Lebanon Valley 5-3-03 Results
"PRESS RELEASE" For Immediate Release May 3, 2003 Contact: Kevin Wright Phone: 518-794-9606 HEARN BOOMS TO 1ST WIN OF SEASON, WATSON GETS CAREER FIRST West Lebanon, NY- Brett Hearn was victorious in the 30-lap DIRT modified feature at Lebanon Valley Speedway Saturday night. Second-generation pilot, Jeff Watson, visited victory lane for the first time ever in the 20-lap sportsman main. Robbie Speed held off Paul LaRochelle to take top honors in the 20-lap pro stock feature. MADSEN OVERHEAD DOOR and BOOMERS PERFORMANCE were the primary sponsors of the night's racing activities. Rob Pitcher and Ernie Palmer led twenty-nine Dirt modifieds to the green flag in the 30-lap feature. Hearn had a DNF in the opening night feature two weeks ago and was credited with an uncharacteristic 29th place finish. That gave him a very good starting position in this week's feature and he made the most of it. By the fourth lap Hearn had piloted his Gable Motorsports-Budweiser #1 Teo into the lead. Two of the races six-caution flags came out on lap six. The first caution was for Denny Soltis and Hector Stratton as they got hooked together while running third and fourth. The "Big One" came on the next restart as several cars got together in the front of the pack causing a ten-car crash in turn two. One of the drivers in the wreck was opening night winner Matt Quinn. He returned to the race and finished ninth. Hearn's lead was almost a half-straightway ahead of Pitcher as the race neared the halfway point. Kenny Tremont Jr had started the race in 18th, missed the big wreck on lap six and was running sixth at halfway. Chris Moore was looking strong for the second straight outing as he took fourth from Sparky Lowe on lap 18. Ernie Palmer made hard contact with the turn four wall on lap 23 bringing out the caution. The "Zero Tolerance Policy" at Lebanon Valley got its workout on the next two restarts. Speedway official's sent both Donnie Corellis and J.R. Heffner to the rear for trying to pass before the start-finish line, ending top ten runs for both. Andy Bachetti had started the race all the way back in 26th, but was able to avoid the lap six melee as well and moved into the top five by lap 25. Tremont moved into third on lap 26 and battled Pitcher hard for second in the final laps, but Pitcher held strong and was rewarded with a runner-up finish. Tremont would have to settle for third, with Moore fourth and Bachetti fifth. Madsen Overhead Doors held a dash for the DIRT modifieds Saturday night. The three-heat race winner along with the top two in points, plus one wildcard entry made up the six starters for the six-lap race. The format was six laps with a pit stop at halfway to change a right rear tire. Sparky Lowe, Hector Stratton, J.R. Heffner, Matt Quinn, Brett Hearn and Kenny Tremont were the six participants. Tremont's crew won the race off pit road and crossed the finish line first for the $500 bonus. Quinn and Stratton rounded out the top three. The 20-lap sportsman feature got off to an inauspicious start with a ten-car pile-up in turn four. Two of the drivers in the incident were K.C. Goewey and Ryan Larkin. Both returned to the race and Goewey finished seventh. Larkin had a top-ten run going as well, but crashed in turn three on the final lap. Defending Champion, Art Collins was involved in a crash with Roy Bridge and Ed Harkins on lap two. Collins dropped from the event on lap four. Jeff Watson had taken the lead by the first lap and was able to hold off all challengers on these early race restarts. Slower lapped traffic came into play just past the halfway point of the race, which allowed Frank Harper to close in on Watson. Bobby Knipe cracked the top three on lap twelve as he made his way past Willie Galm. With less than five laps remaining the top four cars had broken away from the rest of the pack, looking to settle this amongst them. Watson could not be beat on this night as he crossed the finish line first to record career sportsman victory number one. Knipe finished second and Harper hung on for third. Robbie Speed finally got the monkey off his back in the 20-lap pro stock feature Saturday night. Speed had horrible luck in 2002, but changed that all by leading wire to wire Saturday night. It wasn't easy, as he had to hold off challenges from defending champion Paul LaRochelle and Danny Sanchez. Sanchez took second from LaRochelle just past halfway and began to run down Speed. A caution on lap 16 put Sanchez on Speed's rear bumper, but Sanchez broke two laps later, moving LaRochelle back to second. Speed was not to be denied on this night and was extremely happy in victory lane thanking his parents for all their support. LaRochelle finished second while the ageless veteran, Jim Langenback finished third. It was a very special night at Lebanon Valley Saturday night. Johnny 'O' was a long time fan who passed way over the winter. One of his greatest joys was watching the full-fender division compete at Lebanon Valley. During the course of a season he would always put up some extra money for the drivers in those divisions he loved so well. Last night his family honored his memory by handing out $1000 to the drivers in the pro, rookie and pure stock features. On top of that Boomer's Performance added $500 to that pool in memory of Johnny "O" and Boomer. MADSEN OVERHEAD DOOR & BOOMERS PERFORMANCE TOP FIVE SUMMARY - (30 LAPS) - 1) Brett Hearn, 2) Rob Pitcher, 3) Kenny Tremont Jr, 4) Chris Moore, 5) Andy Bachetti SPORTSMAN TOP FIVE SUMMARY- (20 LAPS)- 1) Jeff Watson, 2) Bobby Knipe, 3) Frank Harper, 4) Willie Galm, 5) Ted Layton PRO STOCK TOP FIVE SUMMARY - (20 LAPS) - 1) Robbie Speed, 2) Paul LaRochelle, 3) Jim Langenback, 4) Ed Bachand, 5) Scott Govertsen. ROOKIE PRO STOCK FEATURE WINNER - (10 LAPS) - 1) Dave Blanchard PURE STOCK #1 WINNER - (8 LAPS) - 1) Ron Jacobsen PURE STOCK #2 WINNER - (8 LAPS) - 1) Pete Gibson PURE STOCK #3 WINNER - (8 LAPS) - 1) Chrissy Hilt PURE STOCK #4 WINNER - (8 LAPS) - 1) George Miles For a run down of all the finishes please visit www.lebanonvalley.com END