RPW Exclusive: Friesen Visits Albany-Saratoga and Conquers For Win; Hearn Has Trouble But Still Wins Title

Column By: LAURIE FALLIS / RPW – MALTA, NY – As word was out that the NASCAR Truck Series Playoff contender Stewart Friesen was going to be in the house Friday night at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway, fans and competitors alike knew a cold front with freezing temps just may be swirling around the “Great Race Place.”

They were right as Friesen took home the Modified win in front of a packed house.

With double points on the line in all three top divisions at the track, the drivers knew the pressure of what a good run could do. They also knew what a bad run might mean. Going into the night’s action, Brett Hearn held a 46 point advantage over Marc Johnson for the Modified title. In Sportsman, Tim Hartman Jr. led the standings by a mere 10 points over Chris Johnson while Connor Cleveland sat only 26 back. For the Pro Stocks, last year’s champion, Kenny Martin, was once again on top by 18 markers over Jay Corbin.

Then, it was time to leave it all on the track to see who would become your 2018 Champions.

The Modified feature was set to go a whopping 53 laps on the evening. Why 53, you ask? ? Well that’s how long the track has been in existence, and with double points, they wanted something special.

The green flag flew with Jim Nagle jumping out in front to take an early lead. All eyes were on Hearn and Marc Johnson for the race within the race.

Caution flew early for the 115 of Kenny Tremont went around in turns one and two, sending the “Sand Lake Slingshot” to the rear of the field.

Another driver who had the fans attention was 15th place starter Stewart Friesen, who was making a rare appearance at the track. Friesen was slowly picking of the cars on his way to the front.

Battle at the front of the field then saw Kris Vernold take over the lead and tried to run away and hide.

The championship watch had the “Jet” riding in 11th while Johnson in 17th. Hearn was doing what he needed to do.

Friesen had worked his way to seventh by lap nine while Hearn had worked into the top 10. Then it all came crashing down for the championship leader.

On lap 18, Hearn slowed heading down the backstretch and came to a stop as he rolled to a stop in turn four. He was pushed to the pits and would not make it out for the finish.

This was the opportunity #3j of Johnson needed. Could he get it done?

While Johnson tried to make up the ground, the car still storming to the front was the #44 of Friesen, who was picking of cars at a rapid rate.

Lap 21 saw another lead change as Nagle would reclaim the top spot while Friesen worked his way to the fourth spot, running the high side. He was coming.

Just 11 circuits later, the Halmar DKM machine took over the top spot and Friesen put it on auto pilot. Nobody had anything else for him as he drover a flawless race from start to finish.

Tremont, who had to go to the rear with the early race mishap, marched his way back through the field to get to second and was hoping for a caution to see if he had anything for “Mr. Freeze.” That wish never came and Friesen took the victory, in dominating fashion.

“We had a fresh piece tonight and it worked well,” Friesen said after the race. “We’re going to work hard, but if we don’t get the Truck Series Championship, we’ll do everything we can to bring something back to New York state. A special thanks to all the great fans who are here and support us with the truck deal. It’s awesome.”

Tremont had to settle for second after a great run from deep in the field, twice. Third was Bobby Hackel followed by Kris Vernald and Ronnie Johnson, who drove up from 18th.

Marc Johnson didn’t end up with the night he was looking for. The driver of the #3j could never capitalize on the Hearn misfortune and struggled to a 10th place finish. Hearn wound up your 2018 Modified track champion by 10 points over Marc.

The Sportsman feature also had a great battle going with a slim margin between the top three point-getters Hartman, Johnson and Cleveland. All of them were having a battle mid-pack in the early stages of the race.

Jon Miller grabbed the lead as a light drizzle began to fall, but the race stayed green. Cleveland showed he was going to do everything he could to get the championship, storming to the front and taking the lead on lap 16. Johnson found his way to fourth at the same time, but Hartman kept both drivers in his sights.

Johnson’s bid for the title was over on lap 21 as he had a tire explode coming down the frontstretch. He went pitside to get it changed and returned.

Cleveland ran away with the victory on this night, winning the battle, but it was “Hitman ” Hartman winning the war. Hartman came home with a solid fourth place finish and took the crown. Second in the feature was Jason Gray, follwed by Daryl Nutting, Hartman and Jeremy Pitts.

I asked the Hartman if he was nervous before he got into the car for the feature.

“I have been for four weeks,” he said. “I just wanted to keep the front end on the car tonight and we did that and got the championship.”

There were two Pro Stocks features on tap Friday. The first one was a heldover race from June first which had Norman Loubier claim the victory, taking the lead early and never giving it up. Second in points, Jay Corbin was second. Kim Duell had another solid run to finish third. Points leader Kenny Martin was fourth and Josh Coonradt was fifth.

The Second feature had Josh Coonradt go from 3rd to first on a lap 10 restart and never looked back, claiming the victory on a track that was totally the opposite of the first feature. He was followed by Dan Older, Chuck Dumblewski, Brandon Emigh and Duell.

“Krazy” Kenny Martin sealed the deal for the track title with a sixth place finish.

The Classic Muscle Parts Street Stock Spectacular was also run Friday, paying $1,000 to the winner. A full field of 23 cars all tried to get their hands on the big prize money and multi-time winner Jimmy Duncan showed early dominance. Duncan was out front early pressured by David Cook the entire race.

With many restarts, the former 4-Cylinder ace held of all challenges until a lap 23 restart. That was when the Duncan machine slid up and 2017 track champion, Al Relyea, went by to grab the lead and went on to capture the 3o-lap feature. Cook got back to the second spot at the finish with John Filarecki third. Jesse Murphy and Damon Anderson were fourth and fifth. Duncan crossed the line 15th.

The Limited Sportsman winner was Jerard LeClair with the rest of the top five being Micheal Wagner-Fitzgerald, Paolo Pascarella, Justin Buff and David Boisclair.

After a full year of highs and lows for a race team, the track championship goes to show that you have been the most consistent throughout the year. This writer would like to congratulate the three who captured their championships on Friday night…Brett Hearn, Tim Hartman Jr, and Kenny Martin.