Hearn Takes Big Block Finale At Volusia

Story By: MANDEE PAUCH / DIRTCAR – BARBERVILLE, FL – Brett ‘The Jet’ Hearn picked up his tenth DIRTcar Nationals victory with the Super DIRTcar Series at Volusia Speedway Park on Saturday night. The veteran driver from Sussex, N.J. took the lead from the start and never looked back to take the $5,000 payday in the 40-lap finale, also staking claim to the DIRTcar Nationals championship.

“The guys at the Madsen Overhead Door shop are going to have to build a bigger shelf,” Hearn said in Victory Lane. “It was a super, awesome team effort. We came down here and fine tuned on this thing, it’s a brand new car.”

Young gun Max McLaughlin of Mooresville, N.C. and the veteran Hearn started on the front row following a pre-race redraw.

On lap one, Hearn drove to the outside into turn three and claimed the top spot from McLaughlin coming out of turn four, setting sail with the early lead.

In a race that had three yellow flags, the first on lap 10 saw over a half-dozen drivers duck down pit road for adjustments to their Big-Block Modifieds.

The ensuing restart set up a fierce battle between McLaughlin and Matt Sheppard of Waterloo, N.Y. for the runner-up spot as they swapped positions for several laps.

There was a glimmer of hope for the second- and third-place runners when Hearn caught the back of the pack on lap 23, allowing McLaughlin and Sheppard a shot at the top spot.

With the second yellow flag on lap 26, Sheppard relinqiuished the third position to come down pit road for a new right-rear tire.

Tim Fuller got into the mix after he got by Peter Britten for third place, Fuller then set his sights on second-place McLaughlin. Fuller put pressure on McLaughlin on the final restart as he drove under him for second. That left the door open for Danny Johnson as he followed in pursuit on lap 33 to take third place.

It was too late as Hearn was way out front en route to his first victory of the 2017 season.

“You’re always on edge,” Hearn said. “It was nice to see those couple of yellows come out and get some open track. It made my life a little bit easier.”

At the finish, Hearn claimed the DIRTcar Nationals finale over Fuller, Johnson, McLaughlin and Britten.

“The track crew did a great job giving us a multi-lane track tonight,” said Hearn in Victory Lane. “I have to say thanks to them for their efforts.”

Fuller, now the driver of the Graham Racing No. 19, capped off the night with a second-place finish.

“I think we got better as the race went on,” Fuller said. “I have to thank Ray Graham for starting this new team. I think it’s a good start for us. It’s only a sign of things to come. Brett was pretty strong, but I think we were pretty equal. If we got into some lapped traffic, we could have seen who was more versatile.”

Following the Super DIRTcar Series 40-lap feature was a non-qualifiers Big-Block Modified feature. Darwin Greene and Dillon Steuer led the 12-lap non-qualifiers race to the green flag. Greene led the field from green to checkered and won over Eldon Payne and C.G. Morey.

Super DIRTcar Series Statistical Report; Feb. 25, 2017; Volusia Speedway Park, Barberville, F.L.

Feature (40 Laps) –1. 20-Brett Hearn, 2. 19-Tim Fuller, 3. 27j-Danny Johnson, 4. 6h-Max McLaughlin, 5. 21a-Peter Britten, 6. 25r-Erick Rudolph, 7. 44-Stewart Friesen, 8. 14j-Alan Johnson, 9. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 10. 99l-Larry Wight, 11. 43-Jimmy Horton, 12. 8-Rich Scagliotta, 13. 7m-Mike Maresca, 14. 96-J.F. Corriveau, 15. 22-Brandon Walters, 16. 109-Billy Whittaker, 17. 30-Jamie Mills, 18. 7-Rick Laubach, 19. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 20. 19m-Jessy Mueller, 21. 88-Mike Mahaney, 22. 5-Billy Vaninwegen, 23. 54-Steve Bernard, 24. 3-Justin Haers, 25. 71-Mike Bowman, 26. 96c-Mario Clair, 27. 85-H.J. Bunting, 28. 49-Billy Dunn

Last-Chance Showdown No. 2 (10 Laps): 1. 3-Justin Haers, 2. 54-Steve Bernard, 3. 22-Brandon Walters, 4. 7-Rick Laubach, 5. 13-Steve Davis, 6. 118-Jim Britt, 7. 6d-Dillon Steuer, 8. 27-David Hunt, 9. 44r-Russell Morseman

Last-Chance Showdown No. 1 (10 Laps): 1. 99l-Larry Wight, 2. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 3. 7m-Mike Maresca, 4. 85h-HJ Bunting, 5. 1g-Darwin Green, 6. 28p-Eldon Payne, 7. 48t-Dave Rauscher, 8. 1-Billy Pauch, 9. 14-CG Morey, 10. 27a-Ryan Anderson

Heat 1 (8 Laps) – 1.14j-Alan Johnson, 2. 25r-Erick Rudolph, 3. 30-Jamie Mills, 4. 19m-Jessy Mueller, 5. 96-J.F. Corriveau, 6. 99l-Larry Wight, 7. 85-HJ Bunting, 8. 14-CG Morey, 9. 7m-Mike Maresca, 10. 28p-Eldon Payne

Heat 2 (8 Laps) – 1. 21a-Peter Britten, 2. 20-Brett Hearn, 3. 27j-Danny Johnson, 4. 44-Stewart Friesen, 5. 98h-Jimmy Phelps, 6. 96c-Mario Clair, 7. 1g-Darwin Green, 8. 27a-Ryan Anderson, 9. 1-Billy Pauch, 10. 48t-Dave Rauscher

Heat 3 (8 Laps) – 1. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 2. 49-Billy Dunn, 3. 109-Billy Whittaker, 4. 88-Mike Mahaney, 5. 71-Mike Bowman, 6. 54-Steve Bernard, 7. 22-Brandon Walters, 8. 27-David Hunt, 9. 118-Jim Britt, 10. 44r-Russell Morseman

Heat 4 (8 Laps) –1. 19-Tim Fuller, 2. 6h-Max McLaughlin, 3. 43-Jimmy Horton, 4. 8-Rich Scagliota, 5. 5-Billy Vaninwegen, 6. 3-Justin Haers, 7. 7-Rick Laubach, 8. 13-Steve Davis, 9. 6d-Dillon Steuer

Group 1 Qualifier – 1. 14J-Alan Johnson,18.719; 2. 30-Jamie Mills, 18.758; 3. 25R-Erick Rudolph, 18.818; 4. 96-Jean-F Corriveau, 19.000; 5.19m-Jessy Mueller, 19.039; 6. 85-H.J. Bunting III, 19.042; 7. 99L-Larry Wight, 19.043; 8. 28p-Eldon Payne, 19.051; 9. 7m-Mike Maresca, 19.120; 10. 14-C.G Morey, 19.227

Group 2 Qualifier – 1. 21a-Peter Britten, 18.685; 2. 20-Brett Hearn, 18.763; 3. 44-Stewart Friesen, 18.796; 4. 27J-Danny Johnson,18.862; 5. 96c-Mario Clair, 18.935; 6. 98H-Jimmy Phelps, 19.008; 7. 27A-Ryan Anderson, 19.358; 8.1G-Darwin Green,19.371; 9. 1-Billy Pauch, 19.406; 10. 48T-Dave Rauscher, NT

Group 3 Qualifier – 1. 9s-Matt Sheppard, 18.815; 2. 49-Billy Dunn, 18.945; 3. 88-Mike Mahaney, 19.172; 4. 109-Billy Whittaker, 19.190; 5. 71-Mike Bowman, 19.201; 6. 54-Steve Bernard, 19.288; 7. 22-Brandon Walters, 19.301; 8.118-Jim Britt, 19.422; 9. 44R-Russell Morseman, 19.495; 10. 27-David Hunt,19.551

Group 4 Qualifier –1. 19-Tim Fuller, 19.035; 2. 6h-Max McLaughlin, 18.859; 3. 43-Jimmy Horton, 4. 5-Billy VanInwegen, 18.967; 5. 8-Rich Scagliotta, 19.349; 6. 3-Justin Haers, 19.015; 7. 7-Rick Laubach, 19.351; 8. 13-Steve Davis, 19.335; 9. 6d-Dillon Steuer, 19.487