Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – WEST LEBANON, NY – The driver who finished 16th in the Modified main event Saturday sure knows his way around the Valley High Banks.
He did that even though he hasn’t been a full-time driver at the track since 1995.
That driver was the living legend, Tommy Corellis.
The 82-year-old Corellis hopped in Kenny Tremont’s backup car for the night and gained more and more speed with each lap he spent on track.
The multi-time Modified track champion will be the guest of honor for Tommy Corellis Night at the Valley on July 15th. This is an event presented by Rifenburg Construction. He’s been handling track prep at the speedway for a number of weeks now, sporting his customary grin and notorious Goodyear cap.
Now, you can add a firesuit and his signature bandana wrapped around his neck.
Rumor has it that the track’s third winningest Big Block Modified driver will be competing once again on that night, trying to capture another checkered flag.
Could he possibly be in a #57 Modified?
Chris Lynch Finally Catches A “Brake”
The 2023 season started off with such high hopes for Sportsman competitor Chris Lynch.
A new car and new motor had the second-generation driver excited for what this season could produce. However, things haven’t gone the way he’d hoped, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort by himself and his team.
“Unfortunately, I’ve had to park it early during a few features until we sorted out a brake problem,” Lynch said. “Now we have a great car with a rusty driver on older tires and Saturday night, (Tim) Hartman and Whitey (Slavin) got the better of me.”
Lynch had a strong run during the 20-lap Sportsman feature and came home with a solid third place showing. Better yet, he feels his team has their brake problem under control.
“Both of those guys are very fast this year,” he said. “I think, though, if I didn’t elect to run my older tires to make stagger, I would have had a better run.”
The driver of car #74 currently sits fourth in track points, even with the misfortune he’s had this season. However, he’s uncertain what the rest of his season’s schedule will look like.
Saturday’s Street Stock Finish Now Official; Lebanon Valley Makes A Statement…
Following Saturday night at Lebanon Valley, track officials listed the Street Stock feature as unofficial. Dave Striebel Jr. crossed the line first with Rocco Procopio second, Dave Striebel Sr. third, Chris Stalker fourth and Peter Huntoon fifth.
As of Monday afternoon, the Speedway released that the feature was now official. Striebel Jr. was officially the winner but Procopio and Striebel Sr. had been disqualified.
That moved Stalker to the second spot with Huntoon third, Jim Dellea fourth and Jeff Meltz Sr. fifth.
Unfortunately, due to some problems in the pit area after the event, the speedway made the announcement on Monday as well that the entire division will be pulled from the racing card this Saturday, July 8th.
Here is the track’s statement, in its entirety, as they released it.
“In addressing the incidents regarding last Saturday night July 1 and in an effort to provide a safe environment for all official’s racers and teams the following decisions have been made at this point:
The entire street stock division will not be running the next official event as we are continuing to review videos and taking statements from all sides.
There were other incidents involving other drivers and teams from other divisions as well and they will be addressed accordingly (with suspensions).
As we move forward there will be additional penalties suspending certain teams from racing at any Howard Commander owned facilities such as Albany Saratoga Speedway, Airborne Speedway and Lebanon Valley Speedway.
The safety of every fan, official, driver, owner and crew member is the number one priority for the management at the speedway.
Racing from the lower divisions all the way to the top divisions is a commitment and investment in what we all consider to be the best sport to participate and/or spectate in. While passions run high there will always be disputes and those disputes will be handled accordingly and not during the heat of the moment.
In an effort to prove to all we are very serious, such things as 360-degree cameras have been installed in tech and around the entire pit area with more cameras coming later in the week.
We are also in communication with the local police with the end goal of having a police presence inside the pits.
Regarding our pit steward Ryan Hogencamp…Ryan is home resting comfortably and plans to be back to help make a positive change for the future of the speedway.
We will work tirelessly to correct the out-of-control behavior that has been taking place.
Thank you all for your continued support.
Yours in Racing, Lebanon Valley Speedway Management”