TREMONT WINS 14TH FEATURE AND ELEVENTH CHAMPIONSHIP

September 4, 1999

WEST LEBANON, NY- Kenny Tremont posted his 14th victory of the season Saturday night at Lebanon Valley. George Marcus took top honors in the sportsman class and Scott Govertsen won the street stock feature. Brian Wilber was the winner of 15-lap IMCA Modified feature as Lebanon Valley closed out their regular season program. Pepsi-Cola was the sponsor for the final night of points.

To say that the modified feature had a tough go would be an understatement. Several caution flags early in the program resulted in many laps under the caution flag. Steve Devine was the early race leader until he broke on lap five taking Jody Tornabene out with him. The ensuing scramble around the broken mount of Devine saw Dickie Larkin inherit the lead followed by Tim Dwyer and J.R. Heffner. Going into the race Dwyer was second just three points ahead of Heffner in the point championship. With first place a foregone conclusion all eyes were on Dwyer and Heffner.

Tremont was hungry for his 80th career victory at the Valley, he moved into third on lap five. After the field settled down the race went mostly single file until halfway. Larkin's bad luck reared up again when he broke on lap 17, giving the lead to Dwyer with Tremont pursuing. Rich Ricci Jr experienced motor problems throughout all the preliminary action, which forced him to start deep in the field. Ricci was on the charge; he was eighth by lap 20. The caution flew on lap 21 when John Hewitt had a right rear tire go flat. The caution flag came out again on lap 21 when Donnie Corellis and Mike Ricci collided on the backstretch.

Tremont dove under Dwyer to take the lead on lap 21 while Rich Ricci grabbed fifth. The top five would not change for the remainder of the race. Dwyer finished the race second and also took second in the overall point standings. Third place finisher, Heffner also finished third in the overall standings. Ronnie Johnson finished the 30-lap feature fourth and Rich Ricci rounded out the top five.

For the second week in a row the sportsman drivers showed the modifieds how to run a feature race. The sportsman feature went green to checker without a lot of bumping and banging. Bobby Knipe was the early race leader in this 20-lap affair. At the start of the race, George Marcus was almost thirty points behind Art Collins in the title hunt. Marcus did all he could for his title hopes taking the lead from Knipe on lap six. Marcus checked out on the rest of the pack and would eventually open a full straightaway over second.

Art Collins did everything he had to do to win his second straight point title by finishing fifth. Sandwiched between Marcus and Collins were Knipe in second, K.C. Goewey in third and Eddie Riiska fourth.

Scott Govertsen took command of the 20-lap Street Stock feature and never looked back. Only two caution flags slowed the race, neither of which was very serious. Govertsen almost lost the lead when he ran into lapped traffic on lap seven, but he was able to hold off the second place car of Bob Duzlak. The top three cars began to pull away from the rest of the field by lap 14, but a caution on lap 15 allowed the pack to catch back up. Bobby Duzlak came home second with Butch Irwin third, Robbie Speed fourth and Tom Brandt fifth. Perhaps the most serious incident of the race came on lap 17 when Jim Langenback's hood flew off his car and landed on the frontstretch grass. Langenback would hold on to finish the race sixth but it did not matter as he had already locked up the 1999-point championship before the race started.

Brian Wilber took the lead from Phil Balmer on lap three of the 15-lap IMCA modified feature. Wilber never faced any serious challenges and took home his first win of the 1999 season. Jim Rajczi was the point leader going into the race, but fell victim to several early race incidents. Rajczi eventually recovered to finish sixth, but it gave the championship to Wilber. " I want to dedicate this race and the championship to my dad who passed away over the winter," Wilber said from victory lane. Wilber was followed across the line by Balmer, Paul LaRochelle, Donnie Denue and Craig Simmons.

Lebanon Valley Speedway will host two full days of racing action with the CARQUEST KINGS 200 WEEKEND. Call the speedway today for race information and lodging information.

PEPSI-COLA MODIFIED SUMMARY (30 Laps)-Kenny Tremont Jr, Tim Dwyer, J.R. Heffner, Ronnie Johnson, Rich Ricci Jr, Guy Sheldon, Donnie Corellis, Jeff Heotzler, Maynard Forrette, Mike King, Jason Goff, Jack Johnson, John Hewitt, Brian Berger, Russ Reckner, Hollis Morrisey, Mike Ricci, Dave Leckonby, Chris Kokosa, Dickie Larkin, Don Ackner, Al Narzynski, Denny Soltis, Jody Tornabene, Mike Benson, D. McFeeters, Steve Devine, Ron Blake, Matt Quinn

SPORTSMAN SUMMARY (20 Laps)-George Marcus, Bobby Knipe, K.C. Goewey, Ed Riiska, Art Collins, Sparky Lowe, Jay Casey, Lorne Browe, Hawley Smith, Dave Sanchez, Wayne Jelley, John Hotchkiss, Stan Jablonka, John Alberti, Chris Kokosa, Frank Harper, Roy Bridge, Mike Visconti, Mike Boomhower, Mike Mason, Lee Gagliardi, Ernie Palmer, Joe Bennett, Larry Southard

IMCA MODIFIED SUMMARY (15 Laps)-Brian Wilber, Phil Balmer, Paul LaRochelle, Don Denue, Craig Simmons, Jim Rajczi, Rich Colesanti, Tom Faxon, Anthony Markou, Lou Gancarz, Steve Hough, Jeff Carr, Bill Lander, John Murray, Joe Fachini, Steve Galgano

STREET STOCK SUMMARY (20 Laps)-Scott Govertsen, Bob Duzlak, Butch Irwin, Robbie Speed, Tom Brandt, Jim Langenback, Frank Twing, Dave Kokindo, Bobby Blackburn, Chris Morris, Phil Sherman, Bob Miller, Jay Resch, Al Blackburn, Kirk Stanaway, Tom Bortle, Mike Halachick, John Drake, Ricky Duzlak, Adam Holtby, Joe Duncan, Ted Teal

ROOKIE STREET STOCK SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Don Ely, Earl Mellan, Dan Burl, Brian Keough, John Denue, Phil Moffitt, Alan O'Conner, Ken Hollenback, Jim Keough, Charlie Woodard, Chris Claus, E.J. LeGeyt, Don Shepard, Justin Haas, Henry Warner, Don Collins

PURE STOCK "A" SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Rich Kratt, Tim Drumm, Wally Engel, Darryl Baker, Chris White, Phil Handlowich, Tom Meltz Jr, Tom Currier, Scott Moran, Scott Kilmer, Steve Hatch, Jim Dellea Jr, Ryan Crellin

PURE STOCK "B" SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Tony Gale, Ramon Perry, Bob Palmer, Bill Hughes Rich. Schumann, Jonathan Coon, Brian Tator, Fran Marchand, Art Lafferty, Joe DiStefano, Dave Gambacorta, Toby VanAlstyne, Sid Smith

PURE STOCK "C" SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Dave Colwell, George Miles Jr, Mark Houston, Spencer Cushing, Joe Mottoshiski, Chrissy Hilt, Rich Douglass, George Alicia, Ken Scofield, Phil Wood, Kevin Denue, Dave Bayless Jr, John Fachini, Jim Hankey

PURE STOCK "D" SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Peter De Figlio, Guy Hughes, Tom Sanchez Jr, Pete Leffler, Anthony Cotugno, Jacob Coons, Brian Sandstedt, Lee Gallant, Ron Tritchler, Dave Tanqulay, Bill Corey, Jason Saunders, Pete Wiegand