Marc Johnson, Frank Twing Score Big Lebanon Valley Victories
Column By: Phil Allaway / LEBANON VALLEY SPEEDWAY – WEST LEBANON, N.Y. –
Marc Johnson, after a race-long duel, was able to take the lead away from Kyle Armstrong with eight laps to go Saturday night, then held on to take his first win of the year.
“It was really good,” Johnson said after the race. “It’s been two weeks that we’ve had the chance to adjust on [the car] out of our shop, and we’ve proven [the adjustments] with a first and second-place finish.”
Johnson won by 2.649 seconds over Armstrong. Kolby Schroder was third, then Keith Flach and Brett Haas.
Ryan Charland started from the pole, but didn’t hold onto the lead for long as Armstrong was able to take the lead away on the first lap. Johnson followed through into second.
Armstrong and Johnson battled hard for the lead early on with Johnson up high and Armstrong low. It was more or less a stalemate.
On lap 9, the scariest moment of the night occurred. On the backstretch, Brandon Lane and Josh Marcus collided and crashed. Lane was then hit by Matt Pupello and Montgomery Tremont. Mike King, Mike Engwer and Alan Houghtaling were also involved. All seven were out on the spot.
The red flag was thrown to tend to the drivers and clean up the track. For the most part, everyone was ok. That said, a couple of drivers were effectively stuck and had to be cut out of their cars.
After a long delay, the race resumed with Armstrong and Johnson continuing to battle at the front. Further back, Andy Bachetti was moving up into contention. Problems for Chris Curtis brought the yellow back out with nine laps to go.
On the restart, Johnson resumed the battle. This time, he was able to get ahead of Armstrong on the outside of turn 2 on lap 23. Bachetti followed into second and looked like he had the car to beat. Then, his engine threw a rod in the closing laps. Bachetti dropping off the pace was all Johnson needed to win.
The 358 Modifieds had Alan Houghtaling start from pole, but immediately lose the advantage to Guy Sheldon. Just as quickly, Jeff Watson was able to take the lead from Guy Sheldon.
Bachetti started ninth and quickly moved up the order. By lap 5, he was already third and pressuring Guy Sheldon for second.
Bachetti took second from Sheldon on lap 8. Watson couldn’t put up much of a defense as Bachetti swept into the lead a lap later.
From there, Bachetti pulled away from the pack to take his third win of the year. Watson was second, then Ray Hall Jr., Guy Sheldon and Kyle Sheldon.
The DIRTcar Pro Stock Series held the annual Ol’ Buzzard 30 Saturday night in honor of Jimmy Langenback and Bobby Chalmers. A field of 31 turned up for a big race.
By virtue of a redraw, Zach Sorrentino started from pole and battled early with Tom Dean. Frank Twing tacked onto the leaders in an attempt to pull away and settle things among themselves.
A spin for Jay Casey in turn 1 brought out the yellow on lap 10 shortly after Dean took the lead away from Sorrentino. On the restart, Twing was able to take the advantage from Dean in turn 2.
From here on, the race evolved into a series of short sprints followed by incidents. There were 11 cautions in all that ultimately extended the race to 32 laps. Through all of that, Twing was able to keep himself at the front and hold on for the victory. Dean was second, while Pete Stefanski came from 23rd to finish third. Jocelyn Roy was fourth, while Tyler Bushey was fifth.
Limited Sportsman saw Brian Walsh start from pole and run well. Behind him, Dylan Holmes started sixth and quickly moved up the order. By lap 5, he was second and pressuring Walsh for the lead.
Holmes took a few laps, but was able to take over the lead on lap 10. From there, he pulled away to take the victory by 4.879 seconds. A wreck broke out on the final lap involving Walsh, John Santolin and Chris Humes. That allowed Ray Royals to finish second, followed by Braxton Martin, Kyle Burl and Brian Nelson.
In Street Stock, Chris Stalker took the win in a rare appearance from the rear.
