TREMONT WINS HIS FIRST COORS NATIONAL 200

SEPTEMBER 13, 1998

WEST LEBANON NY- West Sand Lake native, Kenny Tremont, took home the win

in the Coors National 200 Sunday at Lebanon Valley. This was Tremont's

first win in the prestigious event. This was Tremont's twelfth win of the

season at Lebanon Valley. Steve Hall won the 30-lap Mr. DIRT Sportsman

Trail feature.

Frank Cozze led the first 27-laps of the 200-lap event. John Hewitt,

Jeff Heotzler and Billy Decker would go three wide for second on lap two.

Hewitt would hold the advantage for a lap, then Heotzler grabbed second on

lap three. The first of eleven caution flags would fly on lap four. Jack

Johnson would suffer mechanical problems early going behind the wall on

lap eight. Johnson would return on lap sixteen but eventually retire from

the event. Tremont was steadily heading to the front; he was tenth by lap

ten. Heotzler would race Cozze for the lead on lap eleven, but Cozze still

held the advantage.

Bob McCreadie started eighth on the grid and was up to fifth by lap

13. Hewitt, Bobby Albert, and Alan Johnson would run three wide for fifth

on lap 20. Hewitt would hold the fifth spot. Cozze would begin to encounter

slower traffic by lap 25. Heotzler was second, Decker third, McCreadie

fourth and Hewitt fifth. Hewitt would pull in the pits on the very next lap

with mechanical difficulties and be done for the day. Heotzler took the

lead from Cozze in lapped traffic on lap 28. Bob McCreadie would drop out

of the event on lap 29. Tremont was up to fifth by lap 30.

Cozze's run would end on lap 35 as he went pitside with mechanical

problems. Many of the top runners would go to the pits under this caution.

Decker, Tremont, Alan Johnson, Ricci, Hearn and Cottrell were some of the

cars that made their mandatory stop.

Heotzler did not pit under this caution and maintained the lead. Jimmy

Horton was second and Albert third. Todd Wilkinson would move up to third

by lap 42. Danny Johnson would sit sixth by lap 43. Tremont was back up to

eleventh after his pitstop by lap 46. Alan Johnson would retire from the

event on lap 47. Heotzler still led at lap 50 with Horton and Wilkinson

right behind.

Eddie Marshall would take third on lap 55. Ronnie Johnson and Chris

Moore would bring out the yellow on lap 57. Both would go to the pits and

not return. Horton and Marshall were two of the cars that went to the pits

under this caution period. That moved Albert up to second and Wilkinson

third. Tim McCreadie would grab second on the restart. Tremont would take

fourth on the same restart and take fourth by lap 63. Maynard Forrette

would challenge Wilkinson for fifth on lap 64 and take the spot. Hearn and

Decker were working their way back through the field. They sat ninth and

tenth, respectively on lap 66.

Wilkinson would grab fifth back from Forrette on lap 67. Heotzler

and Albert would pull away from the pack by lap 72. Wilkinson would take

fourth by lap 75. The leaders would encounter lapped traffic by lap 77.

Heotzler would make contact with one of the lapped cars on lap 78. Tim

McCreadie would pass Heotzler in traffic and take the lead on lap 79.

Heotzler would have a right rear tire go flat on lap 80. McCreadie would

use this opportunity to make his stop on lap 80. This gave the lead over

to Albert with Tremont second and Ricci third.

Hearn would take fourth on lap 83. Ricci would challenge Tremont

for second on lap 89. Tremont would hold the position over Ricci. Hearn

would challenge Ricci for third on lap 92, but Ricci held on. Eddie

Marshall would be finished for the day on lap 93. Forrette used the caution

to make his pit stop. Tim McCreadie would. Horton, Cottrell, and Jason Goff

would bring out the caution on lap 98. At the halfway point Albert was

still the leader with Tremont second, Ricci third, Doug Hoffman fourth and

Decker fifth. Thirty-seven cars started the 200 and there were 23 cars

still running at halfway.

The caution would fly on lap 103 and Albert would use this caution

to make his stop. Tremont would inherit the lead as a result. Hoffman and

Decker would battle for fourth on lap 108, with Hoffman taking fourth. The

two would race again for fourth on lap110, with Hoffman still maintaining

fourth. Decker would take fourth after a lap 112 caution. Decker would

challenge Ricci for third on lap 118, but Ricci held third. Robbie Green

would move up to fifth by lap 120. Danny Johnson would end his run on lap

122 as he went to the pits.

Tremont would begin to encounter lapped traffic by lap 130. The top

four cars would break away from the rest of the field by lap 133. Hearn

would challenge Tremont for first on lap 34. Hearn was tracking Tremont's

every move but Tremont maintained the lead. Heotzler would take over fifth

by lap 146. Tremont and the rest of the front runners would encounter

traffic again on lap 147. Decker would take over third on lap 151. There

was heavy traffic in front on the leaders on lap 156. Hearn would see his

good run end on lap 162 as something broke in the right front and made

heavy contact with the turn four wall. That moved Decker onto the rear deck

lid of Tremont.

Tremont and Decker would pull away from the rest of the pack by lap

180. Cottrell would go to the pits on lap 184. Ricci and Heotzler would

race for third on lap 185 and Ricci still maintained third. Tremont would

hold a three-car advantage over Decker on lap 187. Heotzler would take

third on lap 189. Hearn would return to the track on lap 190. Decker would

try and challenge Tremont for the lead on lap 192. The final caution of the

race would come out on lap 195 as Doug Hoffman shredded a right rear tire.

Tremont would hold off any last lap challenges and take home his

first ever 200-lap victory. Decker held on for second, Heotzler third,

Ricci fourth and Pat Ward fifth. Twenty cars finished the race. Tremont

was very happy with the win. He said that he would trade half of his 12

wins this season for a 200-lap win, but he didn't need do. Tremont finished

21 features out of 22 in the top ten at Lebanon Valley in 1998.

The MR. DIRT Sportsman Trail was also on hand for a 30-lap feature

on Sunday. Mike Ballestero lead the first 12-laps of the event. Steve Hall

would make the pass on lap 12 and never be challenged for the win. Good

racing for the third position on back as Chris Schultz, Bobby Chalmers and

Chad Brachmann swapped spots throughout the race. Ballestero would hold on

for third. Schultz would take home third, Chalmers fourth and Brachmann

fifth. Scott Flammer was running up front for most of the event, but had a

left front flat tire with several laps remaining and finished tenth.

COOR'S NATIONAL 200 SUMMARY--KENNY TREMONT JR, Billy Decker, Jeff Heotzler,

Rich Ricci Jr, Pat Ward, Jimmy Horton, Tim McCreadie, Robbie Green, Todd

Wilkinson, Vic Coffey, Bobby Albert, Doug Hoffman, Maynard Forrette, Jimmy

Chester, Jody Tornabene, Pierre Dagenais, Mel Schrufer, Jack Cottrell, Tim

Fuller, Brett Hearn, Todd Milton, Guy Sheldon, Danny Johnson, J.R. Heffner,

Eddie Marshall, Chris Soltis, Mike King, Chris Moore, Ronnie Johnson, Alan

Johnson, Frank Cozze, Bob McCreadie, Bobby Varin, John Hewitt, Jack Johnson,

Mike Benson

MR. DIRT SPORTSMAN SUMMARY--STEVE HALL, Mike Ballestero, Chris Schultz,

Bobby Chalmers, Chad Brachmann, Vince Vitale, Larry Lampman, Tony Rosa,

Howie Albrecht, Scott Flammer, Neil Luce, Tony Peas, Ryan Baye, Bill Haley,

Rick Hall, Ben Tucker, Jim Spano, Gary Moreash, Frank Hoard Jr, Drew

Fallis, Bob Hackel, Jeff Holt, Chris Kokosa, Randy Chrysler, Jay Haviland,

Rich Swarthout