Hearn charges from rear to win at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA, NY - Brett Hearn has put on a lot of good shows during his racing career at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, but Friday night's performance was one that deserved an Oscar.

After wrecking in his heat race and starting dead last in the 23-car field, Hearn put on an incredible display of talent and determination to win the 35-lap 358-modified feature at the historic Malta track.

Maybe the previous week's feature, in which Hearn charged from last to fourth in the final 15 laps, was a prelude of Friday night's performance. After starting in the rear, Hearn only needed 22 laps to get to the front and easily pulled away for his third win of the season.

The trouble began in the heats, when Hearn did severe rear-end damage to the Vinny Salerno-owned small block when he got into a tangle with Vince Quenneville Jr.

“I'm not sure if the crew even thought they could fix the car, with all the damage that was done to it, but they did it, and it was actually better than it was earlier in the night,” said Hearn after the win, which was the 95^th of his career at Albany-Saratoga..

Todd Ryan and Ron Proctor kept the fans buzzing early in the race with some nerve-wracking side-by-side racing at the front of the pack. Ryan maintained the lead, even after he and Proctor bounced off each other early in the race, but Marc Johnson, who had started fourth, took over the lead on lap 14.

By that time, Ronnie Johnson and Hearn, who had a little skirmish two weeks ago, were battling for second, and they both overhauled Marc Johnson three laps later.

Ronnie Johnson only held the lead for five laps, before Hearn went in front for good.

When they hit the finish line, Ronnie Johnson was a distant second, nearly three seconds behind Hearn. “When Brett gets on one of his rolls, he's hard to beat,” said Johnson.

Ken Tremont Jr., Marc Johnson and Matt Delorenzo completed the top five.

“I'm not too sure my crew thought that I could come from 23^rd to win tonight, so obviously, we're very happy,” said Hearn.

Rob Yetman was first under the checkered flag in the 25-lap pro-street stock race, which would have been his third win in a row and fourth in six weeks of racing. But during post-race inspection, tech officials found that Yetman's car had ceramic headers and unapproved components in his distributor. Yetman was disqualified and when asked to relinquish his motor for further inspection, Yetman refused, which resulted in a six-week suspension, according to track promoter Bruce Richards.

The disqualification gave the win to defending track champion Kim Duell, which put him in victory lane for the first time this year. Walt Brownell, Lori Langevin, Kenny Martin and Jimmy Monroe completed the top five.

Mark Kislowski came out of a second-row starting spot and picked up his first win of the season in the 25-lap sportsman feature. Rich Ronca crossed the line second, his best finish of the season, and Rob Langevin was third.

Jack Gentile passed Derrick McGrew on the final lap to come away with his third win of the campaign in the 25-lap budget sportsman feature. Dan Santabarbara, Chris Rheome and Marc Hughes took their turns out front before McGrew grabbed the lead on lap 17. But Gentile used a late restart to make up ground, and caught McGrew on the final lap.

Mark Burch and Dan Petronis put on a crowd-pleasing show in the limited feature, with Burch hitting the checkered flag just 0.281 seconds ahead of Petronis for his first win of the season. Petronis was second, as he cracked the top five for the sixth straight race.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will return to action on May 29 for Armed Forces Weekend, with all divisions in action. The track will also be hosting two huge Monster Trucks shows on May 30-31. Additional information about the Monster Trucks can be obtained at the track's Web site at www.cvra.com.

MODIFIEDS: BRETT HEARN, Ronnie Johnson, Ken Tremont Jr., Marc Johnson, Matt Delorenzo, Jack Johnson, Tony Kawalchuk, Mike Perrotte, Dave Camara, Keith Flach, Don Ronca, John Proctor, Don Ackner, Todd Ryan, Cory Gilligan, Todd Stone, Alex Bell, Elmo Reckner, Ron Proctor, Jeff Trombley, Mike Ronca, Vince Quenneville Jr.

SPORTSMAN: MARK KISLOWSKI, Rich Ronca, Rob Langevin, Ken Anatriello, Mike Tholin, Pep Corradi, Dave DePaulo, Chris Busta, Frank Corradi, Dave Constantino, Chris Johnson, Kory Sandstedt, Whitey Slavin, Andy Boniewski, Tyler Curtis, Pat O'Hanlon, Adam Tranka, Erik Nelson, Skip Shippee, Dave Baranowski, Cass Bennett, Matt Depew.

BUDGET SPORTSMAN: JACK GENTILE, Derrick McGrew, Cullen Howe, Dan Peckham, D.J. Brundige, Chuck Dickinson, Jack Swinton, Marc Hughes, Bryan Davis, Stan Lemiesz, Tim Hartman Jr., Scot Straight, Scott Duell, Dan Santabarbara, Matt Hyde, Ron Ayotte, Chris Rheome, Shannon Donnelly, Mike Burdo, Ray Martindale, Anthony Marro, Mike Grogan, Jason Vadnais, Michelle Catone.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: KIM DUELL, Walt Brownell, Lori Langevin, Kenny Martin, Jimmy Monroe, Jeremy Pitts, Jeff Washburn, Greg McGill, Bill Smith IV, Ed Thompson, Cale Kneer, Johnny Rivers Jr., Pat McLaughlin, Dave Cook, Bernie Companion, Darryl Carl, Kevin Van Chance, Bobby Schmidt, Chuck Towslee.

LIMITEDS: MARK BURCH, Dan Petronis, Dan Older, Mike Ostrander, Ben Durie, Dave Billings, Jason Wood, Justin Demers, Mitch Sequin, Jordyn Jeffalone, Lukac MacIsaac, Bill Burlingame, Steve Oklesak, Jon Miller, Dustin Holmes, Mark Lester, Ken Conroy, Brandon Emigh, Curtis Condon, Yule Cook, Frank Monroe, Nathan Dahoda.