RPW Exclusive: Dwyer’s Health; Lombardo Hits The Road; Maxon Went For It, & More; New & Notes From Lebanon Valley
Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – WEST LEBANON, NY – From a driver with a broken transmission and isn’t feeling very well to another driver being over-aggressive and making an error going for the lead to someone needing more laps on a new car so he’s taking his team out on the road…here’s more news and notes from this past Saturday at the Lebanon Valley Speedway.
Olden Dwyer’s Health Issues…
Pownal, VT’s Olden Dwyer has been struggling as of late…not necessarily with his racecars, but more his physical health.
On June 22nd at the Valley, he finished 10th in the Small Block Modified main but just couldn’t run the Big Block feature because he wasn’t feeling so hot. He took one lap and pulled in.
After visiting with his doctor and resting during the week, he decided it was best to use veteran Hector Stratton as a substitute driver in his #88 last Friday at Albany-Saratoga. He still wasn’t feeling up to par so he felt he needed another night off to try and get things in order. Stratton finished 19th.
Last Saturday, he was feeling a little better so he planned to race both his Big Block and Small Block at the Valley. However, the night wasn’t to be.
After a spirited battle with Marc Johnson in his Big Block heat race, Dwyer was able to set the fastest lap of the race and win the 8-lap contest. However, transmission issues before the feature derailed the effort and he pulled the plug on his entire night because he still felt awful physically. Sportsman point leader Rob Maxon hopped in Dwyer’s Small Block for both features.
The health issues are something that has Dwyer puzzled about, but mainly because he’s getting more and more frustrated…not necessarily so he can race. He just wants to feel better.
“I feel terrible,” Dwyer said Sunday afternoon from his home. “It was a bad night when I got home and hasn’t gotten any better. This really sucks.”
Dwyer hasn’t officially been diagnosed but his doctors have some ideas. However, the more time that passes makes him more and more irritated.
“They think it’s a digestive issue,” he said. “They are looking at either Crohn’s or Colitis or something in that area. Only problem right now is they can’t get me in to see a specialist until the end of September. We’re working on trying to get something sooner because I can’t wait that long.”
Time To Do Some Traveling For LJ Lombardo…
This season, LJ Lombardo has two brand new PMC Race Cars in his stable after years in the Teo Pro Car camp. One has proven to be a quality piece with a victory at Lebanon Valley, several good finishes and a current top five points position at the track.
The other car, however, doesn’t have many laps on it. Lombardo and his team decided it was time to fix that, and what better way to that than to hit the road.
The 35 team will tow from Danbury, CT to Canandaigua, NY this coming Thursday, the 4th of July, for the Super DIRTcar Series Liberty 100 at Land of Legends Raceway. He’ll follow that up with a run at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Friday night.
“We’ve only gotten to run the car once or twice,” Lombardo said. “We need more laps on the new one to bugs worked out of it.”
These two races work perfectly for Lombardo and team as the race falls on the July 4th holiday which means work schedules don’t really come into play.
“We have a bunch of races coming up, especially for the Super DIRTcar Series tour,” he said. “That’s going to be our tour car so hopefully we can get “Stella” to run up front Thursday to start.”
Does Lombardo have any experience at the Canandaigua, NY track?
“Hell no,” he said with a laugh. “Some of my new crew guys have been there with Brett (Hearn). We want to start running the tour so figured what better way to test the car and get our feet wet than to go on a road trip.”
Gilardi and Co. Getting Things Pointed In The Right Direction…
The start of 2019 was one of the toughest of Paul Gilardi’s career. From motor issues to accidents to just “freak” problems, if it could happen to a team, Gilardi said it could happen to the 87x.
However, things are on the upswing. Since his win on June 15th, Gilardi has completed every lap at the Valley and has gained quite a bit in the points standings. He now is only 17 points out of 13th after being as low as 23rd in the standings. This is big swing for this team as they continue to gain momentum.
“We aren’t looking at the points,” Gilardi said. “We just want to keep getting better and get our equipment pointed in the right direction. I just want to get good finishes because my team works very hard and they deserve it.”
Going into last Saturday, Gilardi had been struggling with a fuel pressure issue. After changing numerous pumps and using many different regulators, he still was having trouble.
Then, he feels, he found the problem.
“We took the pump apart that we were using and found a tiny piece of gasket that was somewhere it didn’t belong,” he said. “Once we got that fixed, the pressure came back and was good all night. That had to be the problem.”
Gilardi came home in 12th on Saturday night after starting 20th. It was another step in the right direction, but the veteran from Pittsfield, MA still wasn’t totally satisfied.
“The car was iffy early on in the feature but got better every lap we ran,” he said. “We just needed a couple of cautions in the race and I think we could have finished better.”
Rob Maxon Almost Had It…Almost…
Sportsman point leader Rob Maxon looked like he was in position to grab his second win of the 2019 season at Lebanon Valley, only to see it go away.
Maxon had moved into second near the halfway point of the main event Saturday and was closing quickly on leader Ryan MaCartney. That was when things took a turn.
Maxon made a move heading into turn one to try and grab the lead, but unfortunately, the hole he was going for closed up.
“The driver made a mistake,” Maxon said. “I should have waited. I tried to push the issue a little bit and thought Ryan was staying high. I was inside him and he turned in to try and make the corner.”
In turn, Maxon had no other choice but to spin his #96 Bicknell machine to avoid taking out the leader.
“I had to get on the brakes hard to avoid hitting him,” he said. “That, in turn, made me spin out and cost us our shot at the win.”
Maxon did rally very well, coming from the rear of the field to finish seventh. He still holds a four point lead on John Virgilio entering this Saturday’s event.
As stated before, Maxon jumped into Olden Dwyer’s Small Block on Saturday to help him out. How did Rob enjoy the experience?
“It was really cool,” he said. “Running with more power than my crate engine is definitely something I would have to get use to, but grateful they thought of me. Glad I could help them out.”
Back To Reality After A Checkered Flag For Jeff Watson…
The last time the Sportsman raced, Jeff Watson stood in victory lane. Saturday night, however, he wasn’t able to go back-to-back.
Watson brought out one of the first cautions in the feature event and his night was over early. The former track champion finished 28th.
“Two cars got together in front of me and I had nowhere to go,” Watson said. “Cody Ochs got turned and when I hit him it cleaned off both of my shock towers.”
Watson started 14th and was working his way to the front when the accident happened. He felt like he was biding his time but said, in hindsight, that may not have been the best plan.
“Our car was actually better than the last race to be honest,” he said. “I was really just waiting and not pushing anything at that time in the race. I guess I should have.”
Nearly A Win For Richie Crane In The Pro Stock Feature…
Richie Crane has had an up and down season this year at the Valley. He’s had some good runs but also had some issues and finishes he’d like to forget.
Saturday night, he nearly pulled off his first win of the 2019 season, coming up one spot short to first-time winner Tommy Dean. Even though he didn’t win, he was happy with second.
“It was a pretty good run for us,” Crane said. “I feel like we’re still down on power compared to most but I’m happy with the handling of our car right now. I don’t like to finish second but am really happy Tommy won. It was cool to see and a good night all around.”
Crane now sits sixth in the point standings, just six markers behind Chad Jeseo.
A Tough Night For “Big Bad Chad”…
Chad Jeseo’s night in the Pro Stocks was tough, to say the least.
Jeseo’s car broke the driveshaft in his heat race which did serious damage to the transmission in the #25, effectively ending his night.
Don Collins offered Jeseo his #149 machine to run in the feature to help him gain as many points as he could. Unfortunately, Jeseo brought out the first caution and was done for the night.
“Don’s car is actually a good piece,” Jeseo said. “The setup in the car is pretty good. The transmission locked up when I entered turn one and I couldn’t get it back going. That ended our night.”
