|
BECHTELSVILLE, PA – Although Brett Hearn isn’t a huge fan of the Grandview Speedway, it certainly has been good to the Sussex, N.J. native.
On Wednesday night the former Mr. DIRT Champion claimed his third career Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series victory at the speedway and the 93rd of his career in the Thunder on the Hill Series Traffic Jam 100.
“This place has been very good to me,” said Hearn. “I’m not sure if I like it or not but the way things have gone for me maybe I should.”
Hearn, who started sixth in the feature event, went to the outside of Duane Howard on the eighth circuit of the 100-lap event to take the lead. He then held off the challenges from both Howard and Ryan Godown while weaving his way through lapped traffic to score his first series triumph since Rolling Wheels Raceway back on July 3rd.
The victory paid Hearn $6,000 and helped him close the gap on current series point leader Tim Fuller.
Ringoes, N.J. pilot, Ryan Godown, had a career best finish on the series as he came home in the second spot. Steve Paine, of Waterloo, N.Y., brought his Finger Lakes powered Troyer home in the third position after starting the event on the inside of the sixth row.
Oley, Pa. driver, Howard held on to finish fourth after leading the early portion of the event and Billy Decker came from the fifteenth starting position with his Enders powered Bicknell to finish fifth.
*****
HOMETOWN HERO: Howard, who set fast time, also started on the pole in his BPG Racing Teo Pro car. When racing commenced he immediately took over the top spot as the field darted into turn one for the first time. Gary Tomkins fell in line bringing Danny Johnson with him in third.
RASH OF YELLOWS: The first caution of the event came out for Shawn Reimart on lap 5 when he stopped for a flat tire. One lap later, Kevin Bates, Sean Merkel, Billy Dunn, Jim Robertson and John Willman all came together in turn two causing an extended stoppage. Then, on lap 7, Danny Johnson brought out a caution with a broken left front shock tower.
A NEW LANE: With all the restarts, Hearn was able to make his way from the sixth starting spot into the runner-up position by lap 7. When racing resumed from the final early yellow, Hearn went to the outside in hopes of gaining the advantage. He took the lead from Howard on the outside of turns three and four on lap 8.
“Everybody else was running the bottom so I knew I had to try something different,” said Hearn. “When I finally got to the outside I knew I was going to either get to the front or I was going to end up losing five spots very quickly.”
STICKING TO HIS GUNS: Hearn continued to work the outside while Howard seemed to be getting quicker on the inside. Several times Howard was able to pull almost even with Hearn on the inside of the speedway. Hearn moved down only once to try and take the lane away but he went right back to the top side. They continued to battle until a lap 31 caution slowed the field.
“Early in the race I thought I needed to go the bottom because Duane (Howard) was so good down there,” said Hearn. “I couldn’t hold it down there as tight as he could so I moved up a little bit and found the momentum.”
TRAFFIC JAM: When the race got back underway, Hearn immediately moved back to the top of the speedway and began pulling away from Godown who was able to get by Howard for the runner-up position. Although he was comfortably out in front, a new challenge arose for Hearn, lapped traffic. With the tight confines the speedway, Hearn was in heavy traffic by lap 41. In some places the traffic was three wide forcing Hearn to sit and wait for his opening.
“Lapped cars didn’t want to give an inch,” stated Hearn. “They were running two by two and there wasn’t really a place for me to go so I just sat there and watched to see what was going to happen.”
CLOSE CALL: On lap 72, Matt Sheppard brought out the caution after losing power in his Randy Ross owned ride. Sheppard’s problems started right in front of race leader Hearn and almost collected him.
“He (Sheppard) didn’t give me any room to get by him,” said Hearn. “Then all of a sudden he checked up on the backstretch right in front of me.”
REGULAR OCCURANCE: The final caution of the event came out on lap 82 when two regulars at the speedway got together in turn one. Jeff Strunk and Doug Manmiller tangled when Strunk tried to dive under Manmiller sending both drivers into the outside wall ending their evening.
FINAL SCARE: On the ensuing restart, Hearn was able to pull away in his Madsen Motorsports mount but he was concerned as the car was starting to overheat.
“I was really concerned about the temperature as the car got really hot,” said Hearn. “It’s been a problem all year long. I was trying to use only as much gas as I needed to.”
GOOD FINISH: Even with the overheating problem Hearn was able to secure the victory over Godown. Godown was elated with his second place finish in the event. It was his best series finish ever at Grandview.
“We don’t have a lot of experience in these 100 lap races or here at Grandview,” commented Godown. “For us to come in and finish second is great. I’ll finish second to Brett Hearn any day.”
A LITTLE TOO PATIENT: Godown had one major missed opportunity to pass Hearn for the lead as the pair raced in heavy lapped traffic during the early portion of the event. Instead of going for the pass, Godown decided to be patient and wait for another opportunity later in the event.
“I was aggressive early on trying to get to the front but then I just got in line behind Hearn,” said Godown. “I had an opportunity in lapped traffic but I didn’t want to push it so I just stayed in line and kept following him. I should have tried to make the pass then but was hoping for anther chance later on. Unfortunately I lost my tires by about lap 80 and I just tried to hold on.”
SATISFYING FINISH: Paine came home in third as he used the bottom of the speedway in the closing lap to move up from the sixth position. It was a much better run for Paine who last year was leading the event when his motor expired.
“The car was good early on but I think I sealed my tires over under that long caution because it took me about 20 laps to get going again,” stated Paine. “Once we got a lot green flag laps the car was good again.
“The problem was that it was so hard for us to pass off the bottom because you have to clear someone off the turn. If you don’t you get stuck on the inside and you can’t complete the pass.”
QUALIFYING: Howard set fast time for the 36 cars attempting to qualify with a lap of 14.532. It was a new track record. Heat races were won by Jimmy Horton, Tomkins, Sheppard and Paine. The two consolation events were won by Alan Johnson and Merkel. Godown secured the Rite Aid 200 guaranteed starting position.
Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series Race #9 – Grandview Speedway, July 18, 2007 Traffic Jam 100 Big-Block Modified Event Summary
FINISH: Brett Hearn, Ryan Godown, Steve Paine, Duane Howard, Billy Decker, Tim Fuller, Jimmy Horton, Richie Tobias,Jr., Rick Laubach, Alan Johnson, Jimmy Phelps, Justin Haers, Frank Cozze, Jim Horton IV, Brad Missimer, Doug Manmiller, Jeff Strunk, Danny Johnson, Matt Sheppard, Dale Planck, Kenny Brightbill,Gary Tomkins, Shawn Reimert, Ray Swinehart, Sean Merkel, John Willman, Kevin Bates, Jim Robertson, Billy Dunn, Brian Kressley, Brett Tonkin DNQ: Ricky Yetter, Meme DeSantis, Tom Scheetz Jr., Vince Gagliardo Jr., Wallace Stacey
|
|
