MALTA, N.Y. – Neil Stratton won his first DIRTcar modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway Friday night, joining his father, Hector, as a winner at the three-eighths-mile oval.

A slew of yellows early on gave his pursuers a chance to battle for the lead, but only Peter Britten could get close and he never made a serious challenge.

“We’ve had a fast car but horrible luck,” said Stratton.  This is a tough crowd to beat.  I thought I kept hearing someone coming but nobody got there.”

Marc Johnson was third, topping a tremendous battle behind the two leaders that saw cars three wide and positions changing constantly. He was followed by polesitter and early leader Elmo Reckner, 10th starting Mike Mahaney, Brett Hearn, Rocky Warner, Matt DeLorenzo, Rich Ronca and Keith Flach.

Stratton, who lined up fifth, stood third on a lap three restart.  He got by Ronca off turn two, then shadowed Reckner through lap seven, when he shot under the leader and drove off.

With the race for the win effectively over, the fans turned to the fierce battle behind the leaders.  Contact sent Kenny Tremont Jr. over the turn one banking on lap 12, but everyone settled down somewhat after that and while the battle continued, the race went to the checkers with no more yellows.

Jeff Trombley, who spent many seasons at Albany-Saratoga in a modified, claimed the feature for the visiting CRSA 305 sprints.  He advanced steadily from ninth, showing fifth on a lap five restart and second on lap eight when the next caution came.

When green returned, he went right to the top, drawing even with leader Dalton Herrick for two lap before changing lanes and diving under him as they hit turn one on lap nine.

From there it was clear sailing for Trombley, who led Brandyn Griffin, Mike Kiser, Alysha Bay, Justin Mills and Gerald Sehn to the checkers.

Division kingpin Tim Hartman prevailed over Connor Cleveland and Pat Jones in the Sportsman feature with old pro Kim Deuel notching a $1,000 score in the Pro Stocks.  He was trailed by Brandon Emigh, Nick Arnold and Josh Coonradt.