RPW Exclusive: Keith Flach Uses Lap Traffic To Perfection To Capture First Win Of ’19 At Lebanon Valley

Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – WEST LEBANON, NY – Keith Flach didn’t have the fastest car early in the 30-lap Modified feature event Saturday at Lebanon Valley. However, he was the fastest on the track when it counted the most.

With just four laps remaining, Flach was able to pass pole-sitter Steve Hough in lap traffic and went on to take the popular feature event win.

The Ravena, NY driver was able to use the lap cars to his advantage and worked the bottom of the speedway to perfection as the leader was pinned behind other drivers on the high side. From that point on, Flach wasn’t to be denied.

“We were actually pretty tight the first part of the race,” Flach said. “I didn’t think we were that good really, but the track started to go away as the race went on and we were able to find something on the bottom while those guys were training around on the top.”

This is a brand new Bicknell chassis under the #43 this season, and it looked as if they finally figured out a few things with it on Saturday night.

“This is a new piece and the first two weeks we were struggling a bit with it,” he said. “We made a lot of changes for this race. Andrew (Phillips, Flach’s crew chief) spent a lot of time on it this week trying to get it better and hopefully we’re on something here.”

For Flach, who ended the 2018 season so well, coming on late, the first couple weeks with the new car have been frustrating. However, a run like he had on Saturday may be just what the doctor ordered for the KFR team.

“This was a lot of fun tonight,” he said. “Races when you’re not very good aren’t all that fun, but when you’ve got a car that’s good and you can make some passes, it’s a lot more enjoyable.”

Another car that came on really well as the race hit the later stages was the 42 of Kyle Sheldon. At one point, he was ahead of Flach and was working on the leaders as well, but it took the 43 passing him to see where he had to run.

“We were awesome tonight but I wish I had tried the bottom sooner,” Sheldon said. “Our car was flawless tonight. All the changes we made through the night were exactly what this thing needed. I just wish I had seen the bottom come in quicker, but that’s racing.”

You could see how the track changed as the feature went on. Flach’s car came to life and so did the Sheldon Oil PMC machine. Track conditions worked in Kyle’s favor as he was able to drive his way to second with the late race charge.

“I thought the track was challenging tonight, but honestly, I really can’t complain,” he said. “I’d love for the track to be slick like it was tonight every week. We always seem to go well on a slick track.”

Hough looked like he had the race in the bag but lap traffic was his downfall. The 34 came home with third while Olden Dwyer had a great race to finish fourth and Kyle Armstrong rebounded from two weeks of bad luck to round out the top five.

For Dwyer, this was a great confidence booster as he and the team work to get their racing program turned around.

“Tonight was a lot of fun,” Dwyer said. “We’ve struggled the first two weeks really hard and to have a solid top five finish tonight is just awesome for our team.”

At one point in the race, it looked like Dwyer might have had something for the leader Hough, but he just could never make the move by the 34. Extremely late in the race is when Flach and Sheldon worked their way passed the 88 machine, but this is still a great effort for the entire Dwyer operation.

“For all of our teams this year (the Big Block, Small Block and Albany-Saratoga car), I’ve got a lot of great people behind me,” he said. “I couldn’t do it without them for sure and we’re just trying to get as much seat time as we can. It’s runs like this that give our team so much confidence.”

Ten laps. That’s all it took for Andy Bachetti to go from 12th starting position to the lead in the 24-lap 358-Modified feature. From that point on, the Winchell Masonry #17 was on cruise control enroute to his third-straight win in the class this season.

“Man, it’s just great to have such a good race car right now,” Bachetti said. “With Accord not running on Friday’s yet with all the rain, that doesn’t let us get in a rhythm as that’s our full-time scheduled track to run at, but to be able to do this up here has been awesome.”

Bachetti tied history Saturday with his third straight win to start the season. Only one other driver, Claude Hoard, has accomplished this feat and he did so in 1980. If Bachetti wins again next year, he’ll stand alone in the record books.

Steve Hough had a great night on Saturday. Not only was he close to capturing the Big Block feature, he had a solid run in the Small Blocks, leading the first 10 laps and coming home in second.

Guy Sheldon, in his second race in the Lorne Browe-owned #14 machine, was able to make it a great night for the Sheldon family as he brought the car home in the third position and knew he had a good piece.

“I knew this was a fast car last week,” Sheldon said. “We had a few issues to deal with but I thought once we got them figured out we might be able to contend. However, I didn’t think it would happen this quick.”

It looks as if the driving career of Lorne Browe may be on hiatus, for now. Browe, who owns a successful asphalt services company, just doesn’t have the time to strap himself behind the wheel of his #14 358-Modified each week.

Enter, former Modified racer Sheldon. This week, Guy’s name was lettered on the roof of the car and Browe took his safety equipment out of the trailer. Good to hear that business is doing well for the former Pro Stock division champion and now the former Sportsman champ Sheldon can have more fun.

“There’s still something left to the car, so we’ll be back next week,” he said with a laugh. “We may run this all year for Lorne. As long as I can be competitive and we can have fun I’ll do it.”

Brett Haas had another strong run to come home in fourth and Brandon Pitcher made a late race move on JR Heffner to grab the fifth position at the finish.

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

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