LECKONBY & TREMONT SPLIT MOD WINS, KNIPE WINS SPORTSMAN
APRIL 28, 2001
WEST LEBANON, NY- A cool spring night greeted race fans Saturday night at Lebanon Valley. There was plenty of action on the track as both the modified and pro stock division ran double features. The first 30-lap modified feature went to Dave Leckonby. The 30-lap modified nightcap went to Kenny Tremont. The sportsman division made their first appearance of the 2001 season and Bobby Knipe won their 20-lap feature. Adam Haas was the winner of the rain delayed 20-lap pro stock feature. Ed Bachand was the winner of the second 20-lap pro stock feature.
Dave Leckonby and J.R. Heffner brought the modifieds down to the green flag in the first modified feature. Heffner lead the early laps of the race, but would be passed by Leckonby on lap three. With thirty-four cars starting the race the leaders started to encounter lapped traffic as early as lap five. Kenny Tremont spun around in turn three bringing out the first caution of the race on lap ten. Tremont made a quick trip to the pits and would return to finish just out of the top ten. Heffner made a brief bid for the lead on the restart but Leckonby was strong to the challenge.
Matt Quinn got turned around in turn two bringing out the second caution on lap 12. Quinn did not make contact with anyone and was able to continue unharmed. Denny Soltis made the best on the next restart going from fourth to second. Just past the halfway point the battle for the lead began to heat up. Leckonby had his hands full as Soltis and Heffner tried every which way to get around him. Leckonby was able to fend off all their advances. Rich Ricci was making his patented late race charge as he took over third on lap 23. Heffner faded a little in the late stages, as Tim Dwyer was able to get by for fourth on lap 26.
The final caution of the race came out on lap 28 as John Tucker came to a standstill on the backstretch. This would set up a two-lap shootout for the victory. Leckonby was able to get a great restart and tried to pull away. Soltis was able to make on last chance on the final lap but Leckonby was able to bring home the victory. It was Leckonby’s first win at the track since he returned two years ago. Leckonby last visited victory lane at Lebanon Valley in 1988. The cagey veteran, Soltis had a strong runner-up performance. Ricci finished third, Dwyer fourth and Heffner fifth. This was a good race to have a number one on your car, as the top four cars were all numbered "one".
The second modified feature ran into trouble before the first lap was even completed. The inside line of cars got bunched up and several cars tangled. Kenny Tremont and Mike Ricci were two of the six cars in that wreck, but were able to return to the race. Mike King led the first laps of the race, but lost the lead to J.R. Heffner on lap two. Jason Goff moved up to second after a second restart on lap five. Tremont was able to recover quickly from the early race mishap as he cracked the top ten by lap eight. Mike Ricci also recovered nicely to run 11th by lap 13. Heffner was looking to make short work had opened up a twenty-car length lead by the halfway point. Matt Quinn spun on lap 23 went to the pits and did not return.
Tremont rocketed into the second position on lap 24 as the caution flew once again. Tremont was able to get around Heffner on the next alp and motored away quickly. Rich Ricci grabbed the third position on lap 27. Tremont crossed the finish line first for the second time this season. Heffner followed him across the line in second and Jason Goff had a strong third place finish.
Problems occurred in the 20-lap sportsman feature on the first lap, as Charlie Hume did not come up to speed. When the green flag came out Paul Gilardi was the race leader. Bobby Knipe took the lead away from him on a lap five restart. Wayne Jelley and Art Collins swapped third place several times on lap six, with Collins taking the advantage in the end. Sparky Lowe was a victim of the first caution, but was able to get back up into the top five on lap nine. Collins moved into the runner-up spot on lap nine.
Jeff Cassidy had a strong top five run go away as he broke on lap 12. Collins and Lowe put on a great battle for second in the final stages of the race. Knipe was able to cruise home for the victory. Collins came in second and Lowe finished third.
A very slick track made the first 20-lap pro stock race very tricky. Ed Bachand took the lead from the start of the race and looked like he would run away with the event. Opening night winner, Jim Lagenback, was the first to get bitten by the track as he tagged the wall on lap three. He would make a strong recover to finish the race in third place. Adam Haas grabbed second place after a lap five restart. Al Blackburn was making his way through the pack well and was up to fifth by lap seven. Al heck would break loose on lap ten. Paul LaRochelle spun in turn one while running third. Problems for the Bachand while under the caution as he came to a rest on the backstretch. Driveline problems ended what looked like a sure victory for Bachand. This handed the lead to Adam Haas. The restart would see Blackburn and Rob Yetman get turned around in turn one while running second and third. Six more cars were collected in the incident as well. It was at this point that race officials decided that the track was not raceable and threw the checkered flag. Haas was the winner with Ricky Duzlak second and Lagenback third.
Redemption came for Ed Bachand in the second 20-lap pro stock feature. After suffering mechanical difficulties while leading the first race he recovered to win the second feature. Paul LaRochelle grabbed second on a lap five restart and that is where he would finish. Danny Sanchez started 13th in the race and passed the most cars as he finished third.
The winner of the Pure Stock "A" feature held over from last week was Bruce Pecorella. George Miles won this week’s Pure Stock "A" main. Brain Sandstadt won the Pure Stock "B" feature and Wally Engel won the Pure Stock "C" feature. Buddy Hencke won the rookie feature for the third week in a row.
4-21 TEAM GOEWEY DODGE / J.D. HANDLING MODIFIED RESULTS (30 LAPS) - 1) Dave Leckonby, 2) Denny Soltis, 3) Rich Ricci Jr, 4) Tim Dwyer, 5) J.R. Heffner, 6) Rob Pitcher, 7) Donnie Corellis, 8) Eddie Marshall, 9) Jason Goff, 10) Dickie Larkin, 11) Mike King, 12) Kenny Tremont Jr, 13) Hector Stratton, 14) John Hewitt, 15) Maynard Forrette, 16) Ronnie Johnson, 17) Mike Ricci, 18) John Alberti, 19) Guy Sheldon, 20) Al McCoy, 21) Matt Quinn, 22) Jeremy Matthies, 23) Denny Young Jr, 24) Wes Powell, 25) John Lutes Jr, 26) Hollis Morrisey, 27) Wayne Figler, 28) Skippy Fox, 29) Dave Baranowski, 30) Dave McFeeters, 31) John Tucker, 32) Dave Mosher, 33) David Sanchez
4-21 PRO STOCK RESULTS (20 LAPS) - 1) Adam Haas, 2) Ricky Duzlak, 3) Jim Langenback, 4) Geo. Stalker Jr, 5) Tom Brandt, 6) Frank Twing, 7) Paul LaRochelle, 8) Howard Madsen, 9) Jeff Kelmel, 10) Steve Brownell, 11) Rob Yetman, 12) Robbie Speed, 13) Earl Mellan, 14) Al Blackburn, 15) Dan Burl, 16) Ed Bachand, 17) Danny Sanchez, 18) Mike McDowell
4-21 PURE STOCK "A" RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) Bruce Pecorella, 2) George Miles Jr, 3) Peter Wiegand, 4) Brian Sandstadt, 5) Wally Engel, 6) Jim Hankey, 7) Bob Palmer, 8) Jay Martin, 9) Chrissy Hilt, 10) Mike Garcia, 11) Don Coon, 12) Bruce Moffit, 13) Jeff Douglass, 14) Earl Soulier Jr, 15) Steve Hatch, 16) Fran Marchand Jr, 17) Art Lafferty
4-28 PEPSI COLA / SHELDON OIL SERVICES MODIFIED RESULTS (30 LAPS) - 1) Kenny Tremont Jr, 2) J.R. Heffner, 3) Rich Ricci Jr, 4) Jason Goff, 5) Dickie Larkin, 6) John Hewitt, 7) Donnie Corellis, 8) Rob Pitcher, 9) Tim Dwyer, 10) Ronnie Johnson, 11) Mike King, 12) Guy Sheldon, 13) Hector Stratton, 14) Denny Soltis, 15) Jeremy Matthies, 16) Dave Leckonby, 17) Dave Mosher, 18) Skippy Fox, 19) John Tucker, 20) Dave Baranowski, 21) Hollis Morrisey, 22) Mike Ricci, 23) Wes Powell, 24) John Lutes Jr, 25) Matt Quinn, 26) Denny Young Jr, 27) Maynard Forrette, 28) Wayne Figler, 29) Alex Thomson, 30) David Sanchez, 31) Eddie Marshall
4-28 SPORTSMAN RESULTS (20 LAPS) - 1) Bobby Knipe, 2) Art Collins, 3) Sparky Lowe, 4) Paul Gilardi, 5) Hawley Smith, 6) Wayne Jelley, 7) Jeff Carr, 8) Jay Casey, 9) Roy Bridge, 10) Lorne Browe, 11) Stan Jablonka, 12) John Scarborough, 13) Carmon Carnibucci, 14) Walt McKay, 15) Don Miller, 16) John Hotchkiss, 17) Ted Teal, 18) Ed Harkin, 19) Joe Bennett, 20) Ernie Palmer Jr, 21) Darral Hulbert, 22) Jason Tompkins, 23) Mark Flach Jr, 24) Jeff Cassidy, 25) Tony Fiearro, 26) K.C. Goewey, 27) Frank Harper, 28) Mike Mason, 29) Charlie Humes
4-28 PRO STOCK RESULTS (20 LAPS) - 1) Ed Bachand, 2) Paul LaRochelle, 3) Danny Sanchez, 4) Rob Yetman, 5) Jim Langenback, 6) Dan Burl, 7) Robbie Speed, 8) Adam Haas, 9) Tom Brandt, 10) Geo. Stalker Jr, 11) Frank Twing, 12) Jeff Kelmel, 13) Mike McDowell, 14) Earl Mellan, 15) Howard Madsen, 16) Ricky Duzlak, 17) Al Blackburn, 18) Don Ely, 19) Steve Brownell
4-28 ROOKIE PRO STOCK RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) Buddy Hencke, 2) Jason Dibello, 3) Dan Blackburn, 4) Dave Colwell, 5) Brian Keough, 6) Charlie Woodard, 7) Lawrence Ball, 8) E. J. LeGeyt, 9) John Santolin, 10) Joe Mabb Jr, 11) Phil Moffit
4-28 PURE STOCK "A" RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) George Miles Jr, 2) Chrissy Hilt, 3) Gene Cushman, 4) Mike Garcia, 5) Ray Hall Jr, 6) Earl Soulier Jr, 7) Ron Tritschler, 8) Jim Dellea, 9) Bob Burl, 10) Ron Hapeman, 11) Marcus Tifft, 12) Jim O'Neil, 13) Robert Brown, 14) Jim Fachini, 15) Wayne Hall, 16) Guy Hughes, 17) Doug Moore, 18) John Denue, 19) Bruce Pecorella
4-28 PURE STOCK "B" RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) Brian Sandstadt, 2) Phil Decker Jr, 3) Joshua Brandt, 4) Chris Streeter, 5) Randy Myers, 6) Bob Palmer, 7) Ryan Coon, 8) Lloyd Tomlin III, 9) Ramon Perry, 10) Kyle Carr, 11) Jay Martin, 12) Jonathan Coon, 13) Peter Wiegand, 14) DT Pickard, 15) Dwayne Dauski, 16) Fran Marchand Jr, 17) Jeff Douglass, 18) Mark Forrest
4-28 PURE STOCK "C" RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) Wally Engel, 2) Joe DiStefano, 3) Rich Douglass, 4) Jim Hankey, 5) Mark Houston, 6) Dave Atwater, 7) Kevin Dolan, 8) Don Coon, 9) Bruce Moffit, 10) Robert Gibson, 11) Ed Ashley, 12) David Stickles, 13) Ronald Johnson, 14) Steve Hatch, 15) Anthony Lopresti, 16) Bill Hughes, 17) Chip Martin, 18) Peter Robinson