Tracks: Point Chases Begin to Heat Up at Lebanon Valley
20 July 2000
WEST LEBANON, NY- As we head into the second half of the season at Lebanon Valley we wanted to take a quick glance at how the point championships are shaping up in the respective divisions. This looks to be one of the closest years yet in many of the classes at the Valley. Let's take a look first at the modified division. At this point in the season last year Kenny Tremont had already had a virtual lock on the modified point title. He totally dominated the division by winning sixteen features including Mr. Dirt Track, USA and the CARQUEST 200. This year it is a much different story as nine drivers have already made the trip to victory lane. Tremont has had a series of bad finishes and has not had the consistency of past years. Right now the man at the top of the mountain is Rich Ricci Jr. Ricci has already had one victory this season for the Gable Motorsports team and has chipped away at Tremont's lead week after week. Rich Ricci's fifth place finish on July 8th vaulted him past Tremont to take the point lead seven points ahead of Tremont. The driver lurking in third has also put together some great run here in the middle of the season. Chris Moore did not have the best start of the season but has rebounded nicely and his is just fifty-two points behind Ricci. Moore has also visited victory lane in the year 2000. Just four points behind Moore in fourth is John Hewitt. The Troy native continually posts top ten finishes week in and week out and can not be ruled out of the championship chase. Rounding out the top five in the modifieds in the driver of the Rifenburg #57, Donnie Corellis who has also found his way to victory lane this season. Corellis needs to find that early season magic if he wants to go after the coveted modified championship. While Ricci is seven points ahead of Tremont in the modified division, he is currently eight points behind in the 358-modified chase. Tremont has been flawless in the 358-modifieds driving the Tremont Lumber #21 owned by his cousin Dennis. Tremont has won both of the races run so far and will be a force to be reckoned with. Sheffield, Mass young gun, Todd Wilkinson sits just eight points behind Ricci in third and could play the role of spoiler in this mini-series. Hector Stratton has found success away from home and finds himself fourth after two events. A winner in the modified division this year. J.R. Heffner had branched out into the 358-modifieds as well and he is currently fifth in the title hunt. The sportsman division title race looks to be a barnburner. George Marcus is currently sitting on top of the heap. A place that he has been familiar with in the past. This year Marcus has not had the consistency of past seasons and with have to contend with several drivers to take home the crown. Art Collins is making a quick habit out of visiting victory lane. He has made that trip four times already this season and he is quickly erasing that twenty-four-point lead that Marcus has. Sparky Lowe finished the 1999 season on a very high note by winning the sportsman portion of the Kings 200 Weekend. He already has a trip to victory lane in 2000 and is just thirteen points behind Collins. Bobby Knipe made Lebanon Valley his regular Saturday night home a couple of seasons ago. He seems to be getting used to the high banks nicely and currently sits fourth in the standings. "Rapid" Roy Bridge made his way to victory lane already this season and currently rides fifth in the overall point chase. The IMCA Modified points find Paul LaRochelle leading the way with a comfortable lead over Steve Hough. Chris Crews sits third with Dan Galullo and Pete Tucker rounding out the top five. Anything can happen in this division so look for some possible changes in the points by the end of the season. Todd Goldstein was euphoric when he visited victory lane a couple of weeks ago. He has had the point lead in the street stock division for most of the season and will be tough to beat. Rob Yetman sits twenty-four points behind Goldstein and is poised to make a charge if Goldstein falters. Scott Govertsen has also made his way to the winner's circle this season and right now he is third in the standings. Last years champion, Jim Lagenback, has struggled a little this season, but do not count him out in the second half as he looks to make a charge to repeat as champion. Ricky Duzlak sits in the fifth position just one point out of fourth and three points out of third. The younger of the Duzlak brothers is hungry to make a title run. One person who can easily earn the title of Mr. Consistency is Rookie Street Stock driver Brian Keough. Brian currently sits atop the Rookie point list and with the exception of a 7th place finish on the second week has not finished any other race worse than 4th place. Brian finally captured his first Rookie feature win on July 8th. Although Keough has a sizable lead in the points look for challenges from young George Stalker Jr. and third place point man Dan Humes to make this a closer battle towards the end of the season. The Pure Stock division is the largest class we have at Lebanon Valley. With close to 50 Pure Stock drivers competing on a weekly basis in three separate races it makes this point chase very close. Much like the Rookie Street Stocks Bob Palmer is also becoming Mr. Consistency. He also has one 7th place finish with the rest of his finishes no worse than 4th. Bob has visited victory lane twice in 2000 and looks to finish the second half of the year with more. Ryan Crellin is hot on the heels of Palmer just 30 points behind. Bill Hughes, Fran Marchand and Pete Wiegand are all in the hunt for the coveted Pure Stock point championship and it should come down to the wire making this an exciting battle. You can catch all the great action at Lebanon Valley every Saturday night at 6:15. A full field of modifieds, sportsman, IMCA modifieds, street stocks, rookies and pure stocks thrill the fans every week. General admission is only eight dollars while children under twelve are just a buck. So load the whole family in the car and see who will be the 2000 point champions at the high banks.