Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – WEST LEBANON, NY – For 25 years, Kenny Tremont carried the S&S Asphalt Paving logo on the rear quarter panels of his #115 racing machines.
Saturday night, in the 70th Birthday Bash at Lebanon Valley Speedway, they those two names went head-to-head.
In the weaning circuits of the 30-lap $3,000-to-win DIRTcar Big Block Modified feature, it seemed only fitting that leader Kyle Sheldon was being chased by Tremont and the S&S-sponsored, Kevin Starchak-owned car, driven by Marc Johnson.
The feature, which went caution-free for the entire distance, saw the third generation driver from East Nassau, NY Sheldon grab the top spot from pole-sitter Timothy Davis on lap 13.
He then looked like he was set to run away like a jack rabbit.
However, the King of the Valley had other ideas, as Tremont chased down the Alex Thomson-owned 42 of Sheldon as the two began to bear down on lapped traffic with the 9 of Johnson in tow.
Just as the leaders were exiting turn two with eight laps remaining, Tremont’s Bicknell powered to the inside of Sheldon to take the top spot.
The next corner, Johnson followed suit, and an epic battle for the ages commenced.
The Tremont crew began to cheer their driver on as the final tours around the 5/8-mile oval clicked off the lap counter, They were hoping, and praying, that this could be the night the all-time winningest driver in the history of the speedway put another notch in that column.
Unfortunately for Tremont, it wasn’t meant to be, as Johnson pulled door handle to door handle with the 115 coming to Rodney Rescott’s two laps-to-go signal.
Johnson would nose ahead as the two powered off the second corner and was never challenged the rest of the way, taking the win for the second time this season in Starchak’s ride.
“This is awesome,” Johnson said. “Getting to run down the King of the Valley isn’t something everyone gets to do. Wow, what a race. This one’s for Kevin.”
Without the aid of any cautions to regroup, and starting from the tenth spot, Johnson had to go from the drop of the green if he wanted to contend for the win. \
Was he saving anything so he could make the late charge that he did?
“No, not at all,” he said. “I was going as hard as I could from the first lap. I had to go, right away, every lap. There was no saving at all.”
Over the off-season, Johnson agreed to take over the controls of the S&S Asphalt Paving mount for the 2022 season at the Valley and it’s begun to pay dividends.
Through seven races so far, Johnson has two victories and closed the gap as he chases his first Big Block Modified championship at the track. He is now second in points and sits just 26 markers behind leader Andy Bachetti who had a tough night.
Bachetti ended up switching to his backup car after his heat race due to engine issues. In the feature, he struggled to get to the top ten and just missed the finish of the feature, pulling off before the checkers and coming home 18th.
However, on this night, it was the #9 enjoying the spoils of victory.
“That was fun,” he said. “These guys gave me a really good car. We gambled on a couple of things with the set-up that worked out tonight and man, this was just a blast to drive.”
At what point did Marc know he had a piece that could contend for the victory?
“We were really good the entire race, from the drop of the green on,” he said. “This thing never really fell off and I could drive it hard and charge the corners. I couldn’t ask for much more really. Kevin’s given me everything I could ask for and this entire program is really running well right now.”
The great crowd that was in attendance on this night were witnessed to one of the best Modified features of the season as Sheldon, Tremont and Johnson all duked it out for the victory in the final third of the feature.
As Johnson got to the runner-up spot, with the 115 in his sights, he continued to work and work and work, inching closer to the leader, as all eyes were on the 115 and the 9 at the end to see who would come out on top.
Johnson finally made the move on the inside lane to get around Tremont. Was this the line the #9 wanted to run?
“I never really had the opportunity to run in open track,” he said. “So, I was going where the cars weren’t. I think Kenny got hung up on the lap car and I dug below him and I got a little better run.”
Still has to feel extra sweet to chase and pass the Tremont car, especially in the 70th anniversary race at Lebanon Valley.
“To run down Kenny in this feature for the win just seemed perfect tonight,” he said. “The guy’s the man here and I’m just blessed to be being the wheel of Kevin’s car. I know I say that a lot buy things happen for a reason and we’ve really developed a great team right now. Well all work really well together and that’s what it’s all about.”
Tremont came home with an extremely hard-fought second place run with Sheldon finishing third.
Early race leader Timothy Davis had his best run of the season so far on Saturday night, finishing in fourth and Kyle Armstrong had another quiet, but solid, showing on this night as the 11A completed the top five.
MODIFIED FEATURE RESULTS 1) Marc Johnson** 9J 2) Kenny Tremont Jr. 115 3) Kyle Sheldon 42S 4) Timothy Davis 7T 5) Kyle Armstrong 11A 6) Keith Flach 43 7) Wayne Jelley 45X 8) Brian Berger* 60 9) Brett Haas 55H 10) L.J Lombardo 35 11) Bobby Hackel IV 97 12) Eddie Marshall* 98 13) Kolby Schroder 99 14) J.R. Heffner 74 15) Mike King 55K 16) Josh Marcus 91M 17) Brandon Lane 33 18) Andy Bachetti*** 4 19) Olden Dwyer* 88JR 20) Kenny Aanonsen JR. 42A 21) Jeff Sukuip 35 22) Ryan Charland 10C 23) Ken McGuire 6