Tremont in victory lane, but Hearn takes championship

MALTA - Ken Tremont Jr. won the battle at Albany-Saratoga Speedway Friday night, but Brett Hearn won the war.

Tremont went into the final night of the points season trailing Hearn by 17 points, and did what he had to, recording his fourth victory of the season at the historic Malta track in the 35-lap double-points feature. But by finishing fifth, Hearn won his second straight 358 modified point championship for car owner Vinny Salerno.

Tremont, who suffered through a dry spell in late May and early June, was back in championship form late in the season. In the final six point races of the season, he had three wins, a second and a third to give Hearn a run for his money. But Hearn, who finished the season with nine wins, wasn't going to be denied.

Craig Hanson came off the pole to set the pace for the first seven laps, before Mike Perrotte, who had started on the outside pole, moved to the front.

But the man everyone was watching was Bobby Varin, driving the Jake Spraker-owned big block. Varin had started 11th, but the big block was hooked up and when Perrotte spun off the track in turn two, bringing out the caution on lap nine, Varin used the restart to jump into the lead.

Don Ackner and Tremont, two old rivals on both the CVRA circuit and at Lebanon Valley Speedway, put on a whale of a battle for second while Varin was setting the pace, with Tremont finally securing the No. 2 position on lap 14. He then set his sights on Varin, and had the lead for good on lap 19.

Varin had to settle for second place, but that was more than enough for him to secure the 2005 DIRT big block championship at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Following Tremont and Varin across the finish line were Ronnie Johnson, Jack Johnson and Hearn.

Completing the top 10 were Jack Cottrell, Tim Clemons, Hanson, Gene Munger and Paul Cirincione.

Cottrell was honored in a special ceremony before the feature. After 25 years of racing, Cottrell had announced that he will be retiring at the end of the 2005 season, and was allowed to take a victory lap prior to the final 358-modified feature at Albany-Saratoga, where the Rock City Rocket began his racing career.

Mike Ballestero ended his run of miserable luck by recording his third win of the season in the 20-lap sportsman feature. Ballestero hadn't been to victory lane since June 24.

Despite starting seventh, Ballestero had to use all of his experience and knowledge of Albany-Saratoga to get past Ricky Davis, who led the first 16 laps of the feature. But Ballestero used a restart on lap 17 to finally get the lead and beat Davis to the finish line by a half-second. Jimmy Cottrell finished third, with Chris Busta fourth and Tim Hartman fifth. By finishing fifth, Hartman secured his second track championship in the sportsman division.

Lori Cary struck another blow for gender equity as she picked up her first win of the year in the 20-lap pro-street stock feature. Cary had been a contender all year, but finally had everything fall into place, as she battled with Bernie Companion for 16 laps, before Companion went to the pits with a broken tie rod. Cary then had to hold off Butchie Irwin to get the win. By finishing second, Irwin picked up his second straight track championship, a very satisfying victory when you consider that the Lazzaro Motorsports team of Joe Santoro and Scott Duell dominated the division early in the year, at one time combining to win nine straight features.

Curtis Condon drove to his second win of the year in the Rentway Limited feature while Jeff Monroe picked up the track championship in that division with a second-place finish. Jeremy Brownell locked up the track title in the Pro-Built mini-stock six-cylinder division by winning his eighth feature of the year, and John Baldwin used a fourth-place finish to win the title in the four-cylinder division. Kevin Connors took the checkered flag in that feature on Friday night.

Although the point races have ended, Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 16, with the sportsman division getting the spotlight, as the 358 modifieds are done for the year. The card will include pro-street stocks, limiteds, mini-stocks and an enduro., Racing will begin at 7 p.m.

BOBCAT OF SARATOGA MODIFIEDS: KEN TREMONT JR., Bobby Varin, Ronnie Johnson, Jack Johnson, Brett Hearn, Jack Cottrell, Tim Clemons, Craig Hanson, Gene Munger, Paul Cirincione, Matt Delorenzo, Mike Perrotte, Don Ronca, Mike Ronca, Tony Kawalchuk, Bryan McGuire, Erik Mack, Keith Flach, Don Mattison, Robert King, Frank Hoard Sr., Don Ackner, Ray Hoard, Mike Kulzer, Todd Ryan, Ron Proctor, A.J. Romano, Billy Osta.

SPORTSMAN: MIKE BALLESTERO, Rick Davis, Jimmy Cottrell, Chris Busta, Tim Hartman, Tony Ballestero, Neal Erickson, Rich Ronca, Jack Gentile, Bill Cody, David Peek, Matt Depew, Stan Lemiesz, Jack Swinton, Ken Anatriello, Kyle Sheldon, Skip Shippee, Dan Carlton, Joe Budka, Dan Bublak, Dick Bisson, Mike Tholin, Adam Tranka, Jamie Proctor, Dustin Delaney.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: LORI CARY, Butchie Irwin, Rob Langevin, Dean Charbonneau, Vince Santoro, Jimmy Eaton, Cale Kneer, Bob Schmidt, Bill Smith IV, Scott Duell, Joe Mottoshiski, Chris Maxon, Tom O'Connor, Steve Burega, Matt Anatriello, Bernie Companion, Dan Madigan, Dave Madej, Don Piper, Joe Santoro.

RENTWAY LIMITEDS: CURTIS CONDON, Jeff Monroe, Mike Pfau, Jim Monroe Sr., Rich Holmes, Mike Scorzelli, Rich Burke, Dan Petronis, John Filarecki, Dave Emigh, Mike Minick, Bob Smith, Amanda Clemens, Brian Haas, Jim Monroe Jr., Nick Lussier, Kevin VanChance, Mark Burch, Tom Pierce, Larry Ward, Paul Mulrain. DQ: Tom Conroy.

PRO-BUILT MINI-STOCKS (SIX-CYLINDER): JEREMY BROWNELL, Tom Jeffalone, T.J. Brunelle, Dan Uber, Kevin Lukasik, Mike Duclos, Dan Lorenz, Ray Galusha, Randy Manhey.

PRO-BUILT MINI-STOCKS (FOUR-CYLINDER): KEVIN CONNORS, Mark Emigh, Brett Osgood, John Baldwin, Pete Willis, Joe Baker, Roger Newkirk, Richard Gorman, Ryan Pechtel, Travis Tromans, Jason Dickson, Chris Greene, Mike Cranston, Justin Ramsey.