RICH RICCI JR. SNAPS UP FIRST WIN OF '97 AT LEBANON VALLEY
W. LEBANON, NY...7/5/97..Rich Ricci, Jr. took home the win in the 30-lap Modified feature Saturday night at the Lebanon Valley Speedway. Snap-on Tools and Worhles sponsored the great night of racing. George Marcus picked up his sixth win of the season in the 20-lap Sportsman event.
The first of only two yellow flags came out on the first circuit of the Modified feature. One of the cars involved was the 91 of Billy Decker. When the green came out, Jody Tornabene was the leader. He would lose the lead on lap one to Rob Pitcher. Rich Ricci was on the move early, taking fourth by lap two. Kenny Tremont and Brett Hearn both started deep in the field because they did not qualify in the heats. By lap three, Tremont was up to tenth and Hearn fourteenth. Ricci would grab fourth from Bobby Albert and the next lap would take second. Rob Pitcher had a half track lead on Ricci by lap seven, but Ricci began to run him down.
Hearn has worked his way toseventh by lap eight. Eddie Marshall would see a top ten run disappear, as mechanical woes forced him out on lap nine. Last week's winner, Donnie Ackner and Hearn would race for fifth on lap ten. Pitcher would hit lap traffic by lap eleven. The traffic allowed Ricci to close up by lap thirteen. At halfway, Pitcher was first, Ricci second, Albert third, Russ Blair fourth, and Hearn fifth. A great battle for the lead in lap traffic. Ricci grabbed the top spot away from Pitcher, but Pitcher was able to take it right back. Ricci would take the lead for good on lap 21. The second yellow of the night came out for the 12 of Russ Blair. Hearn would grab third on lap 25. Billy Decker moved up to ninth, after going to the rear at the start.
Jack Cottrell made his first appearance of 1997 and had a good run in eighth. Hearn was able to grab second from Pitcher on the final lap, but Ricci was too far ahead. Ricci easily picked up his first win of the season at the Valley. Hearn was second, followed by Rob Pitcher, Bobby Albert, and Donnie Ackner.
The yellow flag flew on the first lap of the Sportsman feature, with cars in every corner. When the green came back out, Ron Blake was the leader. Bobby Hackel was third by lap three, with Marcus up to fifth, and on lap three Jeff Cassidy took the lead after two yellows. Marcus was now second and Blake third. Kokosa would grab third on lap four. Lap seven would see the front of the field as they crossed the stripe for halfway. The top two would run side by side for two laps, allowing Kokosa to catch them by lap twelve. Marcus would take the top spot in that same lap. The yellow flew on lap fourteen as Cassidy lost his right front tire. Kokosa tried to pass Marcus on the restart, but could not pass. Marcus would open up his advantage until a yellow on lap seventeen. The leaders made contact on the restart dropping Kokosa back and Art Collins to the rear. Kokosa was able to get second place back by the end, as Marcus won his sixth feature of the season. Ed Riiska was third, Hackel fourth and Hawley Smith fifth.
Lee Ganzer was the early race leader in the 20-lap Street Stock feature. He would lose the lead on lap three to Aaron Booth. A yellow on lap six took ou the third through fifth place car. Lorne Browe was involved in the wreck. Browe who has won five races this season, would not be in contention for the rest of the race. Jim Lagenback took secon on the restart. He would grab the top spot from Booth going into turn two. Booth made contact with Lagenback spinning Jim. Booth was sent to the rear for taking out the leader. Lrry Turner would inherit the top spot. Good racing for second between Todd Goldstein and Adam Haas. The top three carsran none to tail on lap ten. Haas would take second by lap twelve. Turner and Haas would run side by side for the top spot for several laps. Haas would take the lead on lap eighteen and hold on for his second win of the season. Turner was second, Goldstein, Bill Stanley, and Jeff Sylvester rounded out the top five.
The 20-lap IMCA Modified feature started out with Glenn Dymond of Kerkohkson, NY taking the lead from his front row starting position. After he was passed by Bill Landers on the second lap, the first caution flag of the race flew when trhee other cars driven by Rich Colesanti, Brian Wilbur, Jay Casey spun together. When the race resumed, Paul LaRochelle came off the second turn and charged to the front of the pack passing five cars before reaching the third turn and took over the lead position. A caution flag flew on the eleventh lap when a car spun in turn two, but LaRochelle was unable to continue to race when his transmission broke on the restart which also caused a pileup of cars behind him. At that point, Donnie Denue took the lead and was challenged throughout the race by Bob Fachini and was able to hold him off. Denue earned his first feature winof this season followed by Bob Fachini, Craig Simmons, Jeff Carr, and Jim Rajczi.
Modified heat winners: Bobby Albert, Jody Tornabene, Russ Blair
Modified feature: Ricci, Hearn, Pitcher, Albert, Ackner, Sheldon, Tremont, Cottrell, Decker, Hewitt, Moore, Boehler, Waters, King, Grossjung, Devine, McCoy, Reckner, Narzynski, Matthies, Heffner, Blair, Corellis, Larkin, Gibson, Tornabene, Marshall, Kulzer.
Sportsman Feature: Marcus, Kokosa, Riiska, Hackel, Smith, Chalmers, Blake, Young, Mason, Bridge, Powell, Haviland, Boomhower, Gagliardi, Delvecchio, Puckett, Sanchez, Snyder, Collins, Cassidy, Barnowski, Tompkins, LaPorta, Graham, Knox
Street Stock Feature: Haas, Helms, Goldstein, Bishop, Sylvester, Hopkins, Booth, Hall, O'Connor, Brandt, Speed, Fachini, Therrian, Crane, Kelmel, Browe, Langenback, Blackburn, Gancarz, Perlowsky, Fosby, Routhier, Sanchez, Alberti
Pure Stock A: Drumm, Leffler, Flanders
Pure Stock B: Emmons, Hammell, Toffolo
Pure Stock C: Yetman, Amlaw, Dellea