Brett Hearn powers to 11th career Eastern States 200 victory
Hard-charging Matt Sheppard finishes 2nd to claim Super DIRTcar Series point lead going into Charlotte
MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. – October 27, 2014 – Brett “the Jet” Hearn has been making a habit of winning at Orange County Fair Speedway. He picked up his 11th career Eastern States Big Block Modified victory there Sunday, October 26, his third in a row.
“It takes a lot of people to make this happen,” the Sussex, N.J. said in Victory Lane after Sunday’s 200 lapper. “There’s a lot of hard work, a lot of preparation goes into this thing and you come here on race day and try to put it all together.”
Hearn made a clean sweep during Eastern States Weekend, fast timing Friday with a lap time of 20.763 and winning Saturday’s 358-Modified feature race. He started Sunday’s Super DIRTcar Series event on the pole, with Tim Hindley at the outside pole. At the green flag, Hearn took the lead, but it was Stewart Friesen, of Sprakers, N.Y., who cruised to second over Hindley.
Several cautions early in the race kept the leaders from picking up momentum, but Hearn was strong enough on every restart to maintain his position over Friesen. In lap 60, Bob McGannon went into the wall in turn four to bring the eighth caution of the race, and soon after the pits opened for mandatory pit stops.
Hearn pulled into pit road to fuel up, and most of the field followed him, either refueling as well or changing a tire. Jerry Higbie and Gary Edwards, Jr. inherited the front row and Higbie took the lead position off the lap-70 restart. Within 10 laps, Hearn had advanced to 16th place. Super DIRTcar Series point leader Billy Decker was running in 26th at lap 80 and Matt Sheppard, second in point standings, was in 13th.
Edwards soon started gaining ground on Higbie, and in lap 82 was at Higbie’s back bumper. Edwards went for the pass in lap 83 to become the new race leader, but lost his position in lap 115 when he pulled off to make a pit stop. In those 30 laps, Hearn, Sheppard and Decker had rapidly progressed through the field. By the lap 122 green flag, Sheppard and Hearn shared the front row and Decker restarted from fourth place.
At the restart, Hearn charged ahead of the field to reclaim the lead.
“The fact that I even beat him on an outside restart like that, I have to give Kevand Cross a lot of credit for taking the carburetor out today and making sure that thing took off like that on restarts. That was awesome. I don’t think anybody beat anybody off the outside today except off that one restart,” Hearn said. “I just went and gave myself a little bit of room there, started on my line, and tried to stay off the right rear tire.”
Hearn outlasted a number of cautions throughout the second half of the race, fending off challenges from Sheppard.
A hard-charging Sheppard, who struggled all weekend, starting the race in a backup car at the rear of the field, finished second.
“I had a great team for it. We started in the last row and we finished in the front row,” Sheppard said. “I can’t say enough about this whole team. We had some trouble in the Consi, and we ended up going to a backup car. The thing never even saw the race track until the start of the feature here tonight. It was just awesome, the guys really worked their tails off.”
The hard work paid off, earning Sheppard enough to surpass Decker, who finished seventh, for the series point lead. Hindley finished third, Kenny Tremont finished fourth and Jimmy Phelps finished fifth.
The Super DIRTcar Big Block Modified Series is racing into its final rounds, a pair of 40-lap feature races at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C. World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track kicks off Thursday, Nov. 6, with practice and qualifying rounds for the Super DIRTcar Series, World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series and World of Outlaws Late Model Series. The next two nights, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7 and 8, all three premier series will take on the Charlotte clay oval. Champions in each series will be crowned Saturday, Nov. 8.
For more information and the latest updates about the Super DIRTcar Big Block Modified Series, click www.superdirtcarseries.com, follow @SuperDIRTcar on Twitter or “like” the DIRTcar Racing Facebook page at www.facebook.com/DIRTcar.
A-Main (200 laps):
Pos. [Start] No. Driver / Hometown (Winnings)
1. [1] 20 Brett Hearn / Sussex, N.J. ($20,000)
2. [43] 9H Matt Sheppard / Waterloo, N.Y. ($8,000)
3. [2] 1H Tim Hindley / Monticello, N.Y. ($4,500)
4. [40] 115 Kenny Tremont, Jr. / West Sand Lake, N.Y. ($3,500)
5. [15] 98H Jimmy Phelps / Balwinsville, N.Y. ($3,000)
6. [22] 14h Jeff Heotzler / Wallkill, N.Y. ($2,000)
7. [13] 91 Billy Decker / Sidney, N.Y. ($1,500)
8. [38] 11 Rich Ricci, Jr. ($1,000)
9. [25] 99L Larry Wight / Altmar, N.Y. ($900)
10. [12] 74F Tim Fuller / Edwards, N.Y. ($800)
11. [39] 21 Clinton Mills / Middletown, N.Y. ($700)
12. [20] 5 Jimmy Horton / Neshanic Station, N.J. ($600)
13. [6] 97 Jerry Higbie / Goshen, N.Y. ($500)
14. [8] 3 Justin Haers / Phelps, N.Y. ($450)
15. [9] 10 Billy VanInwegen / Sparrowbush, N.Y. ($400)
16. [16] 42p Pat Ward / Genoa, N.Y. ($375)
17. [7] 21J Gary Edwards, Jr. / Montgomery, N.Y. ($350)
18. [18] 33 1/3 Tommy Meier / Waldrick, N.J. ($325)
19. [5] 55 Anthony Perrego / Montgomery, N.Y. ($295)
20. [26] 7z Erick Rudolph / Ransomville, N.Y. ($280)
21. [3] 1T Tyler Dippel / Wallkill, N.Y. ($275)
22. [17] 44 Mike Ricci / Tillson, N.Y. ($260)
23. [44] 74M Matt Billings / Brockville, Ontario ($260)
24. [23] 43 Keith Flach / Ravena, N.Y. ($260)
25. [35] 24s Chris Schulz / Holmes, N.Y. ($260)
26. [33] 27J Danny Johnson / Rochester, N.Y. ($260)
27. [14] 4* Tim McCreadie / Watertown, N.Y. ($260)
28. [19] 88 Steve Dodd / Middletown, N.Y. ($260)
29. [11] 19 Chuck McKee / Middletown, N.Y. ($260)
30. [30] 16x Danny Creeden / Middletown, N.Y. ($260)
31. [29] 4R Mike Ruggiero / Walden, N.Y. ($250)
32. [34] 21a Pete Britten / Brisbane, Queensland, Australia ($250)
33. [36] 25 Mike Kolka / Circleville, N.Y. ($250)
34. [10] 57 Donnie Corellis / Averill Park, N.Y. ($250)
35. [28] 99 Ryan Phelps / Fulton, N.Y. ($250)
36. [4] 1F Stewart Friesen / Sprakers, N.Y. ($250)
37. [21] 7s Michael Sabia / Eason, Conn. ($250)
38. [24] 21m Bob McGannon / Garnersville, N.Y. ($250)
39. [41] 53 Ric Hill / Lafayette, N.J. ($250)
40. [42] 8 Rich Scagliotta / Hillsborough, N.J. ($250)
41. [32] 34 Andy Bachetti / Sheffield, Mass. ($250)
42. [27] 41 Jim Davis / Ballston Spa, N.Y. ($250)
43. [37] 87x Paul Gilardi / Pittsfield, Mass. ($250)
44. [31] 673 Gary Tomkins / Clifton Springs, N.Y. ($250)
Did Not Start:
16 Willy Auchmoody / Highland, N.Y.
11z Darrell Ford
71d Frank Doty / Middletown, N.Y.
14 C.G. Morey / Rutland, Vt.
20g Craig Hanson / Tribes Hill, N.Y.
72 Ray Hall, Jr.
10e Richie Eurich / Warwick, N.Y.
51m Dominick Buffalino / Morganville, N.J.
79 Jeremy Markle / Port Jervis, N.Y.
66 Duane Howard / Oley, Pa.
T21 Roger Chrysler / Lewiston, N.Y.
4sL Bobby Hentschel / Accod, N.Y.
60 Brian Berger / Castleton, N.Y.
66p Sean Mandell
19m Jessey Mueller / Olmsteadville, N.Y.
21p Pep Corradi
33h Matt Hitchcock / Stony Point, N.Y.
220 John Ferrier / Middletown, N.Y.
265 Tyler McKee / Middletown, N.Y.
21k Randy Chrysler / Lewiston, N.Y.
93x Craig Mitchell / Wappingers Falls, N.Y.
m22 Mike Dubois
35x L.J. Lombardo / Danbury, Conn.
55H Brett Haas / Westfield, Mass.
3s R.J. Smykla
57e Rich Eggers / Walden, N.Y.
20x Rob Rowe
Mike Mahaney / King Ferry, N.Y.
B-Main 1: Tomkins, Britten, Gilardi, Tremont, Billings, Auchmoody, Morey, Doty]
B-Main 2: Bachetti, Schulz, R. Ricci, Hill, Berger, Hentschel, Howard, Markle, Roger Chrysler, Sheppard
B-Main 3: Johnson, Kolka, Mills, Scagliotta, Randy Chrysler, Ferrier, Smykla, Lombardo, T. McKee, Dubois, Eggers
Qualifying Heat Results (Top 4 Transfer)
Heat 1: Edwards, Decker, Dodd, Wight, Britten, Billings, Tremont, Ford, Morey, Hall, Jablonka. DNS: Mahaney
Heat 2: Haers, McCreadie, Horton, Rudolph, Tomkins, Gilardi, Auchmoody, Doty, Hanson, Eurich, Buffalino
Heat 3: VanInwegen, J. Phelps, Sabia, Davis, Bachetti, Sheppard, Howard, R. Ricci, Hentschel, Mandell, Corradi
Heat 4: Corellis, Ward, Heotzler, R. Phelps, Markle, Schulz, Hill, Roger Chrysler, Berger, Mueller, Hitchcock
Heat 5: C. McKee, M. Ricci, Flach, Ruggiero, Johnson, Kolka, T. McKee, Randy Chrysler, Dubois, Haas, Eggers
Heat 6: Fuller, Meier, McGannon, Creeden, Scagliotta, Ferrier, Mills, Mitchell, Lombardo, Smykla, Rowe
Time Trials: 1. Hearn 20.763, 2. Hindley 20.837, 3. Dippel 21.043, 4. Friesen 21.052, 5. Perrego 21.072, 6. Higbie 21.072, 7. Edwards 21.080, 8. Haers 21.123, 9. J. Phelps 21.164, 10. Heotzler 21.191, 11. Flach 21.198, 12. Fuller 21.204, 13. Decker 21.207, 14. McCreadie 21.209, 15. VanInwegen 21.220, 16. Corellis 21.220, 17. C. McKee 21.245, 18. Meier 21.252, 19. Britten 21.253, 20. Horton 21.261, 21. Sheppard 21.272, 22. Schulz 21.279, 23. M. Ricci 21.283, 24. Creeden 21.312, 25. Billings 21.332, 26. Eurich 21.335, 27. Sabia 21,384, 28. Ward 21.384, 29. Ruggiero 21.415, 30. Mills 21.418, 31. Tremont 21.425, 32. Rudolph 21.460, 33. Howard 21.498, 34. R. Phelps 21.515, 35. Kolka 21.539, 36. McGannon 21.555, 37. Dodd 21.561, 38. Gilardi 21.561, 39. Davis 21.568, 40. Hill 21.609, 41. Johnson 21.630, 42. Mitchell 21.634, 43. Wight 21.649, 44. Tomkins 21.656, 45. Hentschel 21.741, 46. Mueller 21.771, 47. Randy Chrysler 21.779, 48. Ferrier 21.842, 49. Jablonka 21.847, 50. Buffalino 21.849, 51. Corradi 21.863, 52. Markle 21.876, 53. T. McKee 21.915, 54. Scagliotta 21.941, 55. Morey 21.982, 56. Hanson 22.004, 57. Bachetti 22.044, 58. Berger 22.072, 59. Haas 22.090, 60. Lombardo 22.095, 61. Ford 22.149, 62. Doty 22.168, 63. R. Ricci, 64. Roger Chrysler 22.322, 65. Dubois 22.424, 66. Smykla 22.514, 67. Hall 22.577, 68. Auchmoody 22.610, 69. Mandell 22.626, 70. Hitchcock 22.791, 71. Eggers 23.089, 72. Rowe 23.315. NT: Doty.
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, and Safety-Kleen. Contingency partners include the University of Northwestern Ohio, ASI, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix, ButlerBuilt, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, KSE Racing Products, Mobil 1, Motorsports Safety Systems, MSD LLC, Fox Shocks, Pole Position Raceway, Racing Electronics, Superflow and Wrisco Industries.
