Friday August 15, 2025 Results
MALTA – Mike Mahaney picked a perfect time to chalk up his first modified victory of the season Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
Mahaney used a wild move to come out on top of a battle for the lead with Brian Calabrese and Derek Bornt, and went on to win the Next Generation Roofing 35-lap modified feature, which paid $4,000 to win through sponsorship from John Ray and Sons.
Mahaney has two 358 Series victories at Albany-Saratoga under his belt this season, but until Friday night, had just two top-five finishes in 13 big-block modified starts.
“I made a huge mistake last week when I hit the wall,” said Mahaney after the victory. “It feels so good to put this car in victory lane. We’ve been working so hard, and just picking away, picking away.”
Although Mahaney started ninth on Friday night, he wasn’t part of the excitement until late in the feature.
Rich Ronca started on the pole and set a torrid pace for the first nine laps, before Billy Pauch Jr., making a rare appearance at Malta in the Palmer’s Service Center-sponsored No. 76, brought out the first caution on lap 10 when he suffered a flat right rear tire.
That put Brian Calabrese, who had started third, next to Ronca, and Calabrese tried a slide job in the second turn on the restart, but couldn’t make it stick.
The next time around, he made the same move in the second turn, made contact with Ronca’s car and came away with the lead going down the backstretch, with Bornt, who had started third, moving past Ronca for second.
When Brendan Darrah brought out the second caution on lap 12, when he went off the track between the third and fourth turns, Mahaney used the restart to move into fourth. Mahaney, who was running the top, ducked inside Ronca to take over third on lap 13 and both Mahaney and Bornt were soon giving Calabrese fits as he tried to hold onto his lead.
Bornt was hugging the bottom, with both Calabrese and Mahaney running the top, and they were never more than two car lengths apart, keeping the fans on the edge of their seats.
Mahaney then made what proved to be the winning move on lap 28. He moved down a lane in the third turn, getting into the middle and poking his nose past Bornt. Heading into the fourth turn, he maintained his middle line, forcing Calabrese to move up a little further, and when Calabrese bounced off the cushion, Mahaney came out of the fourth turn with the lead.
“I thought I cleared him,” said Mahaney of the move inside Calabrese. “I didn’t feel any contact. It was definitely a risky move. I thought he saw me in the corner, and would try to cross me over, but when I didn’t feel any contact, I just drove off.”
The excitement wasn’t over yet. On lap 32, Calabrese and Felix Roy were racing for fourth when Roy jumped the cushion in turn one, going up on his right-side wheels, almost to a 90-degree angle, before slamming back down, bringing out another caution.
After that restart, Calabrese caught the right rear tire of Don Ronca’s car coming out of the fourth turn, sending Calabrese into the wall, and as he slid down the front straightaway, he collected Demetrios Drellos, who had to hit the brakes to avoid heavy contract.
On the subsequent restart, Matt DeLorenzo, who had been running third, went off the backstretch with a flat left front. That caution allowed Justin Stone, who had started 14th, to take over the No. 2 position, behind Mahaney, and that’s where he finished.
Neil Stratton finished third, with Marc Johnson fourth and Jack Lehner fifth.
Taylor Wason recorded his first win of the season in the 25-lap Greg’s Towing Sportsman Special, which featured bonus money from Greg Davis of Greg’s Towing. Wason started third, rocketed past the front- row starters of Dan Grignon and Jeff Washburn on the first lap and led all 25 laps to get the victory.
Tim Hartman Jr. was the big story of the race, as he rode the outside and used a restart on lap 15 to move into the top five after starting 14th. Hartman Jr. finally made his way around Grignon to take over second with four laps to go, but by that time, Wason was long gone. Mike Benson finished third.
The Greg’s Towing $100 bonuses went to Grignon, who finished fifth; Michael Wagner-Fitzgerald (10th-place finisher), Dave Baranowski (15th), Alex Palmer-Sawyer (20th), Scott Bennett Jr. (25th) and Hartman Jr. ($50 for the hard charger). Hartman Jr. also won the Four States Enterprises Dash for Cash, which was worth $200.
Kim Duell got one step closer to regaining the title as the winningest pro stock driver in the history of Albany-Saratoga by notching his second straight win in the 25-lap pro stock feature. The victory was the 32nd of Duell’s career, moving him to within one of Rob Yetman, who heads the all-time win list with 33.
Duell and Rich Crane waged a great side-by-side battle for the number two spot, behind leader Brandon Emigh, midway through the 25-lap feature. Duell got under Crane for second following a restart on lap seven, Crane switched to the top and snatched the No. 2 spot back the next time around, but Crane then drifted a little too high in the fourth turn, putting Duell back in the second position.
Duell then began running in Emigh’s tire tracks and on lap 19, Emigh left just a sliver of room open on the inside of the fourth and Duell elbowed his way through, taking the lead for good.
Crane got up for second, with Emigh third.
Jordan Hill came away with her first win of the season and second career victory in the 20-lap limited sportsman feature. Hill started third and took the lead away from pole-sitter Cordell Younger on lap six. A caution on lap 17 bunched the field, but a second quick yellow on the restart created a single-file restart, allowing Hill to hold off Younger for the win. Points leader Bodie Marks finished third to pad his lead in the championship race.
Younger was disqualified after the feature, moving Marks up to second and Yule Cook into third.
“We’ve been struggling with the car all year,” said Hill in victory lane. “We had a game plan tonight, and I executed it well.”
PJ Cram Jr. continued to dominate the street stock division, chalking up his eighth victory of the season in the 20-lap feature, which paid $500 to win through sponsorship from Ghent Wood Products, Cram started 13th, but was up to fifth after just two laps and took the lead for good on lap seven. Andrew Fitzgerald and Derek Van Veghten completed the podium.
The Capital Region Sprint Association made its first appearance at Albany-Saratoga in two years, with Dillon Paddock coming away with an impressive victory.
The complexion of the 25-lap feature changed drastically on lap 16. When a caution came out, Billy Van Inwegen Jr. had the lead, with Chad Miller second and Zach Sobotka third.
But when the green flew again, Paddock, who lined up eighth for the restart, jumped to the top, rocketed down the backstretch and drove down the middle between Van Inwegen and Sobotka to snatch the lead coming out of the fourth turn.
Paddock and Sobotka threw sliders at each other during the final five laps, but Paddock hung on for the win, with Sobotka second and former Albany-Saratoga modified competitor Jeff Trombley third.
NEXT GENERATION ROOFING MODIFIEDS: MIKE MAHANEY, Justin Stone, Neil Stratton, Marc Johnson, Jack Lehner, Derek Bornt, Demetrios Drellos, Don Ronca, Peter Britten, Jeremy Pitts, David Schilling, Jessey Mueller, Ronnie Johnson, Rich Ronca, Josh Masterson, CG Morey, Jack Speshock, Billy Pauch Jr., Adam Pierson, Matt DeLorenzo, Tommy D’Angelo, Felix Roy, Dylan Grogan, Brian Calabrese, James Meehan, Brendan Darrah, Brandon Daley, Chris Bisson, Max McLaughlin, Matt Depew, Kolby Schroder (DQ).
DOUG WHOLEY’S IDEAL EXCAVATING/GREG’S TOWING SPORTSMAN SPECIAL: TAYLOR WASON, Tim Hartman Jr., Mike Benson, Zach Buff, Dan Grignon, Jeff Washburn, Nick Brundige, Chris Jakubiak, Connor Crane, Michael Wagner-Fitzgerald, Drew Cormie, Joey Scarborough, Chris Crane Jr., Cody Ochs, Dave Baranowski Jr., Jon Miller, Chad Gregory, Dylan Madsen, Elliot Lussier, Alex Palmer-Sawyer, Tanner Coon, Nick Lussier, EJ Gallup, Derrick McGrew Jr., Scott Bennett Jr., Daryl Nutting.
SARATOGA MASONRY SUPPLY PRO STOCKS: KIM DUELL, Rich Crane, Brandon Emigh, Shane Henderson, Jason Casey, Pete Stefanski, PJ Cram, Caden Dumblewski, Jay Casey, Jimmy Duncan, Kyle Hoard, Jordan Modiano, Phil Difiglio, Chris Stalker, Dean Charbonneau,
HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: JORDAN HILL, Bodie Marks, Yule Cook, Nick Arnold, Adam Tranka, Matt Humes, Alex Smith, William Lussier Jr., Dave Zelker, Lucas Duncan, Dan Sequin, James Galarneau, Sloan Cherko, Devon Palmer, Mike Baker, Colten Emigh, John Santolin, Derrik Emigh, Damon Anderson, Dylan Shippee, Sarah Arnold, Will Palmer, Zach Delaney, Noah Carlo, Cordell Younger (DQ).
CORNELL AUTO PARTS STREET STOCKS: PJ CRAM JR., Andrew Fitzgerald, Derek Van Veghten, Dan Madigan, Matt Mosher, Shane Wetherington, Chris Murray, Dave Cook, Josh Hemming, Mark Burch, Mike Duggan, Fred Shippee, Dana Van Veghten, Robert Garney, Derek LaChapelle.
CRSA SPRINTS: DILLON PADDOCK, Zach Sobotka, Jeff Trombley, Billy Inwegen Jr., Chad Miller, Alysha Bay, Scott Landers, Bailey Boyd, Vince Chicklets, Keith Granholm, Spencer Burley, Timmy Lotz, Tyler Chartrand, Jordan Hutton, Johnny Scarborough, Dalton Herrick, Steve Glover, Jerry Sehn Jr., Matt Rotz, Mark Taylor, Dustin Sehn, Aaron Shelton, Fred Proctor, Ron Greek, Darryl Ruggles.
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