Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – PORT ROYAL, PA – Friday evening at Port Royal Speedway was as close to perfect as Andy Bachetti could have envisioned.
Bachetti, the 2021 Lebanon Valley Modified track champion and a three-time Short Track Super Series titlist, dominated the first 20-lap qualifying race as part of the Speed Showcase Weekend at the Speed Palace.
“After last night’s race, we went to work this morning,” Bachetti said. “My crew chief, Steve Beckwith, and all my guys here are just digging deep here. This is an expensive race to win and this car was just really good tonight.”
The Sheffield, MA driver has won several 200-lap events over the course of his career, but does he know how to prepare for 200 around the famed Port Royal Speedway?
“You have to play a whole different strategy all together,” he said. “It’s a lot of laps and you have to see where the chips fall. We’ve got a pretty good race car under us this weekend and Saturday’s a different animal.”
What would it mean to Bachetti if he was able to become the second ever victor of the Speed Showcase 200?
“To win any big race like this one is a feat in itself,” he said. “For this team, and everyone associated with it, we’ve had a great year all around so for my sponsors, my team, my family, it’d be a pretty special win.”