RPW Exclusive: “Behind The Mic” w/ Toby LaGrange: A Race Track’s Moment In Time
RPW EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY: Toby LaGrange / ALBANY-SARATOGA SPEEDWAY – MALTA, NY – Every track has that one event or happening that changes or cements their history. It’s something that will stand out for generations as the one point in history that anyone with even a marginal idea of the track’s history will have pop up first in their mind when asked about the track’s lifespan.
It’s something that will stay with the track forever, even after the track is no more.
This event does more than that, this event helps shape the tracks legacy.
At the Fonda Speedway it was the original Thunder on the Mohawk program back in 1992. With cars and fans lined up in either direction for miles trying to make their way into the track that had been home to racing for nearly eight decades, seating and pit parking were at a premium. The event was also the first to be broadcast live on national television from the track.
I remember that day well. I was 13 and my mom had dropped me off at the track on her lunch hour to watch the cars come in and save our seats. I had no idea that her nine-mile drive after work would take her nearly two hours.
The date of June 25th, 2010 would be the day that will always stick out in the minds of those fans of the Glen Ridge Motorsports Park. It was on this day that then NASCAR star and now NASCAR Hall of Famer and NHRA driver Tony Stewart competed at the track.
Competing with the Empire Super Sprints, Stewart finished third in the nights A-Main. Stewart, along with the winged warriors of the Empire Super Sprints, brought with them the largest crowd in the history of the Fastest Quarter Mile on Dirt.
I unfortunately was not at this event but the photos, video and stories that I have seen, watched and heard have put this event up on a pedestal of sorts.
Just shy of three years after Tony Stewart wowed the hills of Montgomery County, this type of moment happed at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
Unlike the track’s western counterparts, the moment for The Great Race Place wasn’t a race or a special appearance by a television driven celebrity, it was a changing of the guard.
While Lyle DeVore and family took over the reigns of the Malta oval during the off season of 2012, their first race would occur the following spring on April 26th, 2013.
The winners on this night were Brett Hearn (DIRTcar Modified), Derrick McGrew, Sr. (DIRTcar Sportsman), Connor Cleveland (Novice (now called Limited) Sportsman), Rob Yetman (DIRTcar Pro Stock) and Matt Mosher (Street Stock).
While all five drivers will someday be an answer to a trivia question at one of the local Saratoga County sports bars, they themselves are not what made this night so special.
What made that spring evening so special was the optimism that it brought. After years of the track heading in the wrong direction and speculation on whether it would even continue to operate, DeVore brought hope, optimism and for many, a chance to relax as their track and it’s future were in good hands.
Over the next decade plus until his death this past December, Lyle took the track from a potential member of the Lost Speedway list to the top dirt track in the Northeast…if not this side of the Pacific Ocean.
Huge car counts, overflowing grandstands and unprecedented media coverage were the norms and thanks to his hard work, still are. Massive events, fair treatment and opportunities for many on both sides of the fence created a legacy.
Not just any legacy though, a legacy laid in clay.
This past Friday night the Albany-Saratoga Speedway, it’s officials, fans, drivers and race teams were set to converge on the Route 9 oval to honor the late DeVore. The “Legacy Laid In Clay” event offered large purses for all of its weekly divisions and a chance for everyone to pay their respects to the man who many call the tracks savior.
Mother Nature had other ideas and after a near week long deluge of more rain than many have seen in an entire summer, the event was postponed until Tuesday August 4th. Once again, more rain in the preceding days forced track management to postpone the event again, this time to Friday night August 28th.
Hopefully Mother Nature cooperates on the last Friday of August, so we can honor the man that created the legacy for The Great Race Place.
