Story By: TOM BOGGIE / ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY – MALTA, NY – The DIRTcar Sportsman and Pro Stocks were competing for sponsored-inflated purses during the Don Davies Memorial NY Modified 76 Tuesday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
A total of 56 sportsman signed into the pits, necessitating two features, while the pro stocks had a solid field of 20 cars.
Tim Hartman Jr. and Chris Crane Jr. won the 26-lap sportsman features, which each paid $1,046 to win through sponsorship from Cordova Plumbing, and Beau Ballard drove to his second win of the season in the 23-lap pro stock feature, which also paid $1,046 to win, through sponsorship from Greenacres Landscaping.
All three divisions also had a whale of bonus money put up by Albany-Saratoga’s loyal family of corporate sponsors, making the Don Davies Memorial 76 one of the most lucrative events in the history of the speedway.
Hartman Jr. started third in the first sportsman feature, but it took him a total of 19 laps to get the lead away from Craig Wholey, who had to settle for second,
“It was an advantage to be running third, because I could experiment a bit, and I found the top before anyone else did,” Hartman Jr. said.
Crane Jr., who won the limited sportsman championship at Malta in 2022 before moving up the open sportsman division, started on the pole and led all 23 laps to record the first sportsman win of his career.
Dylan Madsen, who started fourth, finally took the No. 2 spot on lap 17, but was only a spectator as Crane Jr. crossed the finish line with room to spare. Invader Richard Murtagh finished third, after running in the lead pack all night.
Ballard started on the pole, lost the lead to Rob Yetman early in the race, and then regained the lead for good on a restart on lap 15. Devon Camenga, who started on the outside pole, crossed the finish line second, with Luke Horning grabbing the final podium position.
SPORTSMAN FEATURE NO. 1: TIM HARTMAN JR., Craig Wholey, Taylor Wason, Travis Witbeck, Peyton Talbot, Cody Ochs, Drew Cormie, Bryce Breault, Dom Roselli Jr., Brendon Gibbons, Elliot Lussier, Dave Baranowski Jr., Scott Duell, Jeff Washburn, Brian Chaffee, Tavien Blowers, Tanner Coon, Mike Arnold, Dylan Grogan, Michael Wagner Fitzgerald, Mike Ballestero, Tyler Bobar, Jim Nagle, Dan Grignon, Joey Bruning, Ron Delease Jr., Tyler Rapp.
SPORTSMAN FEATURE NO. 2: CHRIS CRANE JR., Dylan Madsen, Richard Murtagh, Max Doliver, Joey Scarborough, Mike Coffey Jr., Cody Bleau, Connor Crane, Travis Green, Jon Miller, Chris Jakubiak, Tanner Warner, Derrick McGrew Jr., Tyler Stevenson, Mike Benson, Chad Gregory, Kadon Hohensheldt, Ashton Pierson, Zach Buff, Josh Coonradt, Dan Jalbert, Alex Palmer-Sawyer, Mike Engwer, John Dumond, Dakota Green, Matt Perry, Pat Jones, Nick Brundige.
PRO STOCKS: BEAU BALLARD, Devon Camenga, Luke Horning, Caden Dumblewski, Slater Baker, Brandon Emigh, Jason Casey, Chucky Dumblewski, Shane Henderson, Shawn Perez Jr., Dean Charbonneau, Kyle Hoard, Chuck McSpirit, Kim Duell, Denis Gavreau, Mike Baker, Phil Defiglio, Rob Yetman, Johnny Rivers, Doug Sheely.