RPW Exclusive: New Albany-Saratoga Mod Champ Demetrios Drellos Had A Wide Range Of Emotions Friday Night

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Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – MALTA, NY – Nothing says “oh crap” like blowing a tire six laps from the finish with a point championship on the line.

Your closest competitor just passed you on track and now you have to restart at the tail of the field.

That’s exactly the uphill climb Demetrios Drellos had to endure if he wanted to capture his first DIRTcar Big Block Modified Championship at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

He did it.

“I personally thought I was done when we got the flat,” Drellos said.  “After that, I gave it everything I had to try and get back as many spots as I could.  We ‘hail marry’d’ it.”

Matt DeLorenzo, the defending champion, was Drellos’ closest adversary heading into the final night of points, and was only 23 points back.  Early in the event, though, the driver of the #3D had troubles, spinning off the backstretch.

He was forced to restart from the rear of the field but had practically the entire race to get back to the front.

“I never have nor would I wish bad luck on anyone,” he said.  “However, when I saw Matt go off the track early, I’ll be honest, I probably did take it too easy.”

All Drellos wanted was a clean race and hopefully, after 35 laps, everything would fall in his favor and culminate with a championship.

Then, things took a bit of a turn on lap 26 when he saw MattyD power to the inside of him to gain the position number seven.  That’s when Drellos knew he had to keep DeLorenzo in his sights.

“When Matt got around me, I knew what I had to do,” he said.  “I kicked my pace back up.  I knew I needed to stay with him.”

Three laps later, Drellos’ right rear Hoosier exploded.

“I truly believe I hit some debris going into turn 1,” he said.  “I thought I was done for, but my team never gives up and neither do I.”

After restarting from the tail, Drellos drove with reckless abandon, passing multiple cars a lap in the hopes he could get as close as possible to DeLorenzo, and it worked.

When the race was completed, Marc Johnson stood in victory lane, DeLorenzo was third and the #111 crossed the line in 11th.  That was a difference of eight positions, and equaled 16 points.

Drellos captured the title by seven points at a track he’s been going to since he was a youngster.

“It’s truly amazing,” he said.  “Albany-Saratoga’s the place I’ve been to the most.  I sat in the stands most Friday nights with my dad when I was a kid.  I truly never thought we could have made this actually happen.  It’s truly incredible.”

Now, Drellos’ focus at ‘The Great Race Place’ sits squarely on the Malta Massive Weekend featuring the Super DIRTcar Series.  Not only will he enter that event as the track champ but he’s also a past winner of the race.

Does he feel like he’s got momentum on his side?

“It truly feels good being so strong all year at Malta,” he said.  “Now, we have a big special to close out the season.  Knowing we’ve been running the best we ever have has my entire team pumped up right now,”

 
 
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