Hearn pounces late for Cornwall SDS win
Late restart sets up Hearn winning rally past Carey Terrance
CORNWALL, ON – 08-23-15 – Brett Hearn closed explosively from fifth place on a single-file restart on lap 92 and reeled in Carey Terrance with two laps left in the Super DIRTcar Series 100 at Cornwall Speedway.
Terrance had overtaken polesitter and Series point leader Matt Sheppard after a lengthy battle on lap 68 and he appeared to have the race in hand until Danny Johnson’s spinout brought about the race’s second and final restart.
Hearn went immediately into attack mode when the green came back out. At first, it seemed like he had the fastest car for the final laps as he swept by Pat Ward, but it soon it became apparent he was going to present a problem for Terrance’s Small-Block Modified attempt for the win.
“When I drew 12th in the redraw, it took the wind out of my sails,” Hearn said in victory lane. “But I let the race come to me. On that single file restart, everybody’s tires were cooler and I thought I’d try a different strategy. It was like reading a putt and watching it break just right.”
Terrance had built a five car-length lead when the yellow came out. “He caught me off guard,” the defending track champion admitted. “I was trying to save the car a little and I never saw him coming.”
Sheppard, the 12th competitor to draw with only the pole left, lead for 68 laps with a strong performance in, under and around heavy lapped traffic while Kyle Dingwall and Pat Ward chased him around the quarter-mile.
“I hit a big hole in turn three and got the car up on two wheels and it was never quite the same after that,” Sheppard said. “But if I can keep coming up with top-3 finishes, I’m going to be all right.”
The first of two restarts came after a red flag for Peter Britten, who flipped in turn one on lap 53. Sheppard and Dingwall were on the front row when the green came back out, but Terrance got rolling on the rim of the race track and was soon at Sheppard’s rear deck. He worked underneath Sheppard on lap 68 and began to lengthen his lead as Dingwall, Ward, Hearn and Stephane LaFrance battled hard for track position.
Sheppard held off Dingwall by four feet to complete the podium finish. Ward was 5th, followed by Lee Ladouceur, LaFrance, Billy Dunn, Gage Morin and Larry Wight.
Tim Fuller, the Pole Position Raceway fast time award winner started 8th on the grid, but was never a factor.
Defending SDS champion Billy Decker swapped spots with Dunn for more than 50 laps before settling for 11th.
Hearn’s win was the 120th of his Super DIRTcar Series career and it completed a weekend sweep in the Madsen Overhead Doors No. 20, following wins at Albany-Saratoga and Lebanon Valley.
The Super DIRTcar Series heads to Lebanon Valley Speedway Tuesday, August 26 for the $17,500-to-win Mr. Dirt Track USA 100.
Super DIRTcar Big-Block Modified Series Statistical Report; Cornwall Speedway; August 23, 2015
“Velade Backhoe Services 100”
A-Main (100 laps): start in (*)
1. 20 Brett Hearn – Sussex, NJ (12)
2. 66x Carey Terrance – Hogansburg, N.Y. (7)
3. 9h Matt Sheppard – Waterloo, N.Y. (1)
4. 66 Kyle Dingwall – Iroquois, ON. (2)
5. 42p Pat Ward – Genoa, N.Y. (3)
6. 23 Lee Ladouceur – Alexandria, ON (9)
7. 115 Stephane Lafrance – St. Albert, ON (4)
8. 49 Billy Dunn – Watertown, N.Y. (25)
9. 16m Gage Morin – Cornwall, ON (19)
10. 99L Larry Wight- Phoenix, N.Y. (15)
11. 91 Billy Decker – Unadilla, N.Y. (14)
12. 98 Jimmy Phelps – Baldwinsville, N.Y. (18)
13. 19c Mat Williamson – St. Catharines, ON (22)
14. 22C Mario Clair – St. Edmond, QC (6)
15. 38 Luke Whitteker – Iroquois, ON (11)
16. 84 Gary Tomkins – Clifton Springs, N.Y. (27)
17. 54 Steve Bernard – Granby, QC (5)
18. 43 Keith Flach – Ravena, N.Y. (30)
19. 27J Danny Johnson – Rochester, N.Y. (23)
20. 22d Roy Delmoier – Akwesasne, N.Y. (28)
21. 8 Rich Scagliotta – Bound Brook, N.J. (24)
22. 21 Yan Bussiere – Drummond, QC (21)
23. 24 Bruno Lepage – Maple Grove, QC (20)
24. 10 Gabriel Richer – Quebec (26)
25. 21R Erick Rudolph – Ransomville, N.Y. (29)
26. 26. 7z Stewart Friesen – Sprakers, NY (16)
27. 19 Tim Fuller – Edwards, N.Y. (8)
28. 16w Lance Willix II – Watertown, N.Y. ( 17 )
29. 29. 21a Peter Britten – Brisbane, Queensland, Australia (13)
30. 151 Brian McDonald – Cornwall, ON (31)
31. 01 Chris Raabe – Napanee, ON (10)
DID NOT START:
88 Chris Herbison
82 Doug Haldane
96 JF Corriveau
74 Maxime Viens
24b Roger Levesque
Qualifying Heats (10 laps, top 5 transfer, top 3 redraw)
Heat 1: Raabe, Clair, Whitteker, Britten, Willix II, Johnson, Dunn, Tomkins, Flach.
Heat 2: Fuller, LaFrance, Brnard, Decker, J Phelps, Rudolph, Bussiere, Viens, Haldane.
Heat 3: Terrance, Ladouceur, Ward, Wight, Morin, Scagliotta, Richer, Delmoier, Levesque.
Heat 4: Hearn, Dingwall, Sheppard, Friesen,LePage, Williamson, Corriveau, Herbison, McDonald.
Consi 1: Bussiere, Johnson, Dunn, Tomkins, Rudolph, Haldane
Consi 2: Williamson, Scagliotta, Richer, Delmoier, McDonald, Levesque, Corriveau
CONTINGENCY AWARDS:
VP Race Fuels – Billy Dunn ($50 cash)
ASI Racewear – Stephane LaFrance ($50 cash)
Pole Position Raceway Fast Qualifier Award – Tim Fuller ($100 cash)
Bilstein Shocks – Steve Bernard ($50 cash)
Bicknell Racing Products – Kyle Dingwall ($100 product certificate)
Cometic Gasket – Mat Williamson ($50 cash)
Comp Cams – Larry Wight ($50 cash), Matt Sheppard ($50 product certificate)
Edelbrock – Larry Wight ($50 cash)
Fox Shox – Kyle Dingwall ($50 cash)
JE Pistons – Pat Ward ($50 cash), Gary Tomkins, Rich Scagliotta (product valued at appr. $285)
KSE – Gary Tomkins ($50 product certificate)
MSD – Brett Hearn ($50 cash), Stewart Friesen ($25 cash)
Mobil 1 – Pat Ward ($50 cash), Rich Scagliotta (20% product discount)
SuperFlow – Gary Tomkins ($50 cash)
Wrisco Aluminum – Brett Hearn (product valued at appr. $200)
The Super DIRTcar Series and DIRTcar Racing in the Northeast Region is brought to fans by several sponsors and partners including Hoosier Racing Tire, VP Racing Fuels, Chevy Performance Parts, NAPA Auto Parts, Pole Position Raceway and Dig Safely New York. Contingency sponsors are ASI, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix, ButlerBuilt, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, FX Caprara, Fox Shox, Impact Race Products, Intercomp, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, KSE Racing Products, Mobil 1, Motorsports Safety Systems, MSD Performance, Racing Electronics, Superflow, TNT Rescue and Wrisco Aluminum.
