RPW Exclusive: Best Place To Be? Leading When The Checkers Flew, Not Before; JR Heffner In Right Spot Saturday At Lebanon Valley

Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – WEST LEBANON, NY – It seemed as though the place you didn’t want to be during the 30-lap Modified feature Saturday at Lebanon Valley was the lead. Just ask Matt Pupello and Kyle Armstrong.

However, when the checkered flag fell, it was JR Heffner getting his first win of the 2019 season, and bringing DKM Fabrication their first win of the season on the high banks.

It appeared as if Pupello was on his way to an easy victory from his inside front row starting spot aboard his #42 machine. That was, until the caution came out on lap 18 when all the air left the left rear tire on his PMC Race Car.

That handed the lead to fourth-place starter Armstrong who looked like he had the field covered. With just two laps remaining the caution flag waved again, and under the yellow the #11A slowed on the backstretch, the victim of a rear end issue.

With only two circuits remaining and now being handed a gift, Heffner was able to maneuver his way around the track and bring home the checkered flag. Even though he had a fast race car, he knows that he was more lucky than good on Saturday to be in the right place at the right time.

“We got a couple breaks tonight with the 42 and the 11A having trouble,” Heffner said. “That was a heartbreak for those guys but this DKM Chassis with Bedell horsepower was strong tonight.”

Heffner made the switch from Bicknell to DKM for his Big Block Modified program this season and his team has been working hard to get the new car figured out. It has taken a different mindset to get the new car figured out and the 74 team has been working hard to get it done.

“My guys are working hard and I think we’ve got Charlie (Parise) wore right out,” he said. “Thanks though to DKM, it looks like this whole thing is happening real well right now.”

One of the advantages for Heffner was having a key part of the DKM family, co-owner Kyle Hoffman, in his pit area working on the 74. Hoffman’s help getting the new car up to speed has really aided in the learning curve for JR and the team, and it showed on Saturday.

“Kyle is just excellent,” he said. “I can’t say enough about him and his whole family. For him to put the effort in with our crew, I feel this is going to get even better.”

Heffner started in the sixth position for the feature and was just in the right place at the right time when the two leaders had their troubles. Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky even though your racecar may be good. For JR, he was both.

“That’s where the crew comes in,” he said. “These guys are the best you can have out here and it was really good that I was able to give something back to them for their hard work.”

Second place on the night was Andy Bachetti who debuted a new Bicknell chassis #4 on opening night and brought it home in the top five. With the warmer conditions on Saturday, Bachetti was able to get a better reading on the new car and is happy with how it’s performing so far this season.

“It was a decent race track out there and the car was good tonight,” Bachetti said. “We may have an issue with a rear end tube or something because the car was all over. But, for the most part, the Garrity Asphalt car is back and we’re ready to rip.”

Bachetti had to charge from deep in the field based on his good run last week. He started in the 12th position and worked his way to the runner-up spot when the feature was done.

Ronnie Johnson brought his #2RJ home for a strong third place finish while “Batman” Peter Britten drove from deep (14th) to finish in fourth. Eddie Marshall rounded out the top five.

Bachetti and Britten are now tied for the point lead with Kenny Tremont just four points out.

It was another great evening for Bachetti as he was able to bring home his second 358-Modified feature event win in a row, this time coming from 11th starting spot. Even with an early race spin, the Sheffield, MA driver was able to charge back to the front.

After making an aggressive move to get by inside front row starter Kenny Aanonson by hip-checking him off the second turn, Timothy Davis was able to move to second from his sixth starting spot. He then made the move on leader Kim Lavoy early in the main event to grab the point. From that point on, he was gone, building up nearly half a track lead on second place Brian Sandstedt.

That was, until Bachetti made his way to second, and then began to reel in the #7T of Davis. He was gaining an amazing amount of ground with each passing lap and made the move on the Vermont racer for the lead with nine laps remaining.

From there, Bachetti just cruised to his second win of the season.

“This is just awesome,” Bachetti said. “I spun out all by myself there and figured I had to redeem myself by trying to get back to the front.”

The car, owned by Jim Winchell, was simply on rails Saturday night and appeared to be the class of the field in the 24-lap feature.

“I can’t say enough about this car and Jimmy,” he said. “These guys have built a hell of a piece for me and I can’t thank them enough. My team is just working so hard.”

To be able to come from the rear of the field, things just seemed to be going Bachetti’s way on Saturday and it showed with another checkered flag. Track conditions were key in the success of the #17 as well.

“The track was real good,” he said. “The top was actually working in our favor tonight. We made some changes with our shocks and that seemed to be what we needed for the race track.”

Davis was able to come home second with Frank Harper in third. Dillon Steuer and Brett Haas rounded out the top five.

After the feature, the Davis team put in an official protest on the engine in the Bachetti machine. The car was taken to the tech shed at the Lebanon Valley Dragway to have the protest complete. At 1:30am, RPW received confirmation from LVS officials that the car was legal and the win will stand.

Modified Results (30 Laps) -1) J.R. Heffner, 2) Andy Bachetti, 3) Ronnie Johnson, 4) Peter Britten, 5) Eddie Marshall, 6) L.J Lombardo, 7) Keith Flach, 8) Kenny Tremont Jr, 9) Kyle Sheldon, 10) Marc Johnson, 11) Kolby Schroder, 12) Brian Berger, 13) Mike King, 14) Rob Pitcher, 15) Wayne Jelley, 16) Denny Soltis, 17) Ricky Davis, 18) Josh Marcus, 19) John Ruchel, 20) Kyle Armstrong, 21) Olden Dwyer, 22) Dan Humes, 23) Matt Pupello, 24) Paul Gilardi, 25) Chad Jeseo, 26) Steve Hough, 27) Alan Houghtaling, 28) Cass Bennet,

Small Block Modified Results (24 Laps) 1) Andy Bachetti, 2) Timothy Davis, 3) Frank Harper, 4) Dillon Steuer, 5) Brett Haas, 6) Ray Hall Jr, 7) J.R. Heffner, 8) Brian Sandstedt, 9) Guy Shelden, 10) Kenny Aanonson, 11) Chris Curtis, 12) Ricky Davis, 13) Brandon Pitcher, 14) Steve Hough, 15) Dan Humes, 16) Kim LaVoy, 17) Brian Peterson, 18) Alan Houghtaling, 19) Jason Herrington, 20) Olden Dwyer,