CONCORD, N.C. – Brett Hearn had a lot of people talking on social media this week after a photo from his Madsen Motorsports shop appeared on social media, showing a black and neon green car that he was scheduled to pilot during the Bad Boy Off Road World Finals.
However, when he took to the track on Thursday night for Super DIRTcar Series time trials and heat racing action, he was piloting his familiar neon yellow-trimmed No. 20 big block modified – despite the green car having been off the hauler and in the pit area earlier in the day.
So what was the reason for the switch?
Hearn gave Race Chaser Online the answer to that question – and injected a little humor into the day – prior to Friday’s drivers meeting at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
“You know, drivers like myself … we’re all finicky and we have little things that drive us week to week,” Hearn said with a smile. “We actually put a lot of effort into building the car that had the Cedar Peaks colors on it. They’re our North Carolina sponsor and that was the car we intended to run this weekend, but I got real comfortable in our usual (neon yellow) car these past couple of weeks and made a corporate decision to run this car that’s been pretty good to us the past two weeks … between Oswego and Eastern States.”
Hearn ran solidly during NAPA Auto Parts Super Dirt Week at Oswego Speedway and was in contention to win yet another Eastern States 200 at Orange County Fair Speedway before a late-race slide job by Stewart Friesen left him slightly short of victory lane.
So, chalk the color change up to driver feel, as well as a desire to win a Super DIRTcar Series event before the year ends. Hearn has a 21-year streak of having at least one series win per season on the line and enters Charlotte with a goose egg in the wins column this season.
However, Hearn laughed heartily when reminded that green is traditionally a symbol of bad luck at the race track.
“Hey now, I like the green!” he laughed. “Seriously, you can’t tell Bloomquist that (it’s bad luck) and you can’t tell Jimmy Owens that … so I’ll roll with that.”
“Cedar Peaks has green in their logo and Madsen Overhead Doors has green in their logo as well, even though we don’t use it on the car, so it’s just a cool deal. We had a lot of people that told us, ‘Hey, I kinda like that,’ so it was just something a little bit different for us.”
Friday’s racing program at the Dirt Track at Charlotte kicks off at 4:45 p.m.
Listen in to Race Chaser Online’s chat with Brett Hearn in the pit area on Friday:
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as both the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series and the co-track announcer at Millbridge Speedway.
Email Jacob at: [email protected]
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
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