TREMONT SURPRISE WINNER AT VALLEY (NOT!),

SMITH WINS SPORTSMAN

MAY 22, 1999

WEST LEBANON, N.Y.- Kenny Tremont continues to dominant the modified division at Lebanon Valley. Tremont picked up his fifth consecutive victory on Saturday night. Hawley Smith broke Marcus's stranglehold in the sportsman division as he won the 20-lap sportsman feature. Henry Tanner won the Street Stock main and Rich Colesanti won the 15-lap IMCA modified feature.

Russ Reckner had a good performance in the 30-lap modified feature on Saturday night. Reckner took the lead at the start of the race and he did not give the lead up until the halfway point of the 30-lap race. Reckner would eventually finish in seventh position. Kenny Tremont started 18th on the grid and began his journey towards the front early. Tremont had worked his way up to ninth by lap six. Dickie Larkin had trouble on lap nine when his left front tire went flat and he had to go pits for a tire change. Guy Sheldon dropped out with mechanical woes during that caution. Tremont and Donnie Corellis both used the lap nine restart to their advantage as Tremont took sixth while Corellis vaulted up to seventh.

Tremont made the pass for the lead in turn one on lap 15 and pulled away from the pack. Corellis was not intent to watch Tremont get away as he took second by lap 20, but Tremont was able to open a full straightaway lead by lap 21. John Hewitt was looking at another strong performance taking fifth by lap 23. Hewitt would wind up finishing fourth in the race. Dave Leckonby had a strong top five performance as well, taking fifth late in the race. Corellis got a last chance to get Tremont when J.R. Heffner spun on lap 27, bringing out the final caution of the race. Tremont was strong to the challenge that Corellis had to offer and Tremont took his fifth win of the 1999 season. Donnie Corellis came home second Rob Pitcher third, Hewitt fourth and Leckonby rounded out the top five. Mike Ricci was sixth and Reckner seventh. Chris Kokosa had his career best finish in the modified division in eighth. Rich Ricci was ninth and Ronnie Johnson rounded out the top ten

This was Tremont's 71st career victory at Lebanon Valley Speedway. He is 13 wins away from become the winningest driver in Lebanon Valley Speedway

Ernie Palmer Jr took the lead at the start on the 20-lap sportsman division. Bobby Knipe took the lead away from Palmer on a lap three restart. K.C Goewey ran strong throughout the race, he moved up to fifth by lap eight and would eventually work his way up to third. However, Goewey was disqualified during a post race inspection and Sparky Lowe was credited with third. Hawley Smith took his shot at victory by moving up to second on lap two and then taking the lead on lap ten.

Stan Jablonka passed Knipe for second and challenged Smith several times in the final laps of the race. Jablonka kept trying to get around Smith on the bottom on the track. Smith kept his momentum up on the outside of the track. George Marcus struggled during the race and crossed the finish line in seventh position. Hawley Smith held off every challenge of Jablonka's and crossed the finish line first. Sparky Lowe finished third, with Art Collins fourth and Knipe fifth.

Rich Colesanti led from green to checker in the 15-lap IMCA modified feature. George Catanzano had a strong top five performance going until mechanical difficulties ended his night on lap 12. Anthony Markou ran a strong race working his way up to second. Markou tried several times to get around Colesanti, to no avail. He would have to settle for second. Paul LaRochelle came home third, Craig Simmons fourth and Bill Lander was fifth.

Attrition played a big factor in the 20-lap Street Stock feature, as only ten cars finished the event. Several of the top runners were eliminated from victory due to flat tires. Dave Kokindo led the first quarter of the street stock main. The field was slowed by caution of lap four, which allowed Bobby Blackburn to grab the lead on the restart. While Blackburn was up front the field went two-wide behind him. Scott Goversten and Henry Tanner put themselves into contention early. They sat second and third respectively by lap six. Robbie Speed had a left rear tire go flat on lap six, bringing out the second caution of the event. Butch Irwin was sitting second on the restart, but he had a right rear flat tire. The field got shuffled, as Irwin was not able get up to speed.

Henry Tanner grabbed the top spot on lap seven and remained there for the rest of the race. The most serious incident of the race happened on lap eight, as Danny Sanchez dumped fluid going into turn three. Five cars would pile up in the corner as a result, but all the drivers were okay. Goversten and Jim Lagenback looked to relive their great race from a week ago as they battled for second at the halfway point. Bobby Blackburn and Dave Kokindo collided in turn four on lap ten and Blackburn was done for the evening.

Speed had worked his way back up to fifth after pitting for that flat tire early in the race. By lap 12 the top five had pulled away from the rest of the field. Goversten lost his top five run when his left front tire came flying off on lap 13. T.R. Bortle went pitside with a flat tire while the field was under yellow.

Tanner easily held off Lagenback for his first win of 1999. Point leader, Lagenback had another strong finish in second with Bob Duzlak third, Speed fourth and Frank Twing rounded out the top five.

MADSEN OVERHEAD DOORS/BILINSKI/BOOMERS PERFORMANCE MODIFIED SUMMARY (30 Laps)--Kenny Tremont Jr, Donnie Corellis, Rob Pitcher, John Hewitt, Dave Leckonby, Mike Ricci, Russ Reckner, Chris Kokosa, Rich Ricci Jr, Ronnie Johnson, Jason Goff, Jody Tornabene, Mike King, Tim Dwyer, Todd Wilkinson, Eddie Marshall, Ron Blake, Mike Benson, J.R. Heffner, Chris Moore, Stan Jablonka, Chip Mitchell, Maynard Forrette, Dave Mosher, Guy Sheldon, Steve Devine, Dickie Larkin, Al McCoy

SPORTSMAN SUMMARY (20 Laps)--Hawley Smith, Stan Jablonka, Sparky Lowe, Art Collins, Bobby Knipe, George Marcus, Wayne Jelley, Dave Sanchez, Mike Mason, Lee Gagliardi, Ernie Palmer, Lorne Browe, Jay Casey, Roy Bridge, Mike Boomhower, Jason Tompkins, Mike Visconti, Carmon Carnibucci, Ed Riiska, Frank Harper, Tom Overbaugh, Chris Kokosa, Don Miller

IMCA MODIFIED SUMMARY (15 Laps)--Rich Colesanti, Anthony Markou, Paul LaRochelle, Craig Simmons, Brian Wilbur, Jeff Carr, Jim Rajczi, Steve Hough, Tom Faxon, Chris Crews, Don Denue, Kevin Buff, George Catanzano, Bill Lander, Bud Hernburg

STREET STOCK SUMMARY (20 Laps)--Henry Tanner, Jim Langenback, Bob Duzlak, Robbie Speed, Frank Twing, Tom Brandt, Kirk Stanaway, Bob Miller, Chris Morris, Tom Bortle, Scott Govertsen, Butch Irwin, Steve Brownell, Bobby Blackburn, Dave Kokindo, Danny Sanchez, Ray Hall, Nick Rogers, Tony Zullo

ROOKIE STREET STOCK SUMMARY (8 Laps)--Mike Halachick, Dan Burl, Mike Bungay, Brian Keough, Rob Reilly, Henry Warner, Don Collins, Steve Kastner, Eric Wood, Wayne Hall, John Denue

PURE STOCK "A" SUMMARY (8 Laps)--Joe Hallenbeck, Tony Gale, Jonathan Coon, Charlie Woodard, Mark Houston, Tony Lopresti, Spencer Cushing, Art Lafferty, Joe Mottoshiski, Brian Sandstedt, Phil Wood, Lee Gallant, John Foglia, Darryl Baker, David Hall Jr, William Hammell

PURE STOCK "B" SUMMARY (8 Laps)--Dave Colwell, Wally Engel, Bill Hughes, Jim Hankey, Ray Pierre Jr, Tom Meltz Jr, Carl Bailargeon, Ramon Perry, Danny Ensign, Jason Saunders, Jon Trudeau, Rich. Schumann, Joe DiStefano, Dan Gambacorta, Mike Garcia, Geo. Stalker Jr

PURE STOCK "C" SUMMARY (8 Laps)--Tom Sanchez Jr, Rich Kratt, Tim Drumm, Steve Hatch, Peter De Figlio, Scott Kilmer, Guy Hughes, Anthony Cotugno, Bob Palmer, Bruce Moffitt, Ron Tritchler, George Miles Jr, Jacob Coons, Tom Currier, Kevin Denue