By Ken Mcmillan
Times Herald-Record
Middletown — The Kid has learned a lot from The Champ and he doesn't apologize for it one bit.
Michael Storms is a protégé of modified race car champ Brett Hearn, and the New Jersey drivers spend a lot of time together talking about cars and racing.
"He has been a mentor to me all of my life,'' said Storms, 20, nicknamed Kid Lightning. "I always wanted to be like him.''
The Kid put what he's learned to good use Saturday night, and his first modified victory at Orange County Fair Speedway will always be memorable because it came at the hands of The Champ.
Storms grabbed the lead from pole-sitter Ric Hill with a lap-16 pass in turn two. It was Storms and Hearn running 1-2 for the final third of the 30-lap feature on a hot, steamy night. A gap that was 3.1 seconds on lap 21 steadily dropped as Hearn's No. 74 charged after Storms' 4-Star car. It wasn't until the five-to-go hand sign from the flag stand that Storms realized it was Hearn in hot pursuit — by then the gap was 6-10ths of a second.
Gulp.
"(Knowing it was Hearn), that's a big thing,'' Storms said. "You can't think about him coming. I knew "¦ if I kept it straight he would have to work hard to pass me. It is in the back of your mind but you can't let it get the best of you, otherwise you are going to screw up.''
Hearn reduced the gap to mere inches — or one-tenth of a second — with three to go. Storms tried to maintain a low line heading into turn one but he drifted up toward the middle right as laps 28 and 29 went into the books. Each time Hearn dove hard to the inside and pulled alongside but Storms' car had enough muscle to edge ahead coming out of turn two. "We got a little tight there in the end,'' Storm said. On the final stretch, Hearn's options were limited with a lapped car ahead and Storms got to the stripe first in one of the most exciting finishes of the season.
"A lot of people criticize me for being good friends with Brett, but he is the right person to be friends with,'' Storms said. "It is really meaningful to beat him and get a win.''
Spectators wondered aloud: Did The Champ let The Kid win his first race?
"Brett's a race car driver — that's what pays his bills, winning races,'' Storms said. "He would have passed me if he could, without a doubt. He said (at the scales), 'Good luck because I was coming for you.' One more lap, maybe. I am glad it ended there.''
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