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By Rodney Rescott
West Lebanon , NY- The Valley of Speed was packed wall to wall with the stars from the Advanced Auto Parts Modified DirtCar Series, along with the regular Saturday Night Big Guns to take on the Budweiser 100.
Billy Decker’s #91 set fast time of the night, but that wasn’t enough to get on the front row, as the top 12 re-drew for starting spots after the heats, and the Jersey Jet pulled the lucky number “1”.
At the drop of the green, Hearn’s Madsen Overhead Doors, Wentworth Construction #20 took to the high banks out front. With the Jet firmly in the top spot, the contenders were close on his heals. The Albreada Waste #4 of Andy Bachetti began to hound the #20 of Hearn.
The first caution flew on lap 9 when the #77F of mark Flach Jr, blew a right rear coming out of the 2nd turn, causing cars to scatter. But this collected up the #20 of Matt Quinn, and the #43 of Keith Flach. The #43 returned to the speedway for just a few more circuits around the high banks, but the damage was too much, along with the #77F and the #20.
On the restart, Bachetti once again lined up next to Hearn, and down the stretch they came. But just like before, Hearn began to pull away. Bachetti settled into second with the fast qualifier Billy Decker, charging up to the 3rd position.
The next caution flew on lap 19 when contact was made with the #74 of J.R. Heffner, and the #42 of Guy Sheldon, sending Sheldon into the outside wall going into turn 3. This collected up a few more cars, including the Doctor, Danny Johnson. John returned later, but would retire shortly thereafter. Also included in the melee was the #34 of Steve Hough, and the #84 of Gary Tompkins.
After the clean up, it was back to the green, with Hearn powering out to the point once again, with the #4 of Bachetti in tow. Once there field settled down, the race shook out to be a “follow the #20 show”, as Hearn stayed just out of reach of the defending Lebanon Valley Champ.
But with only 4 short laps to go, the #4 of Bachetti broke the gears in the rear-end, and retired from competition, this put the #91 of Billy Decker hot on the Jet’s heals, but it was not going to be enough to take over.
At the century mark, it was the Wentworth Construction #20 of Brett “the Jet” Hearn matching his opening night win at the Valley of Speed, for his second of 2007, and a hefty check for $6,000.00. Following the #20 across the line was the #91 of Billy Decker, followed by the #98H of Jimmy Phelps. Fourth across the stripe was the #21J of Jeff Trombley, followed by the Lebanon Legend, Kenny Tremont Jr., to round out the top 5.
Also on tap for the night of racing was the Pro Stock division for their 20 lap feature event. Ed Bishop and Ed Bachand brought the field to the green, but it was long before the contenders would make themselves known.
Jay Casey, Robbie Speed, Kevin Arnold, and Paul LaRochelle all began to march to the head of the class. A few cautions slowed the field, which only assisted the big guns coming to the front. But the true battle came down to who got to the front first.
This time, it was jay Casey who snookered them all, and took over the top spot on lap 7. This put the #24 of Robbie Speed right on the back deck of the #322 of Casey.
And so the battle began, Speed tried high, tried low, but to no avail. Finally, Speed made his move coming for the white flag and one lap to go. But contact was made coming down the front stretch between the #24 and #322.
The result was Speed suffered a flat right front tire, exiting turn 2, handing the win to Jay Casey, his second win of 2007. At the stripe, Casey crossed the line first, followed by the hard charging #78 of Paul LaRochelle. Ed Bachand held on for 3rd, followed by Mike Middleton, and Victor Hopkins to cap off the top 5.
In the point’s battle in Pro Stocks, the top 5 in points are only separated by just 55 markers. Kevin Arnold is holding just slim 7 point lead over Mike Middleton, with Robbie Speed just 21 points out. Jay Corbin sits just 22 points out of the top spot and Jay Casey sits 5th, 55 points out.
In addition to the nights activities, the crowning of “ Miss Lebanon Valley ” to center stage with Ms. Kate Maranville-Hiser being crowned Miss Lebanon Valley 2007.
Next Saturday Night at the Valley of Speed , it’s back to the regular scheduled program, as Saxton Signs, and Harrington’s Lumber present the return of the Benjamin Moore Paints 358 Super Series, along with a regular card of action.
For more information, directions, tickets, or just to peruse, visit our website at www.LebanonValley.com, or call the Speedway Offices during normal business hours at (518) 794-9606, (518) 794-9965.
Saturday August 11, 2007 - BUDWEISER Presents Modified Super DirtCar Series Results (100 Laps) - 1 Brett Hearn, 2 Billy Decker, 3 Jimmy Phelps, 4 Jeff Trombley, 5 Kenny Tremont, 6 Eddie Marshall, 7 Dale Planck, 8 Tim Fuller, 9 Wayne Jelley, 10 Steve Paine, 11 Chris Whitehead, 12 Andy Bachetti, 13 John Alberti, 14 Hector Stratton, 15 J. R. Heffner, 16 Brian Berger, 17 Kyle Sheldon, 18 Paul Gilardi, 19 Wayne Figler, 20 John Ruchel, 21 Keith Flach, 22 John Hewitt, 23 Danny Johnson, 24 Gary Tompkins, 25 Guy Sheldon, 26 Steve Hough, 27 Mark Flach Jr, 28 Matt Quinn, 29 Billy Dunn, 30 Chris Schultz
DNQ Skippy Fox, Kenny Aanonsen, Ryan Larkin, Mike King, Russ Reckner
Pro Stock Results (20 Laps) - 1 Jay Casey, 2 Paul LaRochelle, 3 Ed Bachand, 4 Mike Middleton, 5 Victor Hopkins, 6 Robbie Speed, 7 Kevin Arnold, 8 Jay Corbin, 9 Chad Jeseo, 10 Nick Hilt, 11 Ed Bishop, 12 Mike Stebbins, 13 Jason Casey, 14 Johnny Rivers, 15 Don WIlliams, 16 Justin Herron, 17 Chris Crews, 18 Jay Kreutziger, 19 Jeff Kelmel, 20 Joe Mennite, 21 Kent Clark, 22 Wayne Hall, 23 Mike Slauson, 24 Rick Dempsey, 25 Dave Blanchard, 26 Kevin Winters, 27 Hugh Page, 28 Jon Routhier, 29 Gary Ashley
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