Bachetti Wins Opening 358-Modified Mr. DIRT Event At Lebanon Valley

Recently crowned Lebanon Valley Speedway small-block points champion Andy Bachetti successfully defended hometurf on Saturday, staging a flag-to-flag performance to capture top honors in round one of the 2006 Mr. DIRT 358-Modified Series. Bachetti’s fourth 358 win of the season in the ‘Race of Kings’ title event at the Valley of Speedway netted the Sheffield, Massachusetts pilot $3,000 plus valuable points towards the overall Hoosier Tire-Sunoco Race Fuels Mr. DIRT Championship.

“The car was a little wobbly on the straights but the tire going down obviously didn’t effect the car too much,” said Bachetti, 30, who had a left-front tire start losing air in time for the final restart with just seven circuits remaining in the 50-lap season finale in West Lebanon. “Hats off to my team and sponsors, they worked hard this week and it really paid off tonight.”

A pair of rain-delays forced race officials to scrap time trials and use the draw order to establish qualifying heat race line-ups. Bachetti started last in the fourth and final qualifying heat yet charged through the pack to take first-place and set the tone early for what would lie ahead. In the customary pre-race draw among the top-four heat finishers, Bachetti grabbed the pole and the race for second was the only unfinished business once the first green flag flew.

A rare red flag unfurled on a lap seven restart when contact between Matt Quinn and Tom Faxon sent the Quinn machine careening into the front wall with no less than three more open-wheel mounts joining in the fray to block a portion of the main straightaway. Back under green Bachetti re-fired his no. 4 Old Forge Power Sports/PMC entry and out-dragged runner-up Alan Johnson for the top position. J.R. Heffner rallied from fifth to third over the second half of the event while Canadian Brian McDonald and home track favorite Kenny Tremont rounded out the front-five at the finish. The top-10 was filled by Lebanon regulars Ryan Larkin and Wayne Jelley, followed by Orange County runners Jimmy Johnson and Brett Hearn, and another Valley chauffeur Keith Flach. Alan Johnson, Tremont and Jimmy Johnson earned guaranteed starting berths in the 358-Modified Championship scheduled for Oct. 7 during Super DIRT Week in Syracuse.

Mr. DIRT 358-Modified Series Race #1 – Lebanon Valley Speedway, Sept. 9, 2006 Race of Kings 50 Event Summary
FEATURE (50-laps): 4-Andy Bachetti, 14j-Alan Johnson, 5-JR Heffner, m96-Brian McDonald, 115-Kenny Tremont, 39-Ryan Larkin, 45-Wayne Jelley, 77-Jimmy Johnson, 4*-Brett Hearn, 43-Keith Flach, 66x-Carey Terrance, 007-Roy Tarbell, 51-Jim VanAnden, 16h-Kyle Hoffman, 55-Danny Johnson, 30-Mark Pullen, 12y-Denny Young,Jr., 77g-Robbie Grant, 171-Tom Faxon, 83-Chad Pierce, 6-Pat O’Brien, 40-Ted Teal, 69k-Kory Gurney, 24h-Buddy Hencke, 32-Matt Quinn, 24s-Rich Salisbury, 10-Randy Sherlock, 3-Andy Lindeman, 16-Lance Willix II, 94-Ray Hoard (DNS).
LAP LEADER: Bachetti (1-50).
CAUTIONS: 3 (lap 7, lap 12, lap 43); 1 RED FLAG (lap 7).

DID NOT QUALIFY(7)
00-John Hotchkiss
mk1-Alex Sommers
19-Tim Fuller
21L-Ryan Stortini
24-Chris Shultz
112b-Dave Baranowski
250-Alan Houghtaling

QUALIFYING
Heat Races (8 laps, top-5 finishers transferred to feature, top-3 went to re-draw)
#1: Jelley, Sherlock, Gurney, Tarbell, Teal, Terrance, Shultz, Young, Hoffman, Hencke.
#2: McDonald, Heffner, Hearn, Tremont, VanAnden, D.Johnson, Pierce, Lindeman, Sommers.
#3: A.Johnson, Larkin, Salisbury, O’Brien, Grant, Hoard, Flach, Stortini, Fuller (DNS).
#4: Bachetti, Quinn, J.Johnson, Faxon, Pullen, Hotchkiss, Willix, Baranowski, Houghtaling.
Consolation Round (8 laps, top 10 finishers transferred to feature)
#1: Terrance, Flach, D.Johnson, Hoard, Willix, Lindeman, Pierce, Hencke, Hoffman, Young, Baranowski, Houghtaling, Stortini, Shultz, Sommers, Hotchkiss, Fuller (DNS).