New Lebanon Speedway Opens for Season
NEW LEBANON, N.Y. -- Opening night at Lebanon Valley Speedway had partly cloudy skies and chilly temperatures that dipped down into the low 40s by the time the night was over.
In other words, it was a typical April night of racing. With the Super DIRTCar Series holding their season opener Saturday night at Fulton Speedway, only appearance points were on the line for the Modifieds, but that didn’t take away from the action at all.
JR Heffner started from pole by virtue of winning his heat race with Kenny Tremont, Jr. right alongside. As the race got going, the two past champions who had battled in their heat race pulled away from the rest of the field while Wayne Jelley and Kyle Sheldon fought over third.
After a few laps of trying to make the move, Tremont made the pass for the lead on Heffner in turn 4 on lap 9. Amid the loud cheers from the assembled crowd, Tremont began to pull away from the pack in the heavy traffic.
Jelley and Sheldon made short work of Andy Bachetti and proceeded to spend nearly the entire race nose-to-tail or side-by-side, their battle only briefly interrupted by lapped traffic. Eventually, Jelley was able to get the upper hand.
The race ran caution-free, allowing Tremont to coast on his huge lead to his record-extending 121st career Modified victory at the Valley. It is his first win on the high banks since August, 2013.
Tremont was very pleased with his victory afterwards.
“The way things have been going here, I’m happy to get another win,” Tremont said. “All my crew guys kept digging. Last year wasn’t so good, but maybe this year will be.”
By virtue of finishing in the top four, Tremont, Heffner, Jelley and Sheldon have qualified for a match race against Brett Hearn that will take place on May 9. The winner of the match race, sponsored by the upcoming series Dirt Track Outlaws, will receive $250. Also, the top-six finishers will start in the top-six starting spots in the May 2 Modified feature.
Modified Results: 1) 115- Kenny Tremont, Jr., 2) 74- JR Heffner, 3) 45J- Wayne Jelley, 4) 42- Kyle Sheldon, 5) 98- Eddie Marshall, 6) 34B- Andy Bachetti, 7) 55-Mike King, 8) 98S- Kolby Schroder, 9) 17- Rob Pitcher, 10) 60- Brian Berger, 11) 47- Jeff Watson, 12) 25J- Chad Jeseo, 13) 87X- Paul Gilardi, 14) 42P- Matt Pupello, 15) 34- Steve Hough, 16) 81- D.J. Faulkner, 17) 1X- Denny Soltis, 18) 11A- Kyle Armstrong, 19) 24S- Rich Salisbury, 20) 16- Kyle Hoffman, 21) 17R- Elmo Reckner, 22) 12- Tyler Chartrand, 23) 10- Lorne Browe, 24) 6- Ken McGuire, 25) 43- Keith Flach (at Fulton), 26) 20- Brett Hearn (at Fulton), 27) 115C- Art Collins,
Small Block Entires: 25- Frank Harper, 111- Demetrios Drellos, 1- Jason Herrington, 250- Alan Houghtaling, 83- Chad Pierce, 72- Ray Hall, Jr., 88JR- Olden Dwyer, 13- Frank Hoard, III, 20- David Schilling.
