MALTA, N.Y. — Demetrious Drellos notched his second “Stan the Man 32” win in as many years Friday night at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
The “32” theme was in honor of promoter Lyle Devore’s late father, Stan, who loved 1932 Ford hot rods and was extended to all classes in one way or another.
Drellos, known to his legion of fans as “The Greek Streak,” had to fight his way forward from 14th to the lead pack, then prevail in a hammer and tong battle with polesitter Neil Stratton to grab the $3,200 winner’s share of the purse.
The duo traded slide jobs at both ends of the three-eighths-mile oval in the late stages of the event as Rich Ronca nipped at their heels before eventually settling for third. Vinnie Visconti was a surprisingly strong fourth with Peter Britten rounding out the top five.
Robert Bublak led a second five that included Matt DeLorenzo, CB Morey, Kenny Tremont Jr and Marc Johnson. Tremont’s impressive run from dead last came after he announced his impending retirement at the end of the season, then dropped out of his heat to force a last row start.
Stratton and Rich Ronca brought the field to green a number of times, as the yellow first flew on lap five for a harmless spin, then came right back out when Don Ronca slowed on the restart. The second try saw a multi-car melee in turn three, with only two laps scored on the next try before a spin drew another caution.
Drellos was the main beneficiary of all the restarts, as he stood fourth when the green returned. By halfway he had disposed of Visconti and two laps later he really got down to business, driving around Ronca off turn two for second before sliding under Stratton for the lead at the other end.
The leaders barely missed disaster when a car stalled right in front of them on lap 18, then Drellos drew a gasp from the crowd when he went over turn one on the restart and disappeared. But he kept his leg in it and reappeared in the middle of the backstretch with a full head of steam and bounced back on the track in turn three in second place.
From that point, Drellos and Stratton traded slide jobs in a good facsimile of a sprint car race, with Ronca slowly closing until the three were under the proverbial blanket.
Drellos finally got the lead to keep with two to go and was still wired well after the checkers flew.
“We did what we had to do to win,” he declared, adding “the track was dusty but it was good all the way across, which let me do those slide jobs on Neil. I’ve had practice doing them lately and once I finally got past him and built up a little lead, I clogged up the track so he couldn’t slide me back again.”
Stratton was happy with his strong run, saying “he dirtied me up last week in the feature but this week he passed me clean. I thought I had it – until I didn’t. But it was a lot of fun, I just ended up on the wrong side of the last slide job.”
“I was just waiting for them to take each other out,” tipped Ronca. “What I really needed was for it to go green longer, because we got stronger and stronger, then we’d have another yellow. But with all the trouble we’ve had, third is good!”
Patrick Cram Jr. garnered $320 for his Street Stock win with Kim Duell earning a like amount for the four-lap Pro Stock Dash.