Hearn holds off Tremont in cvra.com 100

MALTA - Brett Hearn obviously wants to reclaim the title as the best long-distance runner at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Hearn built up a big early lead, and then locked horns with Ken Tremont Jr. before holding off Tremont by inches Friday night to win the CVRA.com 100 for 358-modifieds at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

It was hard to tell who was more tired at the end of the 100-lapper – Hearn and Tremont, who ran side by side for the last 50 laps, or the fans who were whipped into a frenzy during the emotionally draining feature, which paid $3,000 to win.

When the checkered flag fell at the end of the 100-lapper, Hearn had his front wheels in front of Tremont, and had his 88th career win at the historic Malta track. By winning his second 100-lapper of the season (he also won CVRA vs. the World on June 27), Hearn is just one win away from tying Jack Johnson at the top of the speedway's all-time win list.

Ironically, Johnson finished fourth Friday night, after setting the early pace.

When Tremont and Hearn get hooked up in a 100-lapper at Albany-Saratoga, it's like watching two dogs fight for a pork chop – neither ever gives up. Two years ago, Hearn passed Tremont on the final lap to win the CVRA.com 100, and last year, Tremont won both 100-lappers at the speedway.

Despite starting deep in the pack Friday night, Hearn had the Delaney Construction-sponsored small block humming, and needed only 24 laps to get the lead. Tremont, who was also back in the cheap seats at the start of the feature, also easily worked his way to the front, but was a very distant second on lap 40.

Ten laps later, everything changed. A caution allowed Tremont to park right on Hearn's rear bumper, and when the green fell again, they started a duel that qualified as an instant classic.

Hearn stayed in the outer groove while Tremont ran the bottom, and while Tremont looked to have an advantage in the corners, Hearn had more momentum going down the straightaways.

They even switched grooves on a couple of occasions, much to the delight of the big Friday night crowd.

To make things even more interesting, promoter Bruce Richards got on the Raceceiver with 20 laps to go, and offered Tremont a $1,000 bonus if he could get around Hearn and get the win. With 10 laps to go, Richards upped the bonus to $2,000.

On the final lap, as the leaders worked through traffic, Tremont pulled even with Hearn going into the fourth turn, but Hearn never bobbled, and hit the finish line 0.364 seconds ahead of Tremont.

“Kenny sure did put a lot of pressure on me, up to the point where I knew I had to stay consistent and make no mistakes,” said Hearn in victory lane after the win.

Mike Perrotte, who had started seventh and was never far from the leaders, finished third, with Jack Johnson fourth and Marc Johnson fifth.

Completing the top 10 were Matt DeLorenzo, Dave Camara, Keih Flach, Tony Kawalchuk and Jeff Trombley.

The modified feature was just one of many exciting races Friday night, with double points being offered in all divisions and drivers getting extremely amped up as they battled to stay in the hunt for track titles. In the sportsman division, Dave Constantino held off a huge challenge from Rob Langevin to come away with his first career victory at Albany-Saratoga.

Constantino was locked in an early battle with Kenny Anatriello, with Constantino getting the lead on lap 12. Langevin got around Anatriello for second four laps later and began to haunt Constantino, but even as they worked through traffic late in the race, Constantino held the lead, and beat Langevin to the finish line by a couple of feet. Defending track champion Mike Ketchum was third, followed by Anatriello and Mike Tholin.

Walt Brownell picked up his second win of the year in the 25-lap pro-stock feature. After starting on the outside pole, Brownell chased James Monroe for the first 14 laps before finally taking the lead on lap 15. Daryl Carl took over the No. 2 spot on lap 19 and put pressure on Brownell, but Brownell held on for the victory, with Carl second, Rob Yetman third, Monroe fourth and Bill Smith IV fifth.

Bryan Davis, who has been knocking on the door in the budget sportsman division all year, finally kicked the door in and grabbed his first victory of the season. Just when it looked like Pete Carlotto was going to get his first career win and Davis was going to have to again settle for second, Davis made a last-lap pass to get the victory.

Mark Burch took the checkered flag in the limited division for the second time this season, outrunning Dan Petronis and John Filarecki, and John Reome got the win in the mini-stock feature.

MODIFIEDS – CVRA.COM 100: BRETT HEARN, Ken Tremont., Mike Perrotte, Jack Johnson, Marc Johnson, Matt DeLorenzo, Dave Camara, Keith Flack, Tony Kawalchuk, Jeff Trombley, Jimmy Cottrell, Don Mattison, Ron Proctor, Joe Williams, Ronnie Johnson, Vince Quenneville Jr., Don Ronca, Dustin Delaney, Mike Ronca, Todd Stone.

SPORTSMAN: DAVE CONSTANTINO, Rob Langevin, Mike Ketchum, Ken Anatriello, Mike Tholin, Josh Hohenforst, Derrick McGrew, Matt Depew, Tyler Curtis, Joe Santoro, Mike Ballestero, Dave DePaulo, Pep Corradi, Stan Lemiesz, Dave Baranowki, Skip Shippee, Jack Gentile, Corey Gilligan, Jason Herrington, Chris Busta, Kory Sandsedt, Rich Ronca, Mark Kislowski.

BUDGET SPORTSMAN: BRYAN DAVIS, Pete Carlotto, Jimmy Eaton, D.J. Brundige, Cullen Howe, Scott Duell, Chuck Dickinson, Frank Corradi, Jared McMahon, Fred Proctor Jr., Scot Straight, Anthony Marro, Dan Boni, Rick LaMont, Jeremy Dygert, Angelo DiCarlo, Greg DeCamp, Ron Ayotte, Randy Davis, Dan Peckham, Nick Hotaling, Mike Pinke, Tim Anagnos.

PRO-STOCKS: WALT BROWNELL, Daryl Carl, Rob Yetman, James Monroe, Bill Smith IV, Lori Langevin, Jeremy Pitts, Chuck Towslee, Kim Duell, Ed Thompson, Pete Broderson, Backup No. 00, Greg McGill, Johnny Rivers Jr., Jeff Washburn, Bob Schmidt, Kevin Arnold, Tom O'Connor, Kevin Van Chance, Jim Monroe, Mike Paquin, Phil DeFiglio, Randy Miller.

LIMITEDS: MARK BURCH, Dan Petronis, John Filarecki, John Morris Jr., Jon Miller, David Cook, Andy Durie, Dan Older, Jordan Jeffalone, David Billings, Dan Carlton, Ken Conroy, Brian Ashline, Rich Howe, Shane Marks, Mark Dwyer, Steve Oklesak, Mark Lester, Mike Ostrander, Brian Reilly.

MINI-STOCKS: JOSH REOME, Justin Comes, Jason Dickson, Elmer Montville, Jameson Tromans, Justin Demers, Dan Older Jr., Ray Galusha, No. 24, Charlie Stoddard.