TRACKS: Tremont 'hat tricks' the mods, Knipe and Duzlak also win
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
July 15, 2001WEST LEBANON, NY - Kenny Tremont performed a "Hat Trick" at Lebanon Valley on Saturday night and won his third modified feature in a row on a night billed as Radical Racing Night and sponsored by Den Besten Enterprises. Bobby Knipe won the sportsman division feature and Bob Duzlak Jr. took top honors in the pro-stock class.
"Radical Racing Night" meant lots of radical changes in the format. "Black flag races", "Match Races", "Modified Tire Change races" and "Sportsman Relay Races" were spread throughout the evening. Also on a night that was advertised as an "all feature" night, there were no heat races, but instead "B" Main races. The feature races remained the same.
As the green flag flew on the modified field, Mike King took the lead from his front row starting spot. There was clean racing for the first few laps, but then the caution flag flew as Dave Baranowski spun out on the backstretch. As King led the field toward the restart Donnie Corellis slowed on the backstretch, but was able to get off the track and avoid the oncoming pack.
Two more laps and the caution flag flew again as Skippy Fox also spun out on the back stretch. King maintained his lead through the previous restarts, but this time Guy Sheldon got a good run and grabbed the lead, only to have the yellow flag fly again as Eddie Marshall shredded a tire all over the back stretch. Now with six laps complete, Sheldon led the field, King was in second, Jason Goff third, Steve Devine fourth and Maynard Forrette fifth. When the field went back to green, Sheldon kept his lead, but Goff moved up into second spot. But there was no clean and green racing to be had, and the caution flew again as King and Devine got together in turn 4. In the resulting melee Denny Soltis and Matt Quinn also got hooked together, and had to be separated by the track wreckers and were forced into the pits. The big winner through all this was Kenny Tremont who now sat in the fifth spot, moving from his 16th starting spot, and clearly had his sights on the front.
Another restart and Sheldon maintained his lead but the pressure was mounting behind him. Dave Leckonby passed Tremont on his way to the front, but then got into Maynard Forrette bringing out another caution. Under the caution flag Leckonby was obviously displeased with Forrette and took matters into his own hands. Spinning Forrette out, he got sent to the pits and his night was over.
Now, with a third of the 30-lap race complete, the race was restarted and Kenny Tremont showed his old style and shot quickly into the lead as the cars completed the next revolution. He was followed by Sheldon, Goff, Tim Dwyer and Forrette.
A little green flag racing followed, and on lap 20 Dwyer passed into third. One more caution once again tightened up the field and Dwyer was now putting pressure on the second running Sheldon. He made the pass for second on lap 23. On lap 25 Ronnie Johnson came up and moved into the fourth spot, and three laps later into third. As the checkered flag flew Tremont took his third win in a row and the sixth of the 2001 season. He was followed by Dwyer, Johnson, Sheldon and Goff. This win extended Tremont's point lead over second placeholder Rich Ricci Jr who tonight finished in eighth.
The sportsman feature began much the same as the modified in its inability to get any clean green flag racing. Front row starters Whitey Slavin and Ernie Palmer battled for the lead on the start and just as the lap was completed, Slavin took the lead. Almost immediately the yellow flag flew for an incident between turns three and four as Don Miller, Charlie Humes and Roy Bridge got collected.
On the restart Slavin moved out into the lead and began to get comfortable when after 3 laps the yellow flag flew again for Humes and Bridge who had a repeat incident in the third turn and John Scarborough hit the wall in turn one.
Slavin kept the lead on the restart and the cars began to get shuffled behind him. After five, Frank Harper moved up into second and Sparky Lowe was moving up quickly from his starting spot deep in the field. On the next lap Lowe moved into third.
Several more cautions kept anyone from running out in front for long, and after the eighth lap Bobby Knipe took the lead and Lowe took second spot on the restart. At the end of the ninth lap Harper moved up into third and Slavin sat then in fourth. Knipe held on to the lead despite several more restarts and several challenges. As the white flag flew signaling one lap to go, K. C. Goewey grabbed the second spot from Lowe. Lowe finished in third, Harper in fourth and Hawley Smith fifth.
The pro-stock saw young Buddy Hencke grabbing the lead. Hencke began the season in the rookie class, but after a few wins in that division, he was moved up. Looking for his first win in the pro-stock division, Hencke held the lead for five laps, but then previous winners Al Blackburn and Ricky Duzlak both passed him. On the following lap Bob Duzlak also passed Hencke for third.
Last week's winner, Rob Yetman was also on the move and moved into the top five on lap number eight. At the halfway point Bob Duzlak passed his brother Ricky for second and set his sights on Blackburn and his second pro-stock victory of the season. The front five on Blackburn, Bob Duzlak, Rick Duzlak Tom Brandt and Yetman then formed a train and pulled away from the rest of the field.
Another caution flag flew after 12 laps as the car of Paul LaRochelle burst into flames between turns one and two. On the restart the five-car train left the station and began to pull the rest of the field around the track. Two laps later Brandt took third and on lap 15 Bob Duzlak made the pass for the lead.
Brandt and Blackburn then continued to battle for second, and with three laps to go Ricky Duzlak spun out setting up a three lap shoot out between Bob Duzlak, Al Blackburn and Rob Yetman. Everyone held their ground however, and that's how they finished, with Brandt and Hencke rounding out the top five. Duzlak received a $1000.00 bonus from the night's sponsor, Den Besten Enterprises. Besten also awarded a $500.00 bonus to Tremont the modified winner and a $300.00 bonus to Knipe in the sportsman class. Capital Speed Equipment was the $400 to win sponsor of the pro-stock feature making the winners take a cool $1,400.
As part of the radical racing night, a special pure stock feature race was held at the end of the evening, made up of the top three finishers in the four pure stock feature races.
Joshua Brandt won this special 12-lap feature event and he was followed across the line by Jeff Douglass, Earl Soulier Jr, Chrissy Hilt and Bob Gibson.
Text provided by Lebanon Valley
Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit
The Racing Photo Museum and the
Visions of Speed Art Gallery.