Kolby Schroder Snags Lebanon Valley Victory in Caution-Free Race

At Lebanon Valley Saturday night, drivers had to deal with a slippery surface on the high banks.  Kolby Schroder was able to take the lead on the third lap from Brandon Lane, then held a steady hand to earn his first win of the year.

“The car was really good during the first half of the race,” Schroder said after the race.  “I was able to jump out to the lead pretty quick and…pace myself.  We had a drive-line issue two-thirds of the way through.  I slowed my pace and hung on.”

Schroder won by 1.783 seconds over Keith Flach.  Kyle Armstrong was third, then Marc Johnson and Brett Haas.

Lane started from the pole and led early.  The slippery conditions led to drivers using multiple lines and using more grandiose moves than normal.

Schroder started third and made a crossover move on Lane to take the lead in turns 3 and 4.  Once out front, Schroder pulled away from the pack.  Flach was able to follow past into second.

Further back, point leaders Haas and Andy Bachetti started on the seventh row.  Haas was able to make relatively quick inroads up the order.  Meanwhile, Bachetti struggled a bit.

As the race continued on, the race was truly for third between Armstrong, Johnson and Haas.  The three drivers battled hard for position.  That ultimately brought Bachetti and J.R. Heffner into the mix.  Bachetti was able to drop Heffner, but was not able to catch the leaders.

Schroder dropped back a little due to his drive-line issue.  However, he was never threatened en route to victory.

In the Small Block Modifieds, Mark Pullen started from pole with Ryan Heath alongside.  Pullen led early while Heath ran into almost immediate trouble.  He dropped back on the start, then spun out in turn 3 to bring out the race’s first yellow.

On the restart, Peter Carlotto and Michael Sabia collided, sending Carlotto into the inside wall and Sabia into the outside wall.  Both drivers were done for the night.

On the restart, Ryan Larkin was able to snatch the lead away from Pullen.  A good run for Pullen was interrupted when Haas ran in the back of himself, spinning himself and Pullen out to bring out another yellow.

Kyle Sheldon drove up to second and challenged for the lead.  Bachetti came from 14th on the grid and was right there as well.  Sheldon’s chance to win went away when he hit the wall in turn 2.

After the restart, Bachetti put the pressure on Larkin for the lead.  Larkin held on as long as he could, but Bachetti made the pass stick on lap 13.  From there, he pulled away to take his eighth win of the year.

Larkin was 3.575 seconds back in second, then Joey Coppola and Jason Herrington.  Haas was fifth.

In Sportsman, Tim Hartman Jr. continued his roll.  Matt Burke started from pole, but immediately lost the advantage to Alex Bell.  However, a strange chain reaction incident broke out in which Peter Lorenzo spun and hit the frontstretch wall.  This did not bring out a caution.

What did was an incident a lap later in which Kevin Ames spun and hit the wall in turn 4.  While Bell continued to lead on the restart, Hartman was quickly moving up from his 12th starting spot into the podium positions.

A series of incidents kept the field close together.  After the fourth caution in the first eight laps, single-file restarts were declared.

Hartman was able to get past Bell to take the lead on lap 9.  From there, Hartman could not be caught as he pulled away to take his 12th straight win to start the year and 14th in a row overall.

Hartman won by 5.939 seconds over Bell.  Keith Johannessen was third, then Sabia and Brady Cordova.

Pro Stock saw Rocco Procopio start from pole and run well early.  However, Tom Dean cut a tire on the first lap and bunched up the field.  Paul LaRochelle had nowhere to go but directly into the back of Dean.  Dean was able to continue with a tire change, but LaRochelle was done for the night.

Chad Jeseo was able to drive himself up to second and challenged Procopio for the lead.  The rookie Street Stock graduate was able to hold Jeseo off until the slick track struck back.

On lap 8, Procopio spun out on his own, creating a chain reaction.  Chris Stalker, who was fifth, managed to get down low, avoid the incident and take the lead before the yellow flew.

From here, Stalker was able to pull away and take his second win by 3.641 seconds over Zach Sorrentino.  Dean got back to third, then Jeseo and Procopio.

In Super Street Stock, Jeff Meltz Sr. took the lead on lap 4 and held on for his sixth win of the year.

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

Small Block Modified Feature Results (24 laps): 1) Andy Bachetti, 2) Ryan Larkin, 3) Joey Coppola, 4) Jason Herrington, 5) Brett Haas, 6) Jeff Watson, 7) Ray Hall Jr., 8) Brian Peterson, 9) Donny Travaglin, 10) Lorne Browe, 11) Connor Crane, 12) Brian Sandstedt, 13) Kyle Sheldon, 14) Mark Pullen, 15) Ryan Heath, 16) Michael Sabia, 17) Peter Carlotto, 18) Alan Houghtaling (DNS), 19) Kim LaVoy (DNS)

Sportsman Feature Results (20 laps): 1) Tim Hartman Jr., 2) Alex Bell, 3) Keith Johannessen, 4) Michael Sabia, 5) Brady Cordova, 6) Craig Wholey, 7) Scott Duell, 8) Karl Barnes, 9) Justin Gozzi, 10) Mike Arnold, 11) Matt Burke, 12) Nikki Ouellette, 13) Chris Crane Jr., 14) Dylan Grogan, 15) Nick Giardini, 16) Kevin Ames, 17) Peter Lorenzo

Limited Sportsman Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Owen Lewis, 2) Ray Royals, 3) Colby Kokosa, 4) Scott Zehnacker, 5) Brian Walsh, 6) Dylan Holmes, 7) Jasen Brewer, 8) Dan Odell, 9) Garrett Biagiarelli, 10) Chris Humes, 11) Chip Martin, 12) Harold Robitaille, 13) Brandon Lemaire, 14) Frank Twing Jr., 15) Kent Clark, 16) Fred Pravia, 17) John Santolin, 18) Braxton Martin

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

Super Street Stock Feature Results (20 laps): 1) Jeff Meltz Sr., 2) Jason Meltz, 3) Dave Streibel Jr., 4) Lou Gancarz, 5) Jim Dellea, 6) Evan Denue, 7) Doug Sterling, 8) Peter Huntoon, 9) Franklin Smith, 10) Keri VanDenburg, 11) Dave Streibel, 12) Ray Hall Sr., 13) Adam Osborne, 14) Jason Barrett (DNS)