Malta ― During the first season under the helm of Howard Commander and Lyle DeVore, modified driver Brett Hearn secured six wins, and a 68 point lead at the end of the season allowed him to take the point championship title at the Malta oval.
So it’s fitting that Hearn, who is coming off of a stellar 2012 race season, is anxious to participate in Albany-Saratoga Speedway’s season opener on Friday night, April 19th.

“I have always liked it up there,” said Hearn. “We had some torrid battles last year, it was fun and we are looking forward to starting it up again.”

Hearn was in attendance when promoter DeVore hosted a ‘Test and Tune’ session on Sunday but he didn’t take any laps on the new race surface. When the season closed last fall DeVore dropped a lot of new clay.

“I’m anxious to see how the new re-configuration plays out,” said Hearn, who also experienced a great deal of success at the 4/10 mile oval under the Richards family reign. “I didn’t run any laps but to me the track looks considerably wider and I think the plan is to not put the inside berm back in there, which I was never really a big fan of so I’m happy about that.”

Hearn made the trip last weekend to see how Matt Pappa took to the speedplant. Pappa, a past US Legend Pro Division National Champion, will be driving a Dirt Sportsman car for Hearn. Pappa’s schedule will alternate between Albany-Saratoga Speedway and their sister speedway, Lebanon Valley.

Last season Hearn also secured the point championship title at the Valley and started right back out in that same fashion again this year ― Hearn took the win in the Valley’s season opener on Saturday. He would like to do the same at Albany-Saratoga Speedway as well.

“The weather looks good and we are ready,” said Hearn. “Both the Valley and Albany-Saratoga Speedway have always been good to us, we’ve had a lot of success at both tracks. We are looking forward to getting it started.”

The season opener includes the Modified, Sportsman, Pro Stocks, Street Stocks and 4 Cylinder divisions. Race time is 7:00 p.m. The front gate is $10 for adults, kids under 12 are $2.00. Entry into the pit area is $20 for members and $25.00 for non-members.