Hearn wins again
MALTA - In the old days, it might have been called a dead heat, or at least created one hell of an argument.
But thanks to electronic scoring, Brett Hearn of Sussex, N.J. had his second win of the season at Albany-Saratoga Speedway Friday night.
Hearn swept by Matt DeLorenzo on the final lap and got the Brioschi-sponsored Madsen Motorsports small block to the finish line first by a margin of .052 seconds in the 35-lap 358 modified feature. But it was still enough to give Hearn his second straight win, making him the only driver to win back-to-back features in the last two seasons.
Hearn’s final charge spoiled another great run by the young DeLorenzo, who has never won a feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. DeLorenzo has now chased Hearn across the finish line in the last two features.
Hearn had started 17th in the field, but was up to sixth after just nine laps. He kept picking off cars one by one, and moved past Randy Hotaling, into second place, on lap 17.
DeLorenzo, who had taken the lead from Hotaling on lap 15, did his best to keep Hearn at bay, but came up one turn short of holding off Hearn entirely. Lapped traffic hurt DeLorenzo in the closing laps of the race, as he continually had to break his rhythm, allowing Hearn to gain ground.
DeLorenzo had made the best move of the night midway through the feature, sweeping past Jack Cottrell, Ron Dwyer and Don Mattison in one big move between the third and fourth turns to move from sixth to second.
Gene Munger got up for third in the Richardsdale Farms small block, with Cottrell fourth and Hotaling fifth.
Completing the top 10 were Ken Tremont Jr., Dave Camara, Don Ackner, Tim Laduc and Todd Ryan.
Jason Herrington dominated the sportsman feature, leading from flag-to-flag to get his first win of the season, and just the third victory of his career. Jimmy Davis, who had started on the outside pole, stalked Herrington every lap of the race, but never had the opportunity to get the lead, and finished just a half-second behind Herrington. Tim Hartman finished third, with Derrick McGrew making another strong run to get across the finish line fourth, his third straight top-five finish in as many weeks. Mike Ballestero was fifth.
The 20-lap pro-stock feature was marred by a grinding, six-car pileup on lap 14 that resulted in Mike Bradley being airlifted to a local hospital for observation. The wreck also took out Steve Burega, Mike Fritz and Dan Madigan. The incident started when Don Daniels spun out in the front straightaway, creating a chain reaction behind him.
When racing resumed, Hollywood Joe Santoro, the defending track champion, held off Freddie Little for the victory. Santoro, who had started fourth, took the lead away from Chris Maxon on lap five, and stayed there the rest of the way, despite heavy heat from Little in the final laps of the event. Mike Paquin, showing the form that made him one of the dominant drivers in the division a couple of years ago, finished third, followed by Bob Schmidt and Adam Tranka.
Roy Fifield drove to his first victory on the season in the hobby A main. Despite starting sixth, he had the lead after just four laps and kept the No. 85 on the point for the rest of the way. Defending track champion Mike Tholin, who had started 10th, made a late charge to finish second, getting past Todd Dunston with two laps to go. Completing the top five were Mike Traylor, Dunston and Lori Cary.
The cruisers were out in force again Friday night, with Jason Duncan winning the four-cylinder division and Jason Petton winning the six-cylinder division.
Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action Friday night, with all divisions racing on Pet Connection Night. Racing will start at 7 p.m.
MODIFIEDS: BRETT HEARN, Matt DeLorenzo, Gene Munger, Jack Cottrell, Randy Hotaling, Ken Tremont Jr., Dave Camara, Don Ackner, Tim Laduc, Todd Ryan, Mike Perrotte, Tim Dwyer, Mike Ronca, Ron Dwyer, Jim Ryan, Scott Noel, Frank Hoard Jr., Stan Lemiesz, Frank Hoard Sr., Butch Jelley, Jimmy Becker, Jeff Betit, Ron Proctor, Don Mattison, Chuck Higley, Jim Introne. DNS: Ronnie Johnson.
SPORTSMAN: JASON HERRINGTON, Jimmy Davis, Tim Hartman, Derrick McGrew, Mike Ballestero, Jack Gentile, Tony Ballestero, Rich Ronca, John Kollar, Gary Gates, John Harrison, Bill Cody, Randy Salisbury, Bill Bushee, Doug Sheely, Neal Erickson, Tim Adair, Paul Dunham Jr., Jimmy Cottrell, Keith Nichols, Jack Swinton, Ray Martindale, Erik Mack DNS: Ken Anatriello, Tom Proctor.
PRO-STREET STOCKS: JOE SANTORO, Fred Little, Mike Paquin, Bob Schmidt, Adam Tranka, William Smith, Kevin Sawyer, Don Daniels, C.J. Brooks, Cale Kneer, Chris Stacy, Walt Brownell, Carl Vladyka, Vince Santoro, Dean Charbonneau, Mike Bradley, Steve Burega, Dan Madigan, Charlie Koenig, Mike Fritz, Chris Mason, Bernie Companion, Matt Anatriello, Randy Brownell.
HOBBY A MAIN: ROY FIFIELD, Mike Tholin, Mike Traylor, Todd Dunston, Lori Cary, Mike Ostrander, Dan Daniels, Eric Sbrega, Dave Daniels, Gary Michaud, Adam Stoddard, Chris Busta, Chris Reckner, Jeff Monroe, Jim Monroe, Dave Perretta, Fred Harris, Ed Sears.
HOBBY B MAIN: CHRIS BUSTA, Dave Perretta, Fred Harris, Brad Breel, Joe Filarecki, Jeff Washburn, John Morris Jr., Henry Moffit, Doug Cram, Jim Mabb, Jason Walker, Steve Breault, No. 64, Rusty Palmateer, Bill Burlingame.
CRUISERS: JASON DUNCAN, Jason Petton, Luke MacIsaac, Richard Murray Jr., Jim Monroe, No. 18, Jon Atwell, Keith Keller, Emerson Ostrander Jr., Joe Naccarato, Harvey Williams Jr., William Ryan, Dan Uber, William Lehman, Jeff Krause, Mike Minick, No. 57, Keith Wright, Ben Durie, Ken Bergstrom, No. 78, Randy Rathburn, Amanda Clemens, Charlie Stoddard.