Bachetti Even Surprises Himself with Budweiser National 200 Win
Kory Sandstedt and Art Collins Score Kings Twin Wins
Sunday September 7, 2008
By: Rodney Rescott
The decision to postpone the scheduled start of the annual National 200 Advance Auto Parts DirtCar Series Tour event 24 hours, turned out to be a bonus for all the teams scheduled to compete at the legendary Valley of Speed.
With the sun blazing, the stage was set for a shootout between the Saturday Night Regulars vs. the outsiders from the DirtCar Tour. The action started early and often, as the green flag dropped on the pole sitter J.R. Heffner aboard the #88 and the #518 of Kyle Sheldon.
Kenny Tremont Jr. jumped from his 3rd row starting position into the 2nd spot by the end of the 1st lap, and settled in behind the #88 of Heffner. The first caution slowed the field for the #10 of Billy Dunn slowing in turn 2 on lap 4.
The green flew again on lap 6 with Heffner still in control. Back in the field, the likes of Matt Shepard, Brett Hearn, Billy Decker, and Gary Tompkins were making their way through the field to get to the front for a shot at the lead.
But by lap 20, Decker’s night came to an end with motor troubles. Mean time, Valley regular Andy Bachetti aboard the Hough Motors owned #34B was also working his way through, passing Tremont for 2nd by lap 24, then moved on by Heffner by lap 30.
By lap 45, Tremont had faded back to 4th, and Hearn was up to 3rd, when the caution flew again for debris. Bachetti stayed out front until lap 52 when the caution flew again. This time, the pits were open for the mandatory pit stop. All the team dove down pit road getting filled up with fuel and checking the tires.
When the dust settled, Hearn emerged from the pit road first and settled into 2nd place behind the #33 1/3 of Tommy Meier. On the restart, Hearn didn’t take long to get out front by lap 59, with Bachetti in tow.
The caution flew again on lap 88 for the #518 of Sheldon, as heavy contact with thee turn 4 wall, ended his hopes for the night. Hearn once again pulled away from the #34B on the lap #92 restart, and the two settled in for a long stretch of green flag racing.
Back behind the front two, Heffner was working through traffic, reaching the 3rd place running spot, with the #98 of Eddie Marshall in tow. Hearn was still out front at the century mark, with the top 5 basically holding strong and biding their time for a lat 50 lap charge for the front.
The green remained out for another 50 laps with Hearn still in control. Soon it became apparent that Hearn all but had enough to rap up another National 200 victory until lap 192.
Just 8 more circuits is all he needed, but the fuel taken wasn’t going to cooperate, as the #20H ran out of petrol on the backstretch and dove down pit road for a top off.
After struggling to restart the power plant, it finally turned over and off he went. Meanwhile, Bachetti was still circling the Valley of Speed unaware of Hearn’s troubles due to a malfunctioning radio.
When the double checkers finally flew on lap 200, the Hough Motors #34B of Andy Bachetti scored the win and the coveted guaranteed starting spot for the Rite Aid 300 at the Moody Mile in Syracuse, NY.
In victory lane, Bachetti was still in shock that he just won the Budweiser National 200, and the $10,000 payday that comes with it, without even knowing it. “That is unbelievable, I had no idea that I won.” explained Bachetti. “ I thought, ‘ why is everyone so excited about us finishing 2nd.” Once the crew gathered, and the flash bulbs popped, he finally figured it out. “Wow, this is unbelievable”.
Finishing behind Bachetti were Valley regulars J.R. Heffner, Eddie Marshall, Mark Flach Jr., and previous regular Rich Ricci Jr. completed the top 5. Orange County regular Tommy Meier was 6th, Jimmy Phelps Frankie Caprara, Hector Stratton, and Brett Hearn completed the top 10.
The Benjamin Moore Paints 358 Race of Kings was also on tap for a special twin 25 lap feature events. In the first feature, pole sitter Kory Sandstedt scored his first 358 feature event. Sandstedt outlasted Tom Faxon, Brett Hearn, Andy Bachetti, and Steve Hough for the win.
In the 2nd 25 lap feature, veteran Valley driver “Alligator” Art Collins lead all 25 circuits to score his first win in more than 2 years. Bachetti finished 2nd, followed by Ray Hoard, Heffner, and Rich Salisbury.
The Pro Stocks were also on tap for a full fendered 20 lap feature event. Jon Routhier took the lead early, but defending champ Kevin Arnold took over by lap 4, but all eyes were on the Mellonville Missile, Robbie Speed. Speed powered his #24 past Arnold on lap 9, and never looked back.
At the checkers, Speed scores the win, with Arnold in tow. Nick Hilt battled to finish 3rd, Rick Dempsey settled for 4th, followed by Jon Routhier.
Everyone’s attention now turns to next Saturday night as the final regular season points for the Sportsman, Pro Stocks, Limited Pro Stock, and Pure Stocks come to a close. September 13 will put a close to the regular season at thee Valley of Speed, with just one additional race to be run.
The World of Outlaw Sprint Car Series makes it’s return on Sunday September 21st to complete their rain delayed event.
For more information on the remaining races and a look at the current point standings, visit out website at www.LebanonValley.com, and click on “Speedway”. Or just call the Speedway Offices during normal business hours at (518) 794-9965, (518) 794-9606.
Sunday September 7, 2008 - Budweiser Presents The Benjamin Moore Paints National 200, The Race of Kings Twin Challenge & Pro Stocks
Benjamin Moore Paints National 200 Presented by Budweiser Modified Results (200 Laps) - 1) Andy Bachetti, 2) J. R. Heffner, 3) Eddie Marshall, 4) Mark Flach Jr, 5) Rich Ricci Jr, 6) Tommy Meier, 7) Jimmy Phelps, 8) Frankie Caprara, 9) Hector Stratton, 10) Brett Hearn, 11) Dale Planck, 12) Chris Schultz, 13) Paul Gilardi, 14) Lorne Browe, 15) Brian Berger, 16) Danny Johnson, 17) Keith Flach, 18) Wayne Jelley, 19) Kenny Tremont Jr, 20) Kyle Sheldon, 21) Gary Tompkins, 22) Craig Mitchell, 23) David Van Horn, 24) Matt Shepard, 25) Guy Sheldon, 26) Ric Hill, 27) Ryan Phelps, 28) Billy Decker, 29) Justin Haers, 30) Billy Dunn, 31) Matt Quinn, DNQ) Ryan Stortini, DNQ) Jeff Sukup, DNQ) Mike King
Benjamin Moore Paints 358 Modified Super Series Results Twin Challenge Feature #1 Results (25 Laps) - 1) Kory Sandstedt, 2) Tom Faxon, 3) Brett Hearn, 4) Andy Bachetti, 5) Steve Hough, 6) J. R. Heffner, 7) Neil Sratton, 8) Art Collins, 9) Matt Quinn, 10) Jeff Watson, 11) Ray Hoard, 12) Kale Groff, 13) Rich Salisbury, 14) Kenny Tremont Jr, 15) Kim Lavoy, 16) Ted Teal, 17) Mark Pullen, 18) Jim VanAnden, 19) Eric Mack, 20) Derek Schibi, 21) Ryan Stortini, 22) Kevin Winters, 23) Alan Houghtaling, 24) John Hotchkiss, 25) Ernie Palmer, 26) Kyle Hoffman
Benjamin Moore Paints 358 Modified Super Series Results Twin Challenge Feature #2 Results (25 Laps) - 1) Art Collins, 2) Andy Bachetti, 3) Ray Hoard, 4) J. R. Heffner, 5) Rich Salisbury, 6) Kenny Tremont Jr, 7) Steve Hough, 8) Neil Sratton, 9) Kale Groff, 10) Tom Faxon, 11) Kim Lavoy, 12) Kory Sandstedt, 13) Mark Pullen, 14) Jim VanAnden, 15) Eric Mack, 16) Brett Hearn, 17) Jeff Watson, 18) Ted Teal, 19) John Hotchkiss, 20) Ryan Stortini, 21) Matt Quinn, 22) Derek Schibi, 23) Ernie Palmer, 24) Kyle Hoffman, 25) Alan Houghtaling, 26) Kevin Winters
Pro Stock Results (20 Laps) - 1) Robbie Speed, 2) Kevin Arnold, 3) Nick Hilt, 4) Rick Dempsey, 5) Jon Routhier, 6) Jay Casey, 7) Victor Hopkins, 8) Paul LaRochelle, 9) Steve Hankle, 10) Jason Casey, 11) Richis Colesanti, 12) Matt Shadic, 13) Jay Kreutziger, 14) John Denue, 15) Brian Keough, 16) Tom Harkins, 17) Rob Maxon, 18) Thomas Seantemen, 19) Jim Langenback
“ Lebanon Valley Speedway – 56th Season of fun for the Whole Family!”