Hearn hits paydirt again, takes 49er

MALTA - A lot of drivers would get discouraged if they were involved in a wreck on the first lap of a big race.
Not Brett Hearn. He just pulled the belts a little tighter, and went back to work.

Hearn capped off an incredible season at Albany-Saratoga Speedway Friday night by coming from the rear of the field to win The 49er, the unique brainchild of Albany-Saratoga promoter Bruce Richards.

Hearn took home the top prize of $4,900 in the 49-lap feature for big block and small block modifieds, ending a seven-day run that saw him earn a total of $23,900. In his first season behind the wheel of the Vinny Salerno-owned small block at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Hearn won nine features, walked off with the track championship, and also swept the three biggest races of the season, winning CVRA vs. The World, the CVRA.com 100 and The 49er.

So anyone who thought something like an accident was going to take Hearn out of contention in The 49er was sadly mistaken.

Hearn started ninth in the feature, but everything went haywire on lap one. Going into the third turn, Hearn was tapped from behind by the big block of Jeff Trombley, who had started 12th, setting off a chain reaction accident that also involved Jack Johnson, Ken Tremont Jr. and Matt DeLorenzo. That incident put Hearn at the rear of the field, and ended Jack Johnson’s night before he had even completed one lap.

Trombley, who had won the first 20-lap mini-main to transfer into The 49er, had his night end just three laps later, this time getting involved in a wreck with Jack Cottrell, who was also done for the night. While all this action was taking place back in the pack, Don Ackner, who had started on the pole, led the first four laps, but Dave Lape, who had started fifth, far enough forward to avoid the early-lap carnage, used the restart on lap five to move into the No. 1 position.

But Ronnie Johnson, who had set the fastest time of 16.336 seconds in time trials, wasn’t going to let the leader get away. Johnson, who had started 10th, caught Lape on lap seven, and then grabbed the lead on lap 10. But by that time, Hearn had already rocketed his way back to third and a restart on lap 14 allowed him to move into the lead for good.

With Hearn out front, the fans started watching the other great racing around the speedway. Midway through the race, one of the best battles was for fourth, with Tremont, Lape and Frank Cozze fighting like dogs wanting the last pork chop. But on lap 28, Lape tapped Cozze in the rear, with Cozze spinning out and collecting Mike Perrotte, taking them both out of contention.

Perrotte had failed to qualify for The 49er after suffering magneto problems during his qualifying race, but he was added to the event for the feature as a guaranteed starter because he won last year’s Run What Ya Brung race at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Tim Fuller, driving the Bob Faust-owned big block, was also a factor. After starting eighth, he had moved up to third by lap 23 and was never too far behind Hearn and Ronnie Johnson. But Fuller’s night ended on lap 33 when the B&F General Machine car suffered terminal engine problems.

The Lape-Cozze feud wasn’t over yet, either. Cozze quickly worked his way back through the pack and caught Lape on lap 35 when the two veterans tangled again. But this time, they both wound up in the wall, and had too much damage to continue.

Although Ronnie Johnson was able to used lapped cars to close the gap on Hearn in the final 10 laps of the feature, Hearn still had a 0.539 second edge when he hit the finish line.

Tremont finished third, matching his best finish of the season, with Bob Savoie fourth and Jeff Heotzler fifth. Completing the top 10 were Rich Ricci Jr., DeLorenzo, Ryan Odasz, Craig Mitchell and Erik Mack, who normally competes in the Line-X Modified division at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Tremont suffered through a frustrating season, failing to win a modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway for the first time since 1992. A total of 59 drivers took time during time trials, with Ronnie Johnson (16.336), Jack Johnson (16.348) and Heotzler (16.355) leading the way. The father-and-son team of Jack and Ronnie Johnson also won their 20-lap mini-main qualifiers.

Jimmy Davis, a former hobby stock driver at Albany-Saratoga Speedway who now does his modified racing at Fonda Speedway, returned to his old home track and won the 20-lap non-qualifiers race, which paid $1,000 to win. Davis, who started on the outside pole, used a restart on the fifth lap to get the lead away from Tim Hartman and never gave up the top spot. Hartman settled for second, with Mike Tholin third.

Lori Cary waited until the final event of the season before posting her first victory of the year in the extra distance 30-lap Amsoil pro-street stock feature. After starting eighth, Cary used two early cautions to work her way to the front and finally took the lead away from Joe Mottoshiski with just four laps left in the feature. If the race had lasted its normal 20-lap distance, Mottoshiski would have had his first career victory at the Malta track, but instead, he finished second for the fourth time this season. Scott Duell got up for third, with Bernie Companion fourth and 2004 track champion Butchie Irwin fifth.

The Rentway Limiteds were also on The 49er card, with Kevin Van Chance getting the victory. Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be dark until Oct. 23, when the track will reopen for its annual Halloween Havoc event.

THE 49ER: BRETT HEARN, Ronnie Johnson, Ken Tremont Jr., Bob Savoie, Jeff Heotzler, Rich Ricci Jr., Matt DeLorenzo, Ryan Odasz, Craig Mitchell, Erik Mack, Jimmy Becker, Don Ackner, David Peek, Rich Ronca, Ricky Davis, Dave Lape, Frank Cozze, Mike Perrotte, Tim Fuller, Derrick McGrew, Randy Hotaling, Ray Hoard, Ron Proctor, Todd Ryan, Andy Bachetti, Jack Cottrell, Jeff Trombley, Jack Johnson.

NON-QUALIFIERS RACE: JIMMY DAVIS, Tim Hartman, Mike Tholin, Paul Cirincione, Scott Noel, Lance Harting, Brian Sandstedt, Kory Sandstedt, Wayne Figler, Stan Lemiesz, Jimmy Cottrell, John Calcagni Jr., Mark Pullen, Ken Anatriello, Keith Shoemaker, Tony Kawalchuk, Cass Bennett, Colleen Salisbury, Jack Swinton, Lucas Baker, Tony Ballestero, John Hynes.

AMSOIL PRO-STREET STOCKS: LORI CARY, Joe Mottoshiski, Scott Duell, Bernie Companion, Butchie Irwin, Jimmy Eaton, Robert Langevin, Cale Kneer, Ed Thompson, Bob Schmidt, Jeff Washburn, Matt Anatriello, Ed Frank, Chris Lussier, Walt Brownell Jr., Steve Burega, Joe Santoro, Henry Tanner, Don Piper, Jeremy Pitts, David Peck Jr.