Tracks: Tremont caps dream season at Lebanon Valley with 200 win
13 September 1999
WEST LEBANON, NY- Kenny Tremont took home the win Sunday in the CARQUEST 200
at Lebanon Valley. This was Tremont's 16th win of the season at the Valley.
Ryan Kerr was the winner of the 30-lap HOOSIER TIRE, Mr. DIRT Sportsman Trail
event.
Tim McCreadie took the lead at the start of the 200-lap feature. Kenny
Tremont jumped from tenth to fifth by the second lap. McCreadie was on a
torrid pace catching the back of the pack by lap five. The eighth lap saw a
three wide battle for the fifth position between Steve Paine, Randy Sherlock
and Jimmy Chester. McCreadie and Danny Johnson had opened up a full
straightaway advantage over the third place Horton by lap nine. Danny Johnson
made the pass for the lead on lap ten. The first of ten caution flags flew on
lap 14 when Jeff Heotzler spun in turn one. Stan Jablonka dropped from the
race during the caution.
Dave Camara took over sixth on lap 19. Tremont would take over second on
a lap 28 restart. The top four began to pull away from the rest of the pack
by lap 37 as Tremont began to dog Johnson for the lead. The leader started to
encounter lapped traffic by lap 40. Steve Paine got around Camara for fifth
on lap 45. The top five at the quarter mark of the race were Johnson,
Tremont, McCreadie, Horton and Paine. The leaders ran into very heavy lapped
traffic on lap 53 allowing Tremont to pressure Johnson again. With the
leaders stuck in traffic several lead changes took place. Horton had taken
over second on lap 59 and moved into first on lap 62. Johnson took the lead
back on lap 63, with Horton taking command again on lap 66.
Jerry Higbie slowed on the frontstretch on lap 68 bringing out the
caution and setting the stage for the mandatory pitstops. The only cars not
to pit under the yellow were Jimmy Chester and Chris Kokosa. Tremont was the
first car out of the pits and was third when the race resumed. Tremont passed
Kokosa for second on lap 75. Tremont grabbed the lead from Chester on a lap
82 restart with Decker moving up to third. Donnie Corellis and Jeff Heotzler
made contact on lap 84 and Corellis had to go pitside with a right rear flat
tire. There were still thirty-two out of thirty-seven cars running on lap 89.
Ronnie Johnson grabbed third on the lap 90 restart.
Decker had taken over the second spot and he and Tremont checked out on
the rest of the field by lap 94. Tim McCreadie saw a top ten run go sour when
he broke on lap 94. The top ten at halfway were Tremont, Decker, Ronnie
Johnson, Kokosa, Tim Fuller, Doug Hoffman, Camara, Jack Johnson, Steve Paine
and Jimmy Horton. Danny Johnson was making a charge just after the halfway
point. He had made a mid-race pit stop and was back up to fifth by lap
120.The leaders were catching heavy traffic on lap 125 when the caution flew
for Doug Hoffman Tim Fuller moved up into third on the lap 133 restart with
Johnson fourth and Paine fifth.
Tremont and Decker checked out again on the field by lap 139. Jody
Tornabene brushed the wall on lap 143 but no caution came out. Bobby Varin
dropped out of the race on lap 148. Jason Goff had a good run going when his
left rear tire came off on lap 152. Johnson used the lapped car of Corellis
as a pick to get around Fuller on the lap 160 restart. Things really started
to heat up in the final stages of the race. The top three were nose to tail
on lap 170. Decker made a great pass around the outside of Tremont to take
the lead on lap 171. Camara's good run would end on lap 176 when he retired
from the race. Paine took fourth from Fuller on lap 178. Guy Sheldon dropped
from the race on lap 182. Ronnie Johnson had something break on lap 186 and
made hard contact with the turn four wall.
There were still twenty-five cars remaining on lap 188. Decker began to
show smoke on lap 196 and slowed on lap 197 allowing Tremont and Danny
Johnson to get around. The caution flew on lap 198 setting up a green, white,
checker finish. Tremont got a good restart and was able to pull away from
Johnson. Tremont was able to hang on for his second career victory in the
Lebanon Valley 200. Johnson had to settle for second with Fuller third,
Horton fourth and Jack Johnson in fifth. Decker was able to hold on for a
sixth place finish. Apparently, Decker and his crew knew that he was not
going to finish the race, because his car was overheating by lap 45.
Several caution flags flew in the early stages on the 30-lap Hoosier Tire, Mr
DIRT Sportsman feature. Alton Palmer spun out in turn one during one of the
early race incidents. The most serious incident of the race came on lap five
when Chris Schultz flipped on the frontstretch. The car was toast, but the
driver was all right. Jim Spano had led the first half of the race, but Ryan
Kerr took over just before halfway. Alton Palmer had recovered to be running
fifth by lap 18 but he would tag the wall on the same lap and be finished.
Steve Hall had been patient the whole race and he would eventually finish in
the third position. Chad Brachmann and Mike Ballestero made contact while
battling for third, both would be eliminated from the event. Kerr was able to
hang on for his first career victory at Lebanon Valley, Spano was second,
Hall third, Rich Swarthout fourth and Gary Moreash rounded out the top five.
CARQUEST NATIONAL 200 SUMMARY (200 Laps)-Kenny Tremont, Danny Johnson, Tim
Fuller, Jimmy Horton, Jack Johnson, Billy Decker, Brett Hearn, Alan Johnson,
Jeff Heotzler, Earl Paules, John Hewitt, Donnie Corellis, Frank Cozze,
Chris Kokosa, Jimmy Chester, Vic Coffey, Pat Ward, Randy Sherlock, Steve
Paine, Jody Tornabene, Jason Goff, Mel Schrufer, Tim Dwyer, Russ Reckner,
Ronnie Johnson, Guy Sheldon, Donnie Ackner, Dave Camara, Bobby Varin, Bobby
Albert, Doug Hoffman, Tim McCreadie, Jerry Higbie, J.R. Heffner, K.C. Goewey,
Joe Winne, Stan Jablonka
DIRT SPORTSMAN SUMMARY (30 Laps)-Ryan Kerr, Jim Spano, Steve Hall, Rich
Swarthout, Gary Moreash, Stan Jablonka, Mike Visconti, Scott Flammer, Alan
Sturhann, Jay Haviland, Lem Atkins, Karl Comfort, Kevin Duryea, Ryan Odasz,
Mark Pullen, Mike Ballestero, Chad Brachman, Bill Haley, Alton Palmer, Jay
Mallory, Bob Hentschel, Craig Mitchell, Chris Shultz, Randy Chrysler
Editors Note: For hundreds of hot racing photos and racing art, be sure to visit The Racing ImageGalleries and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.