Saturday September 21, 2024 Results
MALTA – Any gambler will tell you there’s no such thing as a sure thing.
But here’s a good bet. If there’s a Super DIRTcar Series race at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, put your money on Mat Williamson.
Williamson used a late restart to get the lead, and then held off Matt Sheppard Saturday night to win the 100-lap Super DIRTcar Series race that highlighted the second night of Malta Massive Weekend.
The victory, Williamson’s eighth on the SDS Tour this season, was worth $10,000, plus numerous bonuses, and just as importantly, gave Williamson a guaranteed starting spot in the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 next month at Oswego Speedway. Two of Williamson’s SDS wins have come at Malta, as he also sat in victory lane after the SDS Don Davies Memorial 76 on June 25.
“What a race!” Williamson exclaimed in victory lane. “It sure was really racy with a big block. This was one of the best races I’ve been involved in.”
Danny Johnson, who last sat in victory lane at Malta in 2014, when he won one of the Brett Hearn-promoted “Big Shows,” which served as the track’s Super DIRTcar Series races at the time, drew the outside pole and went right to the front, but Demetrios Drellos, who started fourth, was flying from the start and took the lead away from Johnson coming out of the fourth turn on lap 14.
But the next time around, “The Doctor” was back in front, rocketing past Drellos coming out of the second turn. That set the tone for a night of edge-of-your-seat racing
The first yellow came out on lap 18, giving Johnson a clear track at the front, and he maintained the lead until another caution came out on lap 26. Drellos used that restart to go in front for the second time on lap 30, and 10 laps later, had a half-a-straightaway lead.
While Drellos was pulling away, Johnson and Tim Sears Jr. were running side-by-side, with Johnson on the top and Sears on the bottom, and Sears finally moved into the No. 2 position on lap 47.
Sheppard, who had started 11th, made his presence felt at the midway point of the race, taking over third on lap 52. Drellos’ big lead was then negated on lap 55, when Marc Johnson made contact with another car in the fourth turn and slid off the front stretch, stopping just short of the billboards.
And where was Williamson? After starting ninth, he finally cracked the top four on lap 61, and had a great view as Sheppard and Sears Jr. dueled side-by-side, lap after lap. Sheppard went around the top coming out of the fourth turn to move into the runner-up spot on lap 69, but two laps later, Sears Jr. was again the first car behind the leader.
By that time, Drellos had encountered heavy traffic and for a time, was stacked up behind Michael Trautschold and Darren Smith. While Sheppard and Sears Jr. continued to wage their little war, Williamson moved through traffic to join that skirmish and then pulled a wild crossover move on Sears Jr. in the second turn to take over third on lap 79.
But while all that was going on, Drellos had again opened up a comfortable lead and looked like he was on his way to his second Malta Massive Weekend victory.
But another restart on lap 83 changed the complexion of the race.
Sheppard used a crossover move on Drellos in the second turn on the restart to take the lead and two laps later, the top three went through turn two mere inches apart, When Sheppard and Drellos made contact, Williamson saw an opening, came away with the lead going down the backstretch, and that’s where he stayed.
“I think they hooked bumpers coming off two, and I capitalized on it,” said Williamson of his winning move. “I really didn’t want to be in the lead. The track was so good that you could sneak up and snooker guys.”
Sheppard and Sears Jr. completed the podium, while Anthony Perrego finished fourth and 2024 Malta modified champion Peter Britten finished fifth. Drellos had to settle for sixth.
“I thought I had a chance,” said Sheppard after the race. “I think I just had too much gear to run the top.”
One of the best seasons of Beau Ballard’s career got even better when he won the 30-lap DIRTcar Pro Stock Series feature, which paid $2,000 to win through sponsorship from Bart Contracting. Ballard, who won the track championship at Malta after committing to a full season of racing in Malta for the first time, drew the outside pole and led flag-to-flag, but at Albany-Saratoga, there’s no such thing as an easy win.
Ballard spent most of the race battling to stay in front of the Crane brothers, Rich and Chris Jr. But as the race went on, Ballard began to pull away, until Shawn Perez Sr. brought out a final caution with two laps to go.
Rich Crane got a great restart and stayed door-to-door with Ballard as they went down the backstretch. They stayed that way for the final lap, with Ballard winning in a photo finish, just 0.016 seconds ahead of Rich Crane.
Devon Camenga got up for third, with Chris Crane Jr. fourth and Pete Stefanski, who had to come from the rear of the field after being involved in an early caution, finished fifth.
“This is the first time I’ve run this car here this year,” said Ballard, who had three wins during the regular season. “I love it when you have to drive the car. When it’s black like this, that’s my kind of track.”
The limited sportsman division got special treatment Saturday night, getting a 35-lap feature instead of the usual 20, and battling for a sponsor-inflated purse of $2,000 to win.
The victory, and the two grand payday, went to Lucas Duncan, who recorded his first career win. But the 35-lap feature was marred by a rash of yellow flags, and when the 11th caution came out on a restart on lap 33, DIRTcar flagger Dave Farney was instructed to throw the yellow and checkered flags at the same time.
Duncan, who started on the outside pole, took the lead away from pole-sitter Nick Auspelmyer after a restart on lap two and then just had to be patient and hit his marks on restarts. Chase Zimmer, who started 12th, finished second while 2024 limited sportsman champion Nick Brundige nosed out Auspelmyer for third.
In a late development from Friday night’s portion of Malta Massive Weekend, Jon Sheppard was disqualified after winning the four-cylinder feature. That gave the overall race win to Kyle Lanfear, and handed a fourth dual-cam win to David Frame, who had finished third behind Sheppard and Lanfear on Friday.
SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES: MAT WILLIAMSON, Matt Sheppard, Tim Sears Jr., Anthony Perrego, Peter Britten, Demetrios Drellos, Billy Decker, Felix Roy, Jack Lehner, Mike Mahaney, Alex Payne, Jimmy Phelps, Matt DeLorenzo, Larry Wight, Danny Johnson, Brian Calabrese, Neil Stratton, Ronnie Johnson, Darren Smith, David Schilling, Michael Trautschold, Brendan Darrah, Jeff Taylor, Ryan McCartney, Marc Johnson, Justin Stone, Tim Fuller.
DIRTCAR PRO STOCK SERIES: BEAU BALLARD, Rich Crane, Devon Camenga, Chris Crane Sr., Pete Stefanski, Rob Yetman, Kyle Hoard, Brandon Emigh, Jordan Modiano, Kim Duell, Chucky Dumblewski, Jocelyn Roy, Slater Baker, Caden Dumblewski, Jaxson Ryan, Zach Sorrentino, Roxanne Roy, Jason Casey, Phil Deflglio, Dave Stickles, Shawn Perez Sr., Chris Wemple, Shane Henderson, Shawn Perez Jr., Chad Jeseo, Gary Silkey.
HAUN WELDING LIMITED SPORTSMAN: LUCAS DUNCAN, Chase Zimmer, Nick Brundige, Nick Auspelmyer, Tanner Coon, Mike Block, Nick Arnold, Kyle Swart, Adam Tranka, Alex Smith, A.J. Albreada, Kirsten Swartz, Owen Lewis, Dan Seguin, Chayton Young, Chris Humes, Phil Arnold, Dan Odell, Keith Pelkey, Sloan Cherko, Chip Martin, Jordan Hill, John Santolin, Braxton Martin, Matthew Gebo, Dakota Green, Wesley Sutliff, Dana Palumbo, Shayden Mosso, Colton Emigh.
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