Tracks: Tremont wins 14th feature and eleventh championship at Lebanon Valley
7 September 1999
WEST LEBANON, NY- Kenny Tremont posted his 14th victory of the season
Saturday night at Lebanon Valley. George Marcus took top honors in the
sportsman class and Scott Govertsen won the street stock feature. Brian
Wilber was the winner of 15-lap IMCA Modified feature as Lebanon Valley
closed out their regular season program. Pepsi-Cola was the sponsor for the
final night of points.
To say that the modified feature had a tough go would be an
understatement. Several caution flags early in the program resulted in many
laps under the caution flag. Steve Devine was the early race leader until he
broke on lap five taking Jody Tornabene out with him. The ensuing scramble
around the broken mount of Devine saw Dickie Larkin inherit the lead followed
by Tim Dwyer and J.R. Heffner. Going into the race Dwyer was second just
three points ahead of Heffner in the point championship. With first place a
foregone conclusion all eyes were on Dwyer and Heffner.
Tremont was hungry for his 80th career victory at the Valley, he moved
into third on lap five. After the field settled down the race went mostly
single file until halfway. Larkin's bad luck reared up again when he broke on
lap 17, giving the lead to Dwyer with Tremont pursuing. Rich Ricci Jr
experienced motor problems throughout all the preliminary action, which
forced him to start deep in the field. Ricci was on the charge; he was eighth
by lap 20. The caution flew on lap 21 when John Hewitt had a right rear tire
go flat. The caution flag came out again on lap 21 when Donnie Corellis and
Mike Ricci collided on the backstretch.
Tremont dove under Dwyer to take the lead on lap 21 while Rich Ricci
grabbed fifth. The top five would not change for the remainder of the race.
Dwyer finished the race second and also took second in the overall point
standings. Third place finisher, Heffner also finished third in the overall
standings. Ronnie Johnson finished the 30-lap feature fourth and Rich Ricci
rounded out the top five.
For the second week in a row the sportsman drivers showed the modifieds
how to run a feature race. The sportsman feature went green to checker
without a lot of bumping and banging. Bobby Knipe was the early race leader
in this 20-lap affair. At the start of the race, George Marcus was almost
thirty points behind Art Collins in the title hunt. Marcus did all he could
for his title hopes taking the lead from Knipe on lap six. Marcus checked out
on the rest of the pack and would eventually open a full straightaway over
second.
Art Collins did everything he had to do to win his second straight point
title by finishing fifth. Sandwiched between Marcus and Collins were Knipe in
second, K.C. Goewey in third and Eddie Riiska fourth.
Scott Govertsen took command of the 20-lap Street Stock feature and never
looked back. Only two caution flags slowed the race, neither of which was
very serious. Govertsen almost lost the lead when he ran into lapped traffic
on lap seven, but he was able to hold off the second place car of Bob Duzlak.
The top three cars began to pull away from the rest of the field by lap 14,
but a caution on lap 15 allowed the pack to catch back up. Bobby Duzlak came
home second with Butch Irwin third, Robbie Speed fourth and Tom Brandt fifth.
Perhaps the most serious incident of the race came on lap 17 when Jim
Langenback's hood flew off his car and landed on the frontstretch grass.
Langenback would hold on to finish the race sixth but it did not matter as he
had already locked up the 1999-point championship before the race started.
Brian Wilber took the lead from Phil Balmer on lap three of the 15-lap
IMCA modified feature. Wilber never faced any serious challenges and took
home his first win of the 1999 season. Jim Rajczi was the point leader going
into the race, but fell victim to several early race incidents. Rajczi
eventually recovered to finish sixth, but it gave the championship to Wilber.
" I want to dedicate this race and the championship to my dad who passed away
over the winter," Wilber said from victory lane. Wilber was followed across
the line by Balmer, Paul LaRochelle, Donnie Denue and Craig Simmons.
Lebanon Valley Speedway will host two full days of racing action with the
CARQUEST KINGS 200 WEEKEND. Call the speedway today for race information and
lodging information.
PEPSI-COLA MODIFIED SUMMARY (30 Laps)-Kenny Tremont Jr, Tim Dwyer, J.R.
Heffner, Ronnie Johnson, Rich Ricci Jr, Guy Sheldon, Donnie Corellis, Jeff
Heotzler, Maynard Forrette, Mike King, Jason Goff, Jack Johnson, John Hewitt,
Brian Berger, Russ Reckner, Hollis Morrisey, Mike Ricci, Dave Leckonby, Chris
Kokosa, Dickie Larkin, Don Ackner, Al Narzynski, Denny Soltis, Jody
Tornabene, Mike Benson, D. McFeeters, Steve Devine, Ron Blake, Matt Quinn
SPORTSMAN SUMMARY (20 Laps)-George Marcus, Bobby Knipe, K.C. Goewey, Ed
Riiska, Art Collins, Sparky Lowe, Jay Casey, Lorne Browe, Hawley Smith, Dave
Sanchez, Wayne Jelley, John Hotchkiss, Stan Jablonka, John Alberti, Chris
Kokosa, Frank Harper, Roy Bridge, Mike Visconti, Mike Boomhower, Mike Mason,
Lee Gagliardi, Ernie Palmer, Joe Bennett, Larry Southard
IMCA MODIFIED SUMMARY (15 Laps)-Brian Wilber, Phil Balmer, Paul LaRochelle,
Don Denue, Craig Simmons, Jim Rajczi, Rich Colesanti, Tom Faxon, Anthony
Markou, Lou Gancarz, Steve Hough, Jeff Carr, Bill Lander, John Murray, Joe
Fachini, Steve Galgano
STREET STOCK SUMMARY (20 Laps)-Scott Govertsen, Bob Duzlak, Butch Irwin,
Robbie Speed, Tom Brandt, Jim Langenback, Frank Twing, Dave Kokindo, Bobby
Blackburn, Chris Morris, Phil Sherman, Bob Miller, Jay Resch, Al Blackburn,
Kirk Stanaway, Tom Bortle, Mike Halachick, John Drake, Ricky Duzlak, Adam
Holtby, Joe Duncan, Ted Teal
ROOKIE STREET STOCK SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Don Ely, Earl Mellan, Dan Burl, Brian
Keough, John Denue, Phil Moffitt, Alan O'Conner, Ken Hollenback, Jim Keough,
Charlie Woodard, Chris Claus, E.J. LeGeyt, Don Shepard, Justin Haas, Henry
Warner, Don Collins
PURE STOCK "A" SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Rich Kratt, Tim Drumm, Wally Engel, Darryl
Baker, Chris White, Phil Handlowich, Tom Meltz Jr, Tom Currier, Scott Moran,
Scott Kilmer, Steve Hatch, Jim Dellea Jr, Ryan Crellin
PURE STOCK "B" SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Tony Gale, Ramon Perry, Bob Palmer, Bill
Hughes Rich. Schumann, Jonathan Coon, Brian Tator, Fran Marchand, Art
Lafferty, Joe DiStefano, Dave Gambacorta, Toby VanAlstyne, Sid Smith
PURE STOCK "C" SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Dave Colwell, George Miles Jr, Mark Houston,
Spencer Cushing, Joe Mottoshiski, Chrissy Hilt, Rich Douglass, George Alicia,
Ken Scofield, Phil Wood, Kevin Denue, Dave Bayless Jr, John Fachini, Jim
Hankey
PURE STOCK "D" SUMMARY (8 Laps)-Peter De Figlio, Guy Hughes, Tom Sanchez Jr,
Pete Leffler, Anthony Cotugno, Jacob Coons, Brian Sandstedt, Lee Gallant, Ron
Tritchler, Dave Tanqulay, Bill Corey, Jason Saunders, Pete Wiegand
TOP 25 FINAL POINTS
MODIFIED'S
1 Kenny Tremont Jr 115 1099
2 Tim Dwyer 1A 882
3 J.R. Heffner 74 875
4 Donnie Corellis 57 805
5 John Hewitt 24 800
6 Rich Ricci Jr 55R 770
7 Ronnie Johnson 21 760
8 Dave Leckonby 1 758
9 Mike Ricci 5 735
10 Dickie Larkin 99 711
11 Guy Sheldon S 697
12 Jason Goff 73 697
13 Eddie Marshall 98 676
14 Jody Tornabene 2J 661
15 Mike King 55K 620
16 Maynard Forrette 78M 619
17 Chris Kokosa (R) 00 607
18 Brian Berger 60 568
19 Rob Pitcher 17 567
20 Todd Wilkinson 47 546
21 Ron Blake (R) 44 543
22 Steve Devine 42 466
23 Chris Moore 10 458
24 Russ Reckner FIVE 430
25 Chip Mitchell (LV) 28C 355
SPORTSMAN
1 Art Collins 68 842
2 George Marcus 91M 826
3 Sparky Lowe 77S 793
4 Hawley Smith 51 724
5 Chris Kokosa 00 678
6 Wayne Jelley 35 670
7 Dave Sanchez 23 638
8 Lee Gagliardi 1 630
9 K.C. Goewey 2 626
10 Lorne Browe 14 589
11 Stan Jablonka 44J 568
12 Jay Casey 322 564
13 Frank Harper 25 546
14 Mike Boomhower 88M 527
15 Mike Mason 26 522
16 Mike Visconti 100V 508
17 Roy Bridge S 471
18 Bobby Knipe 18 451
19 Ed Riiska 72 441
20 John Hotchkiss 17J 418
21 Jason Tompkins 117 392
22 Ernie Palmer 42 374
23 Don Miller 11M 296
24 Tony La Porta 3 245
25 Carmon Carnibucci 81S 174
IMCA MODIFIED
1 Brian Wilber 34 655
2 Jim Rajczi 9 652
3 Jeff Carr 5J 636
4 Anthony Markou 10 630
5 Craig Simmons 20 598
6 Rich Colesanti 41 597
7 Don Denue 45 533
8 Steve Hough 25 519
9 Kevin Buff 92 454
10 Bill Lander 4 440
11 George Catanzano Z1 403
12 Tom Faxon 20F 352
13 Chris Crews 757 316
14 Bud Hernberg 3 274
15 Paul LaRochelle 78 241
16 Phil Balmer 99 228
17 Lou Gancarz 328 180
18 Kevin Priest 27 155
19 Dan Galullo 14 129
20 John Murray 3 121
21 Don Sommers 11 97
22 Bob Banks Z11 67
23 Mark Lathrop 32 31
24 Joe Fachini 44 26
25 Steve Galgano 7S 25
STREET STOCK
1 Jim Langenback 54L 491
2 Bob Duzlak 29 419
3 Butch Irwin 17B 349
4 Robbie Speed 24 335
5 Scott Govertsen 117 329
6 Chris Morris 8 314
7 Dave Kokindo 120 289
8 Bob Miller 217 284
9 Tom Bortle 619 263
10 Bobby Blackburn 234 236
11 Mike Halachick 16 214
12 Danny Sanchez 63 205
13 Kirk Stanaway 455 174
14 Tom Brandt 103 161
15 Ray Hall 327 158
16 Henry Tanner 90 148
17 Al Blackburn 23 142
18 Phil Sherman 99 131
19 Mike Bungay 33 113
20 Rick Fosby 91 89
21 Frank Twing 317 79
22 Steve Brownell 56 79
23 Ricky Duzlak 22 77
24 Ed Bachand 165 64
25 Adam Haas 55 47
ROOKIE STREET STOCK AND PURE STOCK HAVE 2 POINT RACES REMAINING SEPT. 11TH
AND SEPT. 18TH.
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