Hearn, Tremont share spotlight

MALTA, NY - Two kings were crowned Friday night on Hometown Heroes Night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Brett Hearn swept the two 358-modified features to become the winningest driver in the history of the Malta track, and Ken Tremont Jr. parlayed two second-place finishes into his 10th track championship.

The final night of the points season at Albany-Saratoga turned out to be a wild one, as many of the divisions also had carryover features from a rainout the previous week, creating essentially a night of triple points.

But when all was said and done, the night belonged to Hearn.

By winning both 358-modified features, giving him eight wins this season, Hearn pushed his career win total to 92, moving him past the legendary Jack Johnson (90 wins) on the track's all-time win list.

Jumpin' Jack had been at the top of the all-time win list for 26 years. Lou Lazzaro and Johnson both had 27 wins going into Triple 25s on the night of July 12, 1982. Johnson won two of those races to move to the top of the list, and had been there ever since.

Hearn got his first win at Albany-Saratoga in 1994, when he hauled in to run a big block in a co-feature with the Champlain Valley Racing Association 358s. He started making regular stops at the speedway the next season, and had his best year at Albany-Saratoga in 2002, when he tied the track record of 12 wins in a season, set another record with six consecutive victories and picked up his first track championship.

Tremont recorded his second straight track championship and 10th of his career the hard way, without winning a feature, the first time since 2004 that he didn't make a visit to victory lane. But Tremont had five second-place finishes this season, and every time, he followed Hearn across the finish line.

Hearn may have won the battle, but Tremont won the war, finishing 13 points ahead of Hearn in the final standings.

While Tremont was locking up the 358-modified crown, Mike Ketchum and Rob Langevin finished in a dead-heat for the sportsman division crown. Langevin finished second in the first feature Friday night, and then came back to win the double-points Ford Flex 50 in the second event. Ketchum, who lost the track championship by one point last year, finished fifth in both features to hang on to a share of the title, after starting the night with a 22-point lead.

A familiar face returned to victory lane in the first sportsman feature, as Mike Ballestero recorded his first win in two years. Ballestero, a four-time track champion who returned to racing midway through the 2008 season, tops the all-time sportsman win list at Albany-Saratoga with 32 victories.

Jeremy Pitts and Lori Langevin split victories in the pro-street stock class. Pitts' win was his second of the season, while Langevin took the checkered flag for the sixth time.

Kim Duell also had a night to remember, using a third-place finish in the second double-points feature to nail down the pro-street stock track championship, finishing just seven points ahead of Langevin.

Duell started the night with a 26-point lead, but most of that evaporated in the first feature, when he finished ninth, while Langevin came across the finish line third..

John Filarecki capped his championship campaign in style in the limited division, recording his first win of the year to lock up the track championship. John Morris Jr. won the first feature.

Cullen Howe was victorious in the budget sportsman feature, his third win of the season, while Josh Rheome took the checkered flag in the mini-stock feature.

MODIFIEDS (From Aug. 29 rainout): BRETT HEARN, Ken Tremont Jr., Todd Stone, Mike Perrotte, Ronnie Johnson, Jeff Trombley, Matt DeLorenzo, Tony Kawalchuk, Keith Flach, Dave Camara, John Proctor, Marc Johnson, Mike Ronca, Elmo Reckner, Don Ronca, Jimmy Cottrell, Jack Johnson, Ron Proctor.

MODIFIEDS (Double points): BRETT HEARN, Ken Tremont Jr., Matt DeLorenzo, Don Ronca, Todd Stone, Mike Perrotte, Jeff Trombley, Keith Flach, Don Mattison, Tony Kawalchuk, Mike Ronca, Elmo Reckner, John Proctor, Vince Quenneville Jr., Jimmy Cottrell, Marc Johnson, Ron Proctor, Dave Camara, Ronnie Johnson, Jack Johnson.

SPORTSMAN (From Aug. 29 rainout): MIKE BALLESTERO, Rob Langevin, Chris Busta, Pep Corradi, Mike Ketchum, Rich Ronca, Neal Erickson, Tim Hartman, Andy Boniewski, Josh Hohenforst, Scott Huber, Dave DePaulo, David Baranowski, Joe Santoro, Adam Tranka, Dave Constantino, Cass Bennett, Bill Bokus, Stan Lemiesz, Skip Shippee, Pete Sisler, Howard Gage, Robert Bublak, Mike Tholin, Tyler Curtis, Ken Anatriello, Corey Gilligan, Dave Manny, Mark Kislowski, Dick Bisson.

SPORTSMAN (Double points): ROB LANGEVIN, Mike Ballestero, Mike Tholin, Rich Ronca, Mike Ketchum, Chris Busta, Tim Hartman, Neal Erickson, Scott Huber, Corey Gilligan, Dave Manny, Skip Shippee, Dick Bisson, Andy Boniewski, Stan Lemiesz, Bill Bokus, Robert Bublak, David Baranowski, Howard Gage, Joe Santoro, Pep Corradi, Tyler Curtis, Ken Anatriello, David DePaulo, Adam Tranka, Floyd Billington, Cass Bennett.

PRO-STREET STOCKS (From Aug. 29 rainout): JEREMY PITTS, Ed Thompson, Lori Langevin, Bernie Companion, William Smith IV, Mike Paquin, Daryl Carl, Kevin Van Chance, Kim Duell, Bob Schmidt, Chuck Towslee, Randy Miller, Jeff Washburn, Tom O'Connor, Johnny Rivers Jr., No. 83, James Monroe, Greg McGill, Vinny Santoro, Mike Minick, Phil DeFiglio, Pete Broderson.

PRO-STREET STOCKS (Double points): LORI LANGEVIN, Daryl Carl, Kim Duell, Ed Thompson, Kevin Van Chance, Chucl Towslee, Walt Brownell, Bob Schmidt, Phil DeFiglio, Vinny Santoro, Johnny Rivers Jr., Greg McGill, Jake Losaw, Tom O'Connor, Mike Migliori, Pete Broderson, Jeremy Pitts, Mike Paquin, James Monroe, Randy Miller, Jeff Washburn, William Smith IV, Bernie Companion, Ron Zagata, Mike Minick, No. 0, Randy Brownell.

BUDGET SPORTSMAN (Double points): CULLEN HOWE, Frank Corradi, Pete Carlotto, Bryan Davis, Frank Hoard III, Derrick McGrew, D.J. Brundige, Dennis Pennock, Dan Boni, Mike Burdo, Scott Duell, Mike Visconti, Ralph Denison, Nick Lussier, Kenny Towne, No. 15, Ron Ayotte, Jeremy Dygert, Mike Pinke, Rick LaMont, Scot Straight, Chuck Dickinson, Paul Dunham Jr., Tim Anagnos, Jimmy Eaton, Jack Swinton, Seth Howe, Mike Grogan.

LIMITEDS (From Aug. 29 rainout): JOHN MORRIS JR., Yule Cook, Dan Carlton, Andy Durie, John Filarecki, Dan Older, Amanda Clemens, Mark Lester, Brian O'Reilly, Mark Goss, Jeff Monroe, Dan Petronis, David Cook, David Billings, Mark Dwyer, Mike Ostrander, Paul Braymer, Mark Burch, Jon Miller, David Emigh, Shane Marks, Joshua Coonradt, Curtis Condon, Ken Conroy, Charles Burkhart III, Jason Wood.

LIMITEDS (Double points): JOHN FILARECKI, Andy Durie, Dan Petronis, Mike Ostrander, Mark Lester, Yule Cook, John Morris Jr., Mark Burch, Jordan Jeffalone, Mark Dwyer, David Billings, David Cook, Mark Goss, Jon Miller, Benjamin Durie, Brian O'Reilly, Shane Marks, Dan Older, Luke MacIsaac, Nathan Dahoda, Dan Carlton, Joshua Coonradt, Paul Braymer, Amanda Clemens, Curtis Condon.

MINI-STOCKS: JOSH RHEOME, Jameson Tromans, Elmer Montville, John Baldwin, Justin Comes, Jason Dickson, Michelle Catone, Dan Older Jr., Chris Murray, Ray Galusha, Charlie Stoddard, Ken Hollenbeck, Mike Cranston, Travis Tromans.