RPW Exclusive: Eastern States 100 Line Up is Almost Set After Heat Racing Concludes at OCFS

Column By: JOHN DOUGLAS / RPW – MIDDLETOWN, NY – Brett Hearn, Brian Krummel, Yan Bussiere, Matt Janiak, Peter Britten, Rick Laubach, Gary Edwards Jr. and Marc Johnson took the wins in heat racing action for the 358 Small Block Modifieds at Orange County Fair Speedway on Saturday. Three drivers from each of the eight heats moved on to the Eastern States 100, run later today.

Hearn was victorious in heat race number one, with Ronnie Johnson and Randy Green in tow as the transferring drivers. Craig Mitchell and Tyler Treacy completed the top five. They and the remaining drivers will move to the last chance qualifier.

Heat race number two saw Brian Krummel handily defeat Jimmy Phelps for the heat race win, with a three second gap between them. John Farrier took the final transfer spot, with Yannick Mathieu and Joe Conklin rounding out the top five.

Yan Bussiere took heat number three’s top finishing position with Michael Storms and Brett Haas as the top three transferred drivers. Cole Hentschel and Michael Sabia finished in the fourth and fifth positions.

Matt Janiak and Tyler Dippel led the way in heat race number four. Janiak took the victory over Dippel, with Joe Bonetti, Andy Bachetti and Jessie Leiby completing the top five. Only Janiak Deppel and Bonetti will transfer to the main event.

“This is good. We’ve got a good Halmar car here.” Janiak said. “Hopefully we can ride around for the first 90 (laps) here and see what happens.”

Heat race number five saw Peter Britten take the victory over Tyler Boniface and Allison Ricci. They will transfer to the 100 lap main event as well. Joe Falanga and Brendan Finley completed the top five, but will be forced to run the lcq along with the rest of the finishing order.

“It seemed like the car was rolling around pretty good. Britten said after his heat. “You never know how close someone is behind you but the flag man was giving me a pretty big gap signal so I figured we were pretty decent. We’ll just keep it rolling for the feature.”

The sixth heat race was won by Rick Laubagh, but not until after a few cautions waved. Tim and Tom Hindley finished second and third respectively, with Kenny Tremont and Alan Houghtaling moving to the last chance qualifer in fourth and fifth.

“There were so many cautions. Laubagh said. “I just couldn’t believe it like that for an eight lap heat race. Usually here they run right through. I just knew I wasn’t going to lose the lead on a restart. I knew that for for sure so I was going a little early but when you have that many opportunities, there’s some good guys around you and they’ll get you sooner or later so I’m just glad it’s over to be honest.”

The seventh heat race was a bit more organized, as Gary Edwards Jr. took the victory over Jerry Higbie and Donnie Elliott. Mike Maresca and Tommy Meier move to the last chance qualifier, along with the final four positions in the field.

“ Car was great. Edwards Jr. said. “ A little tight, so we’re gonna free it up for the feature, so we’ll see what we’ve got for them.”

The eighth and final heat race win went to Marc Johnson over Bob Hentschel and Chris Stevens. Shane Jablonka and Jeff Rockefeller completed the top five.

“I’ve gotta free up coming off. Johnson said, sounding unhappy with the handling of his machine. “We’re really tight on drive I think we’ve got to work on that and we’ll be okay.”

The race’s final positions will be determined in the last chance qualifier later today.