Story By: PHIL ALLAWAY / LEBANON VALLEY SPEEDWAY – WEST LEBANON, NY – Veteran Eddie Marshall, with new bodywork fitted after a crash last weekend, took the lead when Timothy Davis’ car faltered on lap 8. From there, he held on to take his first Modified feature win of the year.
“It was good. Timothy [Davis] was quite fast and he was going to have to slow for us to get there,” Marshall said afterwards. “Our car was pretty good. Starting up front makes all the difference in the world. It was good to be able to capitalize on it.”
Mike King finished a season-best second, 4.835 seconds back. Wayne Jelley was third, then Kenny Tremont Jr. and Andy Bachetti.
Timothy Davis started from the pole and led early over Marshall, who has struggled at times this year. Despite getting caught up in Josh Marcus’ crash, his No. 98 was still mechanically strong.
Timothy Davis led on July 1 from pole and was in good position until the rear end tube failed on his car under yellow. Sadly, Saturday night was more of the same as at the end of lap 8, a mechanical failure forced Timothy Davis to pull off, giving Marshall the lead. It was the end of Timothy Davis’ night.
John Virgilio was quick once again Saturday night. His night was derailed on July 1 by a suspension issue in the rear end and July 8 was more of the same as he slowed to bring out the race’s sole yellow on lap 12. Unlike last week, Virgilio’s team was able to make enough repairs to allow Virgilio to finish the race.
When Timothy Davis dropped out, King moved up to second with Jelley third. Meanwhile, Bachetti started 14th and had quite a bit of trouble moving up the order.
As the race continued, a few drivers started running into mechanical issues. Brian Berger and Olden Dwyer dropped out, while Kolby Schroder went behind the wall briefly, then returned.
On the restart, Marshall was able to pull out to a decent advantage. He held this lead all the way to finish.
Alan Houghtaling started from pole in the Small Block Modified and managed to put a little distance on the pack early on. That gap was eliminated when Ryan Larkin cut his right rear tire and brought a yellow out.
On the restart, a crash on the backstretch involving Jeff Watson, Joey Coppola and Olden Dwyer brought out another yellow. Watson, who started second, was done for the night. Coppola and Dwyer were able to continue. Another yellow for a Jeff Reis spin kept the field packed up.
The restarts played right into Bachetti’s plan. After dropping out of his heat due to braking issues, Bachetti was forced to drive through the field from the back. Good handling and a couple of restarts meant that he was already up to sixth by lap 6.
Once the race got back underway, Houghtaling continued to lead and put a little distance between himself and Peter Carlotto. Meanwhile, Bachetti was able to get up to second.
With seven laps to go, Brian Sandstedt spun and hit the wall to bring out the fifth yellow. That put Bachetti directly alongside Houghtaling for the restart. The pass for the win came almost immediately on the restart as the Sheffield, Mass. native drove into the lead. From there, Bachetti held on to take his second win of the year.
Carlotto ended up second, followed by Lorne Browe and Jason Herrington. Coppola recovered from the incident to finish fifth.
Sportsman teams had the George Marcus Sportsman Memorial, held in honor of the legendary Sportsman champ. $1000 was on the line to the winner.
Cody Cordova started from pole in a somewhat rough feature. Before the first lap was complete, Kevin Ames was out after crashing on the backstretch and suffering front end damaged. Brady Cordova spun in turn 1 and was hit by Mike Arnold to bring out a yellow. The restart saw Keith Johannessen rub against Gary O’Brien and spin in turn 1, collecting Rob Maxon.
On the restart, O’Brien was able to get past Cody Cordova for the lead. Kevin Ward and Tim Hartman Jr. followed him through.
As the race continued, Whitey Slavin drove himself into contention for the win. Slavin got up to second on lap 11, then began to pressure O’Brien.
On the final lap, Slavin made one last charge in turns 3 and 4. Both drivers ran hard and Slavin got too high, hit the wall, then climbed it and spun. O’Brien managed to avoid contact and held on for the win. Ward was second, then Hartman, Chris Lynch and Ricky Davis.
In Pro Stock, Steven LaRochelle took the lead away from pole sitter Rick Duzlak on lap 3 and was able to open a gap on the pack. A series of tire issues and spins kept LaRochelle from getting too far away, though.
Everything looked good for the Dalton, Mass. native until the transmission broke with two laps to go, putting him out. Zach Sorrentino took the lead and held on to take his second win of the year. Chad Jeseo recovered from a cut tire to finish second, then Duzlak, Dave Stickles and Tom Dean.
In 4-Cylinders, Bradley Batho took the lead from Jim Guertin on lap 4 and held on for the win. Bradley’s brother Joey earned his first career Single-Cam win.
Modified Feature Results (30 laps): 1) Eddie Marshall, 2) Mike King, 3) Wayne Jelley, 4) Kenny Tremont Jr., 5) Andy Bachetti, 6) L.J. Lombardo, 7) Brett Haas, 8) Marc Johnson, 9) Keith Flach, 10) J.R. Heffner, 11) Kyle Armstrong, 12) Kolby Schroder, 13) Ryan Charland, 14) John Virgilio, 15) Olden Dwyer, 16) Matt Pupello, 17) Tommy Corellis, 18) Brian Berger, 19) Brandon Lane, 20) Kyle Sheldon, 21) Ryan Darcy, 22) Timothy Davis
Small Block Modified Feature Results (24 laps): 1) Andy Bachetti, 2) Peter Carlotto, 3) Lorne Browe, 4) Jason Herrington, 5) Joey Coppola, 6) Brian Petersen, 7) Jeff Reis, 8) L.J. Lombardo, 9) Kim LaVoy, 10) Montgomery Tremont, 11) Ryan Larkin, 12) Donny Travaglin, 13) Ryan Heath, 14) Brian Sandstedt, 15) Ray Hall Jr., 16) Alan Houghtaling, 17) Ryan Charland, 18) Olden Dwyer, 19) Kevin Petrucci, 20) Jeff Watson
Sportsman George Marcus Sportsman Memorial Results (20 laps): 1) Gary O’Brien, 2) Kevin Ward, 3) Tim Hartman Jr., 4) Chris Lynch, 5) Ricky Davis, 6) Rob Maxon, 7) Mike Arnold, 8) Keith Johannessen, 9) Cody Cordova, 10) Karl Barnes, 11) Dylan Grogan, 12) Craig Coons, 13) Alex Palmer-Sawyer, 14) Alan Houghtaling, 15) Owen Lewis, 16) Whitey Slavin, 17) Brady Cordova, 18) Kevin Ames, 19) James Galarneau
Pro Stock Feature Results (20 laps): 1) Zach Sorrentino, 2) Chad Jeseo, 3) Rick Duzlak, 4) Dave Stickles, 5) Tom Dean, 6) Brian Keough, 7) Katarina Foster, 8) Steven LaRochelle, 9) Mike Dianda, 10) Fred Lee, 11) Shawn Perez, 12) Dave Kokindo, 13) Frank Twing
4-Cylinder Dual-Cam Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Bradley Batho, 2) Jim Guertin, 3) Jason Peck, 4) Jon Shepard
Pro Stock Cordova Heating & Plumbing Dash (4 laps): 1) Rick Duzlak, 2) Dave Stickles, 3) Frank Twing, 4) Shawn Perez, 5) Zach Sorrentino
4-Cylinder Single-Cam Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Joey Batho, 2) Joe Wolfe, 3) Dylan MacLeod, 4) Stephen Burka, 5) Tim Meltz
4-Cylinder Combined Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Bradley Batho, 2) Jim Guertin, 3) Jason Peck, 4) Joey Batho, 5) Joe Wolfe, 6) Dylan MacLeod, 7) Stephen Burka, 8) Tim Meltz, 9) Jon Shepard