Jimmy Cottrell of Rock City Falls led all 35 laps on the way to winning his first Modified feature last Friday night at the Albany Saratoga Speedway.

Cottrell, driving the Kendall Oil No. 8 in only his second season in the headline division, started on the front row along side Ron Proctor. When the initial Green Flag flew, Cottrell quickly opened up a sizeable lead.

The race was taking on the look of last week’s when Mike Perrotte opened up a huge lead only to be caught when entering lapped traffic. This week, however, Cottrell seemed to have no trouble driving around the slower cars, but he would be challenged late in the race by ninth-starting Matt Sheppard, who moved into second on Lap 13 and chipped away at Cottrell’s lead over the final 20 laps.

Sheppard closed in on Cottrell over the last few laps, but a flat right rear tire on the last lap killed any chance of a victory for Sheppard. Cottrell’s win now puts him on the Modified win list that also includes his father, Jack.

Jimmy and Jack became only the third father-son winning duo in the speedway’s history. Matt Sheppard limped across the line third as Brett Hearn was able to get by him on the final lap. Ken Tremont was fourth and AJ Romano fifth.

Going into this week’s final points night, Ken Tremont holds a 39-point advantage over Brett Hearn.

The Sportsmen Division ran their previously postponed 76-lap event. The race was a real barnburner with more than a dozen lead changes among five drivers.

Pep Corradi and points leader Dustin Delaney exchanged the lead early in the event before Delaney experienced overheating issues due to his belts coming off.

A Lap 14 restart saw Mark Kislowski get his turn out front, before being passed by Rich Ronca, then re-taking the lead. Kislowski led most of the mid-portion of the race until Mike Ketchum drove by on the inside on Lap 53.

The two then raced side-by-side for nearly all of the remaining laps with Ketchum taking the win (his second this year) and Rich Ronca slipping by Kislowski in the late going.

Matt Depew also made it by the fading Kislowski and Josh Hohenforst finished fifth. Despite dropping from the event, Delaney still holds a 16-point lead over Mike Tholin while three other drivers are within 13 points of Tholin.

Chuck Towslee of Manchester, Vt. took his first win ever in the 25-lap Pro Street Stock feature. Towslee passed early leader Bill Smith then had to hold off a strong challenge by Jeff Washburn in the closing laps.

Washburn actually led Lap 22 before Towslee battled back by on the extremely slick track. Washburn had to settle for second over Vinny Santoro, Jim Monroe, Sr. and Cale Kneer. Points contenders Lori Cary and Kim Duell finished eighth and ninth respectively, keeping their battle close.

Dan Petronis won his first Limited feature of the year in the 20-lap event. Petronis started fourth, but took the lead for good on Lap 3 as he worked his way by Rich Holmes. It was just the second career win for Petronis. Mike Minick finished second followed by Mike Ostrander, DJ Brundige and Mike Lester. Points-leader Jim Monroe  Jr. finished 16, but holds a large 68-point lead over John Filarecki.

 Phil DeFiglio remained unbeaten in the 6-cylinder Mini-Stocks, while Travis Tromans was the first 4-cylinder across the line for his second win of the year. A battery failure sidelined 4-cylinder points-leader Brette Osgood.

This Friday is “Championship Weekend” with double points on the line in all classes. In addition, it is “Hometown Heros Night.” All police, fire, EMS and military personnel will be admitted free with proper ID.  Race time is 6:45 p.m.

Modified: 1. Jimmy Cottrell 2. Brett Hearn 3. Matt Sheppard 4. Ken Tremont 5. AJ Romano

Sportsmen: 1. Mike Ketchum 2. Rich Ronca 3. Matt Depew 4. Mark Kislowski 5. Josh Hohenforst

Pro-Street Stock: 1. Chuck Towslee 2. Jeff Washburn 3. Vinny Santoro 4. Jim Monroe, Sr. 5. Cale Kneer

Limited: 1. Dan Petronis 2. Mike Minick 3. Mike Ostrander 4. DJ Brundige 5. Mark Lester

4-cyl. Mini-Stock: 1. Travis Tromans 2. Howard McEachron 3. Michelle Catone 4. Erin Older 5. Mike Cranston

6-cyl. Mini-Stock: 1. Phil DeFiglio 2. Dan Lorenc 3. Ray Galusha