John Virgilio Claims Lebanon Valley Firework Night Triumph
Story By: PHIL ALLAWAY / LEBANON VALLEY SPEEDWAY – WEST LEBANON, NY – On Fireworks Night, John Virgilio took the lead from Keith Flach on a lap 13 restart. From there, he held on to take his first win of the year.
“We got back to where I think we need to be,” Virgilio said after the race. “We’re pretty balanced now. You never know how far back second-place is [when you’re out there], but balance-wise, tonight was the best car I’ve had this year.”
The margin of victory was 4.933 seconds over Kyle Sheldon. Matt Pupello was third, then Flach and Kyle Armstrong.
Bubba McPhee started from the pole, but trouble broke out on the first lap. An incident involving Brett Haas, Guy Sheldon, Marc Johnson and Kolby Schroder brought out a quick yellow. Everyone was able to continue despite damage.
On the restart, Brandon Lane was able to take the lead from Bubba when he jumped the caution. That advantage was short-lived as Flach drove up from sixth on the grid to take the lead on lap 3.
Virgilio started in 10th and quickly moved up to third by lap 4. A spin for Alan Houghtaling brought out a yellow and bunched the field back up. That allowed him to pass Lane for second.
A yellow on lap 12 bunched the field up once again and put Virgilio directly alongside Flach. He took advantage of it by snatching the lead on the restart.
Once out front, Virgilio began to pull away from the back. Further back, Andy Bachetti, who started 15th, was entering the fray as well. He was able to drive up to second and was gaining on Virgilio.
However, a mechanical issue slowed Bachetti. That allowed Kyle Sheldon to take second, but he could nothing to keep Virgilio out of victory lane.
In the 358 Modifieds, Donny Travaglin started from the pole, but almost immediately lost the lead to Ryan Larkin. The race had a little trouble getting underway as Ray Hall Jr. stalling and Angelo DiCarlo spinning in turn 1 brought out early cautions.
Haas, who was leading the points entering the night, dropped out on lap 6 when an engine issue cropped up. A 17th-place finish will hurt his championship charge.
Joey Coppola appeared to have the fastest car. He was able to drive up from 11th on the grid to take second on lap 7. From there, he tried his darndest to run down Larkin.
The catch happened while Larkin was dealing with lapped traffic in the closing laps. The two fought hard and Coppola even got the lead briefly with three laps to go. However, Larkin was able to get back past a half a lap later, then held on for the win.
Coppola was .126 seconds back at the finish. Bachetti was third, then Chris Curtis and Kyle Sheldon.
The Sportsman feature saw Shawn McPhee start from pole and lead early. However, three incidents in the opening four laps kept the field close by.
On the third restart, Michael Sabia was able to take the lead from Shawn McPhee, but brought Tim Hartman Jr. with him. Hartman dispatched of Sabia two laps later.
Later on, an unusual incident occurred. The yellow had already come out for Keith Johannessen stalling in turn 2. However, John Agor rode up the wall in turn 4 and rolled his car. Agor was ok, but done for the night.
Hartman was able to hold on from there to earn his third win of the year. Nick Giardini was .674 seconds back in second, then Sabia, Brady Cordova and A.J. Albreada.
Limited Sportsman saw Cam Van Zandt start from the pole and motor off to a substantial advantage early on. Chris Humes was the only driver that could run with him, but he ran a little too hard into turn 3 and spun himself out to bring out a yellow.
From here on in, Van Zandt was never threatened en route to his first career victory, greatly pleasing the fans in attendance. He won by 1.067 seconds over Dylan Holmes. John Santolin was third, then Braxton Martin and Harold Robitaille.
Paul LaRochelle started from pole in the Pro Stock feature and ran well early on. Shawn Perez Jr. gave chase in the early laps, then pounced and took the lead on lap 4.
It was a tough evening for defending class champion Zach Sorrentino as he was caught up in two different incidents before finishing 10th. A series of five yellows slowed the pace.
Perez ended up doing battle with Quebecois racer Bastien Caron at the front. Caron briefly got the lead late, but Perez was able to get it back and hold on for the win.
Caron was .150 seconds back in second, then Jeff Meltz Jr., who was subbing for Dave Stickles. Frank Twing and Chris Stalker rounded out the top-five.
In Street Stock, Dave Streibel took the lead on the first lap and held on to win.
Berkshire Bank Modified Feature Results (30 laps): 1) John Virgilio, 2) Kyle Sheldon, 3) Matt Pupello, 4) Keith Flach, 5) Kyle Armstrong, 6) Brett Haas, 7) Eddie Marshall, 8) Kolby Schroder, 9) Chris Curtis, 10) Brandon Lane, 11) J.R. Heffner, 12) Andy Bachetti, 13) Ryan Charland, 14) Chris Bisson, 15) Montgomery Tremont, 16) Mike King, 17) Russell Morseman, IV, 18) Alan Houghtaling, 19) Bubba McPhee, 20) L.J. Lombardo, 21) Josh Marcus, 22) Guy Sheldon, 23) Marc Johnson, 24) Rob Maxon
Herrington Farms 358 Modified Feature Results (24 laps): 1) Ryan Larkin, 2) Joey Coppola, 3) Andy Bachetti, 4) Chris Curtis, 5) Kyle Sheldon, 6) Guy Sheldon, 7) Brian Peterson, 8) Jeff Watson, 9) Mark Pullen, 10) Donny Travaglin, 11) L.J. Lombardo, 12) Michael Sabia, 13) Mike Engwer, 14) Brady Cordova, 15) Alan Houghtaling, 16) Joe Pravia, 17) Brett Haas, 18) Ray Hall Jr., 19) Angelo DiCarlo
S&G Roofing Sportsman Feature Results (20 laps): 1) Tim Hartman Jr., 2) Nick Giardini, 3) Michael Sabia, 4) Brady Cordova, 5) A.J. Albreada, 6) Dylan Grogan, 7) Jeff Higham, 8) Connor Crane, 9) Keith Johannessen, 10) Chris Crane Jr., 11) Owen Lewis, 12) Karl Barnes, 13) Shawn McPhee, 14) Kevin Ames, 15) John Agor, 16) Craig Wholey, 17) Anthony Maxon. DQ: Jeff Gallup
Limited Sportsman Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Cam Van Zandt, 2) Dylan Holmes, 3) John Santolin, 4) Braxton Martin, 5) Harold Robitaille, 6) Dalton Gamache, 7) Brian Walsh, 8) Mike Bosco, 9) Matt Jordan, 10) Garrett Biagiarelli, 11) Chris Humes, 12) Jason Manchester, 13) Brandon Lemaire, 14) Ray Royals, 15) Kyle Burl
Pro Stock Feature Results (20 laps): 1) Shawn Perez Jr., 2) Bastien Caron, 3) Dave Stickles*, 4) Frank Twing, 5) Chris Stalker, 6) Kevin April, 7) Shawn Perez, 8) Richard Spencer, 9) Rocco Procopio, 10) Zach Sorrentino, 11) Brian Keough, 12) Bruno Cyr, 13) Paul LaRochelle, 14) Tom Dean
*- Jeff Meltz Jr. drove in place of Dave Stickles in a substitute role. As a result, Stickles will collect the points that Meltz earned.
Street Stock Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Dave Streibel, 2) Jeff Meltz Sr.*, 3) Anthony King, 4) Peter Huntoon, 5) Franklin Smith, 6) Keri VanDenburg, 7) Mike Dianda, 8) Dave Streibel Jr., 9) Lou Gancarz
*- Gary O’Brien drove in place of Jeff Meltz Sr. in a substitute role. As a result, Meltz will collect the points that O’Brien earned.
