Brett Hearn continued his winning ways at the Albany Saratoga Speedway last Friday night with his second win in a row this season and his fifth win in a row, dating back to last August. For Hearn, who has been on a tear since taking on the role of the track's all-time leading winner last August, last Friday's win did not come easily. Despite starting in the second row in the 35-lap race, Hearn couldn't advance as front starters Dave Camara and Don Ronca were having a great race for the lead, running side-by-side for the first 10 laps.
On Lap 10, Todd Ryan spun, which drew the caution flag. On the restart,
6th running Ronnie Johnson spun his car in Turn 2 collecting five cars
in the process. Mike Perrotte got the worst of it, nearly flipping
after bounding high into the air. After a brief red flag to allow for
the clean-up of the incident, Ronca and Camara resumed their battle
with Camara finally taking control on Lap 13. Two laps later, Hearn
made his way by Ronca for second and set his sights on Camara.
Hearn quickly caught Camara using the high groove but Camara, hugging the inside wall, was getting great bite coming off of the corners and would pull ahead on the straight-aways. Hearn led at the line for the first time with five laps to go but Camara kept driving under Hearn and nearly pulled off a slide job on the final lap as they went through the third and fourth turns. Hearn barely held on as the two raced to the finish line, collecting his 94th win at the Malta oval.
Kenny Tremont, after having engine trouble early in the night, finished third after starting 19th, Jack Johnson finished fourth and Todd Stone was fifth.
2008 Sportsman Co-Champion Rob Langevin of Londonderry, VT won his first race of the year in their 25-lap event. Langevin started fifth but caught early race leader Kris Vernold for the lead going down the backstretch on Lap 11. Langevin then held off Kory Sandstedt late in the race to chalk up his 7th career win at the track. Following Sandstedt across the line were Mark Kislowski, Mike Ketchum and Vernold.
The caution-plagued 25-lap Budget Sportsman feature was won by Jack Gentile. Gentile started 11th, took the lead on Lap 10 from Fred Proctor and pulled away to his first win of the year. Proctor held on to second followed by Seth Howe, Tim Hartman, Jr., and last week's winner, Chuck Dickinson. Gentile was informed after the race that he would have to put a restrictor plate on his car for the next race.
The Pro-Stock race went all 25 laps without a caution and, when it was over, Eddie Thompson of Fair Haven, VT picked up his first win ever at the Malta oval. Thompson started on the pole and led every lap despite pressure from last week's winner, Cale Kneer. 2008 Champ Kim Duell came across the line third with Bob Schmidt fourth and Daryl Carl fifth.
The Limited race also saw a first-time winner as Dave Billings, of Schenectady, led all 20 laps from his front row starting spot. The race went caution-free until Lap 17, when Brandon Emigh rolled his car over after he flew over the first turn bank. Emigh was unhurt and, on the restart, Billings held off a hard charging Dan Petronis for his first win. Ben Durie, Dan Carlton and Mark Lester rounded out the Top Five.
This Friday, May 8, will mark the first-ever appearance of the A.S.C.S. Patriot Sprint Car Club at the speedway. In addition, there will be a Modified clash featuring seven of the top drivers in a "By Invitation Only" series of races. Also on the card will be all of the other regular divisions. Race time is 6:45 p.m.
Hearn quickly caught Camara using the high groove but Camara, hugging the inside wall, was getting great bite coming off of the corners and would pull ahead on the straight-aways. Hearn led at the line for the first time with five laps to go but Camara kept driving under Hearn and nearly pulled off a slide job on the final lap as they went through the third and fourth turns. Hearn barely held on as the two raced to the finish line, collecting his 94th win at the Malta oval.
Kenny Tremont, after having engine trouble early in the night, finished third after starting 19th, Jack Johnson finished fourth and Todd Stone was fifth.
2008 Sportsman Co-Champion Rob Langevin of Londonderry, VT won his first race of the year in their 25-lap event. Langevin started fifth but caught early race leader Kris Vernold for the lead going down the backstretch on Lap 11. Langevin then held off Kory Sandstedt late in the race to chalk up his 7th career win at the track. Following Sandstedt across the line were Mark Kislowski, Mike Ketchum and Vernold.
The caution-plagued 25-lap Budget Sportsman feature was won by Jack Gentile. Gentile started 11th, took the lead on Lap 10 from Fred Proctor and pulled away to his first win of the year. Proctor held on to second followed by Seth Howe, Tim Hartman, Jr., and last week's winner, Chuck Dickinson. Gentile was informed after the race that he would have to put a restrictor plate on his car for the next race.
The Pro-Stock race went all 25 laps without a caution and, when it was over, Eddie Thompson of Fair Haven, VT picked up his first win ever at the Malta oval. Thompson started on the pole and led every lap despite pressure from last week's winner, Cale Kneer. 2008 Champ Kim Duell came across the line third with Bob Schmidt fourth and Daryl Carl fifth.
The Limited race also saw a first-time winner as Dave Billings, of Schenectady, led all 20 laps from his front row starting spot. The race went caution-free until Lap 17, when Brandon Emigh rolled his car over after he flew over the first turn bank. Emigh was unhurt and, on the restart, Billings held off a hard charging Dan Petronis for his first win. Ben Durie, Dan Carlton and Mark Lester rounded out the Top Five.
This Friday, May 8, will mark the first-ever appearance of the A.S.C.S. Patriot Sprint Car Club at the speedway. In addition, there will be a Modified clash featuring seven of the top drivers in a "By Invitation Only" series of races. Also on the card will be all of the other regular divisions. Race time is 6:45 p.m.
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