Lebanon Valley’s Season Starting to Wind Down

Story By: PHIL ALLAWAY / LEBANON VALLEY SPEEDWAY – WEST LEBANON, NY – Hard to believe, but the 2025 season is nearly over at Lebanon Valley Speedway. However, unlike previous years, 2025 is set to go out with a bang.

First up is Mr. Dirt Track U.S.A., the annual visit of the Super DIRTcar Series to Lebanon Valley. Last year’s race was postponed to this past June due to rain. Then, it rained again in June, resulting in the event being cancelled.

This year, the race is back as a Thursday night event as opposed to a Saturday night race. That is beneficial for a number of reasons.

As a rule of thumb, tour races do not count for full season points at Lebanon Valley Speedway. They count for appearance points only.

This is primarily to curb non-regulars that compete full-time in the Super DIRTcar Series from factoring into the track’s regular point standings. The rule also applies to other DIRTcar-sanctioned touring series. Last weekend’s Ol’ Buzzard 30 was a DIRTcar Pro Stock Series race and thus only counted for appearance points for the Pro Stock class.

The second benefit is that having Mr. Dirt Track U.S.A. on a Thursday night with only one support class means that the pits won’t be completely jammed. The past few years have seen Mr. Dirt Track U.S.A. run on a normal Saturday night with every class in the pits. To say that space has been tough to come by would be an understatement.

This year’s Mr. Dirt Track U.S.A. event will have support from the Sportsman and Pro Stock classes. These teams will be racing against their biggest audience of the season.

Finally, doing Mr. Dirt Track U.S.A. on a weeknight means that there will be one more Modified feature for full points. Recent years have seen the Modified points end a week early due to Mr. Dirt Track U.S.A. being on Saturday night and DIRTcar’s rule that requires championships to be complete by Labor Day.

So far this year in the Super DIRTcar Series, it’s been an up-and-down season for a lot of the stars. At present, Mat Williamson leads the points by 88 over youngster Alex Yankowski. Matt Sheppard, a multi-time Mr. Dirt Track U.S.A. winner, is third, then Alex Payne and Erick Rudolph.

The winningest driver in the series this season with five victories is Sprakers, N.Y.’s Stewart Friesen, who has competed in and around his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series responsibilities. However, Friesen suffered multiple pelvis fractures, a broken leg and a broken hip in a crash July 28 at Autodrome Drummond in Quebec. He is out for the season as he recovers.

Who are the favorites Saturday night? Andy Bachetti is certainly up there. The Sheffield, Mass. racer has won the last three Mr. DIRT Track U.S.A. races and six overall. Drivers such as Kolby Schroder, Brett Haas and Marc Johnson should be up there in the mix. Since 2009, the only driver that hasn’t raced regularly at Lebanon Valley at some point to win the race has been Sheppard, who won in 2016.

Tickets are still available for Mr. Dirt Track U.S.A. General Admission tickets will be available for $26 at the box office Thursday and $27.50 ahead of time at lebanonvalley.com. Child tickets are $6. Reserved tickets are $30 at the box office Thursday, $31.50 on the website ahead. Party deck seating is a $2 add-on to Reserved seating. Rooftop seating is $40 at the box office, or $41.50 on the website. Tower seating is sold out.

Saturday night is the final night of points for all classes at Lebanon Valley. With that, you have point races. Nearly all of the classes are technically still in play.

In Modifieds, Bachetti is in position to take his sixth consecutive Modified championship. He currently holds a 30-point lead over Schroder and will win the title with an average finish Saturday night.

In 358 Modifieds, Bachetti will not be able to double up as he has already been eliminated from championship contention. Chris Curtis has come into his own this year with five victories and nine top-five finishes. He has a 17-point lead over Joey Coppola and will clinch the title by finishing eighth or better.

The Pro Stock class is the closest battle at the moment. Defending champion Zach Sorrentino is leading the standings, but by only one point over Chris Stalker with two races remaining. The two will race head-to-head this week and whoever does better in the two features and their heat races will win the title.

In Sportsman, Tim Hartman Jr., after a scare earlier this season, is in position to win his fourth straight championship. He currently holds a 21-point lead over Nick Giardini with two races remaining on the strength of seven victories, but this is not insurmountable.

Brandon Lemaire currently leads the Limited Sportsman points by six over Dylan Holmes, who claimed his first victory last weekend. Brian Walsh, whose point challenge was hurt by getting caught up in a last-lap crash Saturday night, is 15 markers behind.

Finally, Anthony King has a two-point lead in Street Stock over Dave Streibel Jr. It will be a heads-up duel Saturday night as whoever finishes better will win the title.