Hearn Repeats at Malta

MALTA - Do you know the difference between Brett Hearn and Empire Maker?

Hearn knows how to react when he’s a heavy favorite.

Unlike Empire Maker, the odds-on favorite who was upset by New York-bred Funny Cide in the Kentucky Derby, Hearn handled the pressure of being the favorite once again Sunday night, chalking up his second straight win in the 35-lap modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Even a change of schedule didn’t throw Hearn off. The track had been rained out on Friday night, but the Sunday rain date only forced Hearn to wait a little longer for his weekly payday.

About the only guesswork left each week is how long it’s going to take Hearn to get to the front. In the first week, he used a heads-up start to answer that question. On Sunday night, the track went back to its normal handicapping procedures, putting Hearn 12th in the 20-car field.

Polesitter Don Mattison got the jump on Don Ackner and went right to the lead, but the race quickly changed complexion on lap two, when 10 cars were stuffed together in turn four after Mike Perrotte spun out. Two of the cars involved belonged to Jack Johnson and Dave Camara, who has become a tin fabricator’s best friend in the first two weeks of the season. But Hearn, who never seems to get involved in the little incidents that haunt other drivers, had already gotten far enough forward to avoid the wreck.

Jack Cottrell, one of just four other modified drivers who won a feature during Hearn’s reign in 2002, overtook Mattison for the lead on lap seven, but by that time, Hearn had already worked his way into the top five.

A caution on lap 10, when Ronnie Johnson came to a stop, allowed Hearn to quickly move to the front. On the restart, he rocketed past both Ackner and Todd Ryan, and on lap 11, blew right by Cottrell to get the lead.

From then on, Hearn put the Madsen Motorsports Brioschi-sponsored small block on cruise control. Once in front, he quickly turned the fastest lap of the night, and pulled away to win the feature by over five seconds.

Cottrell and Mattison put on a good battle for second in the closing stages of the race, swapping the spot as they battled through lapped traffic. But Cottrell finally nailed down the runner-up position, with Mattison third, his best finish since July 13, 2001.

Jack Johnson gave his fans something to cheer about after his early misfortune. Keeping his right foot buried to the floor in the Witz Roofing small block, Jumpin’ Jack charged back to finish fourth, with Ken Tremont fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 were Camara, Ryan, Matt DeLorenzo, Perrotte and Frank Hoard Sr.

The bad thing for the rest of the division is that Hearn didn’t think his car was performing up to standards Sunday night.

"It didn’t feel as good as it did the first week," said Hearn after the race. "I had to keep moving around the speedway to find the groove where the car was fast."

The sportsman division made its 2003 debut on Sunday night, with John Bellinger picking up the victory in the 25-lap feature.

By virtue of the heads-up start, Bellinger went right to the front from the outside pole and held off repeated challenges from Tim Hartman. But Bellinger was definitely quicker, as he was the only driver in the division to break the 18-second barrier during the feature. After a number of cautions and restarts, Bellinger, who has his sights set on replacing Mike Ballestero as the track champion, beat Hartman to the finish line by 0.685 seconds. Jason Herrington was third, with Erik Mack fourth, his best career finish in the division. Stan Lemiesz came across the finish line fifth.

Hollywood Joe Santoro held off Bob Schmidt to win the 20-lap pro-street stock feature, and Jim Monroe beat Mike Tholin to the finish line in the hobby stock feature. Tholin has been putting in a lot of traveling time early in the season, and the experience at other tracks is really showing at Albany-Saratoga. Keith Wright topped the cruiser division feature.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action Friday night, with the first enduro of the season added to the night’s activities. It will also be Biker Night, with all motorcycle riders and one passenger being admitted free of charge.

MODIFIEDS: BRETT HEARN, Jack Cottrell, Don Mattison, Jack Johnson, Ken Tremont Jr., Dave Camara, Todd Ryan, Matt DeLorenzo, Mike Perrotte, Frank Hoard Sr., Mike Ronca, Don Corellis, Mike Ballestero, Randy Hotaling, Gene Munger, Ray Hoard, Dave Manny, Don Ackner, Scott Noel, Ronnie Johnson.

SPORTSMEN: JOHN BELLINGER, Tim Hartman, Jason Herrington, Erik Mack, Stan Lemiesz, David Peek, Dan Budka, Joe Budka, Jimmy Cottrell, Dick Bisson, Derrick McGrew, Keith Nichols, Ken Anatriello, Ray Martindale, Fred Proctor, Jim Meka, Gary Gates, Jeff Sukup, Jack Swinton, Keith Flach, Rich Ronca, Bill Cody, Randy Salisbury.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: HOLLYWOOD JOE SANTORO, Bob Schmidt, Brian Holbritter, Butch Irwin, Mike Haines, Don Daniels, Steve Burega, Matt Anatriello, Ed Thompson, Cale Kneer, Randy Brownell, Charlie Koenig, Walt Brownell, Lori Cary, Dan Groncki, Carl Vladyka, Vince Santoro, Adam Tranka, Jimmy Eaton, Mike Wheeler, Roy Fifield, Chris Maxon, Tom O’Connor.

HOBBY STOCKS: JIM MONROE, Mike Tholin, Chris Busta, John Filarecki, Jeff Monroe, Jim Monroe, Adam Stoddard, Jeff Washburn, Adam Stoddard, Jeff Washburn, Kevin Van Chance, Tim Ippolitti, Byron Westcott, Dan Daniels Jr., Rusty Palmateer, Dave Daniels, Bob smith, John Morris Jr., Curtis Condon, Wally Engle.

CRUISERS: KEITH WRIGHT, Elmer Montville, Matt Thomas, Ron Zagata, Brian Myers Jr., Jim McCarthy, Jon Atwell, Jeremy Brownell, Kevin Connors, Ed Mason, Charles Stoddard, Robert Ross, No. 57, David LaBarge, Brittany Ladd, No. 50.