9-15 PRESS RELEASE & RESULTS
BOB DUZLAK JR. AND K. C. GOEWEY IN VICTORY LANE ON
DICK'S AUTOMOTIVE & SPEED'S GARAGE CHAMPIONSHIP NIGHT
SEPTEMBER 15, 2001
WEST LEBANON, NY - A cool late summer evening greeted fans and racers for the
final night of racing at Lebanon Valley Speedway Saturday. Dick's Automotive
and Speed's Garage presented Championship Night for the Pro Stock, Rookie and
Pure Stock Divisions. $1,000 to win Sportsman and Cannonball races were also
on tap for the fans to enjoy.
Twenty-two Pro Stock drivers qualified in two heat races won by Jim
Langenback and Bob Duzlak Jr. By virtue of the handicapping procedure Phil
Balmer and Buddy Hencke led the field to the green flag for the 20-lap Pro
Stock Feature.
Bob Duzlak Jr. held off the #78 of Paul LaRochelle to capture his fourth
Pro Stock feature of the 2001 season but fell just 2 points shy of tenth
place in the lucrative points race. Danny Sanchez who had engine trouble in
the heats drove the #165 normally piloted by Ed Bachand to a third place
finish he was followed by Al Blackburn and Buddy Hencke rounded out the top
five.
Rick Duzlak was behind the wheel of the Don Ely owned #00. Bubba Tanner was
in attendance but failed to start the main.
Pro Stock point leader Jim Langenback had trouble early in the race and
was relegated to a 19th place finish. This did not hinder the 61-year old
from claiming the 2001 Pro Stock Championship. Finishing second through fifth
in the final Pro Stock points were Paul LaRochelle, Rob Yetman, Al Blackburn
and Danny Sanchez.
Rob Yetman went up in smoke ending his night and Phil Balmer flipped his
#39 racer. Balmer was unhurt but disappointed. Co-sponsor of the night Robbie
Speed also had to go pitside during the race but managed an 8th place finish.
The Sportsman were on hand for a special $1,000 to win challenge race.
Twenty-four drivers drew for heat race starting positions. Jeff Cassidy
making a rare appearance won the first heat with the "Alligator" Art Collins
winning heat two and the red-hot Bobby Knipe winner of heat three.
The feature was lined up heads up with Cassidy and Collins on the front
row. Cassidy had problems and finished 22nd while Collins would have motor
woes late in the race and hold on to the runner-up position.
K. C. Goewey starting from the seventh place position would chase down
the smoking Collins and nip him at the line for the victory. Goewey who had a
new Dan Bedell motor for this race was excited about his largest Sportsman
payday. Collins was second, Bobby Knipe was third with Hawley Smith forth and
Ed Harkins finishing fifth.
The Rookie's also ran their last points races. After finishing in the
runner up position for the past three races Scott Kilmer finally visited
victory lane again in the Rookie "A" race. Wayne Keyes captured his first
Rookie win in the Rookie "B" race. Keyes was jubilant doing donuts at the
finish line that rival any NASCAR driver and doing an exciting roof dance
once he brought his ride to a halt.
As part of Championship night the Rookies also ran a 12-lap feature race.
Twelve drivers were qualified through the "A" & "B" races. Jason DiBello was
the winner of the Rookie Feature.
By virtue of his third place finish in the Rookie "A" race Dave Colwell
captured the 2001 Rookie Pro Stock Championship. The point race was close all
season long between Colwell and young gun Dan Blackburn who was the
runner-up. Scott Kilmer, Charlie Woodard and Jason DiBello rounded out the
final Rookie Pro Stock points.
Four Pure Stock races would shape up what the final points in this
popular division would be. All eyes would be on the Pure Stock "C" race in
which the top ten drivers in points are assembled for competition. Jim Dellea
would rise to the top and earn his fifth Pure Stock win of the year.
The 2001 Pure Stock Championship is awarded to Brian Sandstedt. Three
wins and 19 of 21 top five finishes is the kind of performance that makes
Champions. Pete Wiegand who had nine victories in 2001 was the runner-up; Bob
Palmer, Jim Dellea and George Miles Jr rounded out the top five in Pure Stock
points.
Pure Stock "A" was won by Jim O'Neil, Pure Stock "B" won by Robert Gibson
and the winner of Pure Stock "D" was Keith Barlow.
The top five finishers in each Pure Stock race also ran a 12-lap Pure
Stock Feature. From his sixteenth starting position Pete Wiegand showed why
he won nine races as he captured the special Pure Stock Feature. Jim Dellea
was second, Keith Barlow third, Bob Palmer forth and Mike Davis was fifth.
At press time technical inspection was still going on for the $1,000 to
win Cannonball. Unofficially the winner was Rick Dempsey. Followed by Byron
Wescott, Harry Beron, Al Relyea and Michael Pfau.
And so another great season at Lebanon Valley Speedway comes to a close.
We congratulate all of our Champions and thank all of our Great Fans for
making the 2001-racing season a success. Don't forget the 19th annual Swap
Meet on Sunday November 4th and we look forward to seeing you all next year
as we celebrate our 50th season.
DICK'S AUTOMOTIVE / SPEED'S GARAGE CHAMPIONSHIP PRO STOCK RESULTS (20 LAPS) -
1) Bob Duzlak Jr, 2) Paul LaRochelle, 3) Danny Sanchez, 4) Al Blackburn, 5)
Buddy Hencke, 6) Tom Brandt, 7) Louis Mellan, 8) Robbie Speed, 9) Ricky
Duzlak, 10) Dan Galullo, 11) Dan Burl, 12) Rick Fosby, 13) Scott Kilmer, 14)
Chris Claus, 15) Dan Blackburn, 16) Rob Yetman, 17) Jeff Kelmel, 18) Phil
Balmer, 19) Jim Langenback
$1,000 TO WIN SPORTSMAN RESULTS (30 LAPS) - 1) K. C. Goewey, 2) Art Collins,
3) Bobby Knipe, 4) Hawley Smith, 5) Ed Harkins, 6) Don Miller, 7) Roy Bridge,
8) Jay Casey, 9) Joe Bennett, 10) Lorne Browe, 11) Walt McKay, 12) John
Hotchkiss, 13) Charlie Humes, 14) Ernie Palmer, 15) Earl Thitchner, 16)
Whitey Slavin, 17) Ken Baker, 18) Derrick McGrew, 19) Bill Bushee, 20) Dave
Tanguay, 21) Mike Keeler, 22) Jeff Cassidy, 23) Chris Cross
ROOKIE "A" RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) Scott Kilmer, 2) Dave Colwell, 3) Jason
DiBello, 4) John Hynes, 5) Ralph Hotchkiss, 6) Jery Helms, 7) Henry Warner,
8) Joe Mabb Jr, 9) Phil Moffit, 10) Dan Blackburn, 11) Charlie Woodard
ROOKIE "B" RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) Wayne Keyes, 2) Phil Wood, 3) Mike Fachini,
4) Fran Marchand, 5) E. J. Legeyt, 6) Chris DeCiel, 7) John Santolin, 8)
Michael Kratz, 9) Shane Mickle, 10) Bill Hammell
ROOKIE FEATURE RESULTS (12 LAPS) - 1) Jason DiBello, 2) Henry Warner, 3)
Ralph Hotchkiss, 4) Wayne Keyes, 5) Phil Wood, 6) Fran Marchand, 7) Joe Mabb
Jr, 8) John Hynes, 9) E. J. Legeyt, 10) Dave Colwell
PURE STOCK "A" RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) Jim O'Neil, 2) Jon Betz, 3) Eric Sbrega,
4) Don Coon, 5) Jeff Kuhnow, 6) David Stickles, 7) Dwayne Dauski, 8) Michael
Dianda, 9) Dan Crosby, 10) Fay Fachini, 11) Pierre Dupont, 12) Darryl Baker,
13) Gene Cushman, 14) Rich Douglass, 15) Ron Hapeman, 16) Bob Chenette, 17)
Todd Pelkey
PURE STOCK "B" RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) Robert Gibson, 2) Glenn Miller, 3) Earl
Soulier Jr, 4) Bruce Pecorella, 5) Jason Casey, 6) Jeff Douglass, 7) Randy
Myers, 8) Steve Hatch, 9) Dave Atwater, 10) Ryan Coon, 11) Mark Houston, 12)
John Connor Jr, 13) Chris Streeter, 14) Phil Decker Jr, 15) Lee Gallant, 16)
Ryan Larkin
PURE STOCK "C" RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) Jim Dellea, 2) Bob Palmer, 3) Brian
Sandstedt, 4) Peter Wiegand, 5) Bob Burl, 6) Wally Engel, 7) Jim Hankey, 8)
George Miles Jr, 9) Joe DiStefano, 10) Dave Hall Jr, 11) Bruce Moffit, 12)
Jake Coons, 13) Mark Stevens, 14) Don Johnson, 15) Seth Spencer, 16) Sid Smith
PURE STOCK "D" RESULTS (8 LAPS) - 1) Keith Barlow, 2) Michael Davis, 3) Kory
Sandstedt, 4) D.T. Pickard, 5) Chrissy Hilt, 6) Jay Martin, 7) Marcus Tifft,
8) Jim Fachini, 9) Jamie Reutenauer, 10) Ronald Johnson, 11) Paul Handlowich,
12) Larry Megan, 13) Ron Tritschler, 14) Nick Hilt, 15) Gary Ashley, 16)
Joshua Brandt
PURE STOCK FEATURE RESULTS (12 LAPS) - 1) Pete Wiegand, 2) Jim Dellea, 3)
Keith Barlow, 4) Bob Palmer, 5) Mike Davis, 6) Eric Sbrega, 7) Jim O'Neil, 8)
Kory Sandstedt, 9) Brian Sandstedt, 10) D. T. Pickard, 11) Don Coon, 12) Earl
Soulier, 13) Bruce Pecorella, 14) Jeff Kuhnow, 15) Chrissy Hilt, 16) Bob
Burl, 17) Bob Gibson, 18) John Betz, 19) Jason Casey 20) Glenn Miller
UNOFFICIAL $1,000 TO WIN CANNONBALL RESULTS (50 LAPS) - 1) Rick Dempsey, 2)
Byron Wescott, 3) Harry Beron, 4) Al Relyea, 5) Michael Pfau, 6) Dan Day, 7)
Ted Layton, 8) David Delamater, 9) Hawley Davis, 10) Jimmy Morris, 11) Boyd
Hunt
