Hearn Wins in Malta Debut
MALTA - Having Brett Hearn pull in the back gate at Albany-Saratoga Speedway is a little like having Tiger Woods step up to the first tee at your local golf course.
Once he gets warmed up, everyone else is playing for second.
Hearn made his first appearance of the season a successful one Sunday night, overpowering the field to win the 35-lap 358 modified feature at the Malta track.
Albany-Saratoga Speedway had been scheduled to begin Friday night racing, but an all-day rain on Thursday forced promoter Bruce Richards to fall back to a Sunday rain date.
That fit right into Hearn’s schedule, as he brought the Madsen Motorsports small block to the historic Malta track, and walked off with his 36th career victory. Although Hearn has only been a regular at the track for one or two full seasons, he’s third on the all-time win list, behind Jack Johnson and C.D. Coville.
And it looks like he might be at Albany-Saratoga Speedway to stay this season. Because he’s cut back on his maintenance program by running the Gable Motorsports big block at Lebanon Valley on Friday nights, Hearn will have more time to prepare his cars for the series that he runs in the summer, which should keep him at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Friday nights.
That’s good for the fans, but not so good for the rest of the drivers.
Hearn took the lead early in the feature and easily pulled away from Matt Delorenzo to get the win, finishing with a 1.924 seconds margin of victory. Delorenzo, who is still looking for his first career victory at Malta, once again put on a solid performance, but he had no chance of catching Hearn’s Brioschi-sponsored rocket. The second-place finish was Delorenzo’s best finish ever at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, as he had a third last season.
Tim Laduc finished third Sunday night, with Mike Perrotte fourth and Ken Tremont Jr. fifth.
Dave Camara, the two-time defending track champion, pulled out of the feature early, the victim of a sour motor. That dropped him to 23rd in the final finish, which could put a big dent in his bid for a third straight championship, even though it’s only the second week of the racing season.
Mike Ballestero, the 2001 sportsman champion, held off Jimmy Davis and Derrick McGrew to win the 20-lap sportsman feature. Davis had the fastest car on the track and made a great charge in the closing laps of the race, but he ran out of time in his attempt to catch Ballestero and had to settle for second, less than a second behind the leader. McGrew, who has already established himself as a contender for the point title, finished third, his second straight top-five finish. Tony Ballestero, who won on opening day, was fourth, with Jack Gentile fifth.
The best race of the night was the 20-lap pro-street stock feature, where Carl Vladyka nosed out Fred Little by .014 seconds, about the width of a front bumper on the full-fendered CVRA pro-street stocks. Vladyka bided his time while Little and Dan Madigan battled for the lead, and then made his move late in the race. He first charged past Madigan for second, and ran down Little in the final two laps, pulling even coming out of the fourth turn and getting the victory by a narrow margin. Madigan crossed the finish line third, with Dean Charbonneau fourth and Mike Bradley fifth.
Dan Daniels had a relatively easy ride in the hobby stock feature to get his first win of the season, beating Gary Michaud and defending track champion Mike Tholin to the finish line. Lori Cary got up for fourth, with Jim Monroe fifth.
Luke MacIsaac picked up his first win of the season in the cruiser division, which has seen the four and six-cylinder cars running together this season. Bill Lehman was the four-cylinder winner, finishing second overall.
Weather permitting, Albany-Saratoga Speedway will return to Friday night racing this week, with the first green flag scheduled to fall at 7 p.m. May 10 will be Seniors Night, with all racing fans 62 years of age and older being admitted to the track free of charge.
MODIFIEDS: BRETT HEARN, Matt Delorenzo, Tim Laduc, Mike Perrotte, Ken Tremont Jr., Vince Quenneville Jr., Gene Munger, Don Ackner, Tim Dwyer, Ronnie Johnson, Ron Dwyer, Todd Ryan, Jimmy Becker, Scott Noel, Frank Hoard Sr., Jack Cottrell, Ron Proctor, Randy Hotaling, Jeff Betit, Mike Ronca, Jim Ryan, Don Mattison, Dave Camara, Wayne Jelley.
SPORTSMAN: MIKE BALLESTERO, Jimmy Davis, Derrick McGrew, Tony Ballestero, Jack Gentile, Tim Hartman, Jason Herrington, Tom Proctor, John Bellinger, Rich Ronca, Erik Mack, Mike Boomhower, Doug Sheely, Keith Nichols, Jack Swinton, Randy Salisbury, Tim Adair, Ray Martindale, Jim Cottrell, Paul Dunham Jr., Bill Cody, Tigger Driscoll, Gary Gates.
PRO-STREET STOCKS: CARL VLADYKA, Fred Little, Dan Madigan, Dean Charbonneau, Mike Bradley, Adam Tranka, Bob Schmidt, Joe Santoro, Steve Burega, Brian Holbritter, Dan Daniels, Mike Paquin, Vince Santoro, Mike Fritz, Matt Anatriello, Bernie Companion, Charlie Koenig, Chris Maxon, Randy Brownell, David Uline, CJ Brooks, Jay Fitzgerald, Jeremy Pitts, William Smith, Jason Brownell.
HOBBY STOCKS: DAN DANIELS, Gary Michaud, Mike Tholin, Lori Cary, Jim Monroe, Randy Alger, John Filarecki, Adam Stoddard, Mike Traylor, Chris Reckner, Eric Sbregea, Larry King, John Morris Jr., Dave Daniels, Fred Harris, Rusty Palmateer.
CRUISERS; LUKE MACISAAC, Bill Lehman, No. 24, Jon Atwell, Rich Murray, Jason Petton, Joe Naccarato, Charlie Stoddard, John Quintana, Bill Ryan, Amanda Clemens, Tim Pelech, Dan Uber, Keith Wright, Ben Durie, Joe Ladd, Mike Minick, Ed Mason, John Van Chance, Ken Bergstrom, Emerson Ostrander Jr., Mike Carmen, Jason Duncan, Elmer Montville, Jeffrey Krause, Chuck Gauthier Jr.