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MIDDLETOWN, NY – On Saturday afternoon at the Orange County Fair Speedway, Brett Hearn captured his 10th career Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Hauser Bros. Mechanical 100 as part of the 46th Annual Eastern States Weekend.
Hearn made short work of his competition en route to his fourth victory in the division at the speedway and third overall Mr. DIRTcar series this season. The event paid him $7,500 for the win after he collected the halfway leader bonus.
“I had a blast out there,” said Hearn after his record setting win. “The crew gave me a great car and I could take it wherever I had to go when I needed to. It was as about as good as it gets out there.”
Hearn, of Sussex, N.J., started third in the event in his Vinnie Salerno owned Teo Pro Car. He moved into the runner-up position just one lap into the event. Then, with nine laps complete, Hearn moved around Pat Ward for the race lead. He went on to lead the rest of the event which eventually ran 104 laps due to a caution in the final circuits.
Utica-Rome Speedway Champion, Stewart Friesen, brought his Old Forge Powersports/Heroux Motorsports ride home in the second position. Pat Ward, fresh of his Race of Champions crown, finished in third.
Michael Storms, of Wantage, N.J., drove from the 13th starting position in another Salerno owned car to finish in fourth with Tim Hindley of Monticello, N.Y. completing the top five.
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SETTING THE PACE: Ward, of Genoa, N.Y., secured the lead at the drop of the green flag from the pole starting position. As he raced out in front, Hearn moved under Friesen to take away the runner-up spot on lap one.
TO THE INSIDE: On the ninth circuit, Hearn tucked to the inside of Ward in turns one and two as he pushed through the middle of the corner.
“He (Ward) was good on the straightaway but I noticed that he had a push in the middle of the corner,” stated Hearn. “When I got to him, I waited until I could pull alongside in the turn and when he pushed up I knew it was time to go then (on lap nine).”
TRAFFIC PROBLEM: On lap 11, Hearn found himself in the midst of heavy slower traffic on the front straightaway. Roy Tarbell had a flat tire on his Troyer mount and slowed right in front of him with another slower car to the outside. Hearn navigated his way through without any harm.
“I saw the one (Tarbell) had a tire going down,” commented Hearn. “I tried to get under him but he came down the track and the other slower car on the outside boxed me in. I kept the car under control and just got through as quick as I could because I wasn’t really sure how close Ward was behind me.”
CAUTION FEVER: Hearn continued to control the event with several cautions slowing the field after lap 24. Two speedway regulars had problems including Chuck McKee on lap 41 and Chris Shultz on lap 53.
NEW CHALLENGER: With all the cautions this gave the rest of the field the opportunity to get a run on Hearn including Danny Johnson. Johnson moved into the runner-up position by lap 36 and attempted to challenge Hearn but each time he was unable to get enough of a run to complete the pass even though Hearn’s car started to get tight.
“My car was perfect for the first 50 to 60 laps,” stated Hearn. “Once some of the fuel got burned off it got it got tight and I had to really push it a lot more than I had the whole race.”
CLOSE TO THE END: With just three laps remaining in the event, Rusty Smith and Mike Adderly came together in turn one right in front of Hearn extending the event over the scheduled distance
“Any time you see guys racing that hard with five to go you need be extra alert,” stated Hearn. “I saw them come together and head towards the wall and I just went as low as I could.”
PROUD SECOND: When the race got back underway, Hearn easily pulled away and Johnson, who had been second, slowed giving the runner-up position back to Friesen.
“We came here on a limited budget this weekend,” said Friesen. “To have Vinnie’s (Salerno) car beat us and a Gypsum car (Ward) behind us is really cool. It was a great run for us.”
RACING THE DOCTOR: Friesen was in the runner-up position until lap 36 when Johnson was able to get around him. Friesen made several attempts to get back around him but he was unable to do so until problems slowed him in the closing laps.
“The Doctor (Johnson) got a good restart and got by me,” stated Friesen. “I got held up a little bit by the slower car and the Doctor was able to come down in front of me. It was just another move in the Doctor’s bag and that’s what makes him so good.”
CAR WAS OFF: Ward held the lead for the first eight laps but he was unable to compete with Hearn for the victory in his Enders powered Bicknell.
“He (Hearn) was in a league of his own out there,” said Ward. “The car was good in time trials but it didn’t feel good at all after that. I don’t know what we did wrong but it just wasn’t good.”
QUALIFYING: Ward was the WRL Construction Pole Award with a lap of 21.777. Six heat races were held for the 81 cars in attendance with Rick Laubach, Tim Fuller, Tommy Meier, David VanHorn, Chris Shultz and Billy Decker. The three consolation events were won by Larry Wight, Andy Bachetti and Mario Clair.
CHAMPIONSHIP: Clair, of St.-Edmond, Que., captured the 2007 overall Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship after finishing 32nd over Danny O’Brien, Carey Terrance, Adderly and Roy Tarbell.
RACE AWARDS: Hearn won the Hig Fabrications Halfway Bonus. The VRP Shocks Rookie of the Race Award went to Storms for his fourth place finish. Bachetti won the Bilstein Shocks Hard Charger Award after coming from 32nd to finish 10th. Danny Johnson won the Gater Racing News Hard Luck Award after slowing with two laps to go while running in the runner-up position.
Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series Race #13 – Orange County Fair Speedway, Oct. 20, 2007 Eastern States Hauser Brothers Mechanical Contractors 100 Championship Event Summary
FEATURE:
FIN STR CAR# DRIVER LAPS
1 4 4* Brett Hearn/Sussex,NJ 104
2 2 ofp1 Stewart Friesen/Niagara-o-t-Lake,ONT 104
3 1 42p Pat Ward/Genoa,NY 104
4 13 4s Mike Storms/Wantage,NJ 104
5 6 94 Tim Hindley/Monticello,NY 104
6 8 19 Tim Fuller/Edwards,NY 104
7 9 33-1/3 Tommy Meier/Waldwick,NJ 104
8 28 17 Jerry Higbie/Slate Hill,NY 104
9 20 84 Gary Tomkins/Clifton Springs,NY 104
10 32 4 Andy Bachetti/Sheffield,MA 104
11 7 14 Rick Laubach/Quakertown,PA 104
12 24 33 Craig Mitchell/Wappingers Falls,NY 104
13 3 55 Gary Edwards Jr./Bloomingburg,NY 104
14 18 17d Danny O'Brien/Kingston,ONT 104
15 16 124 Pierre DagenaisGatineau,QUE 104
16 17 16x Danny Creeden/Middletown,NY 104
17 5 7j Danny Johnson/Rochester,NY 103
18 31 99w Larry Wight/Phoenix,NY 103
19 23 80 Dom Roselli/Middletown,NY 103
20 38 66x Carey Terrance/Hogansburg,NY 103
21 27 115 Kenny Tremont/West Sand Lake,NY 103
22 26 10 Alan Johnson/Middlesex,NY 103
23 35 r2 Rusty Smith/Bethlehem,PA 101
24 25 1x Willy Decker/Vernon,NY 100
25 34 73 Rick Mill/New Windsor,NY 100
26 40 99 Mike Adderley/Watertown,NY 90
27 30 12e Eric Palmer/Cresco,PA 80
28 22 211 Chuck McKee/Middletown,NY 79
29 10 71 David VanHorn/Phillipsburg,NJ 74
30 12 91 Billy Decker/Unadilla,NY 69
31 15 87 Martin Gagne/Granby,QUE 65
32 33 22c Mario Clair/St-Edmond,QUE 64
33 41 77g Robbie Grant/Malone,NY 61
34 37 1 Roy Tarbell/Hogansburg,NY 55
35 11 24 Chris Shultz/Pawling,NY 53
36 21 21k Randy Chrysler/Lewiston,NY 49
37 29 16r A.J. Romano/Johnstown,NY 39
38 14 12a Ronnie Johnson/Duanesburg,NY 24
39 39 9s Mark Smoke/Akwesasne,NY 21
40 19 16 Lance Willix II/Theresa,NY 12
41 36 4b Donnie Wilson/Ramsey,NJ 7
LAP LEADERS: Ward (1-8), Hearn (9-104).
TOTAL LAPS LED: 96-Hearn, 8-Ward.
CAUTIONS: 7 for 24 laps.
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