From Mark Hann
Ellington, CT — (August 28, 2015) — Adam Pierson may have started eleventh for the feature but in the end he was number one when the checker flag waived. This was race two of the series Triple Crown Presented by New England Racing Fuel and was run in memory of Andy Fusco and John McCarthy.
Pierson’s win in his 76M did not come easy as he had to challenge the likes of Brett Hearn, John Heydenreich and all the teams for what would become the fastest race of the night. In total twenty three teams came to the Albany-Saratoga Speedway, known as the “Great Race Place”, to race for the win.
Heat race one started with the 18C of Mike Chaffee on the pole with the 15 of young gun Jeff Champagne starting second. The eight lap heat race was exciting from start to finish with tight mid-pack action. Under the green flag, it was the 15 of Champagne out to the lead over Chaffee in his 18C with the 1R piloted by Jeff Horn taking third. As the race entered the second lap, positions two on back would change with the 4 of Kevin Chaffee now running second and the 46 driven by Kenny Johnson taking third. It did not take long for the 76M of Adam Pierson to move from the last row on the start into third by lap four. The top three now included the 15 of Champagne, K. Chaffee in the 4 and Pierson in his 76M. By lap seven, Pierson in the 76M had moved into second and was all over the rear bumper of leader Champagne in the 15. On the last lap Pierson made his move on the back stretch and passed Champagne for the lead. In the end it was Adam Pierson from Bradford, VT in his 76M getting the win followed by Jeff Champagne in the 15 for second and rounding out the top three was the 4 of Kevin Chaffee.
Onto heat race two for another eight laps of fast paced racing action. On pole was the 64 of Andy Barrows followed by the 11 of Alex Rose. This heat race included Brett Hearn in the 2 along with John Heydenreich in the 22. Both of these drivers are past champions in many dirt series and veterans of the sport. When the green flag dropped, it was the 7RI of Seth Carlson who put on an incredible charge to the front to quickly take the lead from the 64 of Barrows by the end of lap one who was then followed by the 11 of Rose. As the race started clicking off laps, the 2 of Hearn and the 22 of Heydenreich started the march forward and picked off positions with every lap. By lap four the 7RI of Carlson held the lead with Super Dirt Car Champion eight times over Brett Hearn in the 2 now second and the 64 of Barrows holding the third position. It was not long before the 22 with past USAC Champion John Heydenreich knocking on the door for the top three. On lap six, with Carlson in the 7RI still leading, Hearn in the 2 was looking to lead but now challenged by Heydenreich in the 22 who had moved into third. Carlson would maintain his lead and when it was all over Seth Carlson from Chicopee, MA in the 7RI getting the victory followed by Brett Hearn in the 2 and rounding out the top three was John Heydenreich in the 22.
With the race fans occupying the packed grandstands and looking for more racing action from the series, it was now time for the feature event. The 15 of Jeff Champagne was to have started on the pole but major mechanical issues would keep him from competing in the feature. With Champagne out, it was now the 4 of Kevin Chaffee on pole with the 69 driven by Dean Christensen starting second. With the green flag out, it was Christensen in the 69 taking control of the lead followed by the 5 of Derek Graham for second with his teammate Kevin Chaffee in the 4 now running third. On lap four the yellow would be displayed for the spinning 71 of Cal Chandonnet who had developed electrical issues. Back to green with the 69 of Christensen still in the lead but by the end of lap five Adam Pierson in the 76M had taken the lead moving the 69 of Christensen back to second followed by the 4 of K Chaffee. With Pierson holding the lead, the race from second on back was three wide and quick with positions changing all around the track. It was not long before the 7RI of Seth Carlson had moved to the front and by lap nine took second from Christensen in the 69. The top three would run this way from lap nine to lap sixteen when the 5 of Derek Graham would make his presence known and moving into third while the 76M of Pierson was still leading and the 7RI of Carlson still in second. Brett Hearn in the 2 was also on the move forward and on lap eighteen was now running fourth. With two laps to go, Pierson in his 76M had started to lap the end of the field and had the race in hand. At the finish, it was Adam Pierson from Bradford, VT in the 76M getting the win followed by the 7RI of Seth Carlson and rounding out the podium was the 5 of Derek Graham.
Brett Hearn, who piloted the Seals-it sponsored #2 for this race, noted after the event that “I had a blast running with the USAC Dirt Midget Association and these racecars need to be driven with finesse versus my dirt modified. I look forward to racing with the series again.”
The series will be back in action on Saturday September 5th at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT for race three of the series Triple Crown Presented by New England Racing Fuel.
To learn more about the USAC Dirt Midget Association, please visit the series website at www.usacdma.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DirtMidgetAssociation
For additional information regarding this press release please contact Mark J. Hann, USAC DMA Public Relations & Marketing, at (860) 256-5574 or usacdma@usacdma.com
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Heats Race Results from 8/28/15
Heat Race 1:
1st- Adam Pierson
2nd- Jeff Champagne
3rd- Kevin Chaffee
4th- Scott Holcomb
5th-Derek Graham
6th- Josh Sunn
7th- Dean Christensen
8th – Kenny Johnson
9th – Jeff Horn
10th – Ray Miller
11th – Mike Chaffee
12th – David Moniz
Heat Race 2:
1st- Seth Carlson
2nd- Brett Hearn
3rd- John Heydenreich
4th- Andy Barrows
5th- Frank Malec
6th- Mark Cole
7th- Tim Gallant
8th –Derek Graham
9th – Alex Rose
10th – Cal Chandonnet (DNS)
11th – Barry Kittredge (DNS)
Lap Leaders:
Heat race 1: Lap 1 to 7 – Jeff Champagne, Lap 8 – Adam Pierson
Heat race 2: Lap 1 to 8 – Seth Carlson
Feature race: Lap 1 to 4 – Dean Christensen, Lap 5 to 20 – Adam Pierson
Feature Race Results from 8/28/15:
1st- Adam Pierson (76M)
2nd- Seth Carlson (7RI)
3rd- Derek Graham (5)
4th- Brett Hearn (2)
5th- Dean Christensen (69)
6th- Kevin Chaffee (4)
7th- Mark Cole (17)
8th- Scott Holcomb (47)
9th- John Heydenreich (22)
10th- Andy Barrows (64)
11th- Anthony Nocella (29)
12th- Frank Malec (6RI)
13th- Jeff Horn (1R)
14th- Mike Chaffee (18C)
15th- Ray Miller (1W)
16th- Tim Gallant (33)
17th – Kenny Johnson (46)
18th – David Moniz (9)
19th – Alex Rose (11)
20th – Josh Sunn
21st – Cal Chandonnet (71Z)
22nd – Jeff Champagne (15) (DNS)
23rd – Barry Kittredge (21) (DNS)