Before the Hearn disqualification, the top 3 drivers pose along with Hearn's son, Tyler: Tommy Meier, Brett Hearn and Danny Johnson. (Harry Cella photo)

Newsmaker of the Week // Brett Hearn

AREA AUTO RACING NEWS NEWSMAKER OF THE WEEK FOR TUEDAY, APRIL 5, 2016

With nearly 900 career feature wins to his credit, Brett Hearn isn’t in the habit of giving checkered flags away.
He also isn’t in the habit of cherry picking, stepping down from the Modifieds to run lesser classes of car.
Yet in one strange Saturday night, at Orange County Fair Speedway, Hearn did both.
First, his crew refused to have his Hard Clay Open-winning Modified inspected, this while Hearn was on the track, driving, of all things, a Sportsman.
He won that race too, endearing himself not one whit to the field of aspiring Sportsman drivers he vanquished.
The tech refusal remains hard to understand, the direct quotes of Hearn and the man who ‘made the call’ not to inspect, Kevand Cross, seeming to accent points that are personal and vindictive.
Lauded so many times in his glorious career, Brett Hearn and his team has. this week, made news not for on-track greatness but for off-track gamesmanship.