TRACKS: Johnson and Hotchkiss Both Notch First Wins at Lebanon Valley
4 July 1999
JULY 3, 1999 WEST LEBANON, NY- Ronnie Johnson won his first career modified feature at Lebanon Valley Saturday night. John Hotchkiss won his first career feature as well in the 20-lap sportsman feature. Jim Lagenback won his fourth street stock feature of the year while Rich Colesanti was the IMCA modified winner. Dickie Larkin and Steve Devine made up the front row for the start of the 30-lap modified feature. Larkin was able to grab the advantage at the start and quickly pulled away from the pack. Ronnie Johnson was moving up quickly from his fifth starting spot, he took over second from Steve Devine on lap three. The first caution of the race came out on lap five when Dave Mosher spun in turn three. J.R. Heffner and Kenny Tremont were looking to catch the front runners; they sat fifth and sixth on lap eight. Meanwhile the top three had checked out from the rest of the pack. Tremont by passed Heffner and Mike King to take fourth on lap 12. The top five at halfway looked like this Larkin, Johnson, John Hewitt, Tremont and Heffner. Larkin began to encounter slower cars by lap 16. The second and final caution came out on lap 20 as Jody Tornabene slowed on the speedway. The restart would see Tremont began to put the heat on the third place car of Hewitt. Larkin's bad luck rose its ugly head again as he dropped from the lead and out of the race on lap 22. Johnson inherited the lead as Tremont took over second and Hewitt was third. Once Johnson took command of the feature he tried to run away and hide, but Tremont wouldn't let him. Tremont closed to within two car lengths but could not challenge Johnson as he crossed the finish line first; he was followed by Tremont, Hewitt, Heffner and Dave Leckonby. Johnson was quick to thank car owner, Brian Goewey for such a good race team. Johnson also said that it was quite a thrill to be sitting in victory lane at Lebanon Valley. Roy Bridge took the lead at the drop of the green flag in the 20-lap sportsman feature. He led every lap crossing the checkered flag a full straightaway ahead of the second place car. Unfortunately he was disqualified for being light. That gave the win to a driver that has been competing at Lebanon Valley for over thirty years. John Hotchkiss has never won a race at Lebanon Valley Speedway, but that all ended tonight. Ironically, Hotchkiss had a third place finish disallowed for being underweight early in the season, maybe a little poetic justice for Hotchkiss? There were several early wrecks that helped shape the outcome of the race. There was a 12-14-car pileup on the first lap of the race that took out several sportsman cars. The most serious wreck of the race happened on lap 12 when Stan Jablonka got turned into the frontstretch wall. Mike Boomhower was sent to the pits for his role in the incident. Sparky Lowe was one of the fastest cars at the end of the race; he got all the way up to third by the end of the race. Lowe was one of those drivers that had been involved in an early race incident. Art Collins also was involved in at least two of the early race cautions. He would recover to finish in the fifth place. In the last 31 point races for the sportsman division Art Collins had not finished out of the top ten. Butch Irwin took the lead on the start of the 20-lap street stock feature. The field stacked up neatly behind him as second through seventh ran side by side. Ray Hall briefly held the second spot, but he broke going down the backstretch on lap three. Jim Lagenback was looking for his fourth win of the season; he was third on lap four. Lagenback took over second and inherited the lead as Irwin slowed on lap seven. Robbie Speed saw a top five run erased with a right rear flat tire on lap eleven. Dave Kokindo jumped the start on the lap eleven restart and was sent to the rear for his actions. Lagenback was in total control of the event and quickly opened up on the rest of the field. Danny Sanchez also saw a top five finish disappear when he spun on lap 18. Lagenback took the checkered flag a half-straightaway ahead of Ed Bachand, Bob Duzlak, Scott Govertsen, and Bobby Blackburn. It was a strong top five run for Blackburn, who had started the race for the last position. The 15-lap IMCA modified feature had a little trouble getting started, but when the dust finally settled Donnie Denue was in command. Last week's winner, George Catanzano; was in close pursuit of Denue by lap one. Paul LaRochelle took over third in the running order on lap three. Brian Wilbur brought out the caution flag when he hit the turn four wall on lap six. The final caution of the race took out Craig Simmons, who was running in the top five when he spun out in turn one. The restart saw Catanzano began to challenge Denue for the lead. LaRochelle took over second from Catanzano on lap ten and set his sights on the front running Denue. LaRochelle would make the pass for the lead on lap eleven and he took home his second win of the 1999-racing season. Rich Colesanti was second and Denue finished third. LaRochelle had the win taken away when he refused to let his motor be claimed. Colesanti was awarded the win as a result. COOR'S LIGHT / SNAP-ON TOOLS MODIFIED SUMMARY (30 Laps)-Ronnie Johnson, Kenny Tremont Jr, John Hewitt, J.R. Heffner, Dave Leckonby, Chris Moore, Tim Dwyer, Mike King, Todd Wilkinson, Steve Devine, Donnie Corellis, Maynard Forrette, Guy Sheldon, Rob Pitcher, Jason Goff, Chris Kokosa, Chip Mitchell, Chris Soltis, Denny Young Sr, Al Narzynski, Dave Mosher, Dickie Larkin, Ron Blake, Jody Tornabene, Brian Berger, Wayne Figler, John Lutes Jr, Rich Ricci Jr SPORTSMAN SUMMARY (20 Laps)-John Hotchkiss, Sparky Lowe, Hawley Smith, Art Collins, Mike Mason, Ed Riiska, Wayne Jelley, George Marcus, Frank Harper, Jeff Cassidy, Don Miller, Lee Gagliardi, Lorne Browe, Ken Aanonsen, Jay Casey, Chris Kokosa, Larry Southard, Ernie Palmer, Stan Jablonka, Mike Boomhower, Mike Visconti, Tony Ferrieiro, Jason Tompkins, Dave Sanchez, Roy Bridge IMCA MODIFIED SUMMARY (15 Laps)-Rich Colesanti, Don Denue, Jim Rajczi, George Catanzano, Steve Hough, Jeff Carr, Kevin Buff, Anthony Markou, Brian Wilbur, Craig Simmons, Tom Faxon, Chris Crews, Bud Hernberg STREET STOCK SUMMARY (20 Laps)-Jim Langenback, Ed Bachand, Bob Duzlak, Scott Govertsen, Bobby Blackburn, Tom Bortle, Butch Irwin, Mike Halachick, Dave Kokindo, Spencer Hughes, Rick Fosby, Phil Sherman, Robbie Speed, Danny Sanchez, Chris Morris, Bob Miller, Tim Emmons, Ray Hall, Kirk Stanaway ROOKIE STREET STOCK SUMMARY (10 Laps)-Wayne Hall, Henry Warner, Dan Burl, John Denue, Eric Wood, Earl Mellan, Brian Keough, Don Collins, E.J. LeGeyt, Don Shepard, Don Ely, Chris Claus, Jeff Joseph Jr, Joe Platt, Ken Parker, Steve Ryan, Phil Moffitt PURE STOCK "A" SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Rich Kratt, Brian Sandstedt, Charlie Woodard, Sid Smith, Lee Gallant, William Fuchs, Art Lafferty, Wally Engel, Josh Webb, Rich. Schumann, Kevin Denue, Tony Lopresti, Ray Pierre Jr, Jon Trudeau, Fran Marchand PURE STOCK "B" SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Ryan Crellin, Joe Hallenbeck, Bill Hughes, Joe Mottoshiski, Phil Wood, Ramon Perry, Anthony Cotugno, Tony Gale, Tom Meltz Jr, John Plaza, Shawn Williams, Tom Currier, Jim Dellea Jr, Mark Houston, Bruce Moffitt, Guy Hughes PURE STOCK "C" SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Tom Sanchez Jr, Jonathan Coon, Spencer Cushing, Steve Hatch, George Miles Jr, Peter De Figlio, Tim Drumm, Scott Kilmer, Ted Mulberry, Bob Palmer, Jim Hankey, Ron Tritchler, Jacob Coons, Dave Colwell, William Hammell MODIFIED TOP 15 POINTS AS OF 7-3 1 Kenny Tremont Jr 115 684 2 Tim Dwyer 1A 540 3 Donnie Corellis 57 493 4 J.R. Heffner 74 483 5 John Hewitt 24 479 6 Dave Leckonby 1 441 7 Todd Wilkinson 47 416 8 Ronnie Johnson 21 414 9 Mike Ricci 5 413 10 Guy Sheldon S 408 11 Jason Goff 73 394 12 Rich Ricci Jr 55R 392 13 Dickie Larkin 99 379 14 Eddie Marshall 98 376 15 Chris Moore 10 372
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