Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – WEST LEBANON, NY – Last season, Valley officials held two Super DIRTcar Series races for the first time in quite a few years. Both of them were named Mr. DIRT Track USA. One was held on Memorial Day and the other in the beginning of September.
For the new season, however, speedway management has made the decision to rebrand the event at the end of May.
“We renamed the race for Monday, May 30th so that the fans won’t get confused,” Fred Lee, track pit steward said. “We didn’t want to have two Mr. DIRT Track USA events again. It will be called the King of Spring 100 and pay $13,500-to-win.”
Big Money Races For Big Blocks At The Valley In 2022
Along with that, there will be a lot of big-paying events on the schedule for the Modifieds.
“We’re going to have a lot of high-dollar races this year,” he said. “A couple $5,000-to-win races including the JC Flach Memorial on June 4th, but probably our biggest night of the year, which I’m very excited about, is the Bryan Goewey Memorial on July 2nd.”
The event will honor the memory of the late driver, car owner and sponsor from the speedway with a five-figure winner’s share.
“The race will pay $10,000-to-win,” he said. “This purse will grow with a lot of money added through the field. We’ve already got an additional $1,000 for second, $1,000 to be spread through the top 5. We’re going to make sure it pays back through 10th place pretty well.”
Three Added To The Lebanon Valley Hall Of Fame
Due to the pandemic that’s ravished the sport of auto racing for the last few seasons, the Valley honored three distinguished men for their accomplishments in racing by enshrining them in the speedway’s Hall of Fame.
Motor builders Mike Petrucci and Dan Bedell along with ageless driver Denny Soltis were immortalized by the track and those in attendance.
Each person’s induction was truly well deserved. While it didn’t take being added to the Hall of Fame to make them a lasting part of the tracks history, the smile on each man’s face proved just how amazing of a feeling it truly was. Knowing their legacy will forever be etched in the story of Lebanon Valley Speedway is something that will never be taken away.
Ryan Darcy Named 2021 Modified Rookie Of The Year
Picking up his first career Modified win in the month of June during the JC Flach Memorial was a huge accomplishment for Ryan Darcy.
On Saturday night, he got another as he was highlighted as the classes Top Rookie from the year gone by.
Darcy has spent most of his racing career at the Valley, winning in both the Sportsman and 358-Modified classes before moving up to the Big Blocks this past season.
Track Honors Champions Of Previous Seasons
One of the cool things the speedway did over the two-day 2021 banquets was to honor those titlists who didn’t get to enjoy their time in the spotlight due to the pandemic.
Saturday evening, Kenny Tremont was honored as the 2019 Big Block Champion along with the back-to-back titles by Bachetti.
In Small Blocks, Brett Haas was given time at the mic to say a few words for his championship season during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Jay Casey was highlighted for his Pro Stock Championship in 2019 on Friday night while Jeff Kreutziger and John Devine were as well for their Pure Stock Championships from 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Congrats To “Tash”
A big congratulations to Natasha Polsinello. For anyone who’s been to Lebanon Valley Speedway, the Dragway, or the Albany-Saratoga Speedway, you’ve undoubtedly seen her working her ass off to sell 50/50 tickets and help to boost each track’s point fund.
On Saturday evening, she was honored with the Dedication to Racing Award by the Speedway and as emcee Dan Martin said, there’s probably no one who deserved it more.
Natasha has worked tirelessly to help build each track’s point fund and done so with the biggest smile on her face, week in and week out.
Congrats Tash!
NYSSCA Awards Drivers At Valley Banquets
Even with things getting back on track after the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York State Stock Car Association (NYSSCA) made the extremely tough decision to eliminate their annual awards banquet held every January in Albany, NY.
With that, organization treasurer Cheryl Catman was on hand during both banquets to give out awards to very deserving receipients for their hard work and achievements through the 2021 season at the track.
It was truly great to see that the Speedway give NYSSCA its due time during both nights to make their presentations. The organization has done quite a lot for the track and its drivers through the years and seeing them on stage was nice.