Hearn Wins Fifth in a Row
MALTA - In the last four weeks at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Brett Hearn has had his hands full with the competitive Malta field, especially Matt DeLorenzo.
But on Friday night, Hearn showed who’s the boss. Charging from his 18th starting position, Hearn overpowered the field in the 35-lap 358 modified feature, and picked up his fifth straight victory.
The win allowed Hearn to tie the track record for consecutive wins, set by Jack Johnson in 1984, the last year that Albany-Saratoga Speedway ran big blocks as its premier division.
Hearn’s previous best string of finishes at Albany-Saratoga last came in 1996, when he won four consecutive features, and at one time, won seven of eight.
The win, Hearn’s 40th career victory at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, showed how tough The Jet can be, as he finished over five seconds ahead of the second-place car of Jack Cottrell.
Scott Noel brought the field down for the initial green flag and went right to the front, with Frank Hoard Sr. in row. But after just eight laps, Hearn had already cracked the top five and on lap12, moved past Ronnie Johnson, who had started fourth, into second place.
Noel was also no match for the Corporate Jet, as Hearn then rocketed into the lead on lap 19, ending all speculation for the rest of the night.
While Hearn was dominating the front end of the race, veterans Cottrell, Dave Camara and Mike Perrotte were putting on a whale of a battle for position back in the field. Camara, who had gone through two motors the previous Friday night, had started sixth, Perrotte had started ninth and Cottrell came out of the lucky 13 hole, and they were working their tails off just to stay in the top 10 during the middle stages of the race.
Lapped cars continually came into play, as Hearn was setting a blistering pace, running nearly four-tenths of a second faster than the rest of the field, but Cottrell found something late in the race and pulled away for the No. 2 position, finishing nearly three seconds ahead of Noel, who hung on for third, his best finish of the season. Only the top eight cars finished on the lead lap, and the last car to complete the 35 laps was the sportsman of Rich Ronca. The sportsman division had been given the week off to make room for the Empire Super Sprints, but many of the sportsman drivers opted to run with the modifieds .
Camara came across the finish line fourth, with Perrotte fifth. Completing the top 10 were Gene Munger, Mike Ronca, Rich Ronca, Hoard and Tim Laduc. DeLorenzo, who had finished second to Hearn in the last four events, never got untracked Friday night and had to settle for 11th.
Heat winners were Noel, Camara and Johnson, with Don Mattison taking the consi.
Defending track champion Hollywood Joe Santoro picked up his second win of the season in the 20-lap pro-street stock feature. After starting seventh, Santoro only needed six laps to get the lead away from polesitter Don Daniels, and from there, no one was going to catch him. Fred Little and Carl Vladyka were left to battle for the No. 2 position, with Little holding off his Vermont rival to finish in the runner-up spot. Dan Daniels came across the finish line fourth, with Dean Charbonneau fifth.
Chris Reckner picked up his first victory of the season in the hobby stock main, taking advantage of his third starting spot to get right to the front after just two laps. John Morris Jr. put on a good charge, but didn’t have enough horsepower to catch Reckner, who finished with a 2.271-second margin of victory.
The cruisers were also in action Friday night, with Jon Atwell coming away with the victory in the six-cylinder class, and Jim Monroe taking the checkered flag in the four-cylinder division.
Lance Yonge took the lead with two laps to go and beat Bobby Podolak to the finish line in the 20-lap Empire Super Sprints A main.
Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action Friday night, with Hearn trying to set a new track record for consecutive victories in the modified division. The racing card will include a special 40-lap open pro-stock race, in which all home track rules will apply. All DIRT-legal cars will be allowed to compete on Friday night, and the night’s racing will end with an enduro.
Information about upcoming events at Albany-Saratoga Speedway can be obtained by calling the track office at (518) 587-0220.
MODIFIEDS: BRETT HEARN, Jack Cottrell, Scott Noel, Dave Camara, Mike Perrotte, Gene Munger, Mike Ronca, Rich Ronca, Frank Hoard Sr., Tim Laduc, Matt DeLorenzo, Don Ackner, Don Mattison, Ronnie Johnson, Jimmy Becker, Todd Ryan, Brian Gerrain, Ken Tremont Jr., Ron Dwyer, Randy Hotaling, John Bellinger, Jeff Betit, Wayne Jelley, Derrick McGrew, Stan Lemiesz, Jim Introne.
PRO-STREET STOCKS: JOE SANTORO, Fred Little, Carl Vladyka, Don Daniels, Dean Charbonneau, Vince Santoro, Chris Maxon, Bob Schmidt, Dan Madigan, Matt Anatriello, Ed Pieniazek Jr., Mike Fritz, Steve Burega, Adam Tranka, Jason Brownell, Charlie Koenig, Brian Holbritter, C.J. Brooks, Mike Bradley, Dave Uline, William Smith, Mike Paquin, Randy Brownell, Walt Brownell.
HOBBY A MAIN: CHRIS RECKNER, John Morris Jr., Mike Ostrander, Chris Busta, Lori Cary, Dave Daniels, Jim Monroe, Gary Michaud, Dan Daniels, Mike Tholin, Jeff Monroe, Bill Smith, Adam Stoddard, John Laviolette, Roy Fifield, Mike Pinke, Brad Breault, Kevin Sawyer.
HOBBY B MAIN: JIM MONROE, Brad Breault, Kevin Sawyer, Tony Condon, Garnet Prescott, Fred Bakes III, Henry Moffit, Fred Harris, Bill Burlingame, George Welch, Kevin Van Chance, Rusty Palmateer, Todd Dunston, Nathan Chaves, John Filarecki, Mike Traylor, Ben Ladd, Steve Breault.
SIX-CYLINDER CRUISERS: JON ATWELL, Luke MacIsaac, Jason Pelton, Brian Myers, Butch Ryan, Peter Pelech, Ken Bergstrom, Keith Wright, Kith Keller, Matt Thomas, Todd Burch, David Kennedy, Elmer Montville, Amanda Clemens.
FOUR-CYLINDER CRUISERS: JIM MONROE, Jeffrey Crounse, William Lehman, Emerson Ostrawski, Phil Defigilo, Mike Mazyglod, John Van Chance, Charlie Stoddard, Joe Ladd, Mike Minick, Stan Durie, Joe Naccarato, Kevin Connors, Chuck Gauthier.