QUINN AND YETMAN TAKE WINS IN 51ST LEBANON VALLEY OPENER
By Ed & Betty Biittig
West Lebanon, N.Y., Saturday, April 19, 2003- After a caution plagued main event, and a three wide daring move, Matt Quinn of West Sand Lake, N.Y. sat in victory lane for the 30-lap Lebanon Valley opener sponsored by L&M Motors/Heavy Hauler of East Greenbush, N.Y. "My crew said not to win, because it’s bad luck, but here we are", said Quinn. Sponsor on Quinn’s car, Cardshaq II, gave a $200 bonus to his driver for the win.
Rob Yetman took his Beer Belly Bob’s No. 7 to victory lane for the third opening night win of his career in the Pro Stock division. Yetman also has three opening night wins in the Pure Stock division.
A perfect night for racing met the many fans and competitors that filled the Lebanon Valley pits and stands for the 51st running of the Lebanon Valley opener. Not a cloud in the sky and a large contingent of racecars filled the pit area on L&M Motors/Heavy Hauler Night on the high banks.
The Modified heats qualified seven and handicapped five putting Chris Moore and Hector Stratton on the front row for the 30-lap main event.
Hector Stratton took the field to the green but the yellow soon flew for an incident in turn one involving the cars of Steve Hough and Lorne Browe. On the restart it was Stratton once again at the green, but by the time the leaders were in turn three the yellow flew once again, for the No. 17x of Paul Gilardi when he spun in turn two. On the next restart Chris Moore got by Stratton to take the lead and the yellow flew once again. Three laps complete, three yellow flags forced a single file restart.
On lap five the yellow came out once again when Brett Hearn spun going into turn four. He continued for another circuit but took the Gable No. 1 pit road. With steam coming from under the car, Hearn shut the engine off a signal that they were done for the night. The Beer Belly Bob pit report from Bob Jennings named the freeze out plug on the Hearn car as the culprit.
Yellow remained the color of the night through the halfway point. With Chris Moore in the lead at lap fifteen the field settled into a racing mode.
By the 20th lap the running order showed the top five as Moore, Stratton, Matt Quinn, Tremont and Ricci. Debris on the track brought out the next yellow on lap 23. This put Stratton on the bumper of Moore at the green. Moore quickly pulled away. Stratton fell out of contention on the next lap when he took the No. 87 to pit road. Report was he was out of gas. This put Matt Quinn in the runner up position.
With five laps remaining Quinn sat second, Tremont third, Ricci, fourth and Bachetti ran fifth. One more restart for Moore with the top five breathing down his neck. Moore held off the charges of Quinn in turns two and three and by the time they came to the line it was three wide with Moore, Quinn and Tremont who had moved into contention for the lead. Quinn came out on top with Tremont in second and Moore in third. Ricci and Marshall battled for fourth position. On the final circuit Ricci tried Marshall once again but Marshall and his No.98 prevailed to finish fourth and Ricci in fifth.
Modified heat winners were Rich Ricci, Jr., Kenny Tremont, Jr., and Chris Moore.
The Rookie Pro Stock Challenge was a 10-lap event that pitted ten rookies against each other for bragging rights in an opening night win. Dave Blanchard was the winner claiming the first Rookie Pro Stock feature win of the 2003 season.
The Pro Stock 20-lap feature came to the line with Jim Langenback and Chris Crews on the front row. When the green flag fell it was the No. 5 of Chris Crews that took the first lap. By lap two Langenback was in the lead. The yellow flew on lap two involving several cars in turn one. Langenback took the lead on the restart and by lap four defending Pro Stock Champion Paul LaRochelle was in fifth place. On lap eight Rob Yetman looked under the No. 63 of Dan Sanchez but was unable to take second spot.
LaRochelle moved to fourth by lap 10. Sanchez and Yetman battled side by side all the way around the track for the runner up spot. Yetman prevailed at the halfway point.
Lap 13 the yellow flag flew once again when the No. 117 of Scott Govertsen slowed on the frontstretch. The closed up the field on the restart and put Yetman and his Beer Belly Bob No. 7 right on the bumper of Langenback. With five laps remaining
Yetman tried the inside of Langenback in turn one. He then tried the outside on the next lap. The veteran held him off. Langenback held off the charges of Yetman and once more the yellow flew on lap 17. On the white flag lap Yetman made a slick maneuver to get around Langenback and it paid off. This was Yetman’s third opening night win in the Pro Stock division.
Pro Stock heat wins went to Rob Yetman and Paul LaRochelle.
Winner of the first Pure Stock feature was Nick Hill, Jr. He was the recipient of $25.00 from an anonymous fan given in memory of Johnny O (John Olejnik) who passed away during the off-season. Johnny O. gave $25.00 to the Pure Stock division each and every week during the race season for many years at Lebanon Valley.
The second Pure Stock event looked as though it might have a first women winner of the 51st season but with only two laps to go eventual winner, Mike Middleton passed Shannon McDermott on the frontstretch and went on to win the second Pure Stock feature on opening night.
It was another pass with two to go that put Jim Hankey in the winner’s circle after the third Pure Stock feature of the night.
The fourth Pure Stock event of the night saw the first Pure Stock to go up in smoke when the No. 41P laid down a smoke screen on the backstretch. A hard charging move by Pete DeFiglio gave him the win in the in the final Pure Stock feature of the night.
Richie Sanford was the winner of the evenings Cannonball Run event.
Next week’s racing is sponsored by Waste Management and will signal the start of the Sportsman division for the 2003 season. Also on tap is a Cannonball Run event.
L & M MOTORS / HEAVY HAULER MODIFIED TOP FIVE SUMMARY – (30 LAPS) – 1) Matt Quinn, 2) Kenny Tremont Jr, 3) Chris Moore, 4) Eddie Marshall, 5) Rich Ricci Jr.
PRO STOCK TOP FIVE SUMMARY – (20 LAPS) – 1) Rob Yetman, 2) Jim Langenback, 3) Danny Sanchez, 4) Paul LaRochelle, 5) Chris Crews.
ROOKIE PRO STOCK FEATURE WINNER – (10 LAPS) – 1) Dave Blanchard
PURE STOCK #1 WINNER – (8 LAPS) – 1) Kevin Hilt
PURE STOCK #2 WINNER – (8 LAPS) – 1) Michael Middleton
PURE STOCK #3 WINNER – (8 LAPS) – 1) Jim Hankey
PURE STOCK #4 WINNER – (8 LAPS) – 1) Pete DeFiglio