Brandon Emigh had already found the winning formula at Albany-Saratoga Speedway twice in 2024.
On Friday night, he used it again on a bigger stage at the “Great Race Place,” holding off Jason Casey to earn his first DIRTcar Pro Stock Series victory.
“It’s awesome,” Emigh said. “This car is really fast running the bottom. I actually missed the bottom one lap and still felt pretty good on the top. This car is just on rails this year.”
Emigh and Caden Dumblewski led the field to the green in the 30-lap Feature. But as they hit the backstretch, Shane Playford quickly took the lead, thundering from third to first when they completed Lap 1.
The first of nine cautions slowed the field on Lap 2, as the yellow came out for Kyle Hoard, who had a left front flat tire. When the race resumed, Playford held the lead for the next three laps before Devon Camenga found momentum on the outside lane, storming by Emigh, Dumblewski, and Playford to take the lead.
Like Playford, Camenga’s momentum was slowed by a caution on Lap 6 when contact between four drivers in Turn 4 resulted in Chucky Dumblewski pulling into the infield with damage. Under that caution, Playford went into the pit area, ending his chance at a victory.
Camenga held the lead for the next seven laps until Emigh charged toward the front. The Ballston Spa, NY driver found momentum on the bottom lane, nosing ahead of Camenga’s #110 as the caution came out again on Lap 16 for Pete Stefansk with a right front flat tire.
As Emigh was holding off challenges from Camenga, defending DIRTcar Pro Stock Series champion Luke Horning started building momentum on the outside. However, that was short-lived, as contact between Horning and Camenga sent Horning into the infield, ending his night on Lap 22.
On the restart, Camenga and Jason Casey challenged Emigh for the lead, with Casey sneaking past Camenga for second as the caution came out with three laps remaining for an incident in Turn 4.
Casey had one more shot at Emigh on the restart, but Emigh was too strong, holding off the challenge to earn the $1,000 prize.
Earlier in the race, Emigh said he wasn’t sure which lane to pick on restarts. However, the lone single-file restart aided his decision.
“I didn’t know whether to pick the bottom or the top,” Emigh said. “But then we had that extra yellow where we went single file, and I knew I was going to stay on the bottom. I was good on the top, but I was using my stuff up a lot running up there.”
Casey crossed the line second, matching his best DIRTcar Pro Stock Series finish. The Canaan, CT driver said he wanted to race to stay green in the final five laps.
“I think if I could’ve stayed on the bottom and kept things rolling, I might’ve been able to get Brandon at the end,” Casey said. “But we knew we had to get back to the bottom on that last restart.
“The track was awesome. I’ll take it like this all the time.”
Pro Stock veteran Kim Duell crossed the line third. As the Porters Corners, NY driver continued to gain positions; his goal was to stay out of trouble.
“I was watching what was going on in front of me,” Duell said. “The car was fast enough to keep up with them, and I said maybe I can capitalize if they mess up. A couple of them did, and we got by a couple of them. We’re really happy. Anytime you can run in the top five in a [DIRTcar Pro Stock Series] race, it’s great.”
Beau Ballard finished fourth, and Camenga rounded out the top five.
UP NEXT: The DIRTcar Pro Stock Series returns to action on Sunday, June 9, at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park. It’s the first of two stops at the 1/4-mile facility in 2024.
For more on the DIRTcar Northeast, follow the DIRTcar Facebook page and the DIRTcar Northeast X (Twitter) page,
DIRTcar Pro Stock Series Feature (30 Laps): 1. 2-Brandon Emigh, 2. 324-Jason Casey, 3. 14-Kim Duell, 4. 15-Beau Ballard, 5. 110-Devon Camenga, 6. 33-Bruno Cyr, 7. 2-Pete Stefanski, 8. 76-Kyle Hoard, 9. 6-Shane Playford, 10. 9-Shane Henderson, 11. 9B-Slater Baker, 12. 04-Jaxson Ryan, 13. 28D-Phil Defiglio, 14. 7C-Caden Dumblewski, 15. 6c-Brian Carter, 16. 56-Jay Fitzgerald, 17. 58-Roxanne Roy, 18. 322-Jay Casey, 19. 48-Jocelyn Roy, 20. 4-Dean Charbonneau, 21. 711- Rich Crane, 22. 2H-Luke Horning, 23. 4m-Jordan Modiano, 24. 75-Gary Silkey, 25. 32-Johnathan Levesque, 26. 8-Jay Corbin, 27. 57-Chuck McSpirit, 28. 7D-Chucky Dumblewski, 29. 55-Dave Stickles, 30. 25-Chad Jeseo
Hoosier Racing Tire Award: Rich Crane (Free Tire)
Post-Race Tech: Carburetors, Fuel, and Springs were checked. All cars passed.
