Hartman Uses Back-Up To Win Saratoga 602 Sportsman Nationals At Albany-Saratoga; Horning Takes $5K Pro Stock Classic

Story By: TOM BOGGIE / ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY – MALTA, NY – It’s a good thing Tim Hartman Jr. had a backup plan.

After losing the sportsman championship at Albany-Saratoga Speedway last week because of a blown rear end, Hartman Jr. didn’t take any chances when he again felt a vibration during warmups for the Saratoga 602 Super Nationals Friday night.

Hartman Jr. rolled out his backup car, and went on to win the 100-lap feature, taking home the top prize of $2,500.

Hartman Jr. bided his time during the first half of the race, took the lead away from Joey Scarborough coming out of the fourth turn on lap 52 and went on to record his fifth win of the year at the historic Malta track, getting a little relief after two straight DNFs that cost him his second straight sportsman championship.

“This is the backup car,” said Hartman Jr., pointing to the Parillo Services No. 22 that was undergoing a thorough tech inspection for the second week in a row. “We changed everything during the week (on his primary car) and we had the same vibration on the first lap of practice. So we just rolled the other car off the trailer. It’s a good car, obviously.”

It was good during time trials, when Hartman Jr. had the third fastest time overall, and he also won one of the fourth heat races. But once the 100-lapper started, Hartman Jr. took a cautious approach.

“The car wasn’t that good in the beginning,” he said. “I sacrificed a little bit in the first half of the race, but the car kept getting better and better.”

Daryl Nutting, looking for his second straight win, drew the pole and quickly got locked into a heated battle with Scarborough. Chad Edwards, making a rare appearance at the track in the Tommy Spencer-owned No. 37, soon joined the battle, and used a restart to take over the No. 2 spot on lap 29.

But Scarborough then moved to the top, and although the outside groove wasn’t as fast as it had been in recent weeks, Scarborough build up momentum, took the No. 2 spot back from Edwards, and then passed Nutting on lap 32 for the lead.

Hartman Jr., content to stay on the bottom, joined a six-car lead pack and got under Nutting on lap 47 for third. The next time around, he squeezed inside Edwards for second. On lap 52, Hartman Jr. and Scarborough were dead even at the flagstand, but Hartman Jr. then put the Parillo Services car out on the point on lap 52.

With the final 29 laps being run without a caution, Hartman Jr. was able to open up a little bit of a cushion, and once he got into lapped traffic, he seemed to have an advantage, using his home track knowledge to get around the lapped cars better than Edwards was.

Edwards’ bid for the No. 2 spot came to an end with 10 laps to go, when he went too high in the fourth turn, bounced off the outside wall and fell back to fourth. Andrew Buff took advantage of Edwards’ miscue to finish second. He was followed by Adam Pierson, Edwards and Nutting.

Hartman said he tried not to let his two straight DNFs bother him in the 100-lapper.

“You can’t get paranoid,” he said. “After 25 laps, I said, I’ve already gone farther than I did last week. In these races, you’ve just got to survive.”

Hartman Jr. wasn’t the only one who walked off with a big payday Friday. Luke Horning won the caution-plagued 50-lap Fall Pro Stock Classic, which paid $5,000 to win.
After pulling up on the front stretch after his win and taking off his safety gear, Horning walked gingerly around the car for an interview with announcer Mike Warren. Horning is still recovering from a broken foot he suffered when his car slammed into the fourth turn wall at Malta on Aug. 16.

“This is my biggest payday, so far,” said Horning. “Now I can pay for some of the bills I collected the last time I was here.”

Nick Stone and Brandon Gray, who shared the front row, battled up front early on, but Horning, who started seventh, was never far from the lead.

On a restart on lap 23, Stone slid up into Gray in the second turn, allowing Horning to duck to the inside and come out with the lead.

And that’s where he stayed, surviving restart after restart. The 50-lap feature was slowed by 16 yellow flags, and the only real question was whether flagger Rich Peterson’s arm would give out before the end of 50 laps.

At one point, it looked like Kim Duell might become a factor. After getting shuffled back from his fourth starting spot early in the race, he was back up to second with 10 laps to go, but Stone proved to be just a little better, and got around Duell on lap 45. Two late cautions put the field in a single-file restart with two to go, allowing Horning to easily beat Stone and Duell to the checkered flag.

Dan Grignon drove to his third win of the year in the 20-lap Haun Welding Limited sportsman feature. Grignon started fifth, rocketed into second following a restart on lap six and took the lead away from Scott Bennett two laps later.

Payton Talbot came from his 12th starting spot to follow Grignon across the finish line, giving Talbot his best finish of the season. Dylan Bokus moved another step closer to the division championship by finishing third.

Al Relyea drove to his seventh win of the season in the 15-lap Lake Auto Parts street stock feature, regaining the points lead in the process, and Jon Sheppard picked up his first win of the season in the 15-lap four-cylinder feature. Sheppard was driving a single-cam car, so the dual-cam division win went to Jim Bleau, who finished second overall. Robert Garney, also driving a single-cam entry, finished third.

Friday night featured the track’s 18th consecutive night of racing, tying the track record that was set in 2012, the first year that Howie Commander and Lyle DeVore took over the facility.

SPORTSMAN (100 laps): Tim Hartman Jr., Andrew Buff, Adam Pierson, Chad Edwards, Daryl Nutting, Connor Cleveland, Justin Buff, Mike Coffey Jr., Tony Ballestero, Marty Kelly III, Kale Groff, Pat Jones, Mike Ostrander, Scott Duell, Justin Severance, Mike Ballestero, Travis Bruno, Bucko Branham, Nick Lussier, Jim Osgood, Derrick McGrew Jr., Joey Scarborough, Dick Bisson, Derek Bornt, Michael Wagner Fitzgerald, Jack Speshock, Brian Calabrese, Jon Miller, Ron Proctor, Robert Bublak Jr.

PRO STOCKS (50 laps): Luke Horning, Nick Stone, Kim Duell, Jason Casey, Jason Meltz, Josh Coonradt, Rob Yetman, Jason Corbin, Brandon Emigh, Chuck Dumblewski, Devon Camenga, Mike White, Matt Roberts, Jay Casey, Burton Ward, Scott Towslee, Nick Arnold, Chris Crane, Ricky Duzlak, Brian Carter, Dan Madigan, Gary Silkey, Darrell Older, Jim Burton, Dave DePaulo, David Emigh, Tony Markou, Dan Older, Brandon Gray, Norm Loubier.

LIMITED SPORTSMAN: Dan Grignon, Payton Talbot, Dylan Bokus, Bryce Breault, David Boiscair, Travis Witbeck, Johnny Bruno, Scott Bennett, Dave Richer, Jared Powell, Bill August, Gerard LeClair, Montgomery Tremont, Shane Larman, Craig Wholey, Richard Holmes, Tyler Rapp.

STREET STOCKS: Al Relyea, Matt Mosher, Jimmy Duncan, Jeff Meltz Sr., John Filarecki, Josh Hemming, Mike Arnold, Adam Tranka, Curtis Condon, Janai St. Pierre, Tim McFarland, John Hayes, Mark Burch, David Cook.