By MIKE MALLETT
Prior to making the trek to Volusia Speedway Park for the DIRTcar Nationals, Brett Hearn made a stop at All Tech Raceway in Lakeview, Fla. The team was testing a differently designed Teo Pro Car for action at Volusia. The test was a success, but unfortunately for Hearn, conditions at Volusia haven’t allowed them to implement what they learned.
The surface at Volusia typically gets slicker as the night goes on. So far, the track has been very tacky and fast all night long with cars bouncing off a large cushion. That isn’t the best track for Hearn to try out his new setup.
“I thought the testing went fantastic,” mentioned Hearn. “The car was very stable, very predictable, very drivable, but then we get down here and we’ve been dealt a little bit of a different hand this year. Apparently they’ve had a ton of downpours and a lot rain and I don’t know if it’s gotten under the track or what, but we’ve got a much rougher track than we’ve seen in the past. It’s a lot muddier track so certainly what we came down here with, that car was not the right deal for this condition. That is what we are trying to figure out.”
Hearn struggled in the opening make-up feature on Thursday night to finish 14th. Things were even worse in the second feature as he finished 23rd . Hearn was battling for a position just outside the top 10 in that second race but he elected to head down pit road in an attempt to make some changes to improve the car.
“There is no sense in running toward the back of the pack and getting mud thrown at you without trying something,” stated Hearn. “You know, it’s one of them deals where you can pull off out of frustration or you can come in the pits and try and figure out what’s going on. The bottom line it’s not the right deal for this track.”
Hearn has won the 50-lap finale on Saturday night the last two years. He hopes he’ll have things figured out by then so he can contend for another $5,000 victory.
“I’m not ready for Saturday to be honest,” stated Hearn. “But hopefully after tonight I’ll have a different view point.”
Hearn had his best run of the week so far on Friday night finishing 12th. The track was much different as the Super DIRTcar Series Modifieds ran after the World of Outlaw Late Models. The track quickly became bottom dominate making it difficult to maneuver forward.
So even though he hasn’t had the best of weeks, look for Hearn to be a contender in Saturday night’s final race for the Super DIRTcar Series big-block Modifieds at the DIRTcar Nationals.
