Hearn on a roll at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA, NY - Every once in a while, a driver finds the right combination of talent and equipment and becomes nearly unbeatable. Jack Johnson did it at Fonda Speedway, C.D. Coville did it at Airborne Park, and now, Brett Hearn is doing it at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Hearn put on a clinic Friday night, recording his fourth win of the season in the 35-lap 358-modified feature at the historic Malta track.

The last time someone dominated Albany-Saratoga Speedway like Hearn has this season was... uh... Hearn in 2002. That season, he won four of the first five races and ended the season with 12 victories, tying the track record.

The way Hearn has been running this year, that record could fall. Hearn is 4-for-6 so far this year, also won a Modified Clash and has yet to finish out of the top five.

On Friday night, he came out of the 12th starting spot, only needed seven laps to get to the front and said soyanara to the field. A caution with five laps to go allowed defending track champion Ken Tremont Jr. to pull up on Hearn's rear bumper, but Tremont was no match for Hearn during the final five laps.

“The car did everything I wanted it to, and it isn't too often you get that,” said Hearn in victory lane after his 96th career win at Albany-Saratoga.

It's not like Hearn doesn't have any competition on Friday nights. But Tremont and Ronnie Johnson, who was third on Friday, are still searching for the right setup. Johnson is running a new experimental Teo car that still has some bugs in it, and Tremont keeps tweaking his car in an attempt to keep up with Hearn.

“We are just going to have to keep adjusting on the car to try and get it to go a little better,” said Tremont, who has also been in the top five in every 358-modified feature this year.

Matt DeLorenzo and Dave Camara completed the top five in Friday night's Spring Championships, which offered double points.

Mark Kislowski used four early restarts to work his way to the front, and came away with his second win of the season in the 25-lap sportsman feature. Kislowski started ninth, but the early yellows allowed him to get the lead away from Matt Depew on lap nine, and Kislowski set the pace the rest of the way. Depew finished as the runner-up for the second time this season, and Kory Sandstedt was third.

Derrick McGrew picked up his second win of the year in the budget sportsman feature. McGrew, who also won on opening night, took the lead away from Bryan Davis on lap 14 and beat Davis to the checkered flag by 1.395 seconds. Tim Hartman Jr. was third, and Mike Burdo finished fourth, marking the first time that Burdo has cracked the top five this season.

Chuck Towslee made his way to victory lane for the first time in 2009 in the pro-street stock division. Towslee started on the pole and went flag-to-flag to get the win. Jeremy Pitts was second, matching his best run of the season, and Cale Kneer was third.

Jon Miller came off the front row and overpowered the field to record his first win of the year in the limited feature. Dan Petronis was a distant second, and Ken Conroy hit the finish line third.

The Empire Lightning Sprints made their second appearance of the season at Albany-Saratoga, and Ralph Utter Jr. posted his second win in as many tries. Despite starting 12th, Utter rocketed to the front and used a restart on lap seven to get the lead. A late caution bunched the field, but Utter easily held off Justin Phillips to get the victory.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway will return to action on Friday, June 12, with Red/White/Blue Weekend. The night's activities will include an enduro.

MODIFIED: BRETT HEARN, Ken Tremont Jr., Ronnie Johnson, Matt DeLorenzo, Dave Camara, Don Ronca, Todd Stone, Keith Flach, Elmo Reckner, Mike Perrotte, Marc Johnson, Jimmy Cottrell, Don Ackner, Mike Ronca, John Proctor, Alex Bell, Vince Quenneville Jr., Todd Ryan, Ron Proctor, Jeff Trombley, Corey Gilligan.

SPORTSMAN: MARK KISLOWSKI, Matt Depew, Kory Sandstedt, Keith Slavin, Rob Langevin, Andy Boniewski, Dave Constantino, Dave DePaulo, Chris Busta, Pep Corradi, Chris Johnson, Rich Ronca, Scott Duell, Pat O'Hanlon, Ken Anatriello, Skip Shippee, Cass Bennett, Bob Bublak, Frank Corradi, Tim Hartman Sr., Tyler Curtis, Dave Manny, Dave Baranowski.

BUDGET SPORTSMAN: DERRICK MCGREW, Bryan Davis, Tim Hartman Jr., Mike Burdo, Jack Swinton, Stan Lemiesz, Anthony Marro, Chuck Dickinson, Dan Santabarbara, Cullen Howe, Hunter Bates, D.J. Brundige, Dan Peckham, Marc Hughes, Pete Carlotto, Paul Dunham Jr., Ron Ayotte, Shannon Donnelly, Matthew Hyde, Chris Rheome, Dennis Pennock, Scot Straight, Jamie Introne, Jim Duncan, Andy Durie.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: CHUCK TOWSLEE, Jeremy Pitts, Cale Kneer, Ed Thompson, Lori Langevin, Daryl Carl, Jeff Washburn, Bill Smith IV, Bob Schmidt, James Monroe, Tom O'Connor, Walt Brownell, Randy Miller, Greg McGill, Kenny Martin, Kim Duell.

LIMITEDS: JON MILLER, Dan Petronis, Ken Conroy, Dan Older, David Billings, Mark Lester, Ben Durie, Jason Wood, Mark Burch, Brian O'Reilly, Brandon Emigh, Brian Ashline, Lucas MacIsaac, Mitch Sequin, Justin Demers, Mike Ostrander, Frank Monroe, Mark Dwyer, Nathan Dahoda, James Ellsworth.

EMPIRE LIGHTNING SPRINTS: RALPH UTTER JR., Justin Phillips. Jon Moore, Shaun Gosselin, Scott Goodrich, Jamie Kiser, Gary Reyer, Will Casazza, Joe Szczapa, Doug Norrie, Mike Kiser, Tim Durland, Matt Norrie, Dan Nappi, Joe Askew, Glenn Sullivan, Christian Wright, John Casazza, Jerry Sehn, Fred Hoffman, Steve LaPine.