Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – WEST LEBANON, NY – Saturday night was a hometown battle of attrition at Lebanon Valley Speedway to see who would capture Mr. DIRT Track USA, especially when it came to compound choice of Hoosier tire rubber.
In the end, Andy Bachetti’s ability to preserve his right rear sneaker was better than the rest of the 26-car starting field and the 2022 Big Block track champion stood tall in victory lane.
However, the night wasn’t without its challenges. As stated, he and his team had to make the correct tire selection and hope their choice can maintain for all 100 circuits. That wasn’t necessarily the only facet to the challenge as racing isn’t about just maintaining. You also have to get to the lead and Bachetti was able to do that and back up his victory of one year ago.
Was this year easier than last?
“No, not really,” Bachetti said after the event. “This car wasn’t as good as last years and the track was a lot different. It was a fast moving pace and the track was fast for sure, but I just felt like I had to get there quick and it wasn’t as easy getting to the front.”
The other factor was that the first 77 laps of the feature were contested caution-free. Did Bachetti want to see Rodney Rescott unfurl the yellow silk at that time or would he had rather it continued on?
“I wanted to see it because I needed to cool my right rear,” he said. “I definitely needed to get some of the heat away from it and cool it down.”
Bachetti bided his time and conserved his right rear for a several laps early on as he chased down leader Peter Britten and second place Adam Pierson. Did he think he could get to the lead?
“They were running pretty good,” he said. “I figured I could catch them if I saved my tires and kept pace with them.”
When the caution finally did fly, Keith Flach was on his rear bumper. That meant on the restart, he’d have to get right back to pushing things yet again if he wanted to take home the $25,500.
“I knew Keith was coming,” he said. “I was just trying tire underneath me. When I had to step up, I could go. The car was excellent tonight and I’m very happy.”
Bachetti chose a Hoosier D400 (Hard) compound tire for his right rear, as did second place finisher Keith Flach. Flach was running an amazing race as he chased down the black and green #4 for the top spot.
While Bachetti wanted the caution, it wasn’t necessarily the case for Flach. Did he think he had something for him if the race had gone even longer before the first caution?
“I think we would have been able to race and try a little better than we did after the yellows,” Flach said. “He’s a very good veteran. Catching him was one thing. I think getting by was going to be another.”
What would it have taken on Flach’s part to make that happen?
“Maybe if his tires had stayed heated, I think we were better during that long green flag run,” he said. “In the first 20 laps, when he went by us, I was just trying to ride because there was no way you can keep up a “heat race” type pace, especially for 100 laps so I was just trying to ride a little bit early.”
Is that a decision Flach would have liked back seeing the outcome of the event?
“Probably should have tried a little harder to stay in front of him early on,” he said. “At that point, I was just trying to worry about tire management and not wear them out.”
After that first caution, Bachetti knew he had Flach right behind him so the Andy motored away to start. However, just like the first run, The Gould Erectors #43 continued to reel in the leader and was within a few car lengths as the final laps clicked off.
“I think Andy was trying to hammer for the first few laps,” he said. “I was going hard but I was also trying to not get too sideways on track. He was running middle to top on the speedway and I was to arch it into the corners and run the bottom to get a better drive off if I could. I didn’t want to light the tires up.”
When it was time to go though, Flach had something left, but Bachetti was a tad bit stronger.
“I was trying to manage my stuff until the last 10 or 12 laps,” he said. “He obviously ran a great race. Even if we got next to him, I’m sure he would have been tough to get around. He’s got a lot of laps here.”
The award for “where did he come from” on the night probably has to go Brett Haas, who drove from his 14th starting spot to finish in third. Haas’ team went with the harder compound on the right rear and while it took a little longer to come in, the Pittsfield, MA pilot was happy with the choice.
“I felt like we were good with a five (D500) on the car,” Haas said. “At the end, Andy must have been riding a bit and Keith must have been throwing everything he had at it but we were fast.”
Coming through the field, Haas had to pick off some of the heavy hitters if he wanted to get to the top half of the field. He did.
“When we got by Friesen, I was like, okay, our car’s good,” he said. “Then, we got by Sheppard and I really started to feel good. I knew we’d have to work quickly and get by those guys on restart and we did on the final one.”
Did the harder compound take too long to come in for Haas?
“Andy and Keith gapped us a bit on that last restart,” he said. “I’m not sure if my tire cooled off too much or not but here we are, a third place in Mr. DIRT, nothing to hang our heads about.”
Did Haas feel like starting position hurt him? Could he have been a player for the win if he had started closer to the front?
“We were running against the best of the best here tonight,” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen. You have to have luck as well. We missed the re-draw which I think is what was ultimately our downfall. However, it was a good night as we just drove up through.”
With hindsight being 20/20, would he have chosen the softer tire?
“I was just trying to maintain my tires,” he said. “In the Spring tour race here, we exploded one while running second so we were just trying to maintain our stuff and we made it.”