Hearn rockets to RoC Tour victory


MALTA – Brett Hearn is like a gunslinger in the Old West. It doesn't matter who you bring in to face him. He mows them all down. Facing a star-studded Race of Champions Tour field, Hearn protected his home turf Friday night, coming away with an impressive victory in the 75-lap feature at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Hearn, who started 12th, survived an early battle with invader Danny Johnson, who fought with Hearn as if they were bitter enemies, got the lead on lap 57 and pulled away for his fourth victory of the season at the historic Malta track.

“This car's got just the right amount of horsepower when the track gets slippery like this,” said Hearn after his 82nd career win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Jack Johnson and A.J. Romano started on the front row, and Johnson quickly showed why he's the winningest driver at the speedway, jumping out to a huge lead and getting into lapped traffic after just a dozen laps.

But the story of the race was happening behind Johnson, where Romano, Marc Johnson, Danny Johnson and Hearn were soon running under a blanket, swapping positions, staying inches apart and keeping the huge pre-4th of July crowd on its feet.

On a number of occasions, it appeared that Danny Johnson was going to take Hearn right off the track, but Hearn held his ground, and the complexion of the race changed on lap 41, when Johnson suffered a flat tire, bringing out the only caution of the race.

Not only did that yellow negate Jack Johnson's enormous lead, but it also gave Hearn the break he needed. After four caution laps, the green flew again, and it only took Hearn two laps to get past Romano for second. After following Johnson for nine laps, Hearn finally saw the opening he needed, and took the lead for good.

From there, Hearn put the Vinny Salerno-owned, Delaney Construction-sponsored small block on cruise control, opening up a full straightaway lead and hitting the finish line more than five seconds ahead of Jumpin' Jack. Romano finished third, giving him two seconds and a third in his last three races. Brian Weaver, the winner of last year's ROC race at Albany-Saratoga, finished fourth after taking a while to find a fast groove, and Marc Johnson was fifth.

“Brett beat us fair and square,” said Jumpin' Jack after the race. “In these long races, he gets it done.”

Ronnie Johnson, who finished sixth, passed the most cars, coming from his 22nd starting spot. He had won his heat race, but didn't go to the scales and subsequently had to qualify through the B main. Completing the top 10 were Matt DeLorenzo, Jimmy Davis, Ted Lamb and Bobby Varin.

Pete Broderson used a restart midway through the race to get the lead and went on to record his first career victory in the 25-lap pro-street stock feature. Broderson started fifth, but the first caution of the race on lap 10, which forced defending track champion Lori Cary to drop to the rear of the field, allowed Broderson to snatch the lead away from Gregg McGill.

While Broderson set the pace, Cary began a quick charge from the rear and got back up to second, taking that spot away from Bernie Companion on the final lap. McGill hit the stripe fourth, his first top-five finish of the season, and Jim Monroe Sr. was fifth.

Paul Dunham Jr. passed Al Williams on the final lap and recorded his fourth victory of the season in the budget sportsman division. Williams came up light on the post-race weigh-in and was disqualified, moving Mike Visconti up to second.

Jeff Monroe kept the streak of parity in the limited division alive, getting his first win of the season. There have been six different winners in the last six weeks, since Jim Monroe Jr. won back-to-back features on May 18 and May 25.

Three early cautions helped Jeff Monroe come from his eighth starting spot to the front, and he got around D.J. Brundige for the lead on lap 11. That was the way they finished, with Monroe holding a comfortable advantage over Brundige and Mike Minick. Brundige, still looking for his first win of the year, has finished in the top three for three straight weeks.

Phil DeFiglio continued to dominate the mini-stock division, coming away with his sixth win of the season.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will return to action on Friday, July 6 with all divisions on the card. The highlight of the night will be a 76-lap feature for sportsmen.

RoC TOUR (75 LAPS): BRETT HEARN, Jack Johnson, A.J. Romano, Brian Weaver, Marc Johnson, Ronnie Johnson, Matt DeLorenzo, Jimmy Davis, Ted Lamb, Bobby Varin, Matt Sheppard, Keith Flach, Jeff Trombley, Jim Becker, Danny Johnson, Ken Tremont Jr., Rob Langevin, Jimmy Cottrell, Mike Perrotte, Pat Ward, Dan Humes, Don Mattison, Ed Pieniazek Jr., Don Ackner.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: PETE BRODERSON, Lori Cary, Bernie Companion, Gregg McGill, Darryl Carl, Jim Monroe Sr., Dan Madigan, Kim Duell, Jeff Washburn, Cale Kneer, Bill Smith IV, Vince Santoro, Jesse Edwards, Chuck Towslee, Frank Twing, Kevin Van Chance, Jimmy Eaton, Chris Maxon.

BUDGET SPORTSMAN: PAUL DUNHAM JR. , Mike Visconti, Bryan Davis, Kale Groff, Angela Hoard, Ralph Denison, Mike Burdo, Kris Bradbury, Robert Bublak Jr., Alex Bell, Fred Proctor, Todd Clark. DQ: Al Williams, Jared McMahon.

LIMITEDS: JEFF MONROE, D.J. Brundige, Mike Minick, Jim Monroe Jr., Jon Morris, John Filarecki, Mike Ostrander, Brandon Emigh, Dan Older, Rich Burke, Paul Mulrain, Mark Dwyer, Tommy Primeau Jr., Steve Holcomb, Bill Burlingame, Brian Ashline, Anthony Marro, Curtis Condon, Steve Burch, Mark Burch, Dan Petronis, Ben Durie, Nick Lussier, Ken Conroy.

MINI-STOCKS: PHIL DEFIGLIO (6), Brette Osgood (4), Jason Dickson (4), Shane Marks (4), Tim Anagnos (6), Charlie Stoddard (4), Dan Older Jr. (4), Jim Bleau (6), Mike Cranston (4), James Tromans (6), Jason Rheome (4), Ray Galusha (6), Erin Older (4), Michelle Catone (4), Jim Daniels (4), Ted Fitzgerald (4), Car No. 13, Dan Lorenc (6), John Baldwin (4), Travis Tromans (4), Rusty Palmatier.