Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – MALTA, NY – As Dan Martin once told me after my first career Sportsman feature win at Lebanon Valley Speedway, the first one remains in the memory bank for a long time.
That’s sure to be the case for Big Block Modified driver Chris Hile who scored his first career Super DIRTcar Series win Tuesday evening at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
Hile had a very strong #5H Bicknell throughout the 71-lap Summer Starter at the ‘Great Race Place’ and showed everyone that his car was the one to beat on this night. He was able to take the lead from outside pole sitter Anthony Perrego on lap 41 and never looked back.
“This is pretty awesome,” Hile said. “Last year, we won the track championship at Brewerton Speedway but to win a Super DIRTcar Series race here at Albany-Saratoga is pretty cool.”
No matter how he got it done, or who he had to beat, the record books will show that Chris Hile is now a Super DIRTcar Series winner, and Hile himself will remember every single moment of the experience.
“This is our first Series race win so it’s pretty awesome,” he said. “It’ll be super memorable that’s for sure. This is something I’ll cherish forever.”
Hile may have been the man turning the wheel and throwing down the loud pedal. He may be the one who gets the spoils of the victory, but the Oswego, NY driver knows he didn’t do this alone on Tuesday evening.
“These people right here worked their tails off,” he said. “My mom, dad, my brother and my wife all sacrifice a lot for me to be right here and I truly couldn’t do it without them.”
They say success is where preparation meets opportunity and that’s exactly what happened Tuesday. Throw a little bit of luck, finally, in the direction of the Hile team and you have a career first Series win.
“We’ve had really good cars all year,” he said. “We just haven’t had a whole lot of luck. I think it all just seemed to culminate tonight for us into a winning result.”
From the moment the 5H machine was unloaded at Malta, it was fast. Hile was fastest in his group for hot laps, second fastest overall in time trials and was victorious in his heat. That set him up in the redraw where he pulled the number one spot.
“We had a decent draw and that got us up front in the feature,” he said. “We just had real good speed all night. I think we just built on it as we went and used that momentum. It’s pretty awesome to be in victory lane. That’s for sure.”
The night wasn’t without some nerve-racking moments for Hile as he began to throw sparks from the underside of his Lightning Management-sponsored mount with about ten laps remaining.
“I had no clue,” he said. “I was just trying to keep the car under me and the tires under me. I didn’t want to spin them. This place is pretty tough. It’s fast and it beats up on tires and equipment real hard.”
He just had to keep his head. To make it to victory lane, Chris Hile had to keep calm and seal the deal.
He did.
“We were just trying to play it safe and get to the end,” he said. “Thankfully, someone was riding along with me and got us here to the finish.”
Fortunately, Hile didn’t even realize there was an issue until after the event.
“The car didn’t show any signs of issue,” he said. “It obviously proved that this Bicknell hot rod was pretty stout tonight and we’re pretty excited to get our first tour win.”
Matty D, Matt DeLorenzo, was able to bring his BBL Companies #3D home in the runner-up spot after a spirited charge in the 71-lap main event from his sixth starting spot.
The defending Albany-Saratoga Speedway Modified Champion really seemed to have his car running good on the longer runs. He was up to third position when the caution flew for Justin Stone with just four laps remaining.
After the restart, DeLorenzo was able to get around second place runner Demetrios Drellos as the #111 began to falter due to a flat left front tire (he still managed to finish fifth).
In the end, DeLorenzo came home in second, but in his mind, did the last few cautions help or hurt him?
“I was rolling really well on the outside,” DeLorenzo said. “I went down to the bottom a couple of times and it didn’t feel that good. On one of the restarts, Demetrios got by me and I was just trying to hang on there for a little while.”
At that point, Matt was still trying to get back around Drellos but was trying not to overwork himself or his equipment.
“I was just trying to pace myself,” he said. “I can’t complain. I’m not use to these extra-distance longer races. I’m pretty beat. We’re weekend warriors right now and 35 laps around this place on a regular Friday night, I’m pretty tired. After this 71-lapper tonight, I might have to go to work a little late tomorrow.”
In his eyes, though, there was nobody that was going to stop Hile on this night.
“Chris was fast,” he said. “He was really good from the center of the corner off and I don’t think we had anything for him tonight. It was a fun race.”
DeLorenzo was still proud to put his race car in the top three in the feature event.
“The best of the best were here tonight,” he said. “To have two home track guys (himself and Adam Pierson in third) in the top three, we can’t complain about that.”
Third place finisher on the night was Adam Pierson. Pierson drew the third spot and that’s where he finished the event. However, after the redraw, he was hoping simply for a good finish and if he was lucky, maybe a top three or even a win.
“We actually had a good car right out of the gate,” Pierson said. “It took a little bit for the D400 Hoosier (hard compound tire) to come in especially on the bottom. From the beginning of the race, we were just pacing ourselves.”
Then, the Gage Lawn & Landscaping #215 came to life.
“When I started to feel the tire come in, we all began to dice up front,” he said. “Then, I got that run on Hile for a while as we started to get to the lap cars. That’s when I was like, alright; we’re going to get him but then a caution would come out.”
While he fell back to fourth at one point, Pierson was able to charge his way back to a podium finish at the end of the Summer Starter and seemed pleased with his night.
“We had a great car tonight,” he said. “I will take a third. This is better than it has been. To run with these guys, especially at our home track, I would have loved to win but we’ll take a third and go on from here.”