"THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN MALTA" 

Albany Saratoga Speedway in Malta New York on August 26^th will be a night to remember for a long time for the Senior Tour Auto Racers.  You know the old song "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia", will now the theme song for Star will be "The Night the Lights Went Out in Malta".  But lets' back up to start the day.  Star started their afternoon with warm ups for both the Sportsmen and then the Modifieds.  The evening would bring the tour 2 heats and 2 features.  The weather was warm and clear, but like they say "Calm before the storm"!  It was a great turn out for Star with 22 vintage cars that made the trip with knowing hurricane Irene was right behind them.  The Sportsmen were the first to hit the track for their heat event.   Rick MacDowell from Ma in his #76 Pinto broke out of the middle of the pack and drove to the front to take the lead.  Richard Harless from NY in his #8 sedan gave him a good battle, but MacDowell was out to WIN tonight!  When the checkered flag came down it was MaDowell to take the win with Harless driving on his bumper.  Skip Stearns from NH in his #7X coupe finished off the pack with a third.  The Modifieds were already hitting the track for their heat event.  Danny Ferland from NH in his #21 Pinto shot to the front with Bobby Turner from Me in his #7 right along side of him.  Ferland and Turner locked in the pack until the checkered came down on Ferland to take the second victory for the tour that evening.  Turner topped off a close second and finishing off third was Jamie Ferland from NH in his #194 Pinto.  At feature time the Sportsmen hit the track for their 15-lap feature.  John Dipietro from Ma in his #7 coupe dominated the field until Joe Keefner from Ma in his #99 Gremlin broke out of the pack and closed in on Dipietro.  Then out of no where Richard Hankey from Ma in the #13 a 1955 Chevy drove on the outer groove to pick up the lead from the pack.  Hankey lead the pack until he loss it with a flat tire and the lead then went over to Dipietro.  When the checkered came down so did the lights!  It went black and the cars could not see two feet in front of them and not knowing were to go the pack swayed to the infield the wall and halted as quickly as the could.  You could hear the screaming of tires and the banging of metal as the pack came to a halt.  Oh what was too expected!  Imagine going at full speed to a complete blackout!  When all was settled it was great to hear all drivers were safe and sound but not so good for a few of the cars.  Skip Stearns in the 7X drove to the infield but remember it was so dark it was everyone for them selves.  Gary Moore drove also to the infield making contact with Stearns. On turn two Dipietro in the #7 coupe had hit the rumble strips and damaged his frontend.  "Where to Go was the question!" But believe it or not when the lights came on all but one car drove off the track.  I have to say these sportsmen did an outstanding job to stop with safety as I could see cars in all different spots to avoid getting involved in what could have been a bad situation.  Nice driving on the Sportsmen division!!!  John Dipietro in the #7 took the checkered flag first to take the win for the sportsmen that evening.  Joe Keefner in the #99 pulled off a second with Richard Harless in the #8 sedan finishing off third and then the blanket of darkness hit on the rest of the pack.  Now it was time for the Modifieds to hit the track.  The speed is much higher so a few modifieds ventured back to the pit area just in case the lights went out again.  But the rest of the pack gave it a go.  Bobby Turner from Me in his #7 and Charlie Lima from Ma in the #10 Pinto drove side by side until the checkered flag came down on Lima to take the Modified feature for the tour that evening.  Turner in the #7 pulled a second with Brian Robie in the #99 Pinto to top off the pack with a third.