Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – WEST LEBANON, NY – The Marcus Bros. Racing 91M was in victory lane Saturday night at Lebanon Valley Speedway.
No, this isn’t the late 90’s and yes, you heard that correctly. The famed number made a return trip to victory lane last evening on the High Banks, and this time, it was Josh Marcus who did the family proud.
On a night where his late uncle, multi-time track champion George Marcus, was remembered during the Sportsman feature, Josh held off all challengers at every turn to lead the DIRTcar Big Block Modified feature from start to finish and record his first career win at the Valley of Speed.
“That was probably the longest race of my life,” Marcus said. “I was really getting worried with the late cautions but this team handled it well. We’ve been doing our homework the last couple of weeks and it paid off tonight.”
Marcus, who made his way to the Big Block ranks via the Slingshot division, drove an absolutely flawless race to return the Marcus name back to Lebanon Valley Speedway victory lane on Saturday.
“Somebody pinch me,” he said. “I must be dreaming. This one of the best moments I could ever ask for.”
It’s a moment that was very much appreciated by Marcus who at one point, even early this season, was unsure if it would ever come.
“I want to thank EVERYBODY who’s helped me get to this point,” he said. “I seriously want to thank Paul Wehnau for giving me the opportunity to come back this year and Alex Thomson for helping us turn our program around.”
Both gentlemen were instrumental in helping the Marcus team get back on track in 2024. Wehnau helped with a new PMC race car after the car they ran last year was destroyed and Thomson has helped with engines.
Even on opening night, the team’s primary powerplant went south but they never gave up and their efforts were rewarded Saturday.
“This just proves that underdogs can win too,” he said. “It really feels great that I get to race with the best in the northeast and I’m glad that I got to put our car in victory lane for my dad and my team. This is seriously an amazing feeling.”
Each lap that the 91M turned, Josh knew he had a co-pilot riding shotgun.
“I can tell you Uncle George was with me tonight,” he said. “He was reminding me to keep running the high side, don’t let anything bother me and just run my line. He was one of the best teachers and I hope he enjoyed this one.”
For most of the feature, Marcus had to fend off challenges from the likes of Timothy Davis, Kyle Armstrong and Brett Haas but drove like a seasoned veteran to score the win.
“We’ve been doing this for six years now,” he said. “It’s been six years of struggles. We’ve wrecked cars. We even blew up a motor early this year but this win is worth all of the heartache.”
Armstrong came home second with current point leader Haas driving from 14th to finish third. John Virgilio and Davis completed the top five.
One driver missing from that list was Andy Bachetti. The defending champion was running in the fourth position behind Keith Flach on a lap 25 restart. Heading into turn three on the ensuing green flag, Bachetti drove over the front end of the Flach machine, which resulted in the 43 spinning and collecting Brandon Lane.
Flach’s car went off the race track via the tow truck and Bachetti was sent to the rear of the field for his part in the incident. Driver 4 did rebound in those final five laps, driving his way back to seventh at the finish and salvaging what could have been a disastrous points night.
All was not bad for Bachetti, however, as the Wild Child recorded his seventh 358-Modified feature win in nine races this season.
Bachetti made the pass of ‘teammate’ Peter Carlotto in lapped traffic as the lap counter clicked 20 complete and was never seriously challenged the rest of the way.
“This car’s just really good this year,” Bachetti said. “Week in and week out, my whole team just works so hard for me and I’m glad I’m able to give them the results they deserve.”
Carlotto, who started on the front row, drove a great race to bring his 12C home second while Kyle Sheldon drove from tenth to bring the Mahindra Tractors 44 home in the show position.
Jason Herrington and point leader Joey Coppola were fourth and fifth, respectively.
After last week’s victory, and a complete tear down where his car was deemed legal, Tim Hartman Jr. kept his Sportsman win streak alive Saturday night, passing Pete Lorenzo for the lead on lap eight of the 20-lap feature to win the George Marcus Memorial event.
For the final 12 circuits, it was business as usual for TH2 as Hartman recorded his 11th win on the High Banks this season.
“This is just an awesome night for us once again,” Hartman said. “I don’t know what else to say at this point. This is phenomenal and after what we went through this week with the car getting torn down, getting back to victory lane is a great way to say we’re here.”
Nick Giardini brought his 399 home in the runner-up spot with Lorenzo placing third. Michael Sabia was fourth and defending Limited Sportsman champion, Anthony Maxon, recorded fifth at the finish.
In the 20-lap Pro Stock feature, pole sitter Rick Duzlak led from start to finish to score his first victory of the 2024 season.
Duzlak held off Dave Stickles from a majority of the feature and then had to fend off Chris Stalker in a one-lap shootout to the checkers but was able to park his 29 in victory lane.
“The car was excellent tonight,” Duzlak said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I have to thank my car owners for the opportunity. This thing was beautiful. I got it where I need it and it was spot on. Nobody was going by me tonight.”
Stalker continues to impress since his first career win in the division a few weeks back. The 177 came home second on Saturday with Stickles finish a fine third place. Nick Hilt was fourth and Chad Jeseo completed the top five.
Owen Lewis got his first career Limited Sportsman win last Saturday night. It only took him seven days to record his second as he parked his car in victory lane on back-to-back weeks.
Colby Kokosa was second with Chris Humes, Ray Royals and Scott Zehnacker completing the top five.
Jeff Meltz Sr. took home another Super Street Stock win, his fifth on the season, Saturday night in a battle of the Meltz family versus the Striebel family.
At the finish, Meltz Sr. was the winner ahead of Dave Striebel Sr., Jason Meltz, Dave Striebel Jr. and Peter Huntoon.
Jason Peck won the combined 4-Cylinder feature event.
DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 91M-Josh Marcus[1]; 2. 11A-Kyle Armstrong[8]; 3. 55H-Brett Haas[14]; 4. 74V-John Virgilio[11]; 5. 7T-Timothy Davis[2]; 6. 9-Marc Johnson[18]; 7. 4-Andy Bachetti[15]; 8. 42S-Kyle Sheldon[16]; 9. 98-Eddie Marshall[9]; 10. 74H-JR Heffner[17]; 11. 55K-Mike King[6]; 12. 115P-Matt Pupello[10]; 13. 96-Rob Maxon[20]; 14. 115-Montgomery Tremont[19]; 15. 10C-Ryan Charland[4]; 16. (DNF) 99-Kolby Schroder[12]; 17. (DNF) 43F-Keith Flach[7]; 18. (DNF) 33-Brandon Lane[5]; 19. (DNF) 35-Chris Curtis[13]; 20. (DNF) 88D-Olden Dwyer[3]; 21. (DNS) 22E-Mike Engwer
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7T-Timothy Davis[2]; 2. 11A-Kyle Armstrong[4]; 3. 33-Brandon Lane[3]; 4. 35-Chris Curtis[6]; 5. 55H-Brett Haas[7]; 6. 42S-Kyle Sheldon[5]; 7. 115-Montgomery Tremont[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Andy Bachetti[7]; 2. 55K-Mike King[3]; 3. 74V-John Virgilio[5]; 4. 88D-Olden Dwyer[2]; 5. 98-Eddie Marshall[4]; 6. 74H-JR Heffner[6]; 7. 96-Rob Maxon[1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 10C-Ryan Charland[2]; 2. 91M-Josh Marcus[1]; 3. 43F-Keith Flach[3]; 4. 115P-Matt Pupello[4]; 5. 99-Kolby Schroder[5]; 6. 9-Marc Johnson[6]; 7. 22E-Mike Engwer[7]
Hot Laps 1: 1. 74V-John Virgilio, 00:20.077[2]; 2. 4-Andy Bachetti, 00:20.181[9]; 3. 43F-Keith Flach, 00:20.219[1]; 4. 11A-Kyle Armstrong, 00:20.236[6]; 5. 99-Kolby Schroder, 00:20.422[12]; 6. 55H-Brett Haas, 00:20.428[20]; 7. 9-Marc Johnson, 00:20.459[17]; 8. 115P-Matt Pupello, 00:20.462[19]; 9. 35-Chris Curtis, 00:20.505[8]; 10. 74H-JR Heffner, 00:20.506[18]; 11. 10C-Ryan Charland, 00:20.579[16]; 12. 7T-Timothy Davis, 00:20.624[3]; 13. 42S-Kyle Sheldon, 00:20.653[4]; 14. 55K-Mike King, 00:20.735[15]; 15. 98-Eddie Marshall, 00:20.764[7]; 16. 88D-Olden Dwyer, 00:20.896[14]; 17. 33-Brandon Lane, 00:20.922[10]; 18. 115-Montgomery Tremont, 00:21.048[11]; 19. 91M-Josh Marcus, 00:21.071[5]; 20. 96-Rob Maxon, 00:22.100[13]; 21. 22E-Mike Engwer, 00:22.396[21]
358-Modifieds
A Feature 1 (24 Laps): 1. 4-Andy Bachetti[11]; 2. 12C-Peter Carlotto[2]; 3. 44-Kyle Sheldon[10]; 4. 1-Jason Herrington[8]; 5. 94-Joey Coppola[13]; 6. 7S-Michael Sabia[4]; 7. 22-Jeff Watson[5]; 8. 17H-Brett Haas[12]; 9. 82-Brian Peterson[6]; 10. 14-Lorne Browe[9]; 11. 39-Ryan Larkin[14]; 12. 30-Mark Pullen[15]; 13. 6R-Ryan Heath[16]; 14. 12S-Brian Sandstedt[3]; 15. 7CT-Donny Travaglin[7]; 16. 250-Alan Houghtaling[1]; 17. (DNS) 72-Ray Hall Jr; 18. (DNS) 3-Kim Lavoy
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Kim Lavoy[1]; 2. 22-Jeff Watson[3]; 3. 82-Brian Peterson[5]; 4. 44-Kyle Sheldon[7]; 5. 17H-Brett Haas[8]; 6. 12C-Peter Carlotto[2]; 7. 1-Jason Herrington[6]; 8. 94-Joey Coppola[9]; 9. 30-Mark Pullen[4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Andy Bachetti[8]; 2. 250-Alan Houghtaling[1]; 3. 7CT-Donny Travaglin[4]; 4. 7S-Michael Sabia[3]; 5. 14-Lorne Browe[7]; 6. 12S-Brian Sandstedt[2]; 7. 72-Ray Hall Jr[6]; 8. 6R-Ryan Heath[9]; 9. 39-Ryan Larkin[5]
Hot Laps 1: 1. 94-Joey Coppola, 00:20.801[10]; 2. 4-Andy Bachetti, 00:20.909[3]; 3. 12C-Peter Carlotto, 00:20.985[1]; 4. 17H-Brett Haas, 00:21.013[12]; 5. 1-Jason Herrington, 00:21.045[9]; 6. 44-Kyle Sheldon, 00:21.047[8]; 7. 39-Ryan Larkin, 00:21.107[5]; 8. 3-Kim Lavoy, 00:21.171[16]; 9. 14-Lorne Browe, 00:21.294[17]; 10. 82-Brian Peterson, 00:21.315[2]; 11. 72-Ray Hall Jr, 00:21.455[14]; 12. 250-Alan Houghtaling, 00:21.456[13]; 13. 7S-Michael Sabia, 00:21.562[6]; 14. 7CT-Donny Travaglin, 00:21.614[7]; 15. 12S-Brian Sandstedt, 00:21.620[15]; 16. 6R-Ryan Heath, 00:21.712[18]; 17. 22-Jeff Watson, 00:21.827[11]; 18. 30-Mark Pullen, 00:22.339[4]
DIRTcar Pro Stock
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 29-rick duzlak[1]; 2. 177-Chris Stalker[7]; 3. 55-David Stickles[3]; 4. 17-Nick Hilt[10]; 5. 25-Chad Jeseo[17]; 6. 63-Ryan Crellin[11]; 7. 413-Tom (Tommy) Dean[6]; 8. 311-Brian Keough[15]; 9. 32-Richard Spencer[16]; 10. (DNF) 09-Shawn Perez Sr[5]; 11. (DNF) 120-Dave Kokindo[2]; 12. (DNF) 54S-Zachary Sorrentino[8]; 13. (DNF) 09J-Shawn Perez Jr[4]; 14. (DNF) 14J-Johnny Rivers Jr[13]; 15. (DNF) 4-Michael Dianda[14]; 16. (DNF) 41-Rich Colesanti[12]; 17. (DNS) 62-Rocco Procopio
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 29-rick duzlak[1]; 2. 09J-Shawn Perez Jr[3]; 3. 413-Tom (Tommy) Dean[4]; 4. 14J-Johnny Rivers Jr[8]; 5. 63-Ryan Crellin[5]; 6. 32-Richard Spencer[7]; 7. 4-Michael Dianda[6]; 8. 62-Rocco Procopio[2]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 120-Dave Kokindo[1]; 2. 09-Shawn Perez Sr[3]; 3. 54S-Zachary Sorrentino[5]; 4. 177-Chris Stalker[4]; 5. 55-David Stickles[2]; 6. 17-Nick Hilt[6]; 7. 311-Brian Keough[7]; 8. 41-Rich Colesanti[8]
Hot Laps 1: 1. 54S-Zachary Sorrentino, 00:23.703[7]; 2. 177-Chris Stalker, 00:23.974[5]; 3. 55-David Stickles, 00:24.176[10]; 4. 09-Shawn Perez Sr, 00:24.323[4]; 5. 413-Tom (Tommy) Dean, 00:24.383[3]; 6. 311-Brian Keough, 00:24.404[14]; 7. 09J-Shawn Perez Jr, 00:24.502[2]; 8. 14J-Johnny Rivers Jr, 00:24.689[11]; 9. 32-Richard Spencer, 00:24.770[13]; 10. 120-Dave Kokindo, 00:24.818[9]; 11. 63-Ryan Crellin, 00:24.825[6]; 12. 41-Rich Colesanti, 00:24.826[15]; 13. 4-Michael Dianda, 00:24.827[12]; 14. 29-rick duzlak, 00:24.828[8]; 15. 62-Rocco Procopio, 00:24.824[1]
Sportsman
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 22H-TIM HARTMAN[12]; 2. 399-Nick Giardini[10]; 3. 3G-Peter Lorenzo III[1]; 4. 7S-Michael Sabia[11]; 5. 96-Anthony Maxon[3]; 6. 4NY-Keith Johannessen[7]; 7. 57-Ray Hall Jr[8]; 8. 7C-Brady Cordova[9]; 9. 85-Justin Gozzi[2]; 10. 23-Alex Bell[4]; 11. 307-Karl Barnes[6]; 12. 16-Nikki Ouellette[16]; 13. 43-Kevin Ames[18]; 14. 112-Joseph Mennite[17]; 15. 76-Mike Arnold[14]; 16. (DNF) 98-Craig Wholey[15]; 17. (DNF) 12-MATT BURKE[5]; 18. (DNS) 61-Alex Palmer Sawyer
Heat 1 (7 Laps): 1. 7S-Michael Sabia[7]; 2. 23-Alex Bell[3]; 3. 85-Justin Gozzi[2]; 4. 12-MATT BURKE[4]; 5. 7C-Brady Cordova[6]; 6. 16-Nikki Ouellette[9]; 7. 98-Craig Wholey[8]; 8. 76-Mike Arnold[1]; 9. 112-Joseph Mennite[5]
Heat 2 (7 Laps): 1. 3G-Peter Lorenzo III[1]; 2. 307-Karl Barnes[3]; 3. 4NY-Keith Johannessen[4]; 4. 22H-TIM HARTMAN[8]; 5. 96-Anthony Maxon[2]; 6. 57-Ray Hall Jr[6]; 7. 399-Nick Giardini[7]; 8. 61-Alex Palmer Sawyer[5]; 9. 43-Kevin Ames[9]
Hot Laps 1: 1. 22H-TIM HARTMAN, 00:22.130[5]; 2. 399-Nick Giardini, 00:22.589[15]; 3. 7S-Michael Sabia, 00:22.636[1]; 4. 307-Karl Barnes, 00:22.697[4]; 5. 98-Craig Wholey, 00:22.707[18]; 6. 4NY-Keith Johannessen, 00:22.882[7]; 7. 23-Alex Bell, 00:22.928[10]; 8. 96-Anthony Maxon, 00:22.947[11]; 9. 57-Ray Hall Jr, 00:23.038[16]; 10. 61-Alex Palmer Sawyer, 00:23.155[6]; 11. 85-Justin Gozzi, 00:23.272[2]; 12. 7C-Brady Cordova, 00:23.286[9]; 13. 3G-Peter Lorenzo III, 00:23.353[8]; 14. 16-Nikki Ouellette, 00:23.365[17]; 15. 76-Mike Arnold, 00:23.421[3]; 16. 12-MATT BURKE, 00:23.426[13]; 17. 43-Kevin Ames, 00:23.695[14]; 18. 112-Joseph Mennite, 00:24.219[12]
Limited Sportsman
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 19-Owen Lewis[11]; 2. 00-Colby Kokosa[10]; 3. 04-Chris Humes[4]; 4. 10-Ray Royals[6]; 5. 143-Scott Zehnacker[9]; 6. 6S-John Santolin[8]; 7. 27-Dylan Holmes[7]; 8. 03-Harold Robitaille[3]; 9. 77-Garrett Biagiarelli[12]; 10. 09-Braxton Martin[13]; 11. 25B-Jasen Brewer[1]; 12. 128-Kent Clark[15]; 13. 756-Brandon Lemaire[2]; 14. 0VT-Milo Campbell[14]; 15. (DNF) 43-Brian Walsh[5]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 03-Harold Robitaille[2]; 2. 25B-Jasen Brewer[1]; 3. 10-Ray Royals[3]; 4. 6S-John Santolin[6]; 5. 27-Dylan Holmes[4]; 6. 19-Owen Lewis[5]; 7. 77-Garrett Biagiarelli[7]; 8. 0VT-Milo Campbell[8]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 43-Brian Walsh[1]; 2. 00-Colby Kokosa[6]; 3. 143-Scott Zehnacker[5]; 4. 04-Chris Humes[2]; 5. 756-Brandon Lemaire[3]; 6. 09-Braxton Martin[4]; 7. (DNS) 128-Kent Clark
Hot Laps 1: 1. 143-Scott Zehnacker, 00:23.034[11]; 2. 43-Brian Walsh, 00:23.322[8]; 3. 27-Dylan Holmes, 00:23.447[6]; 4. 6S-John Santolin, 00:23.468[10]; 5. 10-Ray Royals, 00:23.483[12]; 6. 00-Colby Kokosa, 00:23.495[3]; 7. 19-Owen Lewis, 00:23.508[1]; 8. 09-Braxton Martin, 00:23.580[7]; 9. 04-Chris Humes, 00:23.587[2]; 10. 25B-Jasen Brewer, 00:23.620[5]; 11. 03-Harold Robitaille, 00:23.643[4]; 12. 756-Brandon Lemaire, 00:23.704[13]; 13. 77-Garrett Biagiarelli, 00:24.316[9]; 14. 0VT-Milo Campbell, 00:24.315[15]; 15. 128-Kent Clark, 00:24.314[14]
Super Street Stock
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 5X-Jeff Meltz[8]; 2. 273-Dave Streibel[7]; 3. 51-Jason Meltz[11]; 4. 73-David Streibel[6]; 5. 3-Peter Huntoon[5]; 6. 08-Lou Gancarz[3]; 7. 89-Kerianne Vandenburg[1]; 8. 76-Franklin Smith[4]; 9. 245-Evan Denue[10]; 10. 27-Ray Hall Sr[9]; 11. (DNS) 46-Doug Sterling
Hot Laps 1: 1. 73-David Streibel, 00:27.130[3]; 2. 273-Dave Streibel, 00:27.252[9]; 3. 5X-Jeff Meltz, 00:27.450[1]; 4. 51-Jason Meltz, 00:28.118[11]; 5. 27-Ray Hall Sr, 00:28.384[4]; 6. 245-Evan Denue, 00:28.483[6]; 7. 46-Doug Sterling, 00:28.591[8]; 8. 89-Kerianne Vandenburg, 00:29.227[7]; 9. 76-Franklin Smith, 00:29.226[10]; 10. 3-Peter Huntoon, 00:29.225[5]; 11. 08-Lou Gancarz, 00:29.224[2]
4 Cylinder Single & Dual
A Feature (10 Laps): 1. 0D-Jason Peck[2]; 2. 99D-Jonathan Shepherd[3]; 3. 80S-Dawson Thompson[7]; 4. 19D-Brian Blanck[4]; 5. 191D-Chris Danylieko[1]; 6. (DNF) 8S-Stephen Burka[5]; 7. (DNS) 84S-Henry Morris
Hot Laps 1: 1. 0D-Jason Peck, 00:29.717[1]; 2. 8S-Stephen Burka, 00:30.972[5]; 3. 80S-Dawson Thompson, 00:32.137[6]; 4. 19D-Brian Blanck, 00:32.670[7]; 5. (DNS) 84S-Henry Morris; 6. (DNS) 99D-Jonathan Shepherd; 7. (DNS) 191D-Chris Danylieko