LEBANON VALLEY HONORS CHAMPS WITH HISTORIC BANQUET

Lebanon Valley Speedway Latham, NY March 13, 2004; Lebanon Valley Speedway hosted its annual banquet on Saturday night. A capacity crowd of nearly seven hundred people packed Michael's Banquet House to see the best of the best accept their accolades for a successful 2003 season. A whopping seventy-five thousand dollars in point fund money was handed out to the competitors, making Lebanon Valley one of largest single-track point funds in the country. The site of this year's banquet was moved for the first time in the fifty-one years. The banquet had always been on the speedway grounds in the clubhouse, but the speedway management decided it was a time for a change of location. The new location and one day format was a huge success. The speedway handed out some special awards on Saturday night. The recipient of the Board of Directors Award went to Debbie Hewitt. The Walt Shutt Memorial Award went to Ron Mensing. The Lebanon Valley Hall Of Fame Award went to Lou Gerrain and the Media Award went to videographer Mike Schlitzel from FOX23. A special thanks goes out to the sponsor's that contributed to the banquet raffle; SUNOCO RACE FUELS, CARQUEST AUTO PARTS, BOOMERS PERFORMANCE, ACKNER RACING EQUIPMENT, DMC RACING PRODUCTS, KUSTOM KEEPSAKES, PIT STOP AUTOMOTIVE, JIMINY PEAK and YANKEE TRAILS. The lions share of the point fund money, over $5,000, headed to New Jersey with Brett Hearn. The Sussex, NJ driver walked away with his third Lebanon Valley track championship in 2003. Hearn's wheeled his Teo Pro Car to five wins in 2003. In the sixteen modified races held at the speedway last season Hearn finished in the top ten fifteen times. Hearn was quick to thank his car owner, Jody Gable for giving him a great team to be competitive. "The crew is a great bunch of guys that make it fun to race on Saturday nights", Hearn said in front of the capacity crowd. Hearn's sponsors for 2003 at Lebanon Valley included Gable Auto Stores, Gable Motorsports, Budweiser, Farrell Oil and Kruger Excavating. Kenny Tremont Jr. finished in the runner-up position for the second year in a row with two victories. Rich Ricci Jr's one win and fourteen top ten's placed him third in the overall standings, while JR Heffner came home fourth and Eddie Marshall rounded out the top five. Art Collins captured the sportsman point title for the second straight year in 2003. He finished the season with two victories and was in the top ten a very impressive thirteen out of fourteen races. Collins dedicated his championship and the 2003 season to his sister who passed away last winter. Collins thanked his crew and the sponsors for another great season. The sponsors on Collins car for 2003 were; St. Lawrence Cement, Wenk Funeral Home, Pitstop Farm, Dave Deloye, Claverack Service Station, Gary Waters, PMC Fabrication, MacFarlane Construction and Don Moore Signs. Ed Harkins had one victory and twelve top ten finishes to wind up second in the overall standings in 2003. Jeff Watson, Willie Galm and Frank Harper rounded out the top five in the overall sportsman standings. Robin Yasinsac presented the Jeff Yasinsac "Mr. Excitement" Award to Ryan Larkin. Kyle Hoffman took home Rookie of the Year honors in the sportsman division for 2003. Dalton, Mass. driver Paul LaRochelle and West Sand Lake, NY driver Danny Sanchez tied for the 2003 Pro Stock title. Following LaRochelle and Sanchez in the point chase was Rob Yetman, Jim Langenback, and Scott Govertsen rounding out the top five. For Sanchez it was his first time on the stage as a champion and said he although it was an honor being on the stage with LaRochelle, he was looking forward to being on the stage alone in 2004. For LaRochelle it was his third championship in the pro stock division and likewise said he was working very hard to repeat in '04. LaRochelle also said he wanted to keep racing long enough to compete against his six-year old son someday. Rob Yetman was named the Pro Stock Driver of the Year. The Most Improved Rookie Award in the pro stock division went to Bill Lobdell Brian Keough said he did not plan on running for points in the rookie pro stock division in 2003. But two wins and no finishes outside the top ten allowed him to walk away with the title for the second straight season in the division. In the pure stock division it was the battle of the Pete's. Pete DeFiglio and Pete Wiegand battled tooth and nail to the final night of racing. In the end both competitors finished tied and we had our second division title that resulted in co-champions. DeFiglio had five wins and finished in the top ten in every race. Wiegand had seven victories and failed to finish in the top ten only once all season. Jim Hanker, Rich Douglas, Bob Burl, and Chrissy Hilt rounded out the top five in the title hunt. You can get your Official 2004 Lebanon Valley Speedway schedule by calling the speedway office at (518) 794-9606 or (518) 794-9965. We'll be happy to mail you one or you can download a copy from the website at www.lebanonvalley.com.