Flach Saves the Best for Last, 1st Win Worth Double the Points

West Lebanon, NY:  Rifenburg Construction pulled out all the stops at the Valley of Speed this past Saturday night.  That included a first career win, and $1,000.00 to win shoot-out, a parade of big rigs and equipment, and top it all off with a nearly standing-room-only crowd, and that's a recipe for some major dirt track racing.

The 30 Lap Rifenburg Construction Modified main event had an added twist of double points, that will come in handy for the fact that 1st through 8th are under 100 points apart.  At the front of the class, it was the #0 of Charlie Humes and the #43 of Keith Flach.  The green flag flew, and it was the #0 out front pacing the field with Flach in tow.

A couple of cautions slowed the field early, with the worst being on lap 3 when heavy contact was made with the #7 of  John Ruchel, the #87 of Hector Stratton, the #347 of Skippy Fox, and a few others.

This would come into play later on in the race, as the field came under green again.  All the cars from the earlier incident returned to track, some where a few laps down.  At the front, Humes again had control, but the big guns were coming.  Defending Champ Andy Bachetti, Kenny Tremont, J.R. Heffner, Eddie Marshall, and Jeff Trombley were making their way through the field to get to the front.

But up front, Flach got on run on Humes, and took over at the top of the field.  As they raced, no sooner than Flach got it, he lost it, to Heffner's #74 as J.R. powered around the high side of the high banks and took over the lead.  The A.Calarusso and Sons #74 began to pull away and set sail for the checkers.

Behind him, Flach was holding strong in the Flach Crane and Rigging #43, with Bachetti's Albreada Waste #4, the S&S Asphalt #115 of Tremont, and the Marshall Oil #98 of Eddie Marshall all in tow, and trying to get to the front.  As the race wound down, it seemed that Heffner was a lock, and everyone else was racing for 2nd.

As the white flag flew, Heffner was already in the midst of a few lap cars, Flach began to charge for a last ditch effort to get a win.  As the #74 approached turn 3 and 4, the #347 of Fox bobbled, and drifted up the track, right in the path of Heffner.  Heffner took slowed to maneuver around the slower car, and moved to the low side to make the pass.  Just then, with a full head of steam, the #43 of Flach carried the momentum around the high side of both, to nip the #74 at the line by just a ½ a car length.

In exciting fashion, the #43 of Keith Flach gets his first Big Block win at the Valley of Speed.  Following Flach was Heffner; Brian Berger crossed the line 3rd, followed by Guy Sheldon, and Andy Bachetti.

The 20 lap Sportsman event was on the track next, with the #1 of D.T. Pickard and the #3 of Kim Lavoy at the point.  When the green flew, the #1 was #1 and began to pull away from the field.   Trouble began early as well, with the worse incident coming around lap 8 when contact was made with the spinning #3 of Lavoy that collected the #122 of Wayne Keyes, and the #97 Bill Singer, among others.  Most were able to continue.

At this point in the event, the #2 of K.C Goewey was out front of the field.   After they went back to green, Goewey led the field for a few short laps, until the #2 stowed in turn 3 with transmission failure, handing over the top spot to the #250 of Alan Houghtaling.

The #250, had the field covered, except for the #22 of Defending Champ Jeff Watson.  Watson hounded the #250 for several laps, and finally on lap 18, the #22 powered around Houghtaling, and took over the lead.  That was all he needed, as the checkers flew it was Jeff Watson with the win, followed by the #250 of Houghtaling.  3rd was Art Collins, followed by Chris Kokosa and Kory Sandstedt.

Also on the menu of events was the Benjamin Moore Paints 358 Super Series 24 lap feature event.  At the green, the #30 of Mark Pullen led the field through turns 1 and 2.  Back in the field, the heavy hitters were beginning to charge through the field.  At the same time, the #20 of Matt Quinn powered passed Pullen's #30, and took the top spot.

The field was slowed by a caution on lap 3 when heavy contact was made between the #145 of Roy Bridge, and the #171 of Tom Faxon, that involved the #39 of Ryan Larkin.

Quinn restarted the field to the green, and stayed in the top position for the next several laps.  That is, until the #4 of Bachetti charged to the front of the field, and took over from Quinn by lap 12.  Back in the field, J.R. Heffner and Keith Flach were making their way to the front as well, but there was nothing anyone could do about the #4.  Bachetti takes the checkers for his 3rd win of 2007.

Following Bachetti was Keith Flach, J.R. Heffner, Matt Quinn, and Jeff Trombley rounded out the top 5.

At the end of the night, a Special $1,000.00 to win Big Block Shootout, presented by Rifenberg Construction, pitted the Valley of Speeds big guns with a 4 lap sprint, a 1 tire pit stop, followed by a Delaware style restart.  The first 4 laps were led by the #21J of Jeff Trombley, but dropped to 4th after the pit stops on lap 4.  Andy Bachetti came out of the pits first and that was it for the rest of the field.  The #4 led the last four laps to win the shootout and the $1,000.00.  Heffner finished 2nd, followed by Tremont, Marshall, Berger, and Trombley.

The Pro Stocks were up next, and the action wasn't any less exciting, as the #324 of jay Casey and the #38M of Mike Middleton diced it out for the last 12 laps of the 20 lap event.  After swapping the lead back and forth, the #38M finally prevailed, and got his first win of 2007 in exciting fashion.

Following Middleton was Casey, followed by Kevin Arnold, Robbie Speed, and Paul LaRochelle rounded out the top 5.

The Limited Pro Stock 10 lap feature was captured by the #17 of Nick Hilt, his 8th of 2007, and his 6th in a row.

The other full fendered division, the Pure Stocks, hit the valley of speed, with this week's winners being:  PS#1 - #67 of Dave Houser, PS#2 - #078 of Kirk Stanaway, and PS#3 went to the #0 of Matt Humes.

Lebanon Valley Speedway is set to play host to the USHRA Monster truck Summer Nationals, presented by Carquest and Joe Tornabene's GMC this Monday through Wednesday July 16th-18th.  For more details and ticket information, visit our website.

And next Saturday at the High Banks, all classes will be in action, including a special $500.00 to Win Pro Stock Feature presented by Sayer's Auto Wrecking and Sheffield Building Supply.

For more information about the speedway, directions, or ticket information, visit our website at www.LebanonValley.com, click on "Speedway".  Or call the Speedway Offices at (518) 794-9606, (518) 794-9965 during normal business hours.

Saturday July 14, 2007 - Rifenburg Construction Presents The Night Of Features Modified Results (Double Points) (30 Laps) - 1 Keith Flach, 2 J. R. Heffner, 3 Brian Berger, 4 Guy Sheldon, 5 Andy Bachetti, 6 Kenny Tremont, 7 Eddie Marshall, 8 John Hewitt, 9 Russ Reckner, 10 Matt Quinn, 11 Jeff Trombley, 12 Mike King, 13 Paul Gilardi, 14 Steve Hough, 15 John Ruchel, 16 Dave McFeeters, 17 Wayne Figler, 18 Charlie Humes, 19 Hector Stratton, 20 Kyle Sheldon, 21 Ryan Larkin, 22 Skippy Fox, 23 John Alberti, 24 Mark Flach Jr

Rifenburg Modified Construction Dash Results (8 Laps) - 1 Andy Bachetti - Wentworth Construction, 2 J. R. Heffner - A. Callarusso & Sons, 3 Kenny Tremont Jr. - Rifenburg Construction, 4 Eddie Marshall - Fan Vote, 5 Brian Berger - Fan Vote, 6 Jeff Trombley - Fan Vote

Benjamin Moore Paints 358 Modified Super Series Results (24 Laps) - 1 Andy Bachetti, 2 Keith Flach, 3 J. R. Heffner, 4 Matt Quinn, 5 Jeff Trombley, 6 Ray Hoard, 7 Denny Young Jr, 8 J. C. Flach, 9 Rich Salisbury, 10 Art Collins, 11 Danny Burl, 12 Tom Faxon, 13 Ted Teal, 14 Mark Pullen, 15 Robert Allen, 16 John Hotchkiss, 17 Ryan Larkin, 18 Kenny Tremont Jr., 19 Alex Sommer, 20 Donnie Ackner, 21 Roy Bridge

Sportsman Results (20 Laps) - 1 Jeff Watson, 2 Alan Houghtaling, 3 Art Collins, 4 Chris Kokosa, 5 Kory Sandstedt, 6 Danny Sanchez, 7 Frank Harper, 8 Kyle Hoffman, 9 Kolby Schroder, 10 Chris Tryon, 11 Kevin Lynch, 12 Kyle Armstrong, 13 Don Miller, 14 Brian Sandstedt, 15 Carmon Carnibucci, 16 Jason Tompkins, 17 D. J. Faulkner, 18 Ed Harkin, 19 Kevin Petrucci, 20 Don Kennedy, 21 Chad Pierce, 22 Josh Gaylord, 23 Jim Cronk, 24 Wayne Keyes, 25 Neil Stratton, 26 K. C. Goewey, 27 Bill Singer, 28 Kim Lavoy, 29 Jeff Kelly,30 D. T. Pickard

Pro Stock Results (20 Laps) - 1 Mike Middleton, 2 Jay Casey, 3 Kevin Arnold, 4 Robbie Speed, 5 Paul LaRochelle, 6 Victor Hopkins, 7 Jay Corbin, 8 Chris Crews, 9 Don Carlson, 10 Ed Bachand, 11 Jason Casey, 12 Ed Bishop, 13 Rick Dempsey, 14 Steve Hankle, 15 Brian Keough, 16 Mike Slauson, 17 Jon Routhier, 18 Kyle Hosier, 19 Paul Rogers, 20 Jeff Kelmel, 21 Johnny Rivers, 22 Don Collins

Limited Pro Stock Results (10 Laps) - 1 Nick Hilt, 2 Justin Herron, 3 Rob Maxon, 4 Kevin Winters, 5 Bill Hammell, 6 Jay Kretuziger Jr, 7 Joe Mennite, 8 Gary Ashley, 9 John Santolin, 10 Mark Stevens, 11 Dale Kennedy, 12 Chad Jeseo

Pure Stock #1 Results (8 Laps) - 1 Dave Houser, 2 Chuck Lampe, 3 Rich Douglass, 4 Tim Sayers, 5 Jim Fachini, 6 Ron Hoyt Jr, 7 Paul Engwer, 8 Brian Vandenburgh, 9 Cord Becker, 10 John Quiqley, 11 Tom Davies, 12 Jeff Douglass

Pure Stock #2 Results (8 Laps) - 1 Kirk Stanaway, 2 Mike Fachini, 3 Ray Hall Sr., 4 Randy Myers, 5 Ed Hatch, 6 Chris Streeter, 7 E. J. Legeyt, 8 Joe Chenail, 9 Gary VanDenburg, 10 Rob Partridge, 11 Karl Castagna, 12 Joe Walcott

Pure Stock #3 Results (8 Laps) - 1 Matt Humes, 2 Phil Wood, 3 Jay Casey, 4 Jesse Murphy, 5 Al Relyea, 6 Dave Streibel, 7 Shannon McDermott, 8 Lou Ganzar, 9 Dave Stickles, 10 Robert Hammell, 11 John Chapman, 12 Tom Harkins, 13 Mike Eichstedt