Three In a Row for Hearn

MALTA - Like Hall of Fame New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra used to say, “It’s deja vu all over again.” Brett Hearn of Sussex, N.J. ran his winning streak to three races Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, and for the third straight week, Matt DeLorenzo chased him across the finish line.

Well, at least the third-place car was different.

Hearn, who started 18th, swept into the lead on lap 12, and survived a rash of late restarts to win Friday night’s 35-lap 358 modified feature. And DeLorenzo, who is a changed man behind the wheel of his new Teo Pro car, used one of those restarts to rocket past Todd Ryan to grab the No. 2 position. Ronnie Johnson had the fastest car on the track in the early stages of the race, going right to the front in the Coors Light-sponsored small block, but things then unraveled for the second-generation driver on lap 10.

Ken Tremont Jr. brought out the yellow when he slowed in the third turn after taking a whack in the right rear in a mid-pack battle. As Tremont ducked into the pits to have the damage repaired, Johnson had his right rear tire go flat while the field was under caution, also sending him to the pits and ending his chance at victory.

By that time, Hearn had already charged up to third. Don Mattison inherited the lead when Johnson went to the pits, but that lead was going to be very short-lived. On the restart, Hearn and Ryan put Mattison into a sandwich, with Ryan on the outside and Hearn on the inside, dropping Mattison to third. Ryan held the lead in the outside groove for one lap, but the next time around, he drifted just a little too high in the second turn, and Hearn hit the afterburners on the inside to get the lead for good.

Flat tires and suspension problems forced a number of drivers, including opening-day winner Mike Perrotte and defending track champion Dave Camara, out of the race. Then, with a restart with four laps left, DeLorenzo smoked Ryan on the restart, got the No. 2 position, and for the third week in a row, followed Hearn across the finish line, over two and a half seconds behind the leader.

Ryan finished third, followed by Jack Cottrell and Don Mattison. Completing the top 10 were Gene Munger, Ron Proctor, Don Ackner, Tim Laduc and Brian Gerrain.

Tim Hartman picked up his first win of the season in the 20-lap sportsman feature, finishing almost a full second ahead of Jim Davis, with John Bellinger third. Tim Clemons was back behind the wheel of the Parillo 17 and finished fourth, with Tony Ballestero fifth.

Bob Schmidt had an easy night in the 20-lap pro-street stock feature, jumping right to the lead and maintaining a comfortable margin over Dean Charbonneau, who came across the finish line second. Fred Little was third with Dan Daniels fourth and Carl Vladyka fifth.

One of the better races of the night was the 15-lap hobby stock feature. Although Jeff Monroe led all 15 laps to get the victory, he had Adam Stoddard haunting him during the final laps of the race. On the last lap, Stoddard pulled even going down the backstretch and made a run for the victory, but Monroe just held on, winning by .021 seconds, a matter of inches.

The cruiser features went to Joe Naccarato (four-cylinder) and Elmer Montville (six-cylinder).

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action Friday night, and the track will also be holding its first Kids Night of the season. That will mean kiddie rides for the youngsters. Kiddie rides are usually held just after the fast warmup session, so make sure you get to the track early so the kids can take part in the fun.

PIT NOTES: Jimmy Cottrell, the son of Jack Cottrell, finished sixth in the sportsman feature, the best finish of his rookie campaign... Derek McGrew finished seventh in the sportsman feature, the first time this season he hasn’t been in the top five. Hearn had the Madsen Motorsports small block humming. He had the fastest lap of the night, turning 17.526 seconds on lap 12, when he charged past Ryan to get the lead. Ryan’s best lap was two-tenths of a second slower than Hearn... Former modified driver David Towns returned to Albany-Saratoga Speedway behind the wheel of the Tim Adair-owned sportsman... Mike Bradley, who was airlifted out of the speedway the previous week after a grinding wreck in the pro-street stock feature, was back at the track, just a little sore, but with his car ready to race. He finished 14th in the feature after spinning out late in the race.

MODIFIEDS: BRETT HEARN, Matt DeLorenzo, Todd Ryan, Jack Cottrell, Don Mattison, Gene Munger, Ron Proctor, Don Ackner, Tim Laduc, Brian Gerrain, Ronnie Johnson, Ron Dwyer, Randy Hotaling, Jeff Betit, Frank Hoard Sr., Stan Lemiesz, Chuck Higley, Scott Noel, Frank Hoard Jr., Mike Perrotte, Ken Tremont Jr., Dave Camara, Butch Jelley, Mike Ronca.

SPORTSMAN: TIM HARTMAN, Jimmy Davis, John Bellinger, Tim Clemons, Tony Ballestero, Jimmy Cottrell, Derrick McGrew, Mike Ballestero, Keith Nichols, David Towns, Ray Martindale, Jack Swinton, Doug Sheely, Mike Boomhower, Jack Gentile, Jason Herrington, Erik Mack, Gary Gates, Bill Cody, Brian McKenzie, Tom Proctor, Rich Ronca, Neal Erickson.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: BOB SCHMIDT, Dean Charbonneau, Fred Little, Dan Daniels, Carl Vladyka, Vince Santoro, Mike Paquin, Ed Pieniazek Jr., Dave Uline, C.J. Brooks, Randy Brownell, Charlie Koenig, Walt Brownell, Mike Bradley, Brian Holbritter, Adam Tranka, William Smith, Matt Anatriello, Tom O’Connor, Joe Santoro.

HOBBY A MAIN: JEFF MONROE, Adam Stoddard, Gary Michaud, John Morris Jr., Mike Tholin, Dave Daniels, John Filarecki, Randy Alger, Eric Sbrega, Mike Traylor, Lori Cary, Chris Busta, Roy Fifield, Chris Reckner, Jim Monroe, Brad Breel, Fred Harris, Kevin Van Chance.

HOBBY B MAIN: MIKE TRAYLOR, Randy Alger, Jim Monroe, Dan Daniels, Mike Pinke, Scott Kilmer, Kevin Sawyer, Nathan Chaves, Jim Mabb, John Laviolette, Garnett Prescott, Jason Walker, Bill Burlingame, Henry Moffit, George Welch.

FOUR-CYLINDER CRUISERS: JOE NACCARATO, Phil Difiglio, Chuck Gauthier, Charlie Stoddard, Emerson Ostrander, William Lehman, Ed Mason, Mike Mrzyglod, Jason Duncan, John Van Chance, Joe Ladd, Jim Monroe, Jeffrey Krouse.

SIX-CYLINDER CRUISERS: ELMER MONTVILLE, Luke MacIsaac, Keith Wright, Jon Atwell, Jason Pelton, Keith Keller, Butch Ryan, John Quintana, Amanda Clemon, Matt Thomas, Brian Myers, Peter Pelech, Ken Bergstrom, Dan Uber.