Story By: PHIL ALLAWAY / LEBANON VALLEY SPEEDWAY – WEST LEBANON, NY – Brett Haas was able to take the lead away from Brandon Lane on a lap 20 restart Saturday night. From there, he was able to hold off a charging Andy Bachetti to claim his second straight Modified victory.
“The car was pretty much flawless tonight,” Haas said after the race. “We only made very minor changes to the car. I knew tonight that we were starting far back…so it was a race to the front.”
Haas won by .327 seconds over Bachetti. Kolby Schroder was third, then Marc Johnson and John Virgilio, who started 17th.
Lane started from the pole alongside Rob Maxon and managed to open up a small lead. Meanwhile, Haas had to move up from 11th on the grid and Bachetti from 15th. Maxon was able to keep right with Lane through the early laps with Ryan Darcy on his tail while the others had to scramble to make up positions.
The race was caution-free until lap 18. The hood pins on Timothy Davis’ car broke, causing the engine cover to flip up. Davis ended up spinning out to bring the yellow.
By this point, Haas was up to fourth. On the restart, he got past Darcy for third, who started dropping back. Shortly afterwards, Darcy spun out in turn 3 to bring out another yellow.
On the restart, Haas got past Maxon for second on the restart, then immediately took the advantage from Lane with Bachetti giving chase. Any chance for a good finish for Lane evaporated a couple of laps later when he slowed and got hit from behind exiting turn 4. Lane would eventually finish 15th.
Over the final few laps, Haas had Bachetti breathing down his neck, but had enough speed to hold back the best of Bachetti’s strength to win.
Saturday was also the season opener for the 358 Modified class with a heads-up race. Kyle Sheldon won his heat race and earned the pole position. Joey Coppola started alongside. For much of the 24-lap distance, the two drivers fought each other hard.
Coppola would attempt to get to Sheldon’s inside and the two drivers would race side-by-side. However, Coppola just couldn’t get all the way alongside and never got his front wheels ahead.
Eventually, Sheldon would be able to get back ahead. Coppola may have had the faster car, evidenced by how he could run Sheldon back down in clean air after losing time while trying to get past lapped cars. However, Sheldon was able to hold on to take the victory.
Sheldon won by .871 seconds over Coppola. Ray Hall Jr. was third, then Lorne Browe and Brett Haas.
In Sportsman, Anthony Maxon started from the pole, but did not last long at the front. Nick Giardini snatched the lead away on the first lap. Shortly afterwards, Mike Engwer spun to bring out a yellow.
Anthony Maxon’s race only went downhill from there. After the restart, Maxon went up the hill in turn 4, then got hit by Connor Prokop and Karl Barnes. A lap later, the car wiped out to bring out another yellow that ended his race.
Michael Sabia was able to dispatch of Gary O’Brien and move up to second. Tim Hartman Jr. followed past. Ultimately, the two of them ran down Giardini and fought for the lead. While Sabia had a quick car, Hartman was faster than both of them.
On lap 7, Hartman managed to drive by both drivers to take the lead. Once out front, Hartman drove away from the field to claim his third win in a row to start the season and his fifth consecutive Sportsman win dating back to last September.
Hartman won by 2.838 seconds over Giardini. Sabia was third, then Mike Arnold and Brady Cordova.
In Limited Sportsman, Frank Twing Jr. led flag-to-flag to take the win. He won by 6.186 seconds over Brian Walsh. Scott Zehnacker was third, then Mike Bosco and Ray Royals.
In Pro Stock, Shawn Perez started from the pole and led early. Rocco Procopio, who started alongside, had a bad start and fell almost immediately to sixth. Chad Jeseo started 11th and struggled to move forward.
On lap 4, Richard Spencer ground to a halt on the apron in turn 4. This drew the race’s only caution and closed everyone back up.
On the restart, Frank Twing was able to take the lead away from Perez. Once out front, Frank Twing was able to pull away from the pack. Perez ended up battling to hold onto second with Rick Duzlak, Zach Sorrentino and Jeseo giving chase.
Ultimately, Frank Twing was able to hold on for the victory. The margin of victory was 4.078 seconds over Perez. Duzlak finished third on the track, but was disqualified due to an unsealed crate motor after the race.
As a result of Duzlak’s disqualification, Sorrentino was elevated to third. Jeseo was fourth and Chris Stalker fifth.
In Super Street Stock, Dave Streibel Jr. took the lead on the first lap and dominated to win.
Contractor Sales/Wohrle’s Foods Modified Feature Results (30 laps): 1) Brett Haas, 2) Andy Bachetti, 3) Kolby Schroder, 4) Marc Johnson, 5) John Virgilio, 6) Eddie Marshall, 7) Kyle Armstrong, 8) Olden Dwyer, 9) Keith Flach, 10) Ryan Darcy, 11) Matt Pupello, 12) Timothy Davis, 13) Kyle Sheldon, 14) J.R. Heffner, 15) Brandon Lane, 16) Montgomery Tremont, 17) Rob Maxon, 18) Ryan Charland, 19) Mike King, 20) Josh Marcus. DNS: Kenny Aanonsen Jr.
358 Modified Season Opener Results (24 laps): 1) Kyle Sheldon, 2) Joey Coppola, 3) Ray Hall Jr., 4) Lorne Browe, 5) Brett Haas, 6) L.J. Lombardo, 7) Jason Herrington, 8) Ryan Larkin, 9) Jeff Watson, 10) Chris Curtis, 11) Corey Cormier, 12) Peter Carlotto, 13) Kim LaVoy, 14) Ryan Heath, 15) Donny Travaglin, 16) Dillon Gannon, 17) Michael Sabia, 18) Alan Houghtaling, 19) Andy Bachetti, 20) Brian Sandstedt
Sportsman Feature Results (20 laps): 1) Tim Hartman Jr., 2) Ryan Giardini, 3) Michael Sabia, 4) Mike Arnold, 5) Brady Cordova, 6) Justin Gozzi, 7) Ricky Davis, 8) Gary O’Brien, 9) Joseph Mennitte, 10) Mike Engwer, 11) Connor Prokop, 12) Karl Barnes, 13) Chris Kokosa, 14) Anthony Maxon. DNS: Frank Frasco, Nikki Ouellette
Limited Sportsman Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Frank Twing Jr., 2) Brian Walsh, 3) Scott Zehnacker, 4) Mike Bosco, 5) Ray Royals, 6) Dylan Holmes, 7) Kent Clark, 8) Chris Humes, 9) Jasen Brewer, 10) Braxton Martin, 11) Harold Robitaille, 12) Owen Lewis, 13) John Santolin, 14) Billy Brandt
Pro Stock Feature Results (20 laps): 1) Frank Twing, 2) Shawn Perez, 3) Zach Sorrentino, 4) Chad Jeseo, 5) Chris Stalker, 6) Rocco Procopio, 7) Dave Stickles, 8) Nick Hilt, 9) Tom Dean, 10) Paul LaRochelle, 11) Brian Keough, 12) Katrina Foster, 13) Chris Dwyer, 14) Richard Spencer, 15) Mike Dianda. DQ: Rick Duzlak
Super Street Stock Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Dave Streibel Jr., 2) Jeff Meltz Sr., 3) Ray Hall Sr., 4) Evan Denue, 5) Scott Morris, 6) Doug Sterling, 7) Franklin Smith, 8) Paul Vallee, 9) Lou Gancarz, 10) Keri VanDenburg