Josh Marcus Claims 1st Career Lebanon Valley Victory

Josh Marcus has struggled significantly in the Modified class at Lebanon Valley.  Saturday night saw everything come together for him as he led flag-to-flag to win his first career Modified feature on the high banks.

“It’s unreal,” Marcus said afterwards.  “I’ve been coming here since I was a little kid.  The feel of being out front is just…unexplainable, especially for us.  We’ve had a lot of heartache over the past few years.  We finally got everything together.”

Marcus won by .701 seconds over Kyle Armstrong.  Brett Haas was third, then John Virgilio and Timothy Davis.

Marcus earned the pole and quickly opened up a decent advantage over Olden Dwyer.  Further back, the top contenders were having some issues moving up the order.

Dwyer was more or less holding station until trouble struck on lap 12.  Dwyer suddenly slowed on-track and drew the race’s first caution.  Dwyer’s crew tried to fix the car, but he was ultimately forced to retire.

Davis was elevated to second, but could do nothing with Marcus, who held a steady lead.  That led disappeared when Chris Curtis stalled with five laps to go.

On the restart, Andy Bachetti attempted a hard inside move in turn 3.  Contact was made with Keith Flach, damaging Flach’s car.  He then spun and was struck by Brandon Lane.  Bachetti was judged to be responsible for the wreck and was sent to the rear.

Marcus was able to hold on to take the win.  Armstrong was able to get around Davis late, but simply could do anything with Marcus.

In the Small Block Modifieds, Alan Houghtaling started from pole, but his advantage was short-lived as Peter Carlotto took the lead in the first turn.  A spin for Brian Sandstedt bunched the field back up.

Incidents that involved Lorne Browe, Ryan Larkin, Sandstedt again and Ryan Heath kept the field close in the opening laps.  It also allowed Bachetti to drive himself up into contention.

Carlotto opened up a decent advantage over the restart, while Kyle Sheldon moved up to second.  Meanwhile, Bachetti methodically knocked each driver off.

By lap 14, Bachetti was up to second and gaining on Carlotto.  The catch occurred in the final six laps.  Carlotto raced hard, but Bachetti was able to use the lapped car of Sandstedt as a pick to take the lead exiting turn 4 with four laps to go.

From there, Bachetti pulled away to take his seventh win of the year by 1.578 seconds over Carlotto.  Sheldon was third, then Jason Herrington and Joey Coppola.

Sportsman teams had extra money on the line in the George Marcus Memorial.  Ultimately, the race saw more of the same.

Peter Lorenzo started from pole and led early.  Tim Hartman Jr. started 12th and quickly made his way up the order.  By lap 4, he was already up to second.

Lorenzo was able to hold Hartman back for a while, but Hartman took the lead away on lap 9.  Despite a late caution, Hartman was able to hold on to take his 13th straight Sportsman win.

Hartman won by 1.189 seconds over Nick Giardini.  Lorenzo was third, then Michael Sabia and Anthony Maxon.

Jasen Brewer started on pole in the Limited Sportsman feature and led early.  Last week’s winner, Owen Lewis, quickly moved up from the 11th starting spot.

A yellow flew on lap 4 when Scott Zehnacher and Harold Robitaille collided in turn 2 and spun.  That bunched the field up.

On the restart, Lewis was able to take second from Brandon Lemaire.  A lap later, Brewer jumped the cushion in turn 4, which allowed Lewis to take the lead.

From there, Lewis pulled away from the pack to take his second straight win.  The margin of victory was 3.393 seconds over Colby Kokosa.  Chris Humes was third, then Ray Royas and Zehnacker.

In Pro Stock, Rick Duzlak started from pole and held off a charging Dave Stickles.  Shawn Perez Jr. spun out in turn 1 to bring out the first yellow on lap 8.  While he did resume, mechanical issues eventually put him out.

Zach Sorrentino was on a roll in the feature, driving himself up to fourth.  He ended up in a tight battle for third with Chris Stalker in the final laps, but lost control and spun out to bring out the caution.

On the restart, Shawn Perez and Tom Dean collided and spun in turn 2.  Sorrentino and Dave Kokindo were both collected.  Only Dean was able to continue.

Duzlak was able to hold off a charging Stalker on the final lap to win.  Stickles was third, then Nick Hilt and Chad Jeseo.

In Super Street Stock, Keri VanDenburg started from pole and led early on. Points leader Dave Streibel Jr. had a tough night. With two laps complete, he spun exiting turn 4 to bring out the first yellow of the race.

On the restart, contact exiting turn 2 resulted in Jeff Meltz Sr. taking the lead from VanDenburg. The race for VanDenburg quickly unraveled from here as she spun to bring out another yellow shortly afterwards.

Streibel Jr.'s struggles continued when he collided with Evan Denue and spun in turn 2 to bring out another yellow on lap 7. Both were able to continue.

The second half of the race saw two families do battle. Jeff Meltz Sr. continued to lead, but with his son Jason in second. Dave Streibel was there, along with the resurgent Dave Streibel Jr. The quartet drove away from the rest of the field.

On the last restart, Dave Streibel was able to take second from Jason Meltz. He tried to get a move on Jeff Meltz Sr., but the veteran was able to hold him off for the win. Dave Streibel was second, then Jason Meltz, Dave Streibel Jr. and Peter Huntoon.

The 4-Cylinder feature saw Chris Danylieko start on pole in his Acura RSX, but was quickly overhauled by Jason Peck. Peck had Jon Shepard hot on his tail for the entire 10-lap feature. However, Peck was able to hold on to take the victory overall and in Dual-Cam.

In Single-Cam, Stephen Burka led from the start and appeared to be on his way to victory until he suffered an engine failure with two laps to go. That allowed Dawson Thompson to take the lead and claim the class victory in third overall.

Modified NBT Bank Feature Results (30 laps): 1) Josh Marcus, 2) Kyle Armstrong, 3) Brett Haas, 4) John Virgilio, 5) Timothy Davis, 6) Marc Johnson, 7) Andy Bachetti, 8) Kyle Sheldon, 9) Eddie Marshall, 10) J.R. Heffner, 11) Mike King, 12) Matt Pupello, 13) Rob Maxon, 14) Montgomery Tremont, 15) Ryan Charland, 16) Kolby Schroder, 17) Keith Flach, 18) Brandon Lane, 19) Chris Curtis, 20) Olden Dwyer, 21) Mike Engwer (DNS)

Small Block Modified Feature Results (24 laps): 1) Andy Bachetti, 2) Peter Carlotto, 3) Kyle Sheldon, 4) Jason Herrington, 5) Joey Coppola, 6) Michael Sabia, 7) Jeff Watson, 8) Brett Haas, 9) Brian Peterson, 10) Lorne Browe, 11) Ryan Larkin, 12) Mark Pullen, 13) Ryan Heath, 14) Brian Sandstedt, 15) Donny Travaglin, 16) Alan Houghtaling, 17) Ray Hall Jr. (DNS), 18) Kim LaVoy (DNS)

Sportsman George Marcus Memorial Results (20 laps): 1) Tim Hartman Jr., 2) Nick Giardini, 3) Peter Lorenzo, 4) Michael Sabia, 5) Anthony Maxon, 6) Keith Johannessen, 7) Ray Hall Jr.., 8) Brady Cordova, 9) Justin Gozzi, 10) Alex Bell, 11) Karl Barnes, 12) Nikki Ouellette, 13) Kevin Ames, 14) Joseph Mennite, 15) Mike Arnold, 16) Craig Wholey, 17) Matt Burke, 18) Alex Palmer-Sawyer (DNS)

Note: 4 drivers from the Limited Sportsman class (Chris Humes, Colby Kokosa, Brandon Lemaire and Brian Walsh) tacked onto the rear of the Sportsman feature.  They are not included in the results.

Limited Sportsman Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Owen Lewis, 2) Colby Kokosa, 3) Chris Humes, 4) Ray Royals, 5) Scott Zehnacker, 6) John Santolin, 7) Dylan Holmes, 8) Harold Robitaille, 9) Garrett Biagiarelli, 10) Braxton Martin, 11) Jasen Brewer, 12) Kent Clark, 13) Brandon Lemaire, 14) Milo Campbell, 15) Brian Walsh

Pro Stock Feature Results (20 laps): 1) Rick Duzlak, 2) Chris Stalker, 3) Dave Stickles, 4) Nick Hilt, 5) Chad Jeseo, 6) Ryan Crellin, 7) Tom Dean, 8) Brian Keough, 9) Richard Spencer, 10) Shawn Perez, 11) Dave Kokindo, 12) Zach Sorrentino, 13) Shawn Perez Jr., 14) Johnny Rivers, 15) Mike Dianda, 16) Rich Colesanti, 17) Rocco Procopio (DNS)

Super Street Stock Feature Results (20 laps): 1) Jeff Meltz Sr., 2) Dave Streibel, 3) Jason Meltz, 4) Dave Streibel Jr., 5) Peter Huntoon, 6) Lou Gancarz, 7) Keri VanDenburg, 8) Franklin Smith, 9) Evan Denue, 10) Ray Hall Sr., 11) Doug Sterling (DNS)

4-Cylinder Feature Results (10 laps): 1) Jason Peck, 2) Jon Shepard, 3) Dawson Thompson, 4) Brian Blanck, 5) Chris Danylieko, 6) Stephen Burka, 7) Henry Morris (DNS)

4-Cylinder Dual-Cam Feature Results (10 laps): 1) Jason Peck, 2) Jon Shepard, 3) Brian Blanck, 4) Chris Danylieko

4-Cylinder Single-Cam Feature Results (10 laps): 1) Dawson Thompson, 2) Stephen Burka, 3) Henry Morris (DNS)