J.R. Heffner Puts One in the Win Column

West Lebanon, NY: Just over half way through the season at the mighty high banks of Lebanon Valley Speedway, the heat is on for every position through all divisions to make a run for the championship! A full crowd was on hand at the famed Valley of Speed as the dirt was set to fly on Freihofer Night.

The marquee Big Block Modifieds began the season with a couple of streaks. Now, some familiar faces are also returning to victory lane. This week’s 30 lap feature event put the #97 of Bobby Hackel IV on the pole with the #34L of Kim Lavoy right alongside at the drop of the green flag.

Hackel held on to the top spot for a handful of laps until cautions slowed the field. After the 2^nd yellow, J.R. Heffner powered his #74 to the top spot, and drove away from the field. Back in the pack, the battle was on to get to the runner up spot and try to battle Heffner for the lead.

But all was for naught, as Heffner had more than enough to hold off all challengers. At the checkers, Heffner got his 1^st win of the season; Kyle Armstrong battled his way to 2^nd, with Brett Hearn, Andy Bachetti, and Rob Pitcher completing the top 5 finishers.

Alissa Cody brought the Budget Sportsman 20 Lap feature to the green in her family owner #21L with the #4NY of Robbie Speed alongside into turn 1. Cody’s lead lasted only 1 lap as Speed powered to the point.

Caution slowed the field and kept them bunched up on Speed’s rear deck. That put the #7s of Michael Sabia on the hunt for the lead on the next green flag. Speed and Sabia diced it out up front, with the #7s finally taking over the top spot by lap 15, and he never looked back.

At the checkers, Michael Sabia scores the win. Speed settled for 2^nd while Tyler Dippel, Chris Lynch and Whitey Slavin rounded out the top 5 finishers.

In the new Small Block division, Alan Houghtaling drove his #250 to the lead by lap 4 and checked out on the pack. Steve Meilluer finished 2^nd followed by Chad Jeseo, Steve Hough and Brian Sandstedt.

A special Pro Stock Power Play Series 25 lap feature was on tap at the end of the night. Jon Routhier drove the #5 X to the point at the start of the race, and led wire to wire for his first win on the season. Robbie Speed, Chuck Towslee, Jay Corbin and jay Casey completed the top 5 finishers.

Earlier in the evening, the Purestocks had their feature events, and the winners were: Jeff Meltz Sr in PS#1, Lou Ganczar took PS#2 while ray Hall Sr scored the win in PS#3. Congratulations to all winners on the night!

Next Saturday Night its Rifenburg Construction Night with a $5,000 to Win Big Block Modified “King of the Track” feature plus a #1,000 Small Block Feature with all other weekly divisions.

Then it’s the Marchese Ford Monster Jam Summer Nationals starting Sunday July 14^th through Wednesday July 17^th!

More Races, More Fun, More Lebanon Valley!

Freihofer’s and Coors Big Block Modified Feature (30 Laps): 1)J.R. Heffner, 2)Kyle Armstrong, 3)Brett Hearn, 4)Andy Bachetti, 5)Rob Pitcher, 6)Kenny Tremont Jr, 7)Donnie Corellis, 8)Keith Flach, 9)Kyle Sheldon, 10)Kolby Schroder, 11)Bobby Hackel, 12)Kim LaVoy, 13)Paul Gilardi, 14)John Ruchel, 15)Mike King, 16)CG Morey, 17)Nick Hotaling, 18)Steve Hough, 19)Denny Soltis, 20)Mark Flach Jr, 21)Jimmy Burns, 22)Eddie Marshall, 23)Matt Pupello, 24)Kyle Hoffman, 25)Brian Berger

Small Block Modified Feature (24 Laps): 1)Alan Houghtaling, 2)Steve Meilleur, 3)Chad Jeseo, 4)Steve Hough, 5)Brian Sandsredt, 6)Brett Haas, 7)Ryan Darcy, 8)Jason Harrington, 9)Chad Pierce, 10)Kenny Aanonsen JR, 11)Sean Mandell, 12)Ryan Charland, 13)CG Morey, DNS)Olden Dwyer

Budget Sportsman (20 Laps): 1)Michael Sabia, 2)Robbie Speed, 3)Tyler Dippel, 4)Chris Lynch, 5)Whitey Slavin, 6)Brian Peterson, 7)Peter Carlotto, 8)Rob Knipe, 9)Matt Pappa, 10)John Virgilio, 11)Tommy Johnson, 12)Ray Hall Jr., 13)Greg Catlin, 14)Jack Speshock, 15)Rob Maxon, 16)Todd Lane, 17)Timothy Davis 2nd, 18)Cody Hunt, 19)Brandon Page, 20)Mike Verhagen, 21)Cody Ochs, 22)Zeb Catlin, 23)Ricky Davis, 24)Alissa Cody, 25)Alan Houghtaling, 26)Jake Jelley, DNS)Chris Lysogorski, DNS)Brandon Pitcher, DNS)Robert Bublak

Pro Stock Power Play Series (25 Laps): 1)Jon Routhier, 2)Robbie Speed, 3)Chuck Towslee, 4)Jay Corbin, 5)Jay Casey, 6)Frank Twing, 7)Victor Hopkins, 8)Jason Casey, 9)Jason Meltz, 10)Rick Duzlak, 11)Nick Hilt, 12)Tom Harkins, 13)Brian Keough, 14)John Santolin, 15)Paul Engwer, 16)Milo Campbell, 17)Jeff Kemel, 18)Mark Dupree, 19)Richard Spencer

Purestock #1 (8 Laps): 1)Jeff Meltz Sr., 2)Tom Murphy, 3)Shawn Perez, 4)Dan Olds, 5)Keri Vandenburg, 6)Joe Cheneil, 7)Brian Walsh, 8)Martina Martin, 9)Gary Vandenburg, 10)Scott Morris, 11)Jason Cooper

Purestock #2 (8 Laps): 1)Lou Ganczar, 2)Chris Streeter, 3)Bob Brown, 4)Shawn Lancey, 5)Raymond Mandel, 6)Shawn Johannessen, 7)Matt Cross, 8)Jeremy Closson, 9)Cody Mead, 10)Harold Robitaille, 11)Steven LaRochelle

Purestock #3 (12 Laps): 1)Ray Hall Sr, 2)Doug Olds, 3)Mike Eichstedt, 4)Al Relyea, 5)Ed Hatch, 6)James Hatch, 7)John Felarecki, 8)Jim Groncki, 9)Dave Stickles, 10)Dan Cote, 11)Clifford Booth, 12)Hunter Sanchez, 13)Jeff Meltz, 14)Daniel Sanchez, DQ)John Devine