DECKER WINS FOURTH CARQUEST NATIONAL 200
DANNY JOHNSON WINS CASTLE SPRING’S WATER RACE OF KINGS
SEPTEMBER 10, 2000
WEST LEBANON, NY-"The Financial Flyer", Billy Decker was victorious for a record fourth time in the CARQUEST National 200 at Lebanon Valley Sunday afternoon. Danny Johnson dominated the 100-lap Race of Kings for 358-modifieds. Jim Spano capped off the very long and exciting day of racing with a victory in the 30-lap UFPO Sportsman Trail race. A special thanks to CARQUEST Auto Parts and CASTLE SPRINGS WATER for sponsoring this great weekend on the high banks.
Tim Fuller drew the pole position for the CARQUEST National 200. He along with Kenny Tremont brought the field down for the start of the race. Fuller drifted high in turn one and Tremont was able to take command of the race. Pat Ward was driving one of Decker’s back up cars and pulled in after two laps. Some dicey racing early on as Decker, Tim McCreadie and Danny Johnson went three wide for fifth, with Decker taking the advantage. Tremont was setting a quick pace on the front and began to catch the back of the field by lap 12. Alan Johnson tried to get around Fuller for third on lap 14 but was not successful. The first of nine cautions came out on lap 18 when Vic Coffey got turned around in turn two. Rich Ricci was able to get around Tremont and take over the lead on the restart.
Tim McCreadie was making tracks with his new mount and took fourth on lap 24. Decker shot himself out of a cannon and went from fifth to third on lap 28. Jack Johnson, Ronnie Johnson and Brett Hearn all came into the pits on lap 30 during the second caution of the race. Tremont was able to get around Decker on the restart, but Decker took it back the next lap. McCreadie made the pass for the lead around Ricci on lap 36. Jack Johnson dropped out on lap 37 with right rear suspension failure. Ricci had to hold off a challenge from Decker on lap 44. The leaders began to encounter lapped traffic again on lap 47. The top five at halfway was McCreadie, Ricci, Decker, Alan Johnson and Tremont. Danny Johnson made the pass around Tremont for fifth on lap 54.
Alan Johnson rocketed from fourth to second on lap 55. The lapped traffic really started to get heavy by lap 57, which allowed A.J. to close in on McCreadie. Decker applied the heat to Ricci on lap 63 and made the pass for third on lap 65. The caution flag came out on lap 67, which set the stage for the mandatory pit stop. Almost all the cars came down the pits and Decker came out of the pits with the lead with Hearn in second. Danny Johnson passed Tremont for fourth on lap 73. Alan Johnson made the pass on Hearn for second on lap 78. Chris Moore got spun around in turn two and brought out the caution flag on lap 80. Things got real strange under the caution flag. Hearn drove down on the apron of the frontstretch so the crew could see what was wrong with the car. He proceeded to pull back into it he pack without warning sending cars scattering to avoid him. Tremont tried to get out of Hearn’s path and Fuller bounced up over Tremont’s right rear tire. All the cars were able to continue but Tremont and Fuller would never be in contention.
Jeff Trombley had a good pitstop and was running sixth when he retired from the event with mechanical failure. Decker was able to open up a half-straightaway lead just before the halfway point of the event. The top ten at the halfway point was Decker, Alan Johnson, Danny Johnson, McCreadie, Hearn, Ricci, Tremont, Fuller, Paine and Andy Bacchetti. Meanwhile back in the pack there was a great four-car dogfight for tenth. There were sixteen cars on the lead lap on lap 115. J.R. Heffner dropped from the feature on lap 116. Decker was having a heck of a time battling the lapped traffic on lap 119. That allowed Alan to close in just a little. Decker was making short work of the field and only twelve cars were on the lead lap by lap 126.
The top three had checked out from the rest of the pack but there was a good race for fourth between Danny, Hearn and Ricci. The caution came out again on lap 133 when Bobby Albert slowed on the frontstretch. As the race reached the three-quarter mark four cars were racing hard for the fourth position. The top three had opened up a full straightaway over fourth by lap 146. Alan was able to close in on Decker and tried to get under him on several occasions. Only eleven cars were on the lead lap on lap 165. Tremont would go a lap down on lap 168. Hearn’s recent misfortunes continued to plague him as he broke on lap 175. Ricci was able to get up to fourth on lap 177. Thirty-four cars started the CARQUEST National 200 and there were still 20 cars remaining on lap 182. Trouble for Danny Johnson on lap 185 as he slowed up on the track and faded fast. Tim Fuller would exit the event on lap 186. Steve Paine ran a strong race all day long, but his would suffer a right rear flat tire on lap 191, bringing out the next to last caution of the race. Paine was able to pit and remain on the lead lap.
The final caution of the race came out on lap 197 when Andy Bacchetti ran out of fuel. This allowed all the lead lap cars to move to the front of the pack for a three-lap dash to the finish. Decker would not be touched on the lead and he cruised home for his fourth win of the season. Alan Johnson was second, Tim McCreadie third, Ricci fourth, Paine fifth, Jimmy Horton sixth, Danny Johnson seventh, Tremont eighth, Eddie Marshall ninth and Ronnie Johnson rounded out the top ten. Eighteen cars finished the event, which ran in roughly an hour and fifty minutes.
The Castle Spring’s Water Race of Kings for the 358-modifieds could finally be completed on Sunday about fourteen hours after it was scheduled to be run. Rain on Saturday along with two bouts with fog forced the speedway to postpone the race Saturday night. Brett Hearn and John Leiby brought the thirty-nine-car field down for the start of the 100-lap feature. Troubles on lap two for fourth place starter, Steve Dodd on lap two as he broke in turn three. Sparky Lowe and J.R. Heffner both came to a standstill to avoid Dodd’s car. This would be the first of nine cautions that would slow the event for a total of forty-three laps. Frankie Caprara, Rich Ricci Jr. and Vic Coffey were all victims of a backstretch melee on lap eight. Caprara would be done and Ricci would lose a lap in the pits.
Todd Wilkinson went a little early on the restart and was set back to third during a lap 15 caution. Brett Hearn resumed command of the race on the restart. Two drivers that were on the charge were Valley regulars, Ronnie Johnson and Kenny Tremont. Johnson had moved up from his 14th starting spot to run sixth by lap 22. Tremont started the race back in the 31st position and had worked his way all the way up to ninth by lap 23. Pete Bicknell, Todd Burley and Tremont waged a three wide battle on lap 25. Tremont fared the best in that deal and now sat sixth by lap 26. Danny Johnson had been on the back bumper of Hearn since the early portion of the race. The leaders encountered heavy lapped traffic on lap 32, which gave Johnson the opportunity he was looking for. Johnson made the pass around Hearn on lap 35 and took command of the event. Hector Stratton got turned around in turn four on lap 37 and would bring out the caution flag. This was the last time that the field would double up for the restart. Tremont moved up from fourth to second on the restart and set his sights on Johnson. Chris Moore retired from the event on lap 41.
The top five at the halfway point were Johnson, Tremont, Hearn, Todd Wilkinson and Tim Hindley. The caution came out on lap 50 as Vic Coffey spun out in turn four. Alex Hoag went up in smoke and brought out the caution flag on lap 56. Ronnie Johnson and Hindley put on a heck of a show for the fifth spot as the race approached the three-quarter mark. The leaders would run into lapped traffic on lap 74, but Tremont could not use it to his advantage. Steve Paine started the feature almost dead last, but was able to get all the way up to run eighth by lap 78. Paine and Todd Burley went door to door for several laps contesting the eight spot. That ended when Burley hit the turn four wall on lap 79. As the race reached the final stages there were still twenty-six cars running in the event. Andy Bacchetti had a rather quiet top ten run going as the race neared completion. That all changed on a lap 94 restart as he went from sixth to fourth in the final laps.
Danny Johnson was very strong at the front and was able to record the victory. It was his eleventh victory in seventeen events on the 358-modified trail. Tremont had a strong runner-up finish with Hearn third, Bacchetti fourth and Wilkinson rounded out the top five. Tremont, Bacchetti and Wilkinson all received guaranteed starting spots in the 358-modified race at Super Dirt Week by virtue of their finishes. The 358-modified series for the Valley regulars also ended with this race and Kenny Tremont Jr was crowned the champion of that series.
Jim Spano took the lead at the start of the 30-lap UFPO Sportsman Trail feature; he was followed by Sparky Lowe and Bobby Hackel. David Van Horn made the pass around Hackel for third on lap three. A left front flat tire with 8 laps to go would slow the young Van Horn. He would hold on for a fine fourth place finish. Only three caution flags slowed the event and they all came in the first half of the race. Chad Brachmann had a bad day at the Valley as he hit the turn two wall on lap seven. He needed the services of the wrecker but did return on lap 19. Some fancy driving by Bob Hackel and Stan Jablonka as they came together coming off turn two, both drivers were able to continue on.
Spano was out in front and running away rapidly by lap 16. Chris Schultz and Jablonka had a good race in the final stages for the fifth position. Jablonka even tagged the turn four wall at one point but it did not slow him down as he made the pass on lap 24. Spano was the class of the field as the sun began to set in the Valley on this very long day of racing. Lowe had a strong run in second with Gray third, Van Horn fourth and Jablonka fifth.
Next Saturday night will be the final night of racing at Lebanon Valley. DICKS AUTOMOTIVE AND SPEEDS GARAGE will bring us sportsman, street stocks and pure stocks plus several cannonball runs.
9-10 CARQUEST NATIONAL 200 SUMMARY (200 LAPS) - 1) BILLY DECKER, 2) Alan Johnson, 3) Tim McCreadie, 4) Rich Ricci Jr, 5) Steve Paine, 6) Jimmy Horton, 7) Danny Johnson, 8) Kenny Tremont, 9) Eddie Marshall, 10) Ronnie Johnson, 11) Bobby Varin, 12) Chuck Bower, 13) Doug Hoffman, 14) Chris Kokosa, 15) Mitch Gibbs, 16) Chris Moore, 17) Guy Sheldon, 18) Andy Bachetti, 19) Russ Reckner, 20) Tim Fuller, 21) Brett Hearn, 22) Jason Goff, 23) Bobby Albert, 24) J.R. Heffner, 25) Rob Pitcher, 26) Vic Coffey, 27) Donnie Corellis, 28) John Hewitt, 29) Maynard Forette, 30) Ron Blake, 31) Jack Johnson, 32) Jeff Trombley, 33) Dave Mosher, 34) Pat Ward
CASTLE SPRING'S WATER RACE OF KINGS (100 LAPS) - 1) DANNY JOHNSON, 2) Kenny Tremont, 3) Brett Hearn, 4) Andy Bachetti, 5) Todd Wilkinson, 6) Ronnie Johnson, 7) Tim Hindley, 8) Steve Paine, 9) Vic Coffey, 10) Tony Paes, 11) Vince Quenville, 12) David Towns, 13) Guy Sheldon, 14) Dave Leckonby, 15) Rich Ricci Jr, 16) Maynard Forrette, 17) Ed Heanault, 18) John Leiby, 19) Ray Hoard, 20) Jeremy Matthies, 21) Sparky Lowe, 22) Lance Harting, 23) J.R. Heffner, 24) Kyle Jacobs, 25) Ryan Baye, 26) Bobby Chalmers, 27) Todd Burley, 28) Alex Hoag, 29) K.C. Goewey, 30) Hector Stratton, 31) Chris Moore, 32) John Alberti, 33) Pete Bicknell, 34) Ron Cartwright Sr, 35) Jerry Higbie, 36) Danny Watson, 37) Frankie Caprara, 38) Jason Barney, 39) Steve Dodd
U.F.P.O. DIRT SPORTSMAN SUMMARY (30 LAPS) - 1) JIM SPANO, 2) Sparky Lowe, 3) Steve Gray, 4) David Van Horn, 5) Stan Jablonka, 6) Chris Shultz, 7) Stewart Freisen, 8) Bobby Hackel, 9) Mark Hufcut, 10) Justin Haers, 11) Matt Shepard, 12) Scott Flammer, 13) Mike Ballestero, 14) Bill Haley, 15) Drew Fallis, 16) Rich Swarthout, 17) Alan Sturhann, 18) Randy Chrysler, 19) Jesse Marks, 20) Joe Sarvis, 21) Kevin Duryea, 22) Craig Mitchell, 23) Joe Infante, 24) John Plumb, 25) Hawley Smith, 26) Ed San Sousie, 27) Chad Brachman, 28) Jason Tompkins, 29) Scott Ferrier