Johnson, Hearn split victories at Malta


MALTA - It was only fitting that the two drivers locked in the battle for the track champion split the Twin 20s Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Jack Johnson, the winningest driver in the history of the speedway, drove to his second straight win in the first 20-lapper on The Night of The Wild, and Brett Hearn came from deep in the pack to pick up the win in the second feature.

Hearn has also finished second in the first feature, and the two good finishes moved him another step closer to the track championship.

With big blocks making a return to the speedway Friday night, time trials were run, and fans then voted to invert the top five for each heat race. The fans also had a voice in the first feature, voting to invert the top 14 cars.
Hearn used a couple of early restarts to grab the lead in the first feature, and appeared to be on his way to an easy win when more yellows slowed his progress. That enabled Jack Johnson, who had started 12th, to close the gap, and when Hearn slid high in turn two on lap 14, Jumpin’ Jack made his move to grab the lead.
Hearn refused to go away, and Johnson admitted after the race that he spent the final laps just trying to block Hearn, as he was slippin’ and slidin’ all over the speedway.

When the checkered flag dropped, Johnson had a slim 0.313 second margin of victory over Hearn, with Johnson’s son, Ronnie, third.

Ken Tremont Jr., back at Malta after a one-week hiatus to recover from injuries suffered in a wreck at Lebanon Valley, came across the finish line fourth, with Ron Proctor fifth.

All the cars that were running at the end of the first feature were inverted for the second event, putting Hearn and Jack Johnson 18th and 19th, but that didn’t deter Hearn one bit. He only needed nine laps to get to the front, again taking advantage of restarts, and once he got the lead, he was long gone. At the end of the second 20-lapper, he was more than three seconds ahead of Ronnie Johnson, who had another strong run. Tremont finished third, followed by Randy Hotaling and Don Scarborough. Hotaling’s finish marked the first time he’s broken into the top five this season.

Early in the second feature, the drive line on Mike Perrotte’s car came apart, injuring the driver. Perrotte was taken to a local hospital to have his leg injuries evaluated.

Jack Johnson didn’t finish the second feature, dropping out with engine problems.

Mike Ballestero finally ended his miserable season by recording his first win of the season in the 20-lap Line-X Modified feature. Ballestero began the season running with the 358 modified division, but then opted to drop back to the Line-X division, and the move finally paid off Friday night.

After starting ninth in the field, Ballestero quickly worked his way to the front and took the lead away from Dan Bublak on lap 10. Tim Hartman, who was looking for his second straight win, waged a good battle with Bublak for the second spot, and finally moved into the No. 2 position on the final lap. But by that time, it was too late to make a run at Ballestero, who held on to record his 27th career victory in the Line-X/sportsman division. Hartman was second, followed by Tim Clemons, Derrick McGrew and Bublak.

Jimmy Eaton picked up his first career victory at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in the 20-lap Amsoil pro-street stock feature. Eaton started sixth and took the lead for good on lap 11 and finished with a comfortable 1.663 second margin of victory over Joe Santoro, who took the second spot away from Rob Muscanell with two laps to go. Muscanell was third, followed by Dean Charbonneau and Bobby Gile.

There were no surprises in two of the other support division, as Chris Busta picked up the win in the Rentway Limited division, and Elmer Montville drove to victory in the Pro-Built Mini-Stock six-cylinder division. Busta’s win was his eighth of the season, while Montville has been to victory lane five times at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
Kevin Connors was also victorious Friday night, taking the checkered flag in the four-cylinder mini-stock division.

FIRST MODIFIED 20-LAPPER: JACK JOHNSON, Brett Hearn, Ronnie Johnson, Ken Tremont Jr., Ron Proctor, Matt DeLorenzo, Jeff Trombley, Jack Cottrell, Gene Munger, Don Scarborough, Randy Hotaling, Don Ackner, Don Ronca, Mike Perrotte, Mike Ronca, Ray Zemken, Jimmy Johnson, Lucas Baker, Wayne Figler, Frank Hoard Sr., Bob Savoie, Todd Ryan, Ryan Odasz, Scott Noel, Dave Lape, Paul Cirincione. DQ: Josh Pieniazek.

SECOND MODIFIED 20-LAPPER: BRETT HEARN, Ronnie Johnson, Ken Tremont Jr., Randy Hotaling, Don Scarborough, Jack Cottrell, Jeff Trombley, Don Ackner, Matt DeLorenzo, Jimmy Johnson, Ron Proctor, Don Ronca, Scott Noel, Frank Hoard Sr., Ray Zemken, Wayne Figler, Jack Johnson, Gene Munger, Todd Ryan, Mike Perrotte, A.J. Romano, Paul Cirincione, Ryan Odasz.

LINE-X MODIFIEDS: MIKE BALLESTERO, Tim Hartman, Tim Clemons, Derrick McGrew, Dan Bublak, Ricky Davis, Tony Ballestero, Jack Swinton, Keith Flach, Rich Ronca, Jimmy Cottrell, Jack Gentile, David Peek, Joe Budka, Chris Garrity, Ken Anatriello, Neal Erickson, Erik Mack, Mike Tholin, Dick Bisson.

AMSOIL PRO-STREET STOCKS: JIMMY EATON, Joe Santoro, Rob Muscanell, Dean Charbonneau, Bobby Gile, Lori Cary, Scott Duell, Butchie Irwin, Vince Santoro, Steve Burega, Bob Schmidt, David Peck Jr., Robert Langevin, Ed Frank, Don Piper, Matt Antriello, Joe Mottoshiski, Adam Tranka, William Smith IV, Cale Kneer, Bernie Companion, Brian Holbritter.

RENTWAY LIMITEDS: CHRIS BUSTA, Jim Monroe, Mike Pfau, Byron Westcott, Grant Rice, John Filarecki, Bob Smith, Kevin Van Chance, Tom Conroy, Mike Minick, Jared McMahon, Curtis Condon, Jeff Monroe, William Duprey, John Morris Jr., Dave Emigh, Robert Bublak Jr., Brian Ashline, Tom Pierce.

PRO-BUILT MINI STOCKS (SIX-CYLINDER): ELMER MONTVILLE, Richard Mrzyglod, Jeremy Brownell, Art Howe, Dan Uber, Dan Petronis, Emerson Ostrander, Shea Montgomery, Ray Galusha, Amanda Clemens.

PRO-BUILT MINI-STOCKS (FOUR-CYLINDER): KEVIN CONNORS, John Willis, Jamie McCarthy, Mike Cranston, Randy Senecal, Heather Combs, Matt Corbiel, Brett Osgood, Ben Durie, John Baldwin, Perry Schaad, Joe Baker, Matt Depew.