Hearn hits it perfectly

MALTA - School may be out for most people, but Brett Hearn never stops studying.

After spending the week going over possible setups with car owner Vinny Salerno, Hearn hit the perfect combination Friday night and simply blew the field away in the 35-lap 358 modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in the Bobcat Summer Sendoff.

Despite starting in the unlucky 13th spot in the field, Hearn had no equal once he got cranked up. Taking full advantage of two early restarts, Hearn had the lead after just seven laps.

And then, to use a phrase popularized by Meatloaf, Hearn was racing like a bat out of hell.

But that doesn’t mean the fans weren’t treated to another night of incredible racing. All over the track, bunches of cars were running three-wide, trying to work their way to the front. For a while, one of those packs included defending track champion Ken Tremont Jr., Don Scarborough and Ronnie Johnson. They had the fans torqued up as they battled back and forth for the fourth position early in the race.

Scarborough, who seemed to be just a couple of ticks slower than Hearn, finally emerged out of his personal battle and moved into second place on lap 12. But all that did was create another exciting duel, this time between Johnson, Gene Munger and Stewart Friesen.

Friesen, still looking for his first win of the season, later got mixed up with a lapped car, putting him out of contention. Although a restart on lap 25 put Scarborough right on Hearn’s rear bumper, Hearn was untouchable, picking up his third win of the season, and the 55th victory of his career at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Oddly enough, all of Hearn’s win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway this season have come on odd-numbered Friday nights. If he can ever get the right setup for the even-numbered nights, he’ll easily take the championship away from Tremont.

Scarborough came across the finish line second, his best finish of the season and the first time he’s finished in the runner-up spot since June 8, 2001.

Jack Johnson finished third, and put on one of the best performances of the night. During a caution midway through the race, Johnson ducked into the pits to have the crew take a look at the Witz Roofing small block. Johnson then rejoined the field at the rear, and rocketed to a third-place performance. Although he’s winless this season, Jumpin’ Jack has finished in the top five in six features.

Matt DeLorenzo finished fourth, with Mike Ronca fifth. Ronca started on the pole, and ran the quickest lap of the feature on lap one, stopping the clock in 17.401 seconds. Only Hearn (17.554) and Scarborough (17.819) also broke the 18-second barrier Friday night.

Derrick McGrew, who has been knocking on the door all year long, finally kicked it in Friday night and drove to his first win of the season in the 20-lap Line-X Modified feature. McGrew started ninth in the John Kollar-owned small block and was working his way to the front as Tony Ballestero set the early pace. McGrew moved into second on lap six and slowly reeled in the leader, finally taking the point on lap 15 and pulling away to a comfortable victory.
Ballestero, who hadn’t had a top-five finish since May 14, was second, followed by Tim Clemons, Erik Mack and Joe Budka.

Butchie Irwin continued to dominate the Amsoil pro-street stock division, overtaking Joe Santoro on the last lap to post his fifth win of the season. Santoro, who had started eighth, took the lead away from Lori Cary on lap 12 and appeared headed to the victory, but Irwin had other ideas. Irwin, who had started ninth, was fourth with five laps left, and had both feet on the gas pedal trying to catch the leader.

After disposing of Brian Holbritter, Irwin finally got past Cary with three laps left, and went after Santoro, making the pass for the lead on the final lap. Santoro was just 0.597 seconds back at the finish, with Robert Lanvegin also making a late move to get up for third. Cary was fourth and Holbritter grabbed the fifth spot.

Chris Busta recorded his second straight win in the Rentway Limited feature. Despite starting 12th, Busta had the lead after 10 laps and pulled away from Jim Monroe to get the win.

Elmer Montville (six-cylinder) and Jamie McCarthy (four-cylinder) won the Pro-Built Mini-Stock feature. McCarthy’s win was his fifth of the season.

On Friday, July 2, Pepsi will present American Pride Night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. The Line-X Modifieds will headline the card, with the Rentway Limiteds and Mini-Stocks also in action, as well as an enduro. Admission will be $10 a carload, and the night will also include a giant fireworks display.

MODIFIEDS: BRETT HEARN, Don Scarborough, Jack Johnson, Matt DeLorenzo, Mike Ronca, Ken Tremont Jr., A.J. Romano, Gene Munger, J.R. Heffner, Ronnie Johnson, Jack Cottrell, Stewart Friesen, Don Ronca, Randy Hotaling, Craig Simmons, John Marsh Sr., Scott Noel, Mike Ballestero, Paul Cirincione, Frank Hoard Sr., Chuck Higley, Tim Dwyer, Ron Proctor, Mike Perrotte, Todd Ryan, Lucas Baker.

LINE-X MODIFIEDS: DERRICK MCGREW, Tony Ballestero, Tim Clemons, Erik Mack, Joe Budka, David Peek, Keith Flach, Tim Hartman, Ricky Davis, Rich Ronca, Dick Bisson, Bill Cody, Neal Erickson, Jack Swinton, John Bellinger, Dan Bublak, Ken Anatriello, Mike Tholin, Fred Proctor Jr., Jim Proctor.

AMSOIL PRO-STREET STOCKS: BUTCHIE IRWIN, Joe Santoro, Robert Langevin, Lori Cary, Brian Holbritter, Bernie Companion, Henry Tanner, Chris Maxon, Jimmy Eaton, Scott Duell, Walt Brownell Jr., Steve Burega, Adam Tranka, Vince Santoro, Bob Schmidt, Matt Anatriello, Cale Kneer, William Smith IV, Dean Charbonneau, Bobby Gile.

RENTWAY LIMITEDS: CHRIS BUSTA, Jim Monroe, Kevin Van Chance, Jeff Monroe, Byron Westcott, Jim Monroe Jr., Brian Ashline, John Filarecki, Bob Smith, Mike Ostrander, David Emigh, Mike Pfau, Tim Ippoliti, Rich Holmes, Thomas Conroy, Ed Sears, John Morris Jr., Richard Burke, Johnathan Coon, Curtis Condon.

PRO-BUILT MINI-STOCKS (SIX-CYLINDER): ELMER MONTVILLE, Amanda Clemens, Rich Mrzyglod, Jeremy Brownell, Randy Mann, Emerson Ostrander, Brian Myers Jr., Dan Uber, Dan Petronis, Tim Glowowski, Art Howe, Ray Galusha, Joe Baker.

PRO-BUILT MINI-STOCKS (FOUR-CYLINDER): JAMIE MCCARTHY, Kevin Connors, Mike Cranston, Chris Cary Jr., Matt Corbiel, John Baldwin, Gene Unser Jr., Randy Senecal, Lewis Kusalonski, Patricia Lucke, Dave LaBarge, Brett Osgood, Heather Combs.