Hearn nips Delorenzo in wild finish 

MALTA - Brett Hearn must have figured that thirty-four-and-a-half laps was long enough to be careful.

After just trying to keep his car in one piece on a heavy track, Hearn ducked under Matt Delorenzo going into the third turn on the final lap and hit the finish line a half-car length in front to win Friday night's 25-lap Bobcat of Saratoga 358 modified feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

The win was the second straight and the sixth of the season for Hearn. Because the feature carried double points, the win also allowed Hearn to move past Ken Tremont Jr., who finished fifth, and grab the point lead.

The last time Albany-Saratoga ran a double point race, on June 10, Hearn didn't even finish, and that was still stuck in his head Friday night.

“You've got to be careful on a track like this,” he said. “The last double-point dip, I was out of it. A.J. (Romano) and I touched wheels early, I bent something and it was downhill from there. Tonight, I had to pick and choose and be a little more cautious.”

Until the last lap, when he rocketed past Delorenzo heading into the third turn. “When the track is this heavy, with this motor, it really labors,” said Hearn. “But toward the end, I was able to make it up in the corners.”

The track was made heavy by rain that rolled into the area right at race time, and caused a three-hour delay on Rock 'n Race Night, which featured a concert by the Burners UK.

Delorenzo, who is still looking for his first career victory at Albany-Saratoga, should be used to finishing second to Hearn. Delorenzo has finished second seven times at Malta, and Hearn has won all seven of those races.

Hearn wasn't even a factor in the race, running a distant fourth behind Delorenzo, Mike Ronca and Romano, when Frank Hoard Sr. brought out a caution on lap 27.

But Hearn then went into attack mode. Romano took over second and dropped Ronca to third on lap 30, and Hearn took over the No. 3 position one lap later. On lap 32, Hearn worked his way past Romano and set out after Delorenzo. Even on the final lap, it appeared that Hearn had too much ground to make up, but he ate up a huge chunk in turns one and two, and then made the big move going into the third turn.

Following Hearn and Delorenzo across the finish line were Romano, Ronca, who finished in the top five for the first time this season, and Tremont. Completing the top 10 were Ronnie Johnson, Keith Flach, Tim Clemons, Bobby Varin and Tony Kawalchuk.

Mike Tholin picked up his first career victory in the 20-lap sportsman feature. A former hobby stock driver, Tholin made the move to the sportsman class last season and hooked up with the Jasper crate engine program.

Coming out of the three hole, Tholin went right to the front and led flag-to-flag to get his first career win. Cautions kept him on his toes on restarts, and he had his hands full on the final lap, when the final yellow put defending track champion Tim Hartman right on his rear bumper. But Tholin held his line and was first under the checkered flag.

Hartman was second, less than a second behind the leader. Rich Ronca ran a solid race and finished third, with Jimmy Cottrell fourth and Joe Budka working hard to finish fifth.

Rob Langevin held off Dean Charbonneau to record his first win of the season in the 20-lap pro-street stock feature. Langevin, the defending track champion at Devil's Bowl, led a lap early in the feature, but then was shuffled back, and didn't regain the top spot until lap 18. The victory was just Langevin's second career win at Albany-Saratoga. Charbonneau was second, with Jimmy Eaton third, Butch Irwin fourth and Cale Kneer fifth.

Mark Burch hit a milestone Friday night, picking up his first career victory in the 15-lap Rentway Limited feature. Burch started third, and moved into the lead on lap four. But he also had to survive a number of restarts, and a strong challenge from Mike Minick, who was all over Burch midway through the feature.

But Minick faded at the end, finishing fourth, and Burch hit the finish line with a 0.745 second margin of victory over Jim Monroe. Rich Holmes finished third, with Jim Monroe Jr. fifth.

Because of the late start, the Pro-Built mini-stocks didn't race because of curfew, and will run double features on July 29.

Because of a computer scoring error, Tom Jeffalone was incorrectly reported as the six-cylinder mini-stock winner on July 15. That race was actually won by Jeremy Brownell.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action on July 29, with the Central New York Mini-Sprints joining the racing card.

BOBCAT OF SARATOGA MODIFIEDS: BRETT HEARN, Matt Delorenzo, A.J. Romano, Mike Ronca, Ken Tremont, Ronnie Johnson, Keith Flach, Tim Clemons, Bobby Varin, Tony Kawalchuk, Don Ackner, Marc Johnson, Frank Hoard Sr., Bob Savoie, Ken McGuire, Ron Proctor, Jack Johnson, Don Ronca, Eric Nelson, Jimmy Davis, Todd Ryan, John Proctor, Jack Cottrell, Paul Cirincione, Don Scarborough.

SPORSMAN: MIKE THOLIN, Tim Hartman, Rich Ronca, Jimmy Cottrell, Joe Budka, Neal Erickson, Mike Ballestero, Chris Busta, David Peek, Rick Davis, Dick Bisson, Matt Depew, Jack Swinton, Stan Lemiesz, Ed Pieniazek, Bill Cody, Dan Bublak, Ken Anatriello, Paul Dunham Jr., Derrick McGrew, Jack Gentile, Adam Tranka, Jim Proctor, Ton Ballestero, Dustin Delaney.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: ROBERT LANGEVIN, Dean Charbonneau, Jimmy Eaton, Butch Irwin, Cale Kneer, Scott Duell, Chris Maxon, Lori Cary, Don Piper, Matt Anatriello, William Smith IV, Joe Santoro, Steve Burega, Brian Ashline, Dan Madigan, Billy Lussier, Vince Santoro.

RENTWAY LIMITEDS: MARK BURCH, Jim Monroe, Rich Holmes, Mike Minick, Jim Monroe Jr., Paul Mulrain, Dave Emigh, Jeff Monroe, John Filarecki, Richard Burke, Dan Petronis, Charlie Koenig, Mike Pfau, John Morris Jr., Tracy Ash, Adam Stoddard, Byron Wescott, Joe Mulvaney, Amanda Clemens, Tony Condon, Charlie Stoddard, Curtis Condon, Bill Burlingame, Andy Durie, Mike Scorzelli, Kevin VanChance, Brian Haas, Tom Conroy.