Brett Hearn Made Career Win #901 Look Easy Saturday At Lebanon Valley
Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – WEST LEBANON, NY – With the pressure of #900 behind him after Friday night’s win at Albany-Saratoga, Brett Hearn made quick work of the Modified field at Lebanon Valley Saturday as he begins his march to the 1000 win mark.
“I honestly good about everything coming into tonight,” Hearn said after the race. “If I remember correctly, after I got win #800, 801 came really quick. We had a little bit of a lag around June and July as far as victory lane went, but I think we’re back and we’ll be strong for the end of the year.”
Hearn started in the eleventh position and moved quickly to the top five by the one-third mark of the feature. His charge to the front was aided by a caution on lap 11 where he would line up in fourth. From the time the green flag dropped until the cars hit turn two, the ‘Jersey Jet’ was fighting to the inside of leader Elmo Reckner. He would take the lead on lap fourteen and set sail after his fourth win of 2017.
“This is the best weekend I’ve had in a long, long time,” Hearn said. “Tonight was just unbelievable. They changed the track a little bit tonight but this car was just really good.”
Hearn was perfect on the night at the Valley Saturday. He set fast time in early night warm-ups, won his heat, was quickest in mid-evening hot laps and then won the feature. You can’t get much better than that.
“This is just a hard-working, dedicated team and when we get down to it, these guys just dig down and work harder,” he said. “Madsen Overhead Doors are just the greatest owners on the planet for Modified racing and just a host of other characters that just work hard to make this team go.”
Even with the accolades of 900 career wins, Hearn still has his foot on the gas pedal, but is keeping things in perspective.
“I just live every day to be better tomorrow,” he said. “Every time you think you know everything, you really don’t know anything, so every day we keep an open mind to learning new things and just try hard to be better than we were yesterday. That’s really what it’s all about.”
Not only was it #901 for his career win total, Saturday’s triumph was also Big Block win #101 on the Valley High Banks.
For second place finisher Elmo Reckner, the stars almost aligned for him to get his first victory at the West Lebanon oval, but he came up just a bit short.
“Our car was real good tonight,” he said. “We were just a little bit free off of turn two and Brett was really strong. Congratulations on 901. I’d just like to get one here at the Valley.”
Saturday’s second place run continues a strong season for the former Fonda Speedway regular at Lebanon Valley. Even in his third season, he understands it’s not a cakewalk to victory lane.
“It’s really tough here,” he said. “We banged our car up here a couple weeks ago really bad and last week we didn’t have it quite right. We worked pretty hard just to get back here so running as well as it did tonight feels pretty good.”
Brian Berger brought the Phaze3 Racing #60 home in the third position after starting seventh. Saturday was a great boost for the team as they work towards the stretch run of races this season.
"Finally, we went forward in the feature," Berger said. "It's the first time we've done that all season. We needed that. We found a setup combination that works with our new engine and hopefully we can finish the year strong now."
Rob Pitcher was fourth in his Dinosaw #17 Teo. Pitcher’s run was with an engine that he previously felt was lacking in the horsepower department. However, the team found the problem and now it’s a strong piece.
“We didn’t know what the issue was to begin with,” Pitcher said. “Come to find out, we had a broken rocker. Once we got that fixed, this engine has really started to run well. I like it.”
Rounding out the top five was Keith Flach who drove hard all race long in his #43 Bicknell chassis / Billy The Kid-powered #43. It appeared that the longer the green flag laps clicked off, the faster his car got.
"It definitely got better the longer a stretch went on," Flach said. "Overall, we were a little off from where we've been. We couldn't quite get off the corner as good as we have in the past few weeks, but it was still a good finish for us."
The most exciting race of the evening was the 358-Modified feature that came down to a last lap, last corner pass by Kenny Tremont to score the victory over Alan Houghtaling who led most of the race.
“That was exciting to say the least,” he said after the race. “Alan did a great job and I was able to start high and cross over before he did and it just worked out.”
After starting deep in the field Saturday, Tremont used every bit of the track to gain positions…high, low, and even in the middle.
“We ran all over to gain spots,” he said. “I ran a few laps on the bottom trying to see if I could pick up some momentum and found out where I could pick up some speed. Guess we saved it for the end.”
Tremont was quick to give the credit for the win to his dedicated crew members.
“I’m really thankful for the people we have working on this car,” Tremont said. “Kevin Palmer and his wife, Lori, do a spectacular job and all the guys that are involved work really, really hard and all I have to do is drive it. They make it really easy on me.”
Second-place Alan Houghtaling was so close he could taste victory, but the ‘King of the Valley” got him.
“I did not want to just pinch him down,” he said. “Tried to get him to use the outside to go around me, but what are you gonna do. He’s Kenny Tremont. I want to congratulate him. We really what we wanted this one. We haven’t had the best year, but we came up just a little bit too short.
JR Heffner, Jason Herrington and Brett Haas rounded out the top five finishers.
Michael Sabia powered around leader Nikki Ouellette just before halfway of the Sportsman feature and never looked back as we went on to collect his first win of 2017. The current division point leader started in the fourth position and quickly got to the top spot.
“This car was great tonight,” Sabia said. “With the setup we had in it, it drove like a go-kart and we just kept getting faster and faster.”
The victory helped Sabia extend his point lead to 28 over White Slavin who finished seventh.
Ouellette brought her #16 Teo home in a career-best second place finish on the night after leading a good portion of the main. She was caught in a spirited battle with Alan Houghtaling for a majority of the feature and just nipped the #250 at the line to get the spot. Cody Ochs and Chris Lynch rounded out the top five.
In Pro Stock action, Rob Yetman was able to come back from an early race problem to win the 30-lap Old Buzzard 30 feature event. It was a race put together to honor the memory of former Valley Pro Stock Champion Jimmy Langenback.
Nick Hilt started up front and was running away with the race until lap 28 when Yetman worked his way to the inside of the N&L #17 and made the pass for the win.
“Jimmy had his own way about him,” Yetman said in victory lane. “He always would help you out. When I started to get a little better towards the end of his career he didn’t want to tell me so much (laughing), but Jimmy was a unique character. This one is for him and it’s an honor to win this race.”
Hilt brought his car home second, but was so close to winning he could taste it.
“We fought hard all night and lead 28 out of 30 laps,” he said. “But, we got passed by the best Pro Stock driver around. Second this week and third last week. Things are looking up for us. It’s been a tough season.”
It looked like Chuck Towslee was going to have a solid top three finish in the “Old Buzzard 30,” but got turned around on the last lap while fighting with Hilt for second. He ended up 16th in the final rundown.
Jason Meltz, still looking for that first career Pro Stock win, came home third, followed by former Langenback Memorial winner Rick Duzlak, who finished fourth and Jon Routhier who came home fifth.
Sunday Morning Edit: We have learned, from a Lebanon Valley official, that Nick Hilt was placed last in the running order for spinning Chuck Towslee on the final lap. That moves Meltz to second Duzlak to third, Routhier to fourth and Rich Crane to fifth.
Mike Eicchstedt, Larry Perez and point leader “Big Ed” Hatch took home the three Pure Stock feature event wins on the night.
News & Notes…
Olden Dwyer recently made the switch from Teo to HigFab Chassis for his Big Block program, and things seemed to be looking good early Saturday night.
That was, until a brake caliper locked up on the Dwyer’s State Line Beer & Wine #88Jr going into turn three in his heat race. That sent the machine hard into the wall, virtually destroying the machine and, from what team members tell me, putting a possible end to the team’s 2017 racing season.
The hit was reminiscent of the ride Paul Gilardi took last week in turn one at the Valley. Extensive damage was done to the machine, even bending the motor plate and motor mounts in the car.
While not confirmed, word is that Dwyer may have sustained a concussion in the accident and is a very sore driver. If true, all of us wish Olden a speedy recovery as his father, Ron, is hoping to see if the team can get back on track.
Speaking of Gilardi, Paul was back this week with the team’s back-up #87x Bicknell machine. The team ran the same engine that was in their primary car of a week ago. Checks during the week indicated that things were okay with it. However, something didn’t seem right Saturday during their heat race so they called it a night.
Kyle Hoffman looked to be on his way to a great top five finish in the Modified feature only to have the powerplant expire with a handful of laps left. The DKM Cyclone Chassis #16 has worked well on the high banks in 2017 but the team just needs a little bit of luck on their side. They will get it soon, however. There’s no doubt in my mind with how well their car looks.
John Ruchel was having a great run going Saturday as well. Qualifying through his heat race and running side-by-side with Brett Hearn for several laps, Ruchel was scheduled to start on the pole for the feature.
Unfortunately, after the heat race, the driver from Niverville, NY noticed that the water temperature spiked from 180 degrees to 220 almost instantaneously. Upon further review, the team noticed that the water pump stopped working so they decided to load up rather than risk any issue.
“If it’s not one thing, it’s another,” John said. “We’re getting there, though.”
Frank Hoard III looked like he was well on his way to a possible win the 358-Modified feature only to drop out just before the halfway mark while leading.
“Something in the transmission or driveline area let loose coming off turn two,” he said. “It started to make a noise and then shook violently, and then boom.”
The driveshaft slip yoke connected to the rear end was the culprit. Hoard believes it may have had something to do with the contact before the initial green flag he had with the 6 of Bryan McGuire.
The two had a matter of difference as to who was going to be on the outside for the original green. They made contact at the midway point of the backstretch and Hoard’s car got airborne.
The car landed hard on all four wheels, but there is where he feels the problem may have started.
The 111 of Demetrios Drellos was black-flagged during the Small Block feature and sent to the pit area for the rest of the race. We’re not sure as to the official reason, but it did relegate the Queensbury, NY driver to 16th in the final rundown and dropped him to fourth in points, 101 behind leader Kenny Tremont.
Jay Corbin was an early retiree from the Old Buzzard 30 as incidental contact with another competitor caused front end damage to the former Pro Stock champions #8 machine.
Corbin’s having a very difficult season on the high banks, with his lone win on the season coming during the 12th annual Bubba Tanner Pro Stock Classic on June 17th.
Peter Carlotto had his #12c PMC in the pit area Saturday, but it was outfitted with the team’s Sportsman engine instead of their 358 powerplant. Unsure as to why this took place, but Saturday wasn’t the night Peter would have liked.
The 358-Modified feature winner from just three weeks ago was involved in first lap accident with John Virgilio and Rob Maxon and never really recovered. He would finish 16th on the night.
One of the coolest things from the evening came from the Sorrentino 54S Motorsports team. After a grinding crash at the Fonda Speedway in early July, the team thought their year was over. However, that is not the way they wanted it to end.
That’s when Zach, the driver, and his father, Pete, went to work. They found complete car they could use, and seeing as how Pete was a big part of Jimmy Langenback’s team for countless years, what better time to return then on the night in his honor.
So, they went to work, and came up with a paint scheme for the car that was identical to that made famous by the legend himself. It gave me goose bumps to see it on track and Zach wheeled it home to a solid third place finish in Pure Stock #1.
He also led the parade laps for the “Old Buzzard 30” in honor of Jimmy. It was a great way to kick off the event and I can’t thank the team enough for doing this. I’m sure Jimmy was watching down and smiling from ear-to-ear.
The Portieri family, owners of Tommy Dean's #413 Pro Stock, worked with DMC Racing Products to put together a unique program for the Pro Stock feature. The "Luck of the Draw" program, in it's second year, was a special drawing that gave back to the drivers who participated in the event.
The family canvased different business and individuals for cash donations and prizes for the drawing that was held after the races. Each driver's name was put into a bag. All drivers were present for the drawing and as a prize was read aloud, a driver was picked out of the draw to receive it.
Four cash awards of $254 each were pulled and in total, over $2,600 in cash and prizes were given away.
Not to be outdone, the New York State Stock Car Association, who Jimmy left a sizable portion of his estate to because of his belief in the organization, stepped up to the plate with over $650 in prize money to the top five finishing members of NYSSCA. Top prize for that was $254.
Danny Sanchez Contracting, Canaan Auto Supply and the Grosetti's were also big supporters of the 'Old Buzzard 30' this year. Oh, and can't forget Dan at DH Graphx for the amazing one-of-a-kind trophy for the winner. Be sure to check out our photo gallery to see photos of it. It came out amazing.
I can't thank everyone who helped with the promotion of this event in 2017. Hopefully Jimmy loved watching it and plans are in the works to possibly do this, along with the 13th Annual Bubba Tanner Pro Stock Classic, again in 2018.
The night started out extremely tough for the Wild Child, Andy Bachetti, and his #4 team. With two burst of rain that saturated the speedway, track officials were doing everything they could to run the track in to race condition, all the while teams were entering the pit area.
Through some sort of miscommunication, Bachetti’s black stacker trailer was sent in to the pits while one of the speedway’s water trucks was coming down the front stretch. Unfortunately there was no time for either to react and the water truck made contact with the front end of Bachetti’s rig, causing major damage.
The team was able to get the hauler into the pit area and ran the entire night. They qualified through their heat race and came home ninth when the feature was complete.
With the rain pushing the schedule back, track officials decided to only run features for all classes except the Modifieds.
Saturday August 05 , 2017 – West Lebanon, NY – A- Verdi Presents – Modified Results (30 Laps) -1) Brett Hearn, 2) Elmo Reckner, 3) Brian Berger, 4) Rob Pitcher, 5) Keith Flach, 6) Kenny Tremont Jr, 7) Eddie Marshall, 8) Kyle Sheldon, 9) Andy Bachetti, 10) J.R. Heffner, 11) Mike King, 12) Steve Hough, 13) Matt Pupello, 14) Chad Jeseo, 15) Kyle Armstrong, 16) Wayne Jelley, 17) Kolby Schroder, 18) Mike Keeler, 19) Jeff Sukup, 20) Kyle Hoffman, 21) L.J Lombardo, 22) Denny Soltis, 23) Paul Gilardi, 24) Olden Dwyer, 25) John Ruchel,
Small Block Modified Results (24 Laps) -1) Ken Tremont Jr, 2) Alan Houghtaling, 3) J.R. Heffner, 4) Jason Herrington, 5) Brett Haas, 6) Brian Sandstedt, 7) Timothy Davis, 8) Brandon Pitcher, 9) Ray Hall Jr, 10) Frank Harper, 11) Bryan McGuire, 12) Ryan Charland, 13) Chad Pierce, 14) Sean Mandel, 5) Frank Hoard III, 16) Demetrios Drellos, 17) Jason Tompkins, 18) Kenny Aanonson,
Sportsman Results (20 Laps) – 1) Michael Sabia, 2) Nikki Ouellette, 3) Alan Houghtaling, 4) Cody Ochs, 5) Chris Lynch, 6) Rob Maxon, 7) Whitey Slavin, 8) Kevin Ward, 9) Chris Curtis, 10) Frank Hoard Jr, 11) Lem Atkins,12) Brandon Lane, 13) Zeb Catlin, 14) Harold Robitaille, 15) John Virgilio, 16) Pete Carlotto,
Pro Stock Results (30 Laps) (THE OLD BUZZARD 30) – 1) Rob Yetman, 2) Nick Hilt, 3) Jason Meltz, 4) Rick Duzlak, 5) Jon Routhier, 6) Rich Crane, 7) Rick Dempsey, 8) Steven LaRochelle, 9) Ed Bishop, 10) Scott Govertsen, 11) Brian Keough, 12) Tom O'Connor, 13) Joe LaFlamme, 14) Tom Dean, 15) Rick Spencer, 16) Chuck Towslee, 17) Hugh Page, 18) Jeff Kelmel, 19) Jay Corbin, 20) Dan Cote,
Pure Stock #1 Results (8 Laps) – 1) Mike Eicchstedt, 2) Chad Arsenault, 3) Zach Sorrentino, 4) Scott Morris, 5) Tim Meltz, 6) Wuggie Burdick, 7) Kerri Vandenburg, 8) Jordan Miller, 9) Evan Denue, DQ) Chris Murphy
Pure Stock #2 Results (8 Laps) – 1) Larry Perez, 2) Nick Reilly, 3) Adam Schneider, 4) Lou Ganczar, 5) Dom Denue, 6) Dennis O'Connor, 7) Joe Walcott, 8) Clifford Booth, 9) Rich Smith, 10) Luke Van Allen,
Pure Stock #3 Results (10 Laps) – 1) Ed Hatch, 2) John Devine, 3) Jeff Kreutzinger, 4) Bill Deek Jr, 5) Gary O'Brien, 6) Jeff Meltz, 7) Ray Hall Sr, 8) Mike Arnold, 9) Shawn Perez, 10) Tim Thompson, 11) Brian Walsh, 12) Zach Seyerlein, 13) Jeff Meltz Jr,
