Saturday night at Lebanon Valley Speedway saw J.R. Heffner take the lead away from pole sitter Mike King on lap 11. From there, he held on to take his first feature win of the year.
“Mike King was running really strong tonight,” Heffner said after the race. “I was lucky to get that restart where I could get squared up with him and beat him down into turn 1. Our [car] tonight was really strong…[and] it all came together for us tonight.”
Heffner won by 6.025 seconds over Marc Johnson. King held on for third, while Kyle Armstrong and Brett Haas rounded out the top-five.
King started from the pole led early. Meanwhile, Ryan Darcy got a little too aggressive entering turn 1 and spun into the wall to bring out the yellow with two laps complete. Darcy was ok, but done for the night.
Shortly after the restart, Andy Bachetti slowed in turn 4 with what looked like a flat tire. In reality, Bachetti had a broken axle that put him out as well.
Heffner started in fifth and quickly moved up to second. Matt Pupello and Kyle Sheldon gave chase. King was able to hold on until Montgomery Tremont cut a tire to bring out a yellow on lap 10.
On the restart, Heffner was able to make his move to take the lead in. Once out front, he pulled away.
The man on the move Saturday night was Brett Haas. Haas started 18th after having trouble in his heat and quickly moved up to graft himself to the back of King, Armstrong and Pupello.
The battling allowed Johnson to move up into the group and pick them off, one by one. Ultimately, Johnson was able to get second, but he could do nothing to prevent Heffner from winning.
In the 358 Modifieds, Bachetti earned the pole after winning his heat race and issues from last week. Once the green came out, Bachetti ran off and hid.
Behind Bachetti, the man on the move was Haas once again. Here, he started in 10th and made his way forward, reaching Chris Curtis in the final 10 laps. The pass for second was made with seven laps to go.
Despite being in second, Haas could do nothing to prevent Bachetti from taking the win. Haas was 7.819 seconds back at the finish. Curtis was third, then Peter Carlotto and Jeff Watson.
The Sportsman class had their most lucrative feature of the year, the 12th Annual Andrew Sherman Memorial. Anthony Maxon started from the pole and led early. Meanwhile, Tim Hartman Jr. was going for his sixth straight victory dating back to Labor Day weekend last year and took very little time to move forward.
By lap 4, Hartman was already up to second, having dispatched of Nick Giardini. A couple of laps later, he had already gotten past Maxon to take the lead. Giardini followed into second a couple of laps later.
Giardini was able to keep pace with Hartman for the next few laps, but was unable to make a move for him. Issues for Joseph Mennitte brought the race’s only yellow on lap 13 and brought the pack back together.
After the restart, Hartman opened up a solid advantage and held on to win the Andrew Sherman Memorial and $2,000. He finished 2.173 seconds ahead of Giardini. Mike Arnold was third, then Ricky Davis and Brady Cordova.
In Limited Sportsman, Ray Royals took the lead from pole sitter Owen Lewis on lap 2 and ran well early on. However, a spin for Lewis on lap 6 brought out a yellow and set up a mess.
On the restart, Frank Twing Jr. made a move on the backstretch for the lead. Contact was made and a multi-car crash broke out that eliminated Frank Twing Jr. and Harold Robitaille.
Royals kept the lead after the crash, but immediately lost the advantage on the restart to Scott Zehnacker. From there, Zehnacker pulled away to take his second win of the year. Zehnacker ended up 3.523 seconds ahead of Royals at the finish. Joe Pravia was third, then Martin and Dylan Holmes.
In Pro Stock, Paul LaRochelle led 17 cars to green and ran well early on. Frank Twing, last weekend’s winner, drove himself into contention. A flat right front tire for Chad Jeseo on lap 8 set up a mess.
Zach Sorrentino passed Frank Twing on the restart and went to work on LaRochelle for the lead. Behind him, a crash broke out involving Nick Hilt, Rick Duzlak and Katrina Foster. LaRochelle then hit the wall as well.
Frank Twing was given the lead since he was running the highest of those not in the wreck before the yellow. On the restart, Sorrentino overtook Frank Twing to take the lead.
From there, Sorrentino held on to take his second win of the year over Tom Dean. Jeseo was third, then Hilt and LaRochelle.
In Super Street Stock, Scott Morris started from pole in his Chevrolet Camaro, but lost the advantage early on to Ray Hall Sr. An early spin for Lou Gancarz brought out the yellow.
On the restart, Dave Streibel Jr. was able to take the lead away from Hall, then pulled away a little. Jeff Meltz Sr., who started eighth, followed Dave Streibel Jr. to the front.
After Keri VanDenburg stalled in turn 4 on lap 6 to bring out another yellow, Dave Streibel Jr. and Meltz ended up in a fierce battle for the lead. The two were nose-to-tail and side-by-side at times until Meltz took the lead on lap 13.
A caution for Hall spinning in turn 1 set up a two-lap sprint to the finish. Meltz was able to hold on to take his third win of the year. Dave Streibel Jr. was second, then Dave Streibel, Morris and Gancarz.
In the 4-Cylinder feature, Jason Peck was able to take the overall lead from pole sitter Stephen Burka on the first lap and was able to open up a decent advantage. However, the Honda Prelude of Jon Shepard ran down Peck and took the lead on lap 7. From there, Shepard held on for his second straight win to start the year. Dylan MacLeod won the Single-Cam class.
Bonded Concrete Modified Feature Results (30 laps): 1) J.R. Heffner, 2) Marc Johnson, 3) Mike King, 4) Kyle Armstrong, 5) Brett Haas, 6) Kolby Schroder, 7) Matt Pupello, 8) Kyle Sheldon, 9) John Virgilio, 10) Eddie Marshall, 11) Keith Flach, 12) Brandon Lane, 13) Rob Maxon, 14) Montgomery Tremont, 15) Olden Dwyer, 16) Josh Marcus, 17) Ryan Darcy, 18) Andy Bachetti, 19) Brian Berger
358 Modified Feature Results (24 laps): 1) Andy Bachetti, 2) Brett Haas, 3) Chris Curtis, 4) Peter Carlotto, 5) Jeff Watson, 6) Joey Coppola, 7) Kyle Sheldon, 8) Lorne Browe, 9) Jason Herrington, 10) Ray Hall Jr., 11) Donny Travaglin, 12) Ryan Heath, 13) Brian Sandstedt, 14) Kim LaVoy, 15) Michael Sabia, 16) Dillon Gannon, 17) Ryan Larkin, 18) Alan Houghtaling (DNS)
Sportsman 12th Annual Andrew Sherman Memorial Results (20 laps): 1) Tim Hartman Jr., 2) Nick Giardini, 3) Mike Arnold, 4) Ricky Davis, 5) Brady Cordova, 6) Michael Sabia, 7) Justin Gozzi, 8) Karl Barnes, 9) Mike Engwer, 10) Anthony Maxon, 11) Joseph Mennitte, 12) Alan Houghtaling, 13) Frank Frasco, 14) Ray Hall Jr. (DNS)
Limited Sportsman Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Scott Zehnacker, 2) Ray Royals, 3) Fred Pravia, 4) Braxton Martin, 5) Dylan Holmes, 6) Brian Walsh, 7) Chris Humes, 8) Sarah Arnold, 9) Kent Clark, 10) Garrett Biagiarelli, 11) Owen Lewis, 12) Frank Twing Jr., 13) Harold Robitaille, 14) Jim Dellea, 15) Phil Arnold (DNS)
Pro Stock Feature Results (20 laps): 1) Zach Sorrentino, 2) Tom Dean, 3) Chad Jeseo, 4) Nick Hilt, 5) Paul LaRochelle, 6) Rick Duzlak, 7) Rocco Procopio, 8) Brian Keough, 9) Tom O’Connor, 10) Brian Carter, 11) Dave Stickles, 12) Frank Twing, 13) Chris Stalker, 14) Ryan Crellin, 15) Chris Dyer, 16) Katrina Foster, 17) Richard Spencer, 18) Shawn Perez (DNS)
Super Street Stock Feature (20 laps): 1) Jeff Meltz Sr., 2) Dave Streibel Jr., 3) Dave Streibel, 4) Scott Morris, 5) Lou Gancarz, 6) Doug Sterling, 7) Keri VanDenburg, 8) Paul Vallee, 9) Ray Hall Sr., 10) Franklin Smith
4-Cylinder Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Jon Shepard, 2) Jason Peck, 3) Dylan MacLeod, 4) Stephen Burka, 5) Chris Danylieko
4-Cylinder Dual-Cam Results (15 laps): 1) Jon Shepard, 2) Jason Peck, 3) Chris Danylieko
4-Cylinder Single-Cam Results: 1) Dylan MacLeod, 2) Stephen Burka