The 4^th Turn

~ By Tom Boggie

How does one go about determining the Greatest Of All Time?

Is it strictly a numbers game? Richard Petty’s 200 wins put him at the top of the NASCAR win list, and no one will ever reach his win total. Why do you think he’s been nicknamed The King? Because he’s second-best? But there are others who would argue for Dale Earnhardt Sr. as NASCAR’S Greatest Of All Time.

Going strictly by numbers, Brett Hearn is the Greatest of All Time on dirt. No one will ever come close to matching his record of 914 (and counting) victories.

So where do you put Stewart Friesen?

After what he’s done in the last two weeks, first at Hearn’s “Big Show 11” at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, and then at this week’s Firecracker 50 at Fonda, coupled with his success on the NASCAR Gander World Truck Series, he’s certainly worthy for consideration as the Greatest Of All Time.

I’ve never seen a finish like Friesen put on at “The Big Show.” To begin with, no one passes Hearn when he has the lead in the closing laps of a big-money race. He’s an expert at making the race car incredibly wide, eating up every inch of the racing surface to prevent anyone from getting around him.

That makes Friesen’s last-lap pass out of the fourth turn even more incredible. Friesen spent two laps developing a line, picking up his left front wheel going through the fourth turn, getting right up on Hearn’s rear bumper as Hearn drifted to the middle in the straightaway, and then cranking the Halmar car to the left (remember, on just three wheels) to get inside Hearn going into one. He made that pass stick on lap 110, and walked out with $11,111.

Then, in the Firecracker 50, he and wife Jessica were running one-two when he exploded a tire on lap 31. That would have killed anyone else’s chances of winning. But not Friesen. After getting the tire changed, he rejoined the field and in 19 laps, rocketed back through the pack and on the last lap, rubbed siderails with leader Matt Sheppard (who’s making his own bid for the Greatest Of All Time title) going toward the flagstand and won by inches, putting another $10,000 into the Friesen bank account.

And don’t forget, he’s only running on dirt part-time. Most of his energy goes into the Truck Series, where he’s second in points and still looking for his first career win (he finished third at Chicagoland last Friday night). How good would his dirt resume be if he wasn’t hopping back and forth from asphalt to dirt, between trucks and modifieds?

Hearn has the numbers, but Friesen is easily the most talented and versatile driver anyone has seen in a long time.

HEY, SLICK

Friesen’s finish in the Firecracker 50 overshadowed another great performance last weekend – Marc Johnson’s second-place run in the modified feature at Albany-Saratoga.

For one of the few times this year, Albany-Saratoga’s racing surface was dry-slick last Friday, which played right into the hands of anyone running a small block, including Johnson.

But he had problems early in the night. During his heat race, Brian Berger spun in the first turn, which forced Johnson to go over the edge to avoid contact. Johnson fell to the rear of the field, and finished eighth, which put him 22^nd on the starting grid for the feature.

Johnson worked his way through the field, and with six laps to go, began battling Rocky Warner for third. With three laps left, Johnson got inside Warner coming out of the second turn and wound up finishing second.

After the race, he wasn’t really sure if the small block made all the difference.

“Traditionally, when the track is like that, it slows everyone else down,” he said. “I don’t think I get faster. I think all the other guys just slow down on it.”

Was he happy with the second-place run?

“No,” he said. “I want to win every time I come here. I hate second.”

Warner said that he almost didn’t make the field for the feature.

“I had carburetor issues,” he said. “We still had it apart when they were calling the modifieds to the line. I didn’t have time to make final adjustments. I couldn’t check the shock pressure or the stagger.

“We still had a decent car. It was good early, but I needed it to be good late. I was just trying to stay consistent and hang in there.”

AROUND THE TRACKS

Ken Tremont Jr. looked just awful last Friday night at Albany-Saratoga, fading to 10^th after starting sixth in the modified feature. But that was his only bad run of the weekend. He recorded his third big block win of the season at Lebanon Valley on Saturday, picking up first-place money of $5,000, won the 54-lap Charlie LaDuc Memorial at Devil’s Bowl on Sunday and also won the 100-lap Independence Day Spectacular at the Bowl on Wednesday.

Tim Hartman Jr.’s foray into modified racing with car owner Jimmy Becker isn’t going well, as he failed to qualify for the STSS Firecracker 50, his third DNQ in four events (he finished 19th in the North Region Series opener at Thunder Mountain). But he did win the STSS sportsman race in the Parillo Services car, picking up $2,000 and increasing his lead in the North Region sportsman points race. The series will resume Tuesday night at Accord.

Congratulations to videographer Mel Thomas, who will receive the Andrew S. Fusco Award for Media Excellence on July 25 at the Northeast Dirt Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. Thomas was one of the original members of the DIRT television production crew, with Fusco, Jack Burgess and Joe Marotta, and is still heavily involved in the video production of dirt track racing throughout New York. The Fusco Award will always have special meaning for me, as Andy and I grew up together in Johnstown and remained good friends until his untimely death in 2015.

Demetrios Drellos recorded his first career 358 modified win at Mohawk International Raceway in Hogansburg last Friday night, and on Sunday set fast time for the first time ever at the Super DIRT Series race at Cornwall. Sheppard won the 100-lapper, with Larry Wight second. Drellos finished 23^rd.

On Monday, the SDS ran for the first time ever at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, with Wight getting the top prize of $10,000. Sheppard finished second.

Connor Cleveland, in the thick of the battle for the sportsman championship at Albany-Saratoga with Hartman Jr. and Andrew Buff, did a little holiday traveling. He finished second in the sportsman race at Airborne, also finished second in the 75-lap Sportsman Shootout at Weedsport on Tuesday and was third in the sportsman race at Can-Am on Wednesday.

Andy Bachetti picked up his sixth small block modified win of the season at Lebanon Valley last Saturday. The win was Bachetti’s 34th career small block victory at the Valley, moving him to the top of the all-time win list, ahead of Tremont.

Thirteen-year-old Ryan McCarthy finished second in the sportsman feature at the Valley last weekend, but was disqualified for having an unapproved engine balancer. Former Lebanon Valley campaigner Mike Sabia, who committed to running at Orange County this season, returned to the Valley last Saturday (because Orange County rained out) and won the sportsman feature, despite starting 18^th in the field.

Matt DeLorenzo’s first win of the year last Friday at Albany-Saratoga moved him into a tie with Marc Johnson in the modified points race. Both have 374, with Peter Britten third with 354. DeLorenzo made some changes to his shock package during the week, and they seemed to pay off. “I just went back to what I felt comfortable with with the shocks,” he said.

Although he ran the top groove during his heat race, he tried to stick to the bottom in the feature. “It’s harder to screw up when you’re on the bottom,” he said.

The modifieds will be running for $4,000 to win Friday night at Albany-Saratoga in the Don Horning Memorial. Each modified heat race winner will also receive a $250 bonus.