Tracks: Four 1st time winners of season at Lebanon Valley Saturday
8 August 1999
WEST LEBANON, NY- Ron Blake won his first career modified feature Saturday
night at Lebanon Valley. Won the 20-lap sportsman feature. Bobby Blackburn
won the 20-lap Street Stock feature. Anthony Markou was victorious in the
15-lap IMCA modified feature. Saxton Signs sponsored the evening's program.
Several stories shaped the start of the 30-lap modified feature. John
Hewitt had motor problems on his Rifenburg #24 in his heat race. Kenny
Tremont allowed Hewitt to borrow his backup car to run in the feature. Donnie
Corellis suffered a right rear flat tire on the parade laps and had to pit.
He was involved in a lap one incident and was done for the night. Brian
Burger was on the pole for the race, but his car quit in turn two on the
first lap and he was an early retiree. When the race finally got going Steve
Devine was on the point with Ron Blake in pursuit.
Kenny Tremont got spun around on lap four and brought out the second
caution of the race. Tremont's car was not damaged and he was able to
continue in the race. Dickie Larkin pulled out of the race during this
caution flag. The restart saw several cars bounce off each other and Mike
Ricci wound up in the turn four wall, bringing out the caution again. J.R.
Heffner moved up into the top five on the restart. Blake chased after Devine
for the lead on lap six and took the lead on lap seven.
Kokosa and Heffner were able to scoot around Devine and take over second
and third respectively on lap nine. Tremont was moving back through the field
quickly and was up to eighth and lap eleven. As the field crossed the stripe
at halfway Blake was still in front; he was followed by Kokosa, Heffner, Rich
Ricci and Tremont. The final caution of the race came out on lap 16 when Mike
King made contact with the frontstretch wall.
Guy Sheldon would also retire to the pits under this caution. Heffner battled
Kokosa for the second spot and made the pass on lap 19. Heffner began to
close in on race leader Blake on lap 24.
Heffner tried to make a race out of it for the victory. He made a banzai
move on the last lap to try and get under Blake, but he could not make the
pass stick and had to settle for second and Tremont got up to third by the
end of the race. Kokosa came home fourth in his second race with his new Teo
racecar and Rich Ricci rounded out the top five. This was the first career
win for the rookie modified driver.
Disaster struck on the green flag of the 20-lap sportsman feature. Mike
Boomhower drove straight into the turn one wall very hard he was all right,
but the racecar was a wreck. When the green dropped again Roy Bridge was in
command of the race, with Chris Kokosa right behind him in second. The second
caution flag of the race came out on lap seven when Jason Tompkins got a
right rear flat tire. Danny Sanchez took over fourth from Wayne Jelley on lap
nine. Jelley started to show signs of smoke and he would exit the event by
lap ten. Hawley Smith moved up into the top five as a result.
Point's leader, Art Collins suffered a right rear flat tire on lap 14 and
he would finish outside the top ten for the second week in a row. Kokosa
threw everything he had at the front running Bridge, but he could not make a
pass stick. Bridge was able to hold on for his first victory in almost three
years. Lee Gagliardi finished third, Smith fourth and Sanchez rounded out the
top five.
Bob Miller and Kirk Stanaway led the field down to the green flag in the
20-lap Street Stock feature. Miller was able to grab the lead with Bobby
Blackburn running a close second. Blackburn began to pressure Miller for the
lead on lap four. The two ran side by side for two laps before the caution
flag came out on lap five with Miller still in front. Blackburn was able to
out-motor Miller for the lead on the restart and grabbed the front spot.
Blackburn quickly opened up a ten-car advantage over the field. You could
throw a blanket over positions two through six at the halfway point of this
event. Miller was hanging on to second with heavy pressure from Robbie Speed
and Chris Morris. Bobby's older brother Al rounded out the top five at
halfway.
It appeared that Blackburn might have been slowing in the final stages of
the race. That was not true, as the 17-year old driver was able to take home
his first career Street Stock feature. Miller had a strong run in second with
Speed third; Morris fourth and Al Blackburn rounded out the top five.
Anthony Markou took the lead on the first lap of the IMCA modified
feature and never looked back. Markou led all 15-laps of the race and was
never seriously challenged. Only one caution flag slowed the event, but
several of the top runners suffered mechanical woes. Brian Wilbur, Don Denue,
Kevin Buff and Paul LaRochelle all dropped from the race while running in the
top five. Some good racing and the growing attrition rate allowed Jim Rajczi
to get up to second. Markou had opened a half-straightaway advantage over
second place and Rajczi could not make up the distance before the checkered
flag fell.
SAXTON SIGN MODIFIED SUMMARY (30 Laps)-Ron Blake, J.R. Heffner, Kenny Tremont
Jr, Chris Kokosa, Rich Ricci Jr, Dave Leckonby, Tim Dwyer, Ronnie Johnson,
Eddie Marshall, Jason Goff, Dickie Larkin, Jody Tornabene, Russ Reckner,
Maynard Forrette, Steve Devine, Denny Soltis, Jeff Lutes, Al Narzynski, Mike
King, Guy Sheldon, Mike Ricci, Wayne Figler, Donnie Corellis, Brian Berger,
John Hewitt
SPORTSMAN SUMMARY (20 Laps)-Roy Bridge, Chris Kokosa, Lee Gagliardi, Hawley
Smith, Dave Sanchez, K.C. Goewey, George Marcus, Sparky Lowe, Lorne Browe,
Mike Visconti, Mike Mason, Tom Overbaugh, Art Collins, John Hotchkiss, Frank
Harper, Jason Tompkins, Ed Riiska, Jay Casey, Tony Ferrieiro, Larry Southard,
Ernie Palmer, Wayne Jelley, Stan Jablonka, Don Miller, Mike Boomhower
IMCA MODIFIED SUMMARY (15 Laps)-Anthony Markou, Jim Rajczi, Jeff Carr, Steve
Hough, Phil Balmer, Craig Simmons, Brian Wilbur, Bud Hernberg, Dan Galullo,
Lou Gancarz, Kevin Buff, Paul LaRochelle, Don Denue, Bill Lander, Tom Faxon,
Rich Colesanti
STREET STOCK SUMMARY (20 Laps)-Bobby Blackburn, Bob Miller, Robbie Speed,
Chris Morris, Al Blackburn, Bob Duzlak, Dave Kokindo, Jim Langenback, Butch
Irwin, Tom Bortle, Dan Therrien, Scott Govertsen, Kirk Stanaway, Joe Humet,
Ricky Duzlak
ROOKIE STREET STOCK SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Dan Burl, Earl Mellan, Walt Clark, Brian
Keough, Don Shepard, John Denue, Mark Chartrand, Phil Moffitt, Henry Warner,
Chris Claus, Don Ely, Tom Bungay, Steve Kastner, Don Collins, Pete Jeskee
PURE STOCK "A" SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Carl Bailargeon, Lee Gallant, Fran Marchand,
Spencer Cushing, Darryl Baker, Ron Tritchler, Mark Houston, Brian Sandstedt,
Rich Douglass, Kevin Denue, Bruce Moffitt, Phil Handlowich, Jerry Lawton,
Gary Ashley, Jon Trudeau, Nathan Harvey, Wally Engel, Rich. Schumann
PURE STOCK "B" SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Jonathan Coon, Anthony Cotugno, Josh Webb,
William Hammell, Ryan Crellin, Rich Kratt, Jim Hankey, William Fuchs, Ted
Mulberry, Tony Lopresti, P. Fitzpatrick, Ray Pierre Jr, Brian Tator, Pete
Wiegand, Tom Meltz Jr, Ramon Perry, Tony Gale
PURE STOCK "C" SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Tom Sanchez Jr, Bob Palmer, Tim Drumm, George
Miles Jr,
Peter De Figlio, Jacob Coons, Jason Saunders, Shawn Finigan, Charlie Ackert,
Wm. Lapointe, Joe DiStefano, Steve Hatch, Scott Moran, Guy Hughes, Mike
Garcia, John Plaza
POINTS AS OF 8-07-99
MODIFIED POINTS
1 Kenny Tremont Jr 115 956
2 Tim Dwyer 1A 779
3 J.R. Heffner 74 745
4 Donnie Corellis 57 693
5 John Hewitt 24 688
6 Dave Leckonby 1 661
7 Rich Ricci Jr 55R 656
8 Mike Ricci 5 633
9 Ronnie Johnson 21 614
10 Dickie Larkin 99 608
11 Jason Goff 73 603
12 Eddie Marshall 98 600
13 Guy Sheldon S 589
14 Jody Tornabene 2J 571
15 Todd Wilkinson 47 547
16 Chris Kokosa (R) 00 542
17 Mike King 55K 537
18 Ron Blake (R) 44 503
19 Maynard Forrette 78M 492
20 Brian Berger 60 469
21 Rob Pitcher 17 467
22 Chris Moore 10 458
23 Steve Devine 42 398
24 Chip Mitchell (LV) 28C 355
25 Russ Reckner FIVE 328
SPORTSMAN POINTS
1 George Marcus 91M 694
2 Art Collins 68 678
3 Sparky Lowe 77S 649
4 Hawley Smith 51 628
5 Chris Kokosa 00 576
6 Lee Gagliardi 1 538
7 Wayne Jelley 35 524
8 Dave Sanchez 23 510
9 Lorne Browe 14 502
10 K.C. Goewey 2 502
11 Jay Casey 322 461
12 Frank Harper 25 456
13 Mike Mason 26 441
14 Stan Jablonka 44J 438
15 Mike Boomhower 88M 429
16 Mike Visconti 100V 417
17 Roy Bridge S 391
18 Jason Tompkins 117 370
19 Ed Riiska 72 345
20 Bobby Knipe 18 334
21 Ernie Palmer 42 333
22 John Hotchkiss 17J 333
23 Don Miller 11M 296
24 Tony La Porta 3 245
25 Carmon Carnibucci 81S 154
IMCA MODIFIED POINTS
1 Jim Rajczi 9 547
2 Brian Wilbur 34 543
3 Anthony Markou 10 532
4 Craig Simmons 20 529
5 Jeff Carr 5J 528
6 Rich Colesanti 41 505
7 Don Denue 45 431
8 Steve Hough 25 423
9 Paul LaRochelle 78 412
10 George Catanzano Z1 403
11 Kevin Buff 92 381
12 Bill Lander 4 338
13 Chris Crews 757 316
14 Tom Faxon 20F 282
15 Bud Hernberg 3 274
16 Phil Balmer 99 131
17 Kevin Priest 27 129
18 Dan Galullo 14 129
19 Don Sommers 11 97
20 Lou Gancarz 328 89
21 Bob Banks Z11 67
22 Mark Lathrop 32 31
23 John Murray 3 30