RPW Column: First Of Two Lebanon Valley Practice Sessions Gives Everyone A Racing Fix

Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – WEST LEBANON, NY – For the first time since last August, race cars made laps around the Lebanon Valley Speedway on Saturday…the first of two scheduled practices in anticipation of the 2021 racing season.

For some teams, it was shaking the rust off. For others, it was research and development while others, it was getting use to a new ride.

One of those testing out a new car was 42 Racing and driver Kyle Sheldon. The team had a brand new 2020 PMC all set to assemble last season, but due to a myriad of circumstances, chose not to do so. During this off-season, however, team owner Alex Thomson and his team went to work to build the car and Saturday was its maiden voyage and Sheldon was VERY happy.

“The car felt really, really good,” Sheldon said. “We have a couple more bugs to work out but I’m really excited to get this thing on track opening night.”

One of those bugs the team worked out on Saturday was in their braking system during the first hot lap session. However, that didn’t take the smile off Sheldon’s face.

“The brake caliper bracket spun on us,” he said. “That stuffed the caliper into the rotor and the backside of the hub. In that set, it was dragging and overheated, which in turn killed the caliper.”

Brian Berger was another driver touring around the Valley’s 5/8-mile track on Saturday shaking down his ride. The Castleton, NY driver was pleased with how things turned out as he and his team worked to improve their car from last year which saw them finish 11th in points.

“We tried a few different things so we wanted to get comfortable with the car and make sure we were good,” Berger said. “It felt like we had some good drive in it and I liked the suspension adjustments we made. I was also very happy with the changes Dan Bedell made with the engine.”

Does Berger feel confident with his program for 2021 based on Saturday’s test?

“The track was narrow so we’ll have to see how it is under racing conditions,” he said. “However, I think we will be good and I’m really looking forward opening night.”

One of the founding members of Phaze3 Racing, Berger will be in action on Sunday at Albany-Saratoga. While his car for the “Great Race Place” is good, he still feels like the team has more work to do.

“We’re set for Sunday,” he said. “The Malta car was good at practice last week, but we still need to find more speed to mix it up with the top guys. We’ll keep working with it and hopefully the opener goes well. It should be a stellar field of cars.”

Olden Dwyer had an up-and-down day on Saturday. The Pownal, VT driver tested both his Big Block and 358-Modified and was pleased with how both cars handled, but feels like his Big Block is missing something.

“It was okay,” Dwyer said. Not great, but not bad. The car isn’t rotating as well as I need it to. It’s the same problem we had during the Super DIRTcar Series race last weekend at Can-Am.”

The Dwyer team’s 358-Modified entry was quick right off the truck but ran into a problem during their last set of hot laps.

“The Small Block was very fast,” he said. “Unfortunately, we broke a driveshaft in our last session. It didn’t spin the motor too bad so I think we will be okay with that. We’ll check everything over to make sure.”

Ryan Larkin, who captured a Sportsman feature event win last season at the Valley, has moved to the 358-Modified division for 2021 had his blue and neon yellow #39 at practice on Saturday. The second-generation driver was happy with his piece.

“The car was good right off the trailer,” Larkin said. “We didn’t make any changes. We just ran laps. The track wasn’t like it will be on race night but hopefully it might be at the next practice. I’m hoping we can play with shocks and springs then.”

For 2020 Sportsman track champion John Virgilio, it was same ole, same ole on Saturday…make laps and shake the car down.

“We just wanted to make sure everything was good,” Virgilio said. “We didn’t really try anything until the third set and I think what we did was really good.”

Virgilio became the first driver in the Crate Sportsman era to win three track titles at the Valley last season. He’ll start his chase after number four when the season kicks off on May 1st.

Another Sportsman driver who was all smiles on Saturday was Nikki Ouellette. Ouellette, who picked up her first career win at the Valley last season, has a new crate engine in his #16 DKM Chassis that was tuned by Donath Motorworx and that has her extremely excited.

“This motor felt really crisp and responsive,” Ouellette said. “We had some success last year and I’m hoping we can carry that into 2021.”

The team, led by Nikki’s dad, Ken, worked hard this off-season to improve their program and if Saturday was an indication, they are on the right track to keeping their momentum from last year going.

“This car really ran well today,” she said. “It handled great and that’s what I was hoping for.”

Ouellette was able to pick up another DKM chassis during the winter from the JR Heffner team and plans to travel a bit with it. They had hopes of making it the Albany-Saratoga opener on Sunday but ran out of time.

“We’re going to go but just to watch,” she said. “Our car is almost there but not quite ready yet.”

One tow rig you couldn’t miss on Saturday was the stacker hauler of Pro Stock racer Johnny Rivers. Rivers has his two-car team ready to go this season, with himself and Shawn Perez manning the controls.

Rivers was very pleased with his car on Saturday and can’t wait to get his season going.

“Our new Manimal Chassis from Nick Stone has got killer forward bite,” Rivers said. “We spent the day trying some different stager setups and did some gear changes. We were trying to gain more straightaway speed.”

With the new car comes added expectation, but mainly from Rivers himself who’s looking to improve his team all around.

“I’m hoping this new car will help us show how good we can be,” he said. “This thing is good. It has lots of drive on the bottom groove and we’re working to up our tire program this year as well. We will be ready.”

Lebanon Valley To Pay Out A 2020 Point Fund…

In speaking with Lebanon Valley promoter Howard Commander, he reports that even with 2020 being hampered by the loss of fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the speedway will be paying out a point fund for last season.

While it won’t be the same as it has in years past, the track wanted to make sure the racers know they appreciated their support during such a difficult time in the sport.

Point fund checks will be paid on opening night to those who are in attendance.

Other News & Notes…

Joey Coppola, who finished fourth in Sportsman points one year ago, had two cars in the pit area on Saturday. One of those rides was outfitted with a 358-Modified engine.

Not sure if he’ll be competing in both classes on a regular basis but any time Coppola is in the field, he’s a threat for a good finish.

Veteran campaigner Denny Soltis made several laps on Saturday in his Big Block Modified, but did find the turn one wall to close out the second set. The car had no real significant damage and the “Connecticut Yankee” finished out the day strong.

Over the winter, Soltis and his team have been working hard to resurrect a Bicknell chassis that Kenny Tremont flipped at Albany-Saratoga at the beginning of last season. The team has it nearly ready for action and plan to run it at the Valley as much as possible.