LJ Lombardo Opens Albany-Saratoga’s 60th Season With Super DIRTcar Series Win

Story By: MIKE WARREN / SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES – MALTA, NY – On a night celebrating Albany-Saratoga Speedway’s diamond anniversary, L.J. Lombardo created his own memorable moment.

After losing the lead on the opening lap, the Danbury, CT driver thundered past Alex Yankowski on Lap 32 and held on to win Friday’s 60th Anniversary Celebration—his second Super DIRTcar Series victory.

Lombardo, the SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel Pole Award winner, led the field to the green in the 60-lap Feature. However, that was short-lived. Before he could complete Lap 1, Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals champion Alex Yankowski powered around Lombardo on the outside to take the lead.

As Yankowski pulled away, it wasn’t long before Lombardo was in a battle with Tim Sears Jr. and Mike Mahaney. The three drivers traded positions throughout the first 15 laps until Yankowski caught the tail of the field. That’s when Lombardo closed a full-straightaway lead to three car lengths, looking for the right moment to pass “Kid Rocket.”

But as Lombardo tried going around Neil Stratton, a lap car, the two made contact in Turns 3 and 4, sending Stratton around to bring out the race’s only yellow flag. That Lap 30 caution was also the opportunity Lombardo needed to win the race.

When the Feature resumed, Yankowski chose the inside line, giving Lombardo the top. Lombardo fell back by three car lengths on the restart and was three-wide with Mahaney and Sears as they raced into Turn 1. But that’s when he found momentum, powering past both drivers to re-take second.

Then, Lombardo set his sights on Yankowski again, pulling even with him through Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 31. Yankowski barely led the lap by a bumper, and by the time they exited Turn 2 on Lap 32, Lombardo’s momentum carried his No. 35 past Yankowski and into the lead.

“When he got that large lead, I thought our race was done,” Lombardo said. “When I caught him before the caution, I started to reel him in, and I was like, maybe I have a shot at this. When he chose the bottom, I knew I had one shot at beating the top down because I knew if he saw my nose, he would’ve slid up going into three and blocked me.”

From there, Lombardo stayed consistent on the outside lane through the final 28 laps, holding off Yankowski to score his first Big Block Modified Feature win at “The Great Race Place,” a victory worth $7,500.

It’s his first Series win since 2022, a triumph he credited to how well his car stayed together.

“I have such a great group of guys that build these cars,” Lombardo said. “It goes to show the amount of effort we put into the car. I beat the shit out of this thing on the top, and for it not to break goes to show a lot. I blew the mud cover off, I dented the whole door in. Easiest way to put it is I beat the death out of it.”

UP NEXT: The Super DIRTcar Series returns to Georgetown Speedway in Georgetown, DE, for the Delaware Diamond 75 on Tuesday, May 13. It’s the first stop at the Delaware facility since 2008.

60th Anniversary Special (60 Laps): 1. 35L-LJ Lombardo[1]; 2. 66-Alex Yankowski[2]; 3. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[3]; 4. 35-Mike Mahaney[5]; 5. 25-Erick Rudolph[12]; 6. 88-Mat Williamson[4]; 7. 9S-Matt Sheppard[10]; 8. 3D-Matt Delorenzo[9]; 9. 4-Anthony Perrego[20]; 10. 15X-Justin Stone[11]; 11. 3J-Marc Johnson[6]; 12. 19-Tim Fuller[13]; 13. 91-Felix Roy[16]; 14. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[15]; 15. 2-Jack Lehner[14]; 16. 70A-Alex Payne[17]; 17. 28-Michael Trautschold[25]; 18. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[19]; 19. 12-Darren Smith[22]; 20. 08-Jack Speshock[24]; 21. 21M-Bob Mcgannon[8]; 22. 99L-Larry Wight[26]; 23. (DNF) 215-Adam Pierson[7]; 24. (DNF) 87-Neil Stratton[23]; 25. (DNF) 91D-Billy Decker[21]; 26. (DNF) 14-CG Morey[28]; 27. (DNF) 27JR-Daniel Johnson[27]; 28. (DNF) 21A-Peter Britten[18]

Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps): 1. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[2]; 2. 91D-Billy Decker[4]; 3. 87-Neil Stratton[16]; 4. 28-Michael Trautschold[3]; 5. 17-Marcus Dinkins[1]; 6. 32C-James Meehan[12]; 7. 6-Matt Stangle[10]; 8. 435-Chris Bisson[8]; 9. 7-Donald Ronca[11]; 10. 18-Ryan Macartney[17]; 11. 21C-Brian Calabrese[9]; 12. 22E-Mike Engwer[13]; 13. 27JR-Daniel Johnson[6]; 14. 97K-Kris Vernold[7]; 15. 44-Brandon Daley[14]; 16. 27-Jeremy Pitts[5]; 17. (DNS) 88T-Tyler Jashembowski

Last Chance Showdown 2 (10 Laps): 1. 4-Anthony Perrego[1]; 2. 12-Darren Smith[4]; 3. 08-Jack Speshock[5]; 4. 99-Kolby Schroder[2]; 5. 7Z-Zachary Payne[3]; 6. 15-Todd Root[6]; 7. 8-Rich Scagliotta[7]; 8. 14-CG Morey[8]; 9. 30-Nicholas Root[13]; 10. 20-David Schilling[10]; 11. 1-Richard Ronca[11]; 12. 99L-Larry Wight[14]; 13. 23C-Tom D’Angello[16]; 14. (DNF) 11X-Josh Masterson[12]; 15. (DNS) 14B-Brendan Darrah; 16. (DNS) 111-Demetrios Drellos

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 35L-LJ Lombardo[1]; 2. 215-Adam Pierson[2]; 3. 19-Tim Fuller[4]; 4. 17-Marcus Dinkins[6]; 5. 91D-Billy Decker[8]; 6. 97K-Kris Vernold[3]; 7. 6-Matt Stangle[7]; 8. 22E-Mike Engwer[9]; 9. 87-Neil Stratton[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 35-Mike Mahaney[3]; 2. 21M-Bob Mcgannon[1]; 3. 2-Jack Lehner[2]; 4. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson[4]; 5. 27-Jeremy Pitts[7]; 6. 435-Chris Bisson[5]; 7. 7-Donald Ronca[8]; 8. 44-Brandon Daley[6]; 9. 18-Ryan Macartney[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3J-Marc Johnson[1]; 2. 3D-Matt Delorenzo[2]; 3. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[5]; 4. 28-Michael Trautschold[7]; 5. 27JR-Daniel Johnson[6]; 6. 21C-Brian Calabrese[8]; 7. 32C-James Meehan[3]; 8. (DNF) 88T-Tyler Jashembowski[4]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[1]; 2. 9S-Matt Sheppard[3]; 3. 91-Felix Roy[2]; 4. 4-Anthony Perrego[5]; 5. 12-Darren Smith[4]; 6. 8-Rich Scagliotta[9]; 7. 20-David Schilling[6]; 8. 30-Nicholas Root[8]; 9. 23C-Tom D’Angello[7]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 66-Alex Yankowski[1]; 2. 15X-Justin Stone[2]; 3. 70A-Alex Payne[5]; 4. 99-Kolby Schroder[6]; 5. 08-Jack Speshock[3]; 6. 14-CG Morey[7]; 7. 1-Richard Ronca[8]; 8. (DNF) 99L-Larry Wight[4]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Mat Williamson[1]; 2. 25-Erick Rudolph[3]; 3. 21A-Peter Britten[4]; 4. 7Z-Zachary Payne[5]; 5. 15-Todd Root[7]; 6. 111-Demetrios Drellos[2]; 7. 11X-Josh Masterson[8]; 8. 14B-Brendan Darrah[6]

Group A Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 35L-LJ Lombardo, 00:15.854[22]; 2. 21M-Bob Mcgannon, 00:15.883[8]; 3. 3J-Marc Johnson, 00:15.901[10]; 4. 215-Adam Pierson, 00:15.921[2]; 5. 2-Jack Lehner, 00:15.981[16]; 6. 3D-Matt Delorenzo, 00:15.987[24]; 7. 97K-Kris Vernold, 00:15.998[7]; 8. 35-Mike Mahaney, 00:16.041[25]; 9. 32C-James Meehan, 00:16.045[4]; 10. 19-Tim Fuller, 00:16.045[23]; 11. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson, 00:16.062[5]; 12. 88T-Tyler Jashembowski, 00:16.086[6]; 13. 87-Neil Stratton, 00:16.086[13]; 14. 435-Chris Bisson, 00:16.095[17]; 15. 98H-Jimmy Phelps, 00:16.096[1]; 16. 17-Marcus Dinkins, 00:16.124[9]; 17. 44-Brandon Daley, 00:16.146[3]; 18. 27JR-Daniel Johnson, 00:16.165[14]; 19. 6-Matt Stangle, 00:16.170[21]; 20. 27-Jeremy Pitts, 00:16.174[26]; 21. 28-Michael Trautschold, 00:16.186[20]; 22. 91D-Billy Decker, 00:16.220[19]; 23. 7-Donald Ronca, 00:16.350[18]; 24. 21C-Brian Calabrese, 00:16.376[12]; 25. 22E-Mike Engwer, 00:16.666[15]; 26. 18-Ryan Macartney[11]

Group B Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 83X-Tim Sears Jr, 00:15.738[6]; 2. 66-Alex Yankowski, 00:15.776[23]; 3. 88-Mat Williamson, 00:15.987[14]; 4. 91-Felix Roy, 00:16.045[8]; 5. 15X-Justin Stone, 00:16.091[12]; 6. 111-Demetrios Drellos, 00:16.107[25]; 7. 9S-Matt Sheppard, 00:16.144[15]; 8. 08-Jack Speshock, 00:16.161[3]; 9. 25-Erick Rudolph, 00:16.167[17]; 10. 12-Darren Smith, 00:16.181[21]; 11. 99L-Larry Wight, 00:16.232[5]; 12. 21A-Peter Britten, 00:16.256[19]; 13. 4-Anthony Perrego, 00:16.281[10]; 14. 70A-Alex Payne, 00:16.306[16]; 15. 7Z-Zachary Payne, 00:16.313[11]; 16. 20-David Schilling, 00:16.362[4]; 17. 99-Kolby Schroder, 00:16.397[2]; 18. 14B-Brendan Darrah, 00:16.404[7]; 19. 23C-Tom D’Angello, 00:16.434[13]; 20. 14-CG Morey, 00:16.471[24]; 21. 15-Todd Root, 00:16.499[1]; 22. 30-Nicholas Root, 00:16.585[9]; 23. 1-Richard Ronca, 00:16.683[18]; 24. 11X-Josh Masterson, 00:16.700[20]; 25. 8-Rich Scagliotta, 00:16.710[22]

Hot Laps (3 Laps): 1. 35-Mike Mahaney, 00:15.583[25]; 2. 21M-Bob Mcgannon, 00:15.657[8]; 3. 98H-Jimmy Phelps, 00:15.692[1]; 4. 3D-Matt Delorenzo, 00:15.737[24]; 5. 215-Adam Pierson, 00:15.753[2]; 6. 87-Neil Stratton, 00:15.796[13]; 7. 83X-Tim Sears Jr, 00:15.813[32]; 8. 4-Anthony Perrego, 00:15.815[36]; 9. 17-Marcus Dinkins, 00:15.825[9]; 10. 66-Alex Yankowski, 00:15.849[49]; 11. 88-Mat Williamson, 00:15.851[40]; 12. 91-Felix Roy, 00:15.854[34]; 13. 2RJ-Ronnie Johnson, 00:15.860[5]; 14. 21A-Peter Britten, 00:15.879[45]; 15. 97K-Kris Vernold, 00:15.893[7]; 16. 12-Darren Smith, 00:15.893[47]; 17. 25-Erick Rudolph, 00:15.893[43]; 18. 9S-Matt Sheppard, 00:15.896[41]; 19. 99-Kolby Schroder, 00:15.913[28]; 20. 15X-Justin Stone, 00:15.921[38]; 21. 2-Jack Lehner, 00:15.934[16]; 22. 111-Demetrios Drellos, 00:15.936[51]; 23. 91D-Billy Decker, 00:15.939[19]; 24. 27-Jeremy Pitts, 00:15.959[26]; 25. 6-Matt Stangle, 00:15.960[21]; 26. 44-Brandon Daley, 00:15.966[3]; 27. 32C-James Meehan, 00:15.988[4]; 28. 27JR-Daniel Johnson, 00:15.999[14]; 29. 3J-Marc Johnson, 00:16.008[10]; 30. 35L-LJ Lombardo, 00:16.037[22]; 31. 14B-Brendan Darrah, 00:16.043[33]; 32. 28-Michael Trautschold, 00:16.049[20]; 33. 435-Chris Bisson, 00:16.051[17]; 34. 88T-Tyler Jashembowski, 00:16.068[6]; 35. 08-Jack Speshock, 00:16.084[29]; 36. 99L-Larry Wight, 00:16.108[31]; 37. 15-Todd Root, 00:16.131[27]; 38. 14-CG Morey, 00:16.137[50]; 39. 70A-Alex Payne, 00:16.183[42]; 40. 11X-Josh Masterson, 00:16.187[46]; 41. 23C-Tom D’Angello, 00:16.194[39]; 42. 8-Rich Scagliotta, 00:16.199[48]; 43. 7Z-Zachary Payne, 00:16.264[37]; 44. 21C-Brian Calabrese, 00:16.276[12]; 45. 20-David Schilling, 00:16.288[30]; 46. 30-Nicholas Root, 00:16.406[35]; 47. 7-Donald Ronca, 00:16.424[18]; 48. 1-Richard Ronca, 00:16.440[44]; 49. 22E-Mike Engwer, 00:16.495[15]; 50. 19-Tim Fuller, 00:16.495[23]; 51. 18-Ryan Macartney, 00:16.495[11]