Champions crowned at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA - Champagne was flowing Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway as Brett Hearn and Tim Hartman capped championship seasons with impressive victories.

With an enormous crowd packing the stands for Hometown Heroes Night, Hearn drove to his eighth win of the season to wrap up his third straight title in the 358 modified division, and Hartman won the 100-lap sportsman feature to put the icing on his cake in that division, earning his second straight track championship.

Also crowned as track champions were Lori Cary (pro street stock), Pete DeFiglio (limiteds), Chris McCarthy (six-cylinder mini-stocks) and Ken Hollenbeck (four-cylinder mini-stocks).

The 35-lap 358 modified feature got off to a shaky start, when Craig Hanson and Keith Flach started a chain-reaction accident that wound up collecting nearly a dozen cars in the first turn. One of the victims was Jack Johnson, who was taking a shot at the Salisbury Chevrolet Big Dog Challenge bonus of $1,400 for back-to-back victories, but Jumpin' Jack didn't even complete a lap before his night was done.

Hearn, who had started 18th, was far enough back that he was able to avoid the incident, which earned Hanson a black-flag and the rest of the night in the pits.

Jimmy Cottrell moved out to the front on lap five, but Jeff Trombley, who had started fourth, showed right away he was going to be a factor, and snatched the lead away from Cottrell on lap 15. By that time, Hearn had already worked his way to third.

Hearn moved into second on lap 17, and four laps later, Ronnie Johnson, who had also been involved in the first-lap incident, went off the track with a broken shock tower, bringing out the yellow and setting the stage for a wild finish.

Trombley seemed to have the advantage after the restart, but Hearn hung on Trombley's rear bumper and with five to go, pulled alongside the leader.

Hearn and Trombley ran side-by-side for the next three laps, inches apart, with Hearn edging in front and holding off Trombley for the victory.

“I felt that we were pretty equal to Trombley, but he really pulled away on that restart,” said Hearn in victory lane after the win. “At that point, I had showed him the nose of my car on the bottom, but I knew I had to get to the top of the track to get by him.”

Trombley, who hasn't been to victory lane at Albany-Saratoga Speedway since 1991, had to settle for his second runner-up finish of the season. Matt DeLorenzo finished third, with Cottrell fourth and Rick Davis fifth.

Hartman, who had mathematically wrapped up the sportsman division title before the green flag even dropped in the 100-lap sportsman feature, picked up the third track championship of his career with an impressive victory.

Scott Duell and David Peek swapped the lead in the early stages of the race, until Mike Tholin moved to the front on lap12 and started setting a torrid pace. Hartman, who had started 15th, took over the No. 2 position on lap 28 and chased Tholin through both green and yellow-flag laps.

Hartman finally took the lead on lap 60, and Tholin's good run ended soon after, the victim of mud in his wheel which knocked the handling of the car off.

But Hartman still had his hands full, as Dustin Delaney had moved into second on lap 66, and was just as hungry for the win as Hartman was. But Hartman's experience paid off, and he held off Delaney by 0.482 seconds for his fourth win of the season. Whitey Slavin got up for third, followed by Rich Ronca and Matt Depew.

The 100-lapper also marked the sportsman debut of Rob Langevin, who had spent the season in the pro-street division. Langevin got behind the wheel of a Butch Jelley-owned sportsman, and hit the finish line 10th in his first run in the open-wheel car.

Jimmy Eaton picked up his first win of the season in the pro-street feature, and Cary finished fifth to lock up her first track championship.

Nick Lussier was also a first-time winner, making his way to victory lane in the limited feature. Pete DeFiglio came across the finish line fourth, which allowed him to win his first Albany-Saratoga Speedway crown by just eight points.

Travis Tromans held off Brett Osgood to win the mini-stock feature.

MODIFIEDS: BRETT HEARN, Jeff Trombley, Matt DeLorenzo, Jimmy Cottrell, Rick Davis, Robert King, Ken Tremont Jr., Elmo Reckner, Vince Quenneville Jr., Gene Munger, Mike Ronca, Mike Perrotte, Marc Johnson, Don Ronca, Don Mattison, Frank Hoard Sr., Ronnie Johnson, Todd Ryan, Keith Flach, Ron Proctor, Todd Stone, Jack Johnson, John Proctor. DQ: Craig Hanson.

SPORTSMAN (100 LAPS): TIM HARTMAN, Dustin Delaney, Whitey Slavin, Rich Ronca, Matt Depew, Luke Monroe, Erik Nelson, Kyle Sheldon, Chris Busta, Rob Langevin, Stan Lemiesz, John Boniewski, Jason Harrington, Mike Tholin, Joe Santoro, David Peek, Tyler Curtis, Scott Duell, Robert Perry, Dan Carlton, Jack Gentile, Dick Bisson, Cass Bennett, Brian Holbritter.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: JIMMY EATON, Jeff Washburn, Vince Santoro, Cale Kneer, Lori Cary, Jim Duell, Dean Charbonneau, Pete Braderson, Carl Vladyka, Matt Anatriello, Greg McGill, Dan Madigan, Bob Schmidt, Bill Smith IV, Darrell Carl, Jon Turco, Bernie Companion, Russ Miller, Jeremy Pitts, Mike Paquin.

LIMITEDS: NICK LUSSIER, Kevin VanChance, Brian Ashline, Pete DeFiglio, Curtis Condon, Dan Older, Dan Petronis, Jim Monroe, Jeff Monroe, John Morris Jr., Rich Burke, Brandon Emigh, John Filarecki, Mike Wilber, Mark Burch, Ken Conroy, Ben Durie, Mike Minick, Paul Mulrain, Steve Burch, David Emigh, Jim Monroe Jr., John Russo, Mike Ostrander.

MINI-STOCKS: TRAVIS TROMANS (4), Brett Osgood (4), Jim Daniels (4), Chris McCarthy (6), Andy Hickok (4), Ken Hollenbeck (4), Kevin Lukasik (6), Mike Cranston (4), Shane Marks (4), Charlie Stoddard (4), Chris Greene (4), Dan Lorenc (6), Justin Ramsey (4), John Baldwin (4), Mike Duclos (6), Jason Dickson (4).