RPW Column: More Practice Helps Teams Get Tuned Up For 2020 Season At Lebanon Valley

RPW Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – WEST LEBANON, NY – It was an interesting start, sort of, to the 2020 racing season at Lebanon Valley Speedway on Saturday night. While all classes were in action for practice, John Virgilio, Scott Towslee, Jeff Meltz Sr. and Gary Malloy took home victories in four dashes that were held to close out the evening.

Virgilio started on the front row and ran away with the 12-lap Sportsman affair while Scott Towslee had to fend off an early multi-lap challenge of slide jobs and cross overs from Chad Jeseo at the beginning of the Pro Stock dash before he was able to cruise to victory.

Meltz, the elder statesman of the father / sons racing family, held off all comers to take the checkered flag in the Pure Stock event while Gary Malloy claimed the W with his #69 machine.

The racing surface Saturday, while smooth, provided several challenges to the racing competitors. Many of those who took to the track found it extremely slick with many actually spinning out. The track was so slick and greasy that in the second session of Pure Stock hot laps, Cliff booth spun out in the same spot in turn two, not once, but twice.

With the later start, that meant that close to the end of the session, track officials turned on the lights around the speedway. That was the perfect time to showcase some of the new LED lights that have been installed. It is definitely an improvement over what has been used in the past.

Now, on to some news & notes…

Eddie Marshall is probably one driver who’s happy that the season has been pushed off for a few months. The reason? Marshall injured his shoulder water skiing during the off-season and needed about two months to heal.

Marshall’s doctor was one that worked for the New York Yankees, and they put his return date at the last week of April. With the extra time off, the Ridgefield, CT driver looks good to go as he chases that elusive Lebanon Valley Modified track title.

Although his health was in great shape, his new Teo Pro Car wasn’t. As Marshall went out on the track for the first session of the day, his car developed a bad vibration. One of the driveshaft u-bolts broke and then the driveshaft came apart.

Without another in the trailer, the team decided to load up and leave before the night was done.

Paul Gilardi had an eventful week after Tuesday’s practice session. What he thought was a transmission issue, was one, but also turned out to be a broken valve in the engine.

The team found it on Thursday evening swapped the powerplant with their backup engine.

Unfortunately, Gilardi’s luck wasn’t much better on Saturday as the car had steering issues in the first session. The team switch boxes between the first and second run but he only made one lap in that group.

The problem ended up being a power steering pump in the 87x which ended the night for the Pittsfield, MA driver.

Alan Houghtaling made the statement before practice began that he would only be doing hit-or-miss races this season.

His business, Al’s Garage, according to Alan, hasn’t been where it needed to be during the virus pandemic. As a good business owner, he’s kept his five employees on staff and took the time off himself so to make sure his guys had a paycheck. An amazing gesture to make sure his staff stayed working.

That being said, Houghtaling may run a few crate races this season but won’t be a regular campaigner until business begins to improve.

Kim LaVoy made her first appearance at the Valley this season with her family-owned #3 Bicknell machine. She had a tough go of things in the second round of practice, planting her car in the turn three wall.

Nikki Ouellette is debuting a brand new DKM Cyclone Chassis this year, and after her first day on track with it Tuesday, she’s ecstatic.

The Connecticut racer who now calls Troy, NY home, made the switch from Teo to DKM in the off-season and is really making things work so far.

The best part of how things are going with DKM is the customer service, according to Nikki and her dad, Ken. Kyle Hoffman, part owner of DKM, even went to their shop in Connecticut to work with them this winter.

Ouellette was in a great position in her dash event, running as high as third when contact from behind sent her spinning in turn one. The spin also collected Derek Bornt and another competitor as they entered turn one on a late race restart.

Even with the problems, Nikki was pleased with how the night went.

“This car is really good,” Ouellette said. “We were one of the fasted Sportsman here on Tuesday, and we were really quick again tonight. I love this new car and I think we’re really in the game for when racing gets going.”

Cody Ochs was also a first-time visitor to the high banks this season. His all-new PMC Race Car is carrying primary sponsorship from his 9-5 job, Cole’s Collision.

Scott Towslee was the Pro Stock racer who took home the Dash win at the Valley Saturday, but this was after a night where he finished fifth at Can-Am Speedway.

In his first ever start at the track, Towslee drove from 17th to fifth in the main event and really impressed many at the LaFargeville, NY oval…including, his father, a former Pro Stock racer himself, Chuck Towslee.

“The kid’s a wheelman, that’s for sure,” the elder Towslee said of his son. “He really impressed me last night.”

Safe to say he proved it again on Saturday at the Valley.

Johnny Rivers had a tough night on Saturday with his Pro Stock #14J machine. Rivers’ car spun the water pump in the first session and the team fought that issue the rest of the evening.