Hearn Picks Up Win at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA NY - The winds of change were blowing strongly at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway for the first Friday night race of the year. A Friday night moon had replaced a Sunday afternoon sun, the new Goodyear track tire replaced McCreary tires on all of the sportsman and modified racers, and, for the first time in the 1997 season, a driver other than Bob Savoie sat in victory lane after the checkered flag fell on the 35 lap modified feature event.

New Jersey superstar Brett Hearn, driving the Auto Palace sponsored number 20, last year’s winningest driver at "The Great Race Place," ended Savoie’s bid for a third straight feature win, taking the lead on the 22nd lap, and running away to his first win this season. Hearn seemed to have a car capable of winning the first two weeks, but mechanical difficulty the first week and a first lap tangle in week two kept Brett "The Jet" out of victory lane.

In sportsman action, Mike Ballestero won his first race of the year, powering around Jim Davis in the first and second turns on the final lap to win a thrilling, close race.

Brian Berger was outside pole sitter in the modified race, and he stole the lead from Jim Ryan at the start, setting the pace in the early portion of the action-packed race. The caution flew on the third lap when Todd Ryan and Ken Tremont came together on the backstretch, sending Tremont to the pits and Ryan scurrying through the infield. Tremont rejoined the field with heavy damage as Ryan was sent to the pits for excessive speed in the infield area. Berger continued to lead as Hearn, who had started 14th, shot into the fifth spot in a great move down the backstretch after the restart, and quickly moved to third as A.J. Romano followed him through. On lap six, Mike Benson brought out the caution, coming to a halt on the backstretch with mechanical problems. On the restart, Berger’s car did not accelerate as it should have, causing a logjam going into turn three. The inside row was held up, including Hearn and Romano, as Bob Savoie capitalized on the miscue and rocketed into the fourth position and second place runner Ron Dwyer took the lead.

Hearn and Romano then brought the fans to their feet trying to make up for lost track position. Hearn split David Towns and Randy Hotaling going into turn three, and the three continued battling three abreast for third as Romano and Jeff Heotzler, up from his 17th place starting spot, battled for sixth and seventh. Savoie had settled in for second behind leader Ron Dwyer, while Hearn wrestled third place away from Hotaling and Towns and Heotzler disposed of Romano and Towns to take fifth. Hearn then began to reel in the leaders, while Tremont had worked his way back to the top ten as the race neared the halfway point.

Hearn then moved the Auto Palace mount to the outside of Savoie to challenge for second. Upon seeing Hearn to his outside, Savoie put the hammer down and began to pressure Dwyer for the lead, but to no avail, as Hearn slipped under Savoie on lap 20 to take second and then powered around Dwyer in turn three two laps later to take the lead for good. The caution flew once again on lap 23 when Berger spun in turns three and four. On the restart Romano moved from fifth to third, slipping under Savoie and Heotzler as Todd Stone spun, bringing out yet another yellow. Bob Savoie was then repaid for his good luck in the first two weeks at the speedway, as one of his Goodyear tires, which had been going down since lap eight, finally went flat and he pulled to the pits, ending his bid for a third consecutive win.

At the same time Heotzler, who has been running the Goodyear tires all season to avoid any adjustment period, also had a tire go flat, ending his charge from the rear. Savoie returned to the back of the pack, and a disappointed Heotzler was done for the evening. On the restart, Don Scarborough and Vince Quenneville, who both had qualified through the consi, showed their muscle. Scarborough moved to fourth place past Hotaling by hugging the rail through the first turn, and Quenneville moved past Towns and Hotaling to take fifth with two laps to go. The final caution of the night flew when Tremont, who had gotten as far up as seventh, but was struggling with an obviously beaten and battered car, lost his rear bumper on the frontstretch. After the restart Hearn moved away from the field to earn his first checkered flag of 1997 by about 10 car lengths over Ron Dwyer. Romano finished third, followed by Scarborough and Quenneville.

In the wild Sprtosman event, Mike Ballestero outran Jim Davis to the checkers, followed by Jeff Betit and opening day winner Lance Harting. Ballestero had taken the lead on lap 10 and seemed to have the race in hand until the handling went away, giving the lead to Jim Senzio on a lap 15 restart with Tom Proctor following in second. Then, with four laps to go, Proctor slammed hard into the back of Senzio going into turn three, ending the day for both drivers. Jim Davis then inherited the lead, but that was also short-lived, as on the white flag lap, Ballestero finally got control of his vehicle which had begun to push heavily, and powered around Davis for his first win of the year in the competitive sportsman division.

Mike Bradley looked impressive in the street stock feature with his second victory of the year. He took first over John Russo, Dean Brown and Dave Crounse. Chuck Knowlton won the hobby stock feature. He was followed across the line by Gary Hughes and Steve Burega, who inherited third place when Gene Wetherington looped it in turns one and two on the final lap.

MODIFIEDS: BRETT HEARN, Ron Dwyer, A.J. Romano, Don Scarborough, Vince Quenneville, Randy Hotaling, David Towns, Guy Sheldon, Hector Stratton, Jack Cottrell, Mike Ronca, Jeff Trombley, Bob Savoie, John Harrison, Brian Berger, Ken Tremont, Todd Stone, Jeff Heotzler, Jim Ryan, Don Ronca, Floyd Billington, Mike Benson, Mike Perrotte, Todd Ryan.

SPORTSMEN: MIKE BALLESTERO, Jim Davis, Jeff Betit, Lance Harting, Frank Hoard Jr., Tim LaDuc, Randy Delaney, Sput Shaw, Todd Morey, Chuck Higley, Joe Budka, Ron Johnson, Tim Hartman, Ken Aanonsen, Dave Manny, Brian Whittemore, Brian McKenzie, Bob Schmidt, Jim Senzio, Gary McLain, Jim Introne, Tony Ballestero, Dave Sargent, Tom Proctor.

STREET STOCK TOP 10: MIKE BRADLEY, John Russo, Dean Brown, Dave Crounse, John Fitzgerald, Lucas Baker, Mark Emigh, Mike Fritz, Mike Paquin, Ron DeLease.