TREMONT, QUINN, MILLER AND LAGENBACK ALL VICTORIOUS AT THE VALLEY

JULY 6, 2002, WEST LEBANON, NY-A capacity crowd was on hand Saturday night at Lebanon Valley. Kenny Tremont Jr. picked up his fifth win of the season in the 30-lap modified feature. The 358-modifieds were also on hand for the second time this season and Matt Quinn took top honors in the 24-lap feature. Don Miller was victorious in the 20-lap sportsman feature. The ageless veteran, Jim Lagenback picked up another 20-lap Pro Stock win. FREIHOFER BAKING, SNAP-ON TOOLS and FUNPLEX FUN PARK sponsored this very full night of racing action.

Problems right on the start of the 30-lap modified feature for Denny Soltis. Something broke on his racecar as the field took the green flag, he did a great job of pulling to the inside and the rest of the field was able to avoid his disabled car. Sparky Lowe was the early race leader and looked very strong in the lead. Kenny Tremont Jr. was quickly rocketing to the front of the pack and was third by lap five. The first caution flag of the race came out on lap eight as Dave Leckonby slowed on the frontstretch. He would return after several pit stops and finish 20th. The top five at this point were Lowe, Tremont, Jason Goff, John Hewitt and Eddie Marshall.

Tremont battled Lowe on the restart and took the lead by lap nine. Problems for last week’s winner, Chris Moore on lap ten. He got spun around on the frontstretch and Dave McFeeters was collected in the incident. Moore was able to return and finished 17th. Tremont, Lowe, Rich Ricci Jr, Hewitt and Marshall held the top five spots at the halfway point. The third and final caution came out on lap 16 as Dave Mosher spun in turn three. Lowe suddenly slowed on the backstretch and his top five performance came to an abrupt end on lap 18. Another top five car retired from the event on lap 23 as Jason Goff pulled pit side.

Tremont would encounter lapped traffic by lap 25, but it did little to slow his momentum. Ricci had a strong car but with no more cautions never got his chance at Tremont. Marshall took over third on lap 25 and that is where he would finish. Hewitt and Donnie Corellis were the show in the final laps as the two drivers swapped fourth position several times. Hewitt would gain the upper hand in the end and finish fourth with Corellis hanging on for fifth.

Twenty-seven 358-modifieds took the green flag for their 24-lap feature. Matt Quinn took the lead in the Dave Manny owned #32. Eddie Marshall ran second while right behind him the battle for fifth went three wide. Rich Ricci Jr won that early battle for fifth. Ricci moved up to third just before the first caution flag flew on lap six for Donnie Corellis. Andy Bachetti made his way around Guy Sheldon for fourth on lap eight. Sheldon tagged the wall bringing out the second and final caution on lap eight. Bachetti made contact with the wall on the restart allowing Tremont to slip by for fourth.

Ricci began to apply pressure to Quinn on lap 16, but could not make the pass stick. Ricci would then have to concentrate on holding off Tremont for second. The leaders ran into lapped traffic by lap 18 and that really bunched up the front of the pack. Quinn was able to hold off all challengers and take home the victory. Marshall, Ricci, Tremont and Brett Hearn followed him across the line.

To say the sportsman feature got off to a slow start would be an understatement. Eight caution flags slowed the event with a majority of them coming before lap six causing speedway officials to make the restarts single file. Don Miller held the lead from the start of the 20-lap feature and was very strong in the lead. The cars were three, four and five wide back in the pack. Art Collins had to use his backup car to start the feature after wrecking his primary car in the heat race. He worked his way up to sixth by the halfway point of the race. Kory Gurney had a top five run going until he made contact with the wall on lap 15. Bobby Knipe would also see a top five run disappear after heavy contact with the turn two wall the very next lap.

Miller, Roy Bridge and Collins broke away from the pack in the final five laps. Bridge made several attempts to get around Miller, but could not make the pass. The final caution of the race on lap 19 as John Scarborough got spun around on the frontstretch. This would set up a one-lap shootout for the finish. Miller would hang on for his first victory of the season. Bridge settled for second, Collins was third, Jeff Carr fourth and K.C. Goewey rounded out the top five.

Dan Blackburn and his older brother Al led the Pro Stocks to the start of the 20-lap feature. Dan got the early advantage over Al on lap one. The elder Blackburn made his way into the lead on lap three. Danny Sanchez took over third on lap three and passed Dan Blackburn for second on lap four. Jim Lagenback moved into third by lap four. At the halfway point it was Al Blackburn, Lagenback, Sanchez, Paul LaRochelle and Bob Duzlak. The battle for the lead had the fans on the feet on lap 12. Blackburn and Lagenback ran side by side for three laps with neither driver showing any discernable advantage. Blackburn was able to secure the lead and Lagenback had to fall back in line until the caution flag flew with only three laps remaining. Lagenback was able to get around Blackburn on the restart and go on to victory lane. Blackburn hung on for a strong second place finish. Sanchez, Duzlak and LaRochelle rounded out the top five.

In other racing action Saturday night Bill Lobdell Jr won the Rookie Pro Stock feature. Chrissy Hilt, Mike Davis, Mike Witherell and Tom Harkin were all winners in the Pure Stock mains.

Lebanon Valley will be back in action Tuesday night for Thunder in the Valley IV with Tony Stewart and Dave Blaney racing 358-modifieds. This is the continuation of the rained out event last Thursday night. The Pro Stocks have been added to the card and racing will start at 7:00.

7-06 FREIHOFER BAKING COMPANY / SNAP-ON TOOLS / FUNPLEX FUNPARK MODIFIED RESULTS (30 LAPS) - 1) Kenny Tremont Jr, 2) Rich Ricci Jr, 3) Eddie Marshall, 4) John Hewitt, 5) Donnie Corellis, 6) Matt Quinn, 7) Brett Hearn, 8) Rob Pitcher, 9) Andy Bachetti, 10) J.R. Heffner, 11) Bud Christmann, 12) Hector Stratton, 13) Steve Devine, 14) Stanley Wetmore, 15) Russ Reckner, 16) Mel Schruffer, 17) Chris Moore, 18) John Ruchel, 19) Dave Mosher, 20) Dave Leckonby, 21) Jason Goff, 22) Guy Sheldon, 23) Ernie Palmer Jr, 24) Mike King, 25) Sparky Lowe, 26) Charlie Humes, 27) Tom Sanchez Jr, 28) Dave McFeeters, 29) Maynard Forrette, 30) Paul Gilardi, 31) Hawley Smith, 32) Tom Overbaugh, 33) Denny Soltis

358 MODIFIED RESULTS ( 24 LAPS) - 1) Matt Quinn, 2) Eddie Marshall, 3) Rich Ricci Jr, 4) Kenny Tremont Jr, 5) Brett Hearn, 6) Andy Bachetti, 7) Jerry Higbie, 8) Bud Christmann, 9) Donnie Corellis, 10) Wayne Jelley, 11) Ted Teal, 12) J.R. Heffner, 13) Lee Gagliardi, 14) Jason Herrington, 15) Ric Hill, 16) Ken Baker, 17) Stan Jablonka, 18) Jeremy Matthies, 19) Lorne Browe, 20) Wes Powell, 21) Dave Baranowski, 22) Mark Pullen, 23) Stan Lemiesz, 24) Dickie Larkin, 25) Mike Benson, 26) Denny Young Jr, 27) Guy Sheldon

SPORTSMAN RESULT (20 LAPS) - 1) Don Miller, 2) Roy Bridge, 3) Art Collins, 4) Jeff Carr, 5) K.C. Goewey, 6) Frank Harper, 7) Tony Ferriero, 8) Ryan Larkin, 9) Lorne Browe, 10) Mike Molloy, 11) Jeff Watson, 12) Mike Visconti, 13) Mike Keeler, 14) Dan Humes, 15) John Hotchkiss, 16) Ed Harkin, 17) Whitey Slavin, 18) John Scarborough, 19) Carmon Carnibucci, 20) Bobby Knipe, 21) Kory Gurney, 22) Walt McKay, 23) Joe Bennett, 24) Jay Haviland

PRO STOCK RESULTS (20 LAPS) - 1) Jim Langenback, 2) Al Blackburn, 3) Danny Sanchez, 4) Bob Duzlak Jr, 5) Paul LaRochelle, 6) Rob Yetman, 7) Rich Colesanti, 8) Ed Bachand, 9) Adam Haas, 10) Tom Brandt, 11) Dave Dowd, 12) Dan Blackburn, 13) Robbie Speed, 14) Jeff Kelmel, 15) Brian Keough, 16) Mike Mannfolk, 17) Chris Crews, 18) Jason DiBello, 19) Don Ely

ROOKIE RESULTS (10 LAPS) - 1) Bill Lobdell, 2) Ralph Hotchkiss, 3) Bill Hammell, 4) Jery Helms, 5) Jay Corbin, 6) Jim Hankle, 7) Joe Mabb Jr, 8) Chris Claus, 9) Mark Forrest, 10) Spencer Hughes, 11) Jerry Wright, 12) Kim LaVoy, 13) John Santolin

PURE STOCK #1 RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) Chrissy Hilt, 2) D.T. Pickard, 3) Shannon McDermott, 4) Chris Streeter, 5) George Miles III, 6) John Chapman, 7) Jason Casey, 8) Larry Ball, 9) William Fuchs, 10) Ryan Hover, 11) Paul Harding, 12) John Rivers Jr, 13) Ryan Coon, 14) Bob Burl, 15) John Fachini, 16) Michael Dianda, 17) Randy Myers, 18) Poncho Hankey

PURE STOCK #2 RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) Michael Davis, 2) Steve Hatch, 3) Kevin Dolan, 4) Chris Stalker, 5) David Stickles, 6) Michael Middleton, 7) Mark Huston, 8) John Denue, 9) Mike Williams, 10) Jeff Douglass, 11) Ronny Jacobsen, 12) Jeff Kuhnow, 13) Joe Landry, 14) Ed Hubbard, 15) Jim O'Neil, 16) Dave Houser, 17) Bob Chenette, 18) Ramon Perry

PURE STOCK #3 RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) Mike Witherell, 2) Peter Wiegand, 3) Bob Palmer, 4) Nick Hilt Jr, 5) Keith Barlow, 6) Pete DeFiglio, 7) George Miles Jr, 8) Brian Sandstedt, 9) John Betz, 10) Earl Soulier Jr, 11) Ron Tritschler, 12) Jay Martin, 13) Joe DiStefano, 14) Dwayne Dauski, 15) Jeremy Pease, 16) Dan Crosby, 17) Todd Pelkey

PURE STOCK #4 RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) Tom Harkins, 2) Jim Hankey, 3) Robert Gibson, 4) Pete Everett, 5) Don Coon, 6) Kory Sandstadt, 7) Rich Douglass, 8) Marcus Tifft, 9) Dave Atwater, 10) Jim Fachini, 11) Chris Hutnik, 12) Bob Copeland, 13) Mike Eichstedt, 14) Mike Grehl Jr, 15) Dave Shepard, 16) Alan Hill, 17) Robert Brown, 18) Ray Pierre Jr