Different Circumstances, Same Result For Hearn At LV In ’16
Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – WEST LEBANON, NY – At Lebanon Valley’s 2015 Awards Banquet last March, Brett Hearn hadn’t announced where he would run weekly for the upcoming season. He ended up staying on the high banks for 2016, and now has 9,300 reasons to be thankful for that decision.
There was a lot of turnover as part of the Madsen Motorsports team last off-season, with the main change coming as Steve Beckwith left the team to move south and begin work at Chip Ganassi Racing. That left Hearn in a bind heading into the new year. So what did the veteran do? He looked to his fans.
“The story of this year, in my mind, belongs to a couple of guys that I kind of plucked out of the stands,” Hearn said Saturday night at the Valley banquet. “Joe and Joey Archiere, who had no experience but had been fans of mine for a long time, they knew I was having an issue with crew help. I kind of asked them if they wanted to go on an adventure with me, and at the end of the year, they said, ‘you know what…that was an adventure.”
2016 was not the typical season for the ‘Jersey Jet’ who normally gets out to a big lead early and uses that along with consistent finishes to maintain for the rest of the schedule. Last year, Hearn’s first win didn’t come until May 14th, and while he reeled off victories in three of the next four races, the rest of his season had signs of inconsistency.
“Championship seasons are never easy,” he said. “There’s a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes, and with all we had going on, we put together a fantastic season, all things considered. We got knocked out of two races that were not our fault. We thought we were all set to make a run to the championship and we got knocked out the second-to-last race of the season. Things happen, but in the end, it all worked out just great.”
With that, 2017 is starting to take shape for the Madsen Motorsports team. Hearn & Co. were able to win a feature at the DIRTcar Nationals in Florida last month as well as securing the Nationals Championship. They were also able to lure Beckwith back as crew chief for the operation this season.
The one thing is still a mystery is if Hearn will be back on the high banks to make a run at seventh track title in the last eight years (2016 was his 11th Big Block title at the track). More than likely, we won’t know the answer to that for the next few weeks, but if he does return, he will be the man to beat.
Small Block Modified champion Kenny Tremont had a great 2015 in the division, but what he was able to accomplish last season at the West Lebanon, NY oval was nothing short of spectacular.
With a class-leading seven wins, the Sand Lake Slingshot distanced himself from the competition, finishing with nearly 120-point margin over second-place Brett Haas. He was the only driver to win more than once on the season, asserting himself as the class of the field.
“I thought 2015 was a pretty good year with a Bicknell car that we thought ran really well,” Tremont said. “We got a Troyer car for the year-end races that year, and decided to use that car for the 2016 season and boy, that car turned out to be even better than the Bicknell.”
Last season marked the third career Lebanon Valley Small Block title for Tremont. He also took the crown in 2000 and, as stated, 2015. Plans are in the works to go for a fourth title this season.
“We will be back to defend in 2017 with the same car as we ran last year,” he said. “Our whole 358-Modified team has remained intact. These guys are really, really good. We were confident every time we rolled in that we had a good shot at running well and it was a pleasure to watch them get excited about winning races.”
Tremont was quick to thank all who have supported his racing program, both crew and sponsors, noting that he wouldn’t be able to do it without them.
Other awards on the evening included the Modified Entertainer of the Year. That was presented to the “Ravena Rocket,” Keith Flach, who had a career year at his Saturday night home. Flach was victorious in the season finale and came within 15 points of securing his first track title.
Brett Haas was awarded the Small Block Modified Outstanding Performance award for 2016. The Pittsfield, MA driver finished second in the point standings…sandwiched between two former Big Block Champions…namely Kenny Tremont and JR Heffner.
With Tremont’s command of the class last season, co-emcee for the evening, Dan Martin, pointed to him at his table and joked with Haas.
“That’s what Kenny Tremont looks like from the front,” Martin said as the crowd chuckled.
Haas laughed and made reference to his team’s determination to return to victory lane this coming season.
The Lebanon Valley staff awarded the “Friend of the Speedway” award to graphic artist Bob Ely who has been at the track for decades. He currently does a lot of the graphic work & signage you see at the track each week.
Other News & Notes From Saturday’s Banquet…
Eddie Marshall will be back to race at the Valley this season. The Ridgefield, CT driver finished fifth in points for 2016 and will return with the same car and engine combination he used last year.
Marshall is one of the drivers who loved racing at Super DIRT Week when it was at the Syracuse Mile but had no plans to attend the week-long spectacle at Oswego. He chose to run Eastern States at Orange County instead and enjoyed his time on the Hard Clay.
Kolby Schroder had to work extremely hard during the 2016 racing campaign to get to the top 10 in points. At one point, the Staatsburg, NY pilot was as low as 18th in the standings, but clawed his way back up.
Consistency with the cars he had in his stable was part of the problem last season. For 2017, Kolby will be running a standard Teo Pro Car as his primary machine. It’s a car, originally run by Duane Howard that the team purchased from the Petruska family late last year.
As reported by Don and Jo Ann Davies in Area Auto last week, veteran tire man Jay Castimore will move from the Brett Hearn stable to work with Keith Flach on Friday nights at Albany-Saratoga. Flach states that things just seemed to work out, and the deal was finalized a mutual friends wedding last weekend.
No word on if Castimore will assist the team on Saturdays at Lebanon or on the road, as Flach is set to follow the entire Super DIRTcar Series again this year.
Lebanon Valley General Manager and Albany-Saratoga Promoter Lyle Devore states that he still has some work to do at the Malta, NY oval to get ready for the season. Due to severe winds, several buildings on the property have experienced damage that will necessitate repair. However, he did say his team is working hard to fix things and knows it will be a great year coming up at the “Great Race Place.”
358-Modified campaigner and former Sportsman Champion Frank Harper will be back to chase after another crown this coming season, and will do so with the assistance of Robbie Albreada. Albreada will be splitting time between Harper’s 358-Mod and the Big Block of LJ Lombardo this season. To make this work, the logistics of parking together in the track’s pit area have to be arranged.
Harper recently got his car back from PMC in Castleton, NY where updates were made. Assembly is coming along nicely as the team will be ready when their season starts on April 29th.
Speaking of PMC Race Cars, Chad Jeseo is set to make his debut in one of Pete Chuckta’s machines this season. The driver from Averill Park, NY still has several of his Teo’s in his shop, but will focus on getting his new PMC up to speed.
Jeseo will have a new primary sponsor on his machine for 2017 as RC Concrete has stepped up their involvement with the team to become the new major backer of the operation.
Fifth place finishers in 358-Modified points Jason Herrington is getting ready to go this season, updating his PMC Chassis as well. The team is using the same car, but is trying to improve their performance over last season.
Lance Harting has spent the off-season working to find speed and performance in the #1 machine for the “Flyin’ Farmer,” most notably improving the brake system.
One last note for PMC drivers…Veteran Mike King is set to embark on his 45th consecutive season of racing in 2017.
Looks like Ray Hall Jr. will be solely concentrating on his 358-Modified program in the new year. Last season, Hall ran his #72 in the Small Block class while driving the #572 for Gary & Kristen O’Brien in the Pro Stocks.
Hall has purchased a new Bicknell chassis for 2017 and it appears as if fan-favorite Victor Hopkins has taken possession of all of the O’Brien’s Pro Stock equipment.
This is huge for Hopkins who has worked tirelessly to maintain the same equipment he owns for many years. Last season, he grabbed one victory and finished seventh in Pro Stock points.
