Hearn holds off Tremont at Albany-Saratoga

MALTA, NY - Maybe it wasn't a good idea to get Brett Hearn riled up.

Three weeks after promoter Bruce Richards put a bounty on his head, Hearn continues to dominate the 358-modified division at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, holding off Ken Tremont Jr. to record his fifth win of the year in the 358-modified feature Friday night.

After watching Jeff Trombley collect the bounty on May 29, Hearn has come back with back-to-back wins to push his career total at the Malta track to 97.

Vince Quenneville Jr. came off the pole and set the pace for the first 15 laps, but it was Tremont who was making up the most ground. After starting 14th, Tremont passed Hearn, Ron Proctor and Quenneville during a span of two laps to get the lead on lap 16.

Hearn moved into second one lap later and only needed three more circuits to move in front.

But Tremont hung right with him, and treated the crowd to a wild battle between the two dirt track legends. But Hearn found a little breathing room when he got into traffic, and was nearly two seconds ahead of Tremont when he hit the finish line.

“The track was really racy tonight, and I kind of took too much time trying to get to the front, and let Tremont get by me,” said Hearn in victory lane after the race.

“When one driver steps up like Brett has, you need to step up yourself, and try to figure out what you can do to make your car faster,” said Tremont.

While Hearn and Tremont were duking it out for the win, there was another whale of a battle for third, between Trombley, Mike Ronca and Matt DeLorenzo. Trombley won that skirmish, while Ronca nipped DeLorenzo at the line for fourth.

Completing the top 10 were Ronnie Johnson, Proctor, Don Ackner, Marc Johnson and Don Ronca.

Mark Kislowski made a last-lap pass to record his second straight win in the 25-lap sportsman feature. Dave Constantino and Matt Depew swapped the lead back and forth for the first 19 laps of the feature, with Constantino finally taking control on lap 19. But Kislowski, who had started 11th, moved into second with five laps left, and then rocketed past Constantino on the last lap to get his third victory of the season. Depew was third, with Chris Busta fourth and Rich Ronca fifth.

Jack Swinton held off Derrick McGrew to come away with his first win of the year in the 25-lap budget sportsman feature. McGrew haunted Swinton for the last 10 laps of the feature, but Swinton held his line and hit the finish line 0.333 seconds ahead of McGrew, who notched his fifth straight top-five finish. They were followed by D.J. Brundige, Marc Hughes and Anthony Marro.

Darryl Carl fought his way into the lead with three laps to go, and then held off defending track champion Kim Duell to get his first win of the year in the 25-lap pro-street stock feature. Carl got around Bill Smith with three laps to go and went under the checkered flag about a car length ahead of Duell to record just his second career win at Albany-Saratoga.

Ben Durie outran Dan Petronis and Mark Burch to come away with his first career win in the limited feature, and Jon Taisey won the 50-lap enduro to cap Red/White/Blue Night.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway has a big show planned for Friday, June 19. It will be Fan Appreciation Night, as well as a Salute to Dads. The CRSA sprints will be taking part on the card, and adult admission will remain at the regular price of $12.

MODIFIEDS: BRETT HEARN, Ken Tremont Jr., Jeff Trombley, Mike Ronca, Matt DeLorenzo, Ronnie Johnson, Ron Proctor, Don Ackner, Marc Johnson, Don Ronca, Keith Flach, Todd Stone, Elmo Reckner, Jimmy Cottrell, Corey Gilligan, Floyd Billington, Rich Scagliotta, Vince Quenneville Jr., Todd Ryan, Mike Perrotte, John Proctor.

SPORTSMAN: MARK KISLOWSKI, Dave Constantino, Matt Depew, Chris Busta, Rich Ronca, Rob Langevin, Chris Johnson, Kory Sandstedt, Keith Slavin, Tyler Curtis, Andy Boniewski, Pep Corradi, Eric Mack, Frank Corradi, Adam Tranka, Scott Duell, Bob Bublak, Dave DePaulo, Ken Anatriello, Dave Baranowski, Mike Tholin, Skip Shippee, Cass Bennett, Jimmy Eaton, Pat O'Hanlon.

BUDGET SPORTSMAN: JACK SWINTON, Derrick McGrew, D.J. Brundige, Marc Hughes, Anthony Marro, Hunter Bates, Fred Proctor Jr., Tim Hartman Jr., Dan Peckham, Bryan Davis, Mike Burdo, Cullen Howe, Dan Santabarbara, Chuck Dickinson, Scot Straight, Pete Carlotto, Ron Ayotte, Jamie Introne, Andy Durie, Shannon Donnelly, Jack Gentile, Leo Sousie, Ralph Denison.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: DARRYL CARL, Kim Duell, Bill Smith IV, Lori Langevin, Chuck Towslee, Jeremy Pitts, Bob Schmidt, Ed Thompson, Mike Paquin, James Monroe, Cale Kneer, Jim Monroe, Randy Miller, Jeff Washburn, Walt Brownell, Kenny Martin, Greg McGill.

LIMITEDS: BEN DURIE, Dan Petronis, Mark Burch, Jason Wood, Jon Miller, Dave Billings, Yule Cook, Brian O'Reilly, Nathan Dahoda, Frank Monroe, Mitch Sequin, Dan Older, Brandon Emigh, James Ellsworth, Shea Montgomery.