By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
RAVENA-COEYMANS-SELKIRK — The Ravens on Friday honored two boys’ basketball players and one cheerleader on Senior Night.
There are two graduating seniors on the boys’ basketball team — twins Jared Cameron and Matt Cameron.
The brothers started out playing in the RCS youth basketball program, starting in third grade, and have been with the RCS basketball program for six years.
The Ravens also honored senior cheerleader Kyla Garner.
By Mark Kane
For Capital Region Independent Media
Over the past few seasons, racetracks seem to be disappearing across the country. Now it has hit close to home, too close.
It was made public last week that Albany Saratoga Speedway has been sold to a Saratoga developer and a racetrack is not included in their current plan. There are reportedly plans in the works to turn the 50-acre speedway and property into a multi-use housing and commercial site called Camber Ridge.
This is all in the early stages and now has to go through the town and county. With no closing date on the speedway determined, hopes are they can make it through 2025 for their 60thanniversary season. They want to work with the racing community to create a tribute to the speedway.
My thought is just leaving it as it is would be the best tribute.
There have been rumors for some time that the track was up for sale, but I guess the fans and teams that support the track weekly, and have for many years, thought this would never happen. Maybe a sale, but never the loss of their Friday night racing home.
Right now it is hard for people to understand the what, when and why, but unluckily we know the where this may happen. It is like this, folks—for race fans and teams this is like telling a Yankee or Red Sox fan they are tearing down your stadium and NOT rebuilding. Only thing is it is on a more personal side.
As I have said before, the racing community is one big family and Albany Saratoga Speedway is a big part of that. As fans, drivers on the other side of the fence are family, as well as friends and our heroes. We have come to know them personally as they lay it on the line, putting on a show for us, the fans. As older race fans at the “Great Race Place,” Albany Saratoga, we have seen some of the very best on both the dirt as well as the asphalt years.
The history of racing runs deep in the Capital District and Malta. It seems that time and location have caught up with dirt track racing in Malta. Do we have to be happy with it? No, but I guess for now we have to enjoy what we have, or for how long we will have it.
With great weather and no chance of rain, it was a great weekend to get to the track. Who am I kidding—any weekend is great to get to the track. Friday it was off to Albany Saratoga and Saturday it was to Fonda Speedway for a full night of racing with a regular show along with double features in the Pro Stocks and 602 Sportsman.
ALBANY SARATOGA SPEEDWAY RACING
So far in the 2024 season at Albany Saratoga, the NAPA Modifieds have kept the packed house on the edge of their seat and this week was no different.
The Modified feature had a little of everything with some great 2- and 3-wide racing, battles for the lead, contact for the lead, and late race cautions. The “Great Race Place” was living up to its name.
With Derek Bornt and Don Ronca leading the field to green it was the same way at the flag stand as the leaders raced side by side. The caution was out early with Erick Mack and Ryan Stortino sat between turns 1 and 2. Back to green and another quick caution before things would settle down and the leaders were right back to racing side by side swapping the lead with the veteran Ronca getting the lead as Bornt and Justin Stone battled hard for second.
Behind the leaders there was some great 3-wide racing action as Demetrios Drellos, Mike Mahaney, and Matt DeLorenzo worked their way through the top 10 after starting mid-pack. As Ronca continued to lead, Stone would work his way to second and set his sights on the leader. Once again as in past weeks Marc Johnson and Peter Britten were on a charge after starting deep in the pack and were looking for racing room in the tight, bunched field.
Using the low side, Stone became the new leader out of turn 1 as the 111 of Drellos was on the move and looking to get into the top 5 with a freight train behind him. Out front Stone led until lap 15 when Ronca found a sweet spot on the high side of turn 2 as the leaders came down the back chute with Ronca once again back to the lead.
It was now Ronca, Stone, Pitts and Drellos in the top 5 and Britten up to sixth and still on a charge as things heated up in a big way. Working his way to second out of turn 2 past Stone on lap 18, Pitts would get a big run down the back chute and dive low under the veteran Ronca and would slide up into the leader, sending Ronca into the outside wall and bringing out the caution. Ronca pulled away under his own power but his chance of the win was gone with a very questionable move for the lead.
Once back to green it was Pitts, Stone and Bornt having a great run still in third, with Drellos and Britten in the top 5. Drellos made a great move out of turn 4 driving between Stone and Bornt to now sit second at the line. With the laps winding down, Drellos was all over the rear deck of Pitts as Marc Johnson was now into the top 5 as the leaders were in lap traffic.
Going down the back stretch Drellos made his move to the bottom and would be the new leader as Pitts slowed. Hmm, karma maybe as Pitts was done for the night with a blown power plant. Now Drellos had Britten and Marc Johnson. Back to green it was Drellos leading into turn one with Britten and Johnson right on his rear deck. With the white flag out going into turn 3 they were 3-wide as Britten used a slide job powering between Drellos and Johnson and could not make it stick, with Drellos coming out of turn 4 with the lead picking up his first win of the year with Britten just beating out Johnson for second. Derek Bornt held on for fourth, with Jack Speshock rounding out the top 5.
MORE RACING
In the Sportsman it was Joey Scarborough grabbing the win from early leader Craig Wholey after a late race caution tightened up the field. Following Scarborough to the line was Wholey, Darryl Nutting, Tim Hartman Jr., Michael Wagner Fitzgerald, and Mike Coffey rounding out the top 5.
The Pro Stocks had a heart breaker for local racer from Catskill, Shane Henderson, who had led the feature only to be spun out in turn 2 on the white flag, bringing out the caution. Back to green it was Brandon Emigh in for the win over Pete Stefanski from Buffalo in for second and Kyle Hoard was third. The Limited Sportsman found Tanner Coon picking up his second win of the season over Nick Brundiage and Chase Zimmer.
The Street Stocks found Jason Meltz in for the win and Adam Montville won the 4 Cyl. feature.
FONDA SPEEDWAY
If Brett Deyo or anyone else had any questions whether it was a good idea to put new clay down and take a few weeks off to let the old girl settle in, I think after Saturday’s full night of racing at Fonda Speedway there should be no doubt the right decision was made.
Once again, the track came up smooth and fast with three grooves to race on and with a good field of cars and seven features, the track was tested and it passed.
The Modifieds found JaMike Sowle and Jack Lehner lead the 22 car Amsterdam Truck Center Modifieds to green and a quick caution for Roger Henion Jr. in turn 4 and back to an original restart as Rocky Warner was super fast on the original green leading out of turn 4.
Back to green it was Sowle leading the way as he battled with Warner for the lead, with the Lehner machine sitting in third. Another early caution found Lehner with a flat left rear tire heading to the pits and returning to bring up the rear with a new sneaker. Once back to green, Mike Maresca quickly worked his way to second after restarting fourth, and Dave Constantino followed suit, moving from fifth to third as Warner was in the lead.
Behind the top 3, Sowle and Jessica Friesen were holding down the top 5. The caution again was out, this time for Don Bellen and Jason Reome, who tangled on the back stretch against the outside wall. Back to green Maresca would be the new leader as the winner of week one feature was showing power as he started to pull away from the field as Warner tried to keep up with Constantino, Sowle, and Friesen remaining in the top 5.
On the move was Bobby Hackel and Alex Yankowski just outside the top 5 as Jack Lehner was making headway getting back through the field. Out front Maresca was showing no signs of slowing down as the past champion was hitting his marks and leaving the field even through lapped traffic behind as Warner continued to put on a chase.
As the laps wound down Maresca would keep up the pace and cruise to his second win of the year, this time on an excellent racing surface with very little tire wear with his Wegner Automotive Weekend Warrior 427 Power Plant under the hood.
Following Maresca to the line was Rocky Warner, Bobby Hackel Jr. from 11th, Jessica Friesen, and Alex Yankowski from 14th. After his early race tire trouble Jack Lehner rebounded for a seventh-place run.
In other action it was Chad Edwards picking up the makeup 602 Sportsman win and it was Payton Talbot in for the weekly show.
In the Pro Stocks it was Jason Morrison in for the win in the hold over event and AJ Walters picking up the regular Pro Stock event in a barn burner as Walters and Nick Stone swapped the lead between them in a great side by side clean battle for the lead.
In the Limited Sportsman it was Josh Coonradt, who has found a new home in the Sportsman after leaving the Pro Stocks, picking up the win with Ken Hollenbeck wining the 4Cyl. win.
Please continue to support the people who sponsor the greatest racing on dirt.
By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
RAVENA — Every March, New York state celebrates the vibrant maple industry, and local residents don’t have to go very far to enjoy it.
Crosstown Maple, located on Blodgett Hill Road, is the local go-to place for all things maple.
Last weekend and again this weekend on March 23 and 24, Crosstown Maple is holding open houses to welcome the public to see what they do and how their products are made.
“This is our annual open house that we have with New York State Maple [Producers Association], which gives maple producers the chance to be open to the public,” owner Kevin Reinisch said last weekend. “We show people how we make syrup and all of our goods.”
Maple is big business in New York and has been produced in the state for centuries, beginning back when Native American tribes first discovered the sweet sap flowing from the trees, according to the New York State Maple Producers Association.
Maple producers collect the sap from trees, boil it down to its most concentrated form and then use it to make a variety of products, from simple maple syrup to maple-glazed donuts, maple cream, barbecue sauces, maple rib rub and more.
Reinisch works with local landowners who allow him to tap their trees to make his products.
“We have some sugar bushes in the area, and usually in early February we begin tapping all of the trees,” Reinisch said. “When the temperatures are cold at night and warm during the day the sap runs and we go around and collect it and haul it to the sugar house. From there we process it through reverse osmosis and put it through the evaporator to make syrup.”
A “sugar bush” is a plot of woods with maple trees. Crosstown Maple collects sap from around 40 acres of trees owned by several landowners. In total, Reinisch collects sap from some 2,200 trees.
It takes more sap to make a gallon of syrup than you likely think.
“It usually takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup,” Reinisch said. “Today the sap was 70 to 1 — that happens when the sugar content drops.”
The temperature has a lot to do with it.
“Traditionally, the sap is 2% sugar — today it was 1.3%,” he said. “That can happen at the end of the season — we need some really cold nights for it to go back down and store some sugar.”
Reinisch doesn’t come from a family tradition of producing maple syrup. He came into the industry by happenstance.
“My son was 2 years old and I got a children’s book from the library and that’s how I got started,” he said. “I got into it and my parents had some trees in their backyard. Somebody offered me money for a quart and that was it — it just began to grow.”
After the sap is collected from the trees, the water content is removed to prepare the sap to be turned into syrup.
“Reverse osmosis is a filtration process where we run it through membranes and it takes the water out and leaves the more concentrated sap,” Reinisch said.
After reverse osmosis it is boiled in the evaporator to reduce the water content even more.
“That evaporates the water that is left until we get to a certain density, which is 66%, and then we filter it and store it in drums and then bottle it,” Reinisch said.
Crosstown Maple products can be purchased at the sugar shack on Blodgett Hill Road, on the company’s website, or at roadside farmstands on Elm Avenue and at Eck’s Farmstand.
Heather Goss and her husband Jeff have been helping Reinisch with the business for years — Heather makes the donuts and Jeff helps take care of the forest and is next learning the science end of the business.
“It’s just good stuff — I love it,” Heather Goss said of the maple products Reinisch sells.
Crosstown Maple will hold another set of open houses this weekend, on March 23 and 24. Everyone is welcome to come and check out the products and learn a bit about the maple business.
