Keith Flach Scores 2nd Career Win, Mark Flach Jr, and J.R. Heffner Share Coveted Title!

Saturday August 30, 2008

By: Rodney Rescott

West Lebanon, NY - The main event of the night was of course the crowning of the Big Block Modified Champ, but first, they had one last race to decide the outcome. And in true Lebanon Valley fashion, the field was as tight as the points race. With just 6 points separating J.R. Heffner from Mark Flach Jr., plus Kenny Tremont Jr and Andy Bachetti sitting 3rd and 4th just 26 points out.

At the start, a 4th driver of the Hough Motors #34 was Rob Pitcher trying to make it the 4th straight win for team owner Steve Hough, along side the #518 of Kyle Sheldon as the green silks were flying. Pitchers night didn’t go as planned though as the power plant let go on the #34, and Pitcher slowed going down the backstretch.

That handed the lead over to the #518 of Kyle Sheldon with the #43 of Keith Flach hot on his heels. But Sheldon bobbled a bit in turn 3 on lap 3, and that allowed the #43 on by, and he was gone. Well, gone until the next caution on lap 7 for the slowing #39 of Ryan Larkin with a very smoky expired motor. On the restart, Flach was in control again, with Sheldon staying just ahead of the #7 of John Ruchel and a hard charging Andy Bachetti.

Back in the filed the #115 of Tremont was struggling to make his way to the front with the #74 of Heffner in tow trying to shadow his every move. They both cracked the top 10 by lap 10. While up front, Bachetti had his hands full trying to get by Ruchel, as they both made it past the struggling Sheldon.

Flach was still up front with Ruchel and Bachetti dicing it out for 2nd. The caution slowed the field again on lap 14 with a slowing #34H of Steve Hough. At the restart, Flach was back in control, with Bachetti finally getting by Ruchel.

But it really didn’t matter who was in 2nd, as Flach completed the lat 16 laps with all 4 wheels in the groove, taking his 2nd career big block modified win. Flach also cashed in on the special $4,500 paycheck as well. Following Flach was Bachetti, Mark Flach Jr drove his #77F to a 3rd place finish, 4th was Tremont, 5th was Jelley while Heffner finished 6th.

With those finishes, it ensured only the 2nd tie in Lebanon Valley history (the first being Tremont and Dickie Larkin in 1994) as Mark Flach Jr and J.R. Heffner capture the title of 2008 Modified Points Co-Champions! A full point rundown can be found on our website mentioned below.

The Conklin Limestone, Canaan Auto Supply, and C&R Concrete $1,250 to win Sportsman feature was on deck with their 20 lap feature. Out front early in the event was the #44 of Jeff Kelly with the #250 of Alan Houghtaling in tow.

The first caution flew on lap 4 for a spinning #34 of Paul Knox. The filed bunched up with the #44 out front again, but the #250 of Houghtaling took the lead going down the backstretch. But the #250 couldn’t hold back the a 3 wide shot from the #00 of Chris “Speed Racer” Kokosa, as he dove into the top spot from 3rd on lap 6.

Trying to follow Kokosa was the #80 of Kory Sandstedt, but he could complete the pass on Houghtaling, and settled into to 3rd. The field was slowed a few more times for minor incidents, but it wasn’t going to keep Kokosa from taking the big payday of $1,250.

Following Kokosa across the line was Sandstedt, Houghtaling was relegated to 3rd, Ed Harkin was 4th, followed by Chris Tryon.

ESS Super Sprint Car Series invades the Valley of Speed as part of the Kings 200 Weekend Spectacular September 5th and 6th! The ESS Sprints will headline Friday Night’s program along with the Limited Pro Stocks, Pure Stocks, 4 cylinders, along with a special Boomer’s Performance Pure Stock Classic.

Then on Saturday September 6th, the Advanced Auto Parts DirtCar Series makes it was to the Valley of Speed for the first leg of the 4 race “Grand Slam” DirtCar series that are all 200 lap events starting with Lebanon Valley’s Budweiser National 200, then Rolling Wheels Raceway. The last two legs are the October Classics at the Moody Mile in Syracuse, NY and the Eastern States 200 at Orange Country Fair Speedway.

In addition to the Bud National 200, the Benjamin Moore Paints 358 Twin Challenge will take to the high banks along with the Pro Stocks. Tickets are on sale now!

Then, the valley returns on September 13th for the conclusion of the 2008 Points for the remaining classes Sportsman, Pro Stock, Limited Pro Stock, and Pure Stocks.

But the show ain’t over yet, as the Advanced Auto Parts World of Outlaws return on September 21st to complete their event along with the Pro Stocks and Benjamin Moore Paints 358’s.

For more information, please visit our website at www.LebanonValley.com, or call the Speedway Offices to get your tickets at (518) 794-9606 or (518) 794-9965 during normal business hours.

Saturday August 30, 2008 -

Modified Results (30 Laps) - 1) Keith Flach, 2) Andy Bachetti, 3) Mark Flach Jr, 4) Kenny Tremont Jr, 5) Wayne Jelley, 6) J. R. Heffner, 7) Eddie Marshall, 8) John Ruchel, 9) Matt Quinn, 10) Lorne Browe, 11) Brian Berger, 12) Kyle Sheldon, 13) Mike King, 14) Donnie Ackner, 15) Rich Salisbury, 16) Steve Hough, 17) J. C. Flach, 18) Jeff Sukup, 19) Hector Stratton, 20) Paul Gilardi, 21) Ryan Larkin,22) Rob Pitcher, 23) Guy Sheldon

Sportsman Results (20 Laps) - 1) Chris Kokosa, 2) Kory Sandstedt, 3) Alan Houghtaling, 4) Ed Harkin, 5) Chris Tryon, 6) Jeff Watson 7) Alex Bell, 8) Danny Sanchez, 9) Kyle Hoffman, 10) Kevin Petrucci, 11) Kyle Armstrong, 12) Brian Sandstedt, 13) Chris Lynch, 14) Jeff Kelly, 15) Whitey Slavin, 16) Neil Stratton, 17) Frank Harper, 18) Wayne Keyes, 19) Kolby Schroder, 20) Kim Lavoy, 21) Kevin Winters, 22) Steve Fifield, 23) R. J. Daley, 24) Kale Groff, 25) Paul Knox, 26) Jeff Brown, 27) Dan Hotchkiss, 28) Chad Pierceng