MALTA, NY – Just when it looked like Brett Hearn was going to put $11,111 into his bank account, Stewart Friesen stole the deposit slip.

Getting a huge run off the fourth turn, Friesen rocketed past Hearn on lap 110 and won the 111-lap “Brett Hearn’s Big Show 11” Super DIRTcar Series qualifier Tuesday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Friesen had stalked Hearn for the final 10 laps of the feature, and then pounced, walking off with the top prize of $11,111. Hearn had taken the lead away from Billy Decker on lap 83, and by the time Friesen moved past Decker on lap 90, it looked like Hearn had a comfortable lead.

But things change so quickly at Albany-Saratoga, especially when lapped cars get involved.

On lap 97, Hearn came up on Peter Britten and Matt DeLorenzo, who were racing side by side. That allowed Friesen, who was running tight on the inside, to close within two cars lengths of the Jersey Jet.

The final caution of the race came out on lap 98, when Rusty Smith spun. That put Friesen right next to Hearn, who picked the inside, on the restart.

For a couple of laps, Friesen followed Hearn, trying to stick the nose of his new DKM chassis, which was out for the first time, under Hearn in the first turn.

When that didn’t work, Friesen switched tactics and went back to the top.

Lap after lap, Friesen continued to build momentum. He would run an extremely high line in the fourth turn, picking the left front wheel right off the racing surface, and then would dive under Hearn going into the first turn. The move finally stuck on lap 110, when Friesen was able to get the lead coming out of the second turn, and he hit the finish line .296 seconds ahead of Hearn, leaving the capacity crowd in an uproar.

“I was battling out there,” said Friesen, who won “The Big Show” for the second year in a row and the third time overall. “We were super tight, tighter than I expected. I was kind of saving it, and then I went all out the last couple of laps.

“I was getting such a good run off the top, I knew I had to get inside Brett and take away his exit off of two.”

Which is exactly what he did.

“I was really just trying to take care of my stuff,” said Friesen. “I really thought I was too tight and riding around too slow, but the guys weren’t getting away from me.”

“A 100-lapper, I was the winner,” said Hearn with a smile after the race. “I knew there was no way anyone was going to get around me on the top, but Stewart is the most diverse driver we’ve seen in decades. I did what I had to do, but I ran myself out of a right rear tire.”

The race took an early unusual turn. Mike Mahaney, who recorded his first career modified win at Albany-Saratoga two weeks ago, drew the outside pole, and Erick Rudolph started fifth, but after just  12 laps, both were in the pits. Mahaney, who was leading the race, blew a right rear tire on lap 13, and Rudolph, who took the lead when Mahaney’s tire started to go down, also ducked into the pits for a new tire. Both rejoined the field, and both would battle their way back into the top 10.

Those mishaps gave the lead to Billy Decker, who had started third, and he was the class of the field. With only one caution from lap 20 to lap 69, Decker, whose last win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway came in 1996, stayed in the outside lane and put his big block on cruise control.

He had some minor problems with lapped traffic, but Hearn, who used a restart following a yellow on lap 33 to take over second, didn’t really pose a threat until Decker’s tires started to go away. After Hearn took the lead on lap 83, Decker struggled the rest of the way and dropped to sixth.

Following Friesen and Hearn in the top five were Mat Williamson, Max McLaughlin and Matt Sheppard. Sheppard started 12^th and was flying around the outside early, but once he got up to fifth, he couldn’t make up any more ground.

Among the other drivers who were victims of flat tires were Jessey Mueller and Larry Wight.

“Big Show 11” also included a pair of 20-lap sportsman features, with Jeremy Pitts getting his first win of the season in the first feature, and defending sportsman champion Tim Hartman Jr. outrunning invader Jesse Leiby in the second 20-lapper.

BIG SHOW 11 SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES: Stewart Friesen, Brett Hearn, Mat Williamson, Max McLaughlin, Matt Sheppard, Billy Decker, Jimmy Phelps, Mike Mahaney, Ryan Godown, Erick Rudolph, Keith Flach, Larry Wight, Chad Phelps, Danny Johnson, Pat Ward, Marc Johnson, Ken Tremont Jr., Peter Britten, Jessey Mueller, Demetrios Drellos, Jack Lehner, Brian Berger, Rusty Smith, Anthony Perrago, Matt DeLorenzo, Bobby Hackel IV, Dave Rauscher, Ronnie Johnson.

SPORTSMAN NO. 1: Jeremy Pitts, Kale Groff, Scott Duell, Derek Bornt, Andrew Buff, Chad Edwards, Jack Speshock, Justin Comes, James Meehan, Todd Buckwald, Jon Miller, Jimmy Leiby, Michael Wagner Fiztgerald, Thomas Van Vorst Sr., Matt Lashua, Nick Plumstead, Peyton Talbot, Charlie Tibbitts, Adam Gage, Rubert Bublak Jr., David Boisclair, Elliot Lussier, Dave Baranowski Jr.

SPORTSMAN NO. 2: Tim Hartman Jr., Jesse Leiby, Pat Jones, Adam Pierson, Connor Cleveland, Justin Buff, Brian Calabrese, Derrick McGrew Jr., Joey Scarborough, John Stowell, Joseph Coppola, Mike Palmer, Colin Clow, Fred Proctor, Mike Coffey Jr., Tony Ballestero, Marty Kelly III, Nick Lussier, Tucker O’Connor, Jim Osgood, Daryl Hutting, Bobby Flood.