige, Craig Wholey, Zach Buff, Daryl Nutting, Michael Ballestero, Taylor Wason, Nick Lussier, Rocco Constantino, Alex Palmer-Sawyer, Chris Jakubiak, Brent Bouplon, Cody Ochs, Mike Benson, Jeff Washburn, Dakota Green, Dan Grignon, Drew Cormie, Owen Lewis.
SARATOGA MASONRY SUPPLY PRO STOCKS: CHRIS STALKER, Kim Duell, Pete Stefanski, Jimmy Duncan, Jason Casey, Scott Duell, Jaxson Ryan, Kyle Hoard, Dean Charbonneau, Shane Henderson, Pete Vila, Brandon Emigh, Rich Crane, Caden Dumblewski, Sid Harmer Jr., Jay Casey, Chucky Dumbkewski, Phil Difiglio, Jordan Modiano, Chris Wemple.
HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: ADAM TRANKA, Dave Zelker, Mike Baker, James Galarneau, Devon Palmer, Bodie Marks, William Lussier Jr., Alex Smith, Lucas Duncan, Jarron Maguire, Dan Odell, Kirsten Swartz, Sloan Cherko, Matt Humes, Jordan Hill, Cordell Younger, Nick Arnold, Scott Jennings, Justin Lazore, Zach Delaney, John Santolin, Will Palmer, Damon Anderson, Dan Seguin, Yule Cook, Alicia Franklin.
CORNELL’S AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: PJ CRAM JR., Matt Mosher, Josh Hemming, Chris Murray. Shane Wetherington, John Filarecki, Dave Cook, Andrew Fitzgerald, Fred Shippee, Jake Middleton, Mike Duggan Dan Madigan, Derek Van Veghten, Dana Van Veghten, Gary O’Brien, Mitchell Tucker Seguin.
GREG’S TOWING FOUR-CYLINDERS: ADAM MONTVILLE, Josh Ramsey, Kerrie Hollenbeck, Ken Hollenbeck (first single-cam finisher), David Mullineaux, Ben Ladd, Ashlynn Ramsey, Chris Danylieko, Josh Reome, Lindell Condon, Josh Ramsey Jt., Anthony Johnson, Daniel Joubert, David Labarge.
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