Hearn makes fifth visit to victory lane at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA - If Brett Hearn gets handicapped any further into the 358 modified field at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, he's going to have to get a running start out of the parking lot.

Despite starting 25th in a 27-car field, Hearn sliced to the front and held off a stiff challenge from Jack Johnson to record his fifth victory of the season Friday night in the Bobcat of Saratoga 358 modified feature at the Malta track.

Albany-Saratoga held its annual Rock' n Race' Night Friday, with the Southern rock group Rockin' Horse providing the entertainment off the track. On the track, it was all Hearn.

Due to the features-only format, Hearn took the biggest hit in handicapping, because he had a win and two seconds in the three previous point races. He expressed his displeasure at starting so far back in the field, but was more determined than ever to put the Delaney Construction small block into victory lane.

Ron Proctor came off the pole and set the pace for the first five laps, before Craig Hanson spun around in the third turn, bringing out the first caution of the night. The restart allowed Todd Ryan, who is campaigning a 7-year-old race car, to take the lead.

Two more cautions slowed the field on the next two laps, but when green flag racing resumed, Hearn and Ken Tremont Jr., who had started 24th, started slicing their way through the pack.

It was almost like Tremont was running interference for Hearn. When Tremont passed a car, Hearn would follow. With the attention focused back in the pack, Robert King, who had passed Ryan for the lead on lap12, began to stretch out his advantage.

Tremont worked his way around Ryan for second on lap 19, but the next time around, something in the rear suspension of the S&S Asphalt 115 snapped, sending Tremont to the pits.

On the restart, Hearn jumped right to the top and moved around Ryan for second, and Jack Johnson soon joined the lead group. Hearn had a good run off turn two on lap 25 and rocketed past King to take the lead, and the next time around, Jumpin' Jack used the low groove to move into second.

Any momentum that Johnson was building up went out the window when the yellow flew for the final time on lap 28, and Hearn easily came away with his 75th career win at the Malta track.

King crossed the finish line third, the best finish of his career, while Jeff Trombley got up for fourth. Ryan finished fifth, the first time he's cracked the top five since July 18, 2003, when he finished third.

The sportsmen ran a 50-lap feature and when the dust cleared, rookie Hollywood Joe Santoro had his first career open-wheel victory. Santoro, a former pro-street stock champion at Malta, got the lead on a restart on lap 29, but the fans were treated to an incredible battle between Santoro, who was running low, and Dick Bisson, who was so high on the speedway that there were times when his right side wheels were off the racing surface.

Bisson, who had the lead on two different occasions earlier in the race, appeared to get his small block wound up once again on the high side with 10 laps to go, and made a final run at Santoro. But Santoro held his line in the Lazzaro Auto Body small block and added his name to the list of sportsman winners at the speedway.

Bisson finished second, his best run of the season, while Chris Busta was third. Point leader Tim Hartman finished fourth, with Jack Gentile fifth.

Rob Langevin held off Jimmy Eaton to record his third win of the season in the 25-lap pro-street stock feature. Langevin, who had his own motor under the hood of his car after running with a borrowed power plant for the last two weeks, took the lead away from Eaton on lap 13 and then hit the finish line a car length ahead of Eaton, who also finished second to Langevin on May 5.

Cale Kneer finished third, followed by Dan Madigan and Vince Santoro.

Tom Conroy drove to his first win of the season in the 20-lap limited feature. Conroy had Kevin VanChance and Rich Burke breathing down his neck during the second half of the race, but never made a mistake and got the victory.

Pete Willis came away with his second win of the year in the mini-stock feature, outdueling Chris McCarthy, and Brett Osgood had the first four-cylinder across the finish line, coming in third overall and first in his division.

BOBCAT OF SARATOGA MODIFIEDS: BRETT HEARN, Jack Johnson, Robert King, Jeff Trombley, Todd Ryan, Mike Ronca, Vince Quenneville Jr., Rick Davis, Ronnie Johnson, Randy Delaney, Frank Hoard Sr., Don Ronca, Elmo Reckner, Todd Stone, John Lutes Jr., Gene Munger, Craig Hanson, John Pieniazek, Matt DeLorenzo, Keith Flach, Ken Tremont Jr., Mike Perrotte, John Proctor, Don Ackner, Ron Proctor, Marc Johnson, Jimmy Cottrell.

SPORTSMAN (50 LAPS): HOLLYWOOD JOE SANTORO, Dick Bisson, Chris Busta, Tim Hartman, Jack Gentile, Whitey Slavin, Scott Duell, Mike Tholin, Brian Gerrain, Neal Erickson, Stan Lemiesz, Nick Anatriello, Adam Tranka, Ken Anatriello, David Peek, Matt Depew, Joe Budka, Mike Pinke, Colleen Salisbury, Rich Ronca, Kyle Sheldon, Chris Johnson, Robert Perry, Dustin Delaney, Alex Sommer, Ray Martindale.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: ROB LANGEVIN, Jimmy Eaton, Cale Kneer, Dan Madigan, Vince Santoro, John Turco, Carl Vladyka, Bernie Companion, Jeff Washburn, Lori Cary, Bill Smith IV, Matt Anatriello, Greg McGill, Russ Miller, Dean Charbonneau, Dave Peck Jr., Kim Duell, Darrel Carl.

LIMITEDS: TOM CONROY, Kevin VanChance, Rich Burke, Dan Older, John Filarecki, Brian Ashline, Dan Petronis, John Morris Jr., Mike Ostrander, Pete Defiglio, Tony Condon, T.J. Pierce, Chuck Primeau, Amanda Clemens, Jeremy Brownell, Tommy Primeau, D.J.Brundige, Jim Monroe, Ben Durie, Dave Emigh, Robert Bublak, Curtis Condon, Mike Minick, Bob Smith, Paul Mulrain, Jim Monroe Jr., Jeff Monroe.

MINI-STOCKS: PETE WILLIS (6), Chris McCarthy (6), Brett Osgood (4), Ken Hollenbeck (4), Jim Daniels (4), Mike Duclos (6), Kevin Lukasik (6), Travis Tromans (4), Jason Dickson (4), Dan Lorenc (6), Mike Duggan Jr. (4), Chris Green (4), Mike Cranston (4), Rennie Boradki (6), John Baldwin (4), Charlie Stoddard (4), Blake Williams (6), Tim Anagnos (6), Shane Marks (4), Andy Hickok (4), Alecia Mason (4), Ted Fitzgerald (4), Joe Tallman (6).