Hearn ties Jack's win record at Malta

MALTA, NY - It's taken Brett Hearn 14 years of climbing, but he's finally reached the top rung of the ladder at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Hearn moved into a tie with Jack Johnson at the top of Albany-Saratoga's all-time win list Friday night, driving to the 90th victory of his career at the historic Malta track.

The win was the sixth of the season for Hearn, who got his first win at Albany-Saratoga on May 27, 1994. Hearn and Johnson have three more races in 2008 to see if one of them can become the undisputed King of Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

“Jack is a lot more popular in this area than I am,” said Hearn in victory lane after the win. “It's quite an honor to be in the same league as he is.”

Hearn had to start deep in the field, lining up 16th in the 21-car feature, but a couple of cautions in the first 10 laps allowed him to work his way into the top five.

Todd Stone came off the first row and led the first eight laps before giving way to Ronnie Johnson. Hearn used a restart on lap 12 to move around Stone for second and moved out front on lap 19. Another restart with five to go closed the field, but Johnson could only watch as Hearn pulled away. Jeff Trombley got up for third, with Ken Tremont Jr. fourth and Stone fifth.

Completing the top 10 were Matt DeLorenzo, Mike Ronca, Don Ronca, Jack Johnson and Dave Camara.

“There were a couple of close calls out there tonight, but any time you start way back, you're going to dodge some bullets,” said Hearn.

Chris Busta shook off two months full of bad luck and picked up his first victory of the season in the sportsman division. Busta started on the front row, got the lead on lap four and outran Rob Langevin and Tyler Curtis to get his first win in almost a year. Until his win Friday, Busta hadn't had a top-five finish since running fourth on July 3.

Jeremy Pitts notched his first career victory in the 25-lap pro-stock feature. Pitts inherited the lead on lap six and missed a great duel behind him, as Kim Duell and Darryl Carl locked up in a whale of a battle for second. When Pitts took the checkered flag, he was a half-second ahead of Duell, who beat Carl by a bumper to the finish line.

Another first-time winner came out of the budget sportsman division, where Chuck Dickinson drove to his first career victory in the 35-lap feature, which was part of the Twin State Series between Albany-Saratoga and Bear Ridg Speedway in New Hampshire.

Dickinson led every lap but the first one, but had to hold off D.J. Brundige, who haunted Dickinson in the closing laps of the feature. Frank Hoard III finished third.

Ken Conroy was the unofficial winner in the limited feature, but his win is pending a technical review by track officials. The post-race inspection was costly to a couple of other drivers, as Mark Lester, who finished second, and Mark Dwyer (fifth) were both disqualified.

The unofficial top three had Conroy with the win, Mike Ostrander second and Dan Petronis third.

The mini-stocks were also in action Friday, with Travis Tromans coming away with the victory.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will return to action on Friday, Aug. 29, with the Showdown at Sundown. All divisions will be in action, and the budget sportsman will be running the first leg of the Albany-Saratoga/Glen Ridge Challenge Series. Racing will begin a 6:45 p.m.

MODIFIEDS: BRETT HEARN, Ronnie Johnson, Jeff Trombley, Ken Tremont Jr., Todd Stone, Matt DeLorenzo, Mike Ronca, Don Ronca, Jack Johnson, Dave Camara, Marc Johnson, Elmo Reckner, Keith Flach, Don Mattison, Dan Humes, Tony Kawalchuk, Joe Williams, Pierre Berthiaume, Mike Perrotte, Ron Proctor, Jimmy Cottrell.

SPORTSMAN: CHRIS BUSTA, Rob Langevin, Tyler Curtis, Rich Ronca, Kory Sandstedt, Mike Ketchum, Joe Santoro, Mark Kislowski, Dave Constantino, Mike Ballestero, Andy Boniewski, Jack Gentile, Mike Tholin, Pep Corradi, Dave DePaulo, Josh Hohenforst, David Baranowski, Bill Bokus, Adam Tranka, Ken Anatriello, Skip Shippee, Stan Lemiesz, Dick Bisson, Jason Herrington, Justin Barber, Corey Gilligan, Robert Bublak.

PRO-STOCKS: JEREMY PITTS, Kim Duell, Darryl Carl, Bernie Companion, Chuck Towslee, Pete Broderson, William Smith IV, Mike Paquin, Jeff Washburn, Ed Thompson, Kevin Van Chance, Bob Schmidt, James Monroe, Randy Miller, Phil DeFiglio, Vinny Santoro, Greg McGill, Tom O'Connor, Mike Minick, Ron Zagata, Jim Monroe, Johnny Rivers Jr., Rob Yetman, Lori Langevin.

BUDGET SPORTSMAN: CHUCK DICKINSON, D.J. Brundige, Frank Hoard III, Jimmy Eaton, Jon Bates, Adam Pierson, Anthony Marro, Pete Carlotto, Bryan Davis, Gary Siemons, Dan Boni, Paul Dunham Jr., Mike Visconti, Jack Swinton, Dan Peckham, Angelo DiCarlo, Matt Hyde, Mike Burdo, Jeremy Dygert, C.V. Elms, Cullen Howe, Frank Corradi, Scott Duell, Scot Straight, Frank Hoard Jr.

LIMITEDS: KEN CONROY (pending technical review), Mike Ostrander, Dan Petronis, Dan Older, John Filarecki, John Morris Jr., Mark Burch, Dan Carlton, Andy Durie, Jon Miller, David Emigh, Brian Ashline, Brian O'Reilly, Jordan Jeffalone, Luke MacIsaac, Charles Burkhart III, Megan Purstell, Steve Oklesak, Shane Marks, Jeff Monroe, Curtis Condon, David Billings, Yule Cook, David Cook. DQ: Mark Lester, Mark Dwyer.

MINI-STOCKS: TRAVIS TROMANS, Josh Rheome, Justin Comes, Mike Cranston, Elmer Montville, Jason Dickson, Michelle Catone, Charlie Stoddard, Jonathan Hayes, Chris Murray, Dan Older Jr., Ray Galusha, No. 31.