Lebanon Valley 7-19-03 HEARN CONSTUCTS WIN IN NEW CAR, BROWE HAMMERS SPORTSMAN

July 19, 2003 


West Lebanon NY-Brett Hearn captured the 30-lap modified feature victory at Lebanon Valley Speedway on Saturday night. The 358-modifieds were on hand as well and Eddie Marshall was victorious in their 24-lap main. Lorne Browe won the 20-lap sportsman feature and Ed Bachand won the 20-lap pro stock finale. Brian Keough was the winner of the rookie pro stock feature. The pure stock victories went to Kevin Hilt, Scott Kilmer, Pete Wiegand and Larry Ball respectively. An extra special thanks to our sponsor Rifenburg Construction which has supported auto racing at Lebanon Valley for many years.

Guy Sheldon was behind the wheel of the #42 modified owned by Steve Devine on Saturday night. Sheldon made the most of his effort as he led almost half of the 30-lap feature. Brett Hearn had his Budweiser-Gable #1 modified hooked up a quickly moved up from his eleventh place starting spot to sit third on lap nine. The first of five caution flags came out on lap 13 for Dave Leckonby's disabled racer. Another caution came out on the very same lap for an incident in turn two. Hearn used the restart to get by Sheldon and led the event at the halfway point. Rich Ricci Jr cracked the top five for the first time on lap 18 while Andy Bachetti took third from Paul Gilardi on lap 21. Last week's winner, Rob Pitcher went pitside with steering problems on lap 23. 

The caution flag flew on lap 24 for Gilardi who made hard contact with the backstretch wall while running in the top five. Sheldon's top five run came to spinning halt on lap 27. The caution flew for the final time on lap 28 when Sparky Lowe got send into the turn four fence by Matt Quinn. Lowe was finished for the night and Quinn was sent to the rear for his role in the incident. Bachetti had moved into the runner-up spot in the final third of the event and tried to apply some pressure on Hearn. The many late race restarts gave him several chances to stay close, but that ended as Bachetti slowed dramatically on the final lap handing second to Ricci.

Hearn took the checkered flag first in a car that had never run in 2003. It was brand new at the beginning of the season but the crew had decided not to run it yet and was using it as a show car. The decision was made during hot laps to park the old car and try the new one out for the night and resulted in a trip to victory lane. Ricci finished second, Donnie Corellis had a strong run in third, J.R. Heffner was fourth and Denny Soltis rounded out the top five.

The 358-modifieds were on hand gearing up for their big show this Thursday night for Thunder in the Valley 5. NASCAR stars Tony Stewart and Dave Blaney will be competing with the 358-modifieds in a 100-lap Turning Stone Casino 358-Modified Series event at Lebanon Valley. 

Eddie Marshall was the early race leader in the 24-lap 358-modified feature. Marshall and Hearn put on a whale of a show for the fans. The two veterans raced side by side for several laps before Hearn took the advantage on lap 12. His stay at the point was short-lived however as he suddenly pulled into the pits while the field was under yellow on lap 14. The u-joint had broken on Hearn's drive shaft ended his chance for victory. While under that same yellow flag on lap 13, Bachetti also had to got pitside with a right rear flat tire. 

Marshall now reassumed the lead with Corellis on his rear bumper. Matt Quinn took third from Corellis on lap 19. Quinn raced Marshall hard, but clean in the final stages of the race but could not make a pass stick as Marshall wheeled the Goodermote Excavating #5 into victory lane. Corellis had another strong third place run with Rob Pitcher fourth and Kenny Tremont fifth.

Chris Garrity was the early race leader of the 20-lap sportsman feature. Lorne Browe took the lead from Garrity on lap four and never looked back. K.C. Goewey was caught up in several early race incidents but recovered nicely to finish sixth. Browe had to survive several restarts, but was able to pull away each time. Last week's winner Ryan Larkin did a great job avoiding early incident to get into fourth on lap six. Browe was untouchable as he took his first checkered flag of 2003. Ed Harkin, Art Collins, Larkin and Willie Galm followed Browe across the line.

Dave Blanchard won so many features in the rookie pro stock division he had to move up to the regular pro stock division. He was looking to make the most of his transition in Saturday's night 20-lap pro stock feature. He lead nineteen and one-third circuits of the race before getting spun out by Scott Govertsen on the final lap in turn two. Govertsen would go to the rear for his role. The handed the lead and the victory over to Ed Bachand. Paul LaRochelle and Bachand had battled side by side for much of the event. Little did they know it would be for the win? But on this night LaRochelle would have to settle for second and Jim Langenback was third.

Don't forget THUNDER IN THE VALLEY V on Thursday night featuring the 358-modifieds and Tony Stewart and Dave Blaney. Tickets are still available and racing will start at 7:00. Call the speedway at (518) 794-9606 or visit our website at www.lebanonvalley.com for more information.