CDRA ’25 Point Opener At Malta Brings Stout 55-Car Field & Great Win For Jakubiak
Story By: ROB HAZER / CAPITAL DISTRICT RACING ASSOCIATION – MALTA, NY – Albany-Saratoga Speedway hosted the 2025 JAM Performance CDRA Racing Series points championship opener presented by Elmo’s Speed Supply, as part of their Super DIRTcar Series 60th Season kickoff program where Ballston Spa, NY racer Chris Jakubiak was victorious taking home the Cordova Plumbing and Heating winners loot and the series point lead.
55 of the Capital Districts most talented Sportsman Modified racers met up at the Malta, NY great race place to slap clay and claim victory. After Tyler Rapp, Chris Jakubiak, Joey Scarborough, Jon Miller, and Bryce Breault won qualifying heats and Taylor Wason with Zach Buff won last chance qualifiers the field was set for the 25-lap Spring Shootout.
Chris Jakubiak wasted no time putting his CQC Painting 49 in the lead over Tyler Rapp’s Trinity Construction Inc. 2a. That left Bennington, VT racer Joey Scarborough with his Central Vermont Motorcycles 11vt to battle with Spencertown, NY racer Dylan Madsen, Malta, NY racer Jon Miller, and Queensbury, NY racer Bryce Breault for top five positions.
St-Denis-sur-Richelieu, QC racer and Airborne champion Donovan Lussier was making moves using the high side early to improve from his 7th starting position wheeling his Remorquage Boissonneault 61L battling with Albany, NY racer Jeff Washburn and his R. Bowles Heating | Plumbing 18 car.
By the 1/3 mark of the feature event, it was clear Jakubiak had a bad fast race rod. That didn’t stop Eagle Ridge, NY racer Mike Benson with his Sausville Benson Financial 33b from waging war through the field with a hard charging Glenville, NY racer Tim Hartman Jr. driving his Kick Fly’s Quality Hemp Products 22 Cyclone.
In the mid portion of the race there were multiple 3-car battles going on including one between Lussier, Miller’s Lazzaro Auto Body 12 car, and the Advanced Auto Parts 2b of Bryce Breault. All that action wasn’t slowing defending Albany-Saratoga champion Hartman Jr. from applying pressure.
Just as Jakubiak hit lap traffic, Rapp made contact with the inside retaining wall in turn one that resulted in a flat left front and a subsequent yellow flag on lap 14.
The restart didn’t treat some drivers well, as inadvertent contact between Canaan, CT racer Chris Crane Jr. and Ballston Spa, NY racer Dan Grignon resulted in a multicar accident that left Amsterdam, NY racer Zach Buff unhappy with a heavily damaged West End Towing & Repair 01 racecar.
In the closing laps Jakubiak ran away, while Lussier hounded Scarborough eventually taking over the runner up position. Hartman Jr. crossed the finish line 4th, with the Madsen Overhead Doors 89 of Dylan Madsen completed the top five.
Rounding out the top ten were Canaan, CT racer Connor Crane, Jon Miller, Voorheesville, NY racer Pat Jones, Rensselaer, NY racer Cody Ochs, and Bryce Breault.
NOTES:
The car count was healthy, crowd huge, and racing action packed. Canaan, VT racer Connor Crane drove his Crane’s Outdoor Power Equipment 711c impressively from 15th to 6th. Voorheesville, NY racer Pat Jones had a solid run from 18th to 8th. Finally, it’s rare a Sportsman Modified race in the Capital District doesn’t have a Tim Hartman Jr. mention. He made daring moves sometimes 3-deep to climb from 13th to 4th.
TITLE WATCH:
Defending CDRA champion Taylor Wason had to dig himself out of a hole, and did so respectively winning an LCQ with his Lenihan Paving 07w and finishing 14th by races end. All eyes are on Chris Jakubiak now, who sits atop the series standings after points paying race one. However, only 6 points separate the top five drivers.
UP NEXT FOR CDRA:
Focus shifts to Glen Ridge Motorsports Park for a DIRTcar Sportsman East Series event on Sunday June 1st that doubles as a CDRA points paying race dubbed Quarter Mile Mayhem.
