Andy Bachetti Dominates Bryan Goewey Memorial

Saturday saw Bryan Goewey, a longtime driver/ team owner at Lebanon Valley and former competitor in the NASCAR Busch North Series, honored with a 44-lap memorial race. Andy Bachetti drew the pole and led flag-to-flag to claim the $5,000 check. It was a big change from July 15th, where Bachetti broke a rocker arm and finished 15th. J.R. Heffner was second, then Keith Flach, Brett Haas and Kyle Armstrong.

“The car was real good,” Bachetti said afterwards. “We got a good starting spot, got out front and set sail. [We were] able to save the tires as well.”

By virtue of the redraw, Bachetti started from pole with Heffner alongside. Bachetti used a strong start to open a decent gap on the rest of the field. From there, Bachetti maintained a gap from one to two seconds behind himself and Heffner.

The breakneck pace resulted in the leaders approaching lapped traffic a little more than 10 laps into the race. Bachetti was able to maneuver through the slower traffic and maintain his advantage.

The first caution flew on lap 25 when L.J. Lombardo slowed with a flat tire. While the Lombardo crew did change the tire and get him back out, the failure resulted in additional mechanical issues that ended his night.

The restart saw more of the same as Bachetti got the jump on Heffner and pulled out enough of an advantage that he could not be threatened. Meanwhile, Brett Haas was making moves. He would work on drivers one at a time and moved himself into the top five.

With a little more than a lap to go, Brian Berger slowed with a mechanical issue. The field bunched up for a one-lap shootout. Bachetti got another jump and held on to win.

Brian Sandstedt started the Small Block Modified feature from pole and ran very well early on while Ray Hall Jr. gave chase. An early caution for Jeff Watson spinning out kept the field close.

On lap 5, Hall was able to make the move to take the lead away. From there, Hall pulled away from the field. July 15th winner Joey Coppola slowly moved himself into contention, driving up to third and putting the pressure on Sandstedt.

With three laps to go, trouble broke out. First, Ryan Larkin slowed on the frontstretch with mechanical issues. At the same time, Coppola and Sandstedt came together and crashed on the backstretch. All three drivers were out.

The incident put Kevin Petrucci up to second, but Brian Peterson swept past him on the restart. Meanwhile, Hall held on to take his first Small Block victory in six years.

Peterson finished second on-track, but was found to have an illegal torque arm in post-race technical inspection. As a result, Peterson was disqualified.

As a result, second fell to Jason Harrington, followed by Lombardo, Bachetti and Petrucci.

In Sportsman, Karl Barnes started on the pole and led early. Ricky Davis was able to take second from Brady Cordova on the first lap, but lost it to Cordova a few laps later.

On lap 5, the caution flew due to two separate wrecks. In turn 2, Jim VanZandt spun and hit the wall. Shortly afterwards, a multi-car incident broke out in turn 4 that collected points leader Tim Hartman Jr., Kevin Ames and Matt Burke. Everyone was ok, but Ames was the only one of the three that continued afterwards.

After the restart, Cordova began to pressure Barnes for the lead. It took until lap 10 for Cordova to make a move stick to the lead. Once out front, Cordova tried to pull away. However, a spin for Kevin Ward brought the pack back together.

Barnes’ excellent night nearly came to an end on lap 13 when he collided with Rob Maxon exiting turn 4, resulting in both drivers going into the wall. Barnes was able to continue and ended up sixth. Rob Maxon had to take a little bit of time to catch his breath, but was able to get out of his car under his own power. He was done for the night.

Cordova was able to hold off a charging Gary O’Brien to win his first career Sportsman feature. Davis ended up third, then Ward and Chris Lynch.

In Limited Sportsman, Ira Doull was scheduled to start on the pole. However, he failed to come up to speed. After two attempts, he was moved to the rear.

As a result, Scott Zehnacker inherited the pole. When the green flag finally came out, Zehnacker was able to pull out to a decent lead over Owen Lewis. Points leader Anthony Maxon started eighth and slowly made his way towards the front of the field.

The only yellow of the race came out on lap 12 when Allyson Papp spun in turn 3. She was then hit by Brian Walsh. Once safety crews separated the two cars, Papp was able to continue and eventually finished seventh. Walsh was done for the night.

On the restart, Alex Palmer-Sawyer was able to take second away from Lewis. Meanwhile, Zehnacker held on to take his first career win on the track. Unfortunately, inspection played a role here as well. The inspection discovered that Zehnacker’s car had aluminum shocks, which is against the rules for the class. As a result, he was moved to the rear of the field.

Palmer-Sawyer, who lost a victory in post-race inspection on July 15th, ended up the beneficiary here as he claimed his first win of the year. Anthony Maxon was second, then Owen Lewis, Craig Coons and Harold Robitaille. Mike Arnold won the Cordova Heating & Plumbing Dash.

Pro Stock saw Shawn Perez started from the pole and led early. Further back, the man on the move was Zach Sorrentino. Starting eighth, Sorrentino moved up to fourth in the first two laps.

Tom Dean took the lead away on lap 4 from Perez, then slipped in turn 4. That resulted in a six-way scrum for the top spot. Steven LaRochelle took it away at the end of lap 5 while Sorrentino moved up into second.

On lap 8, Sorrentino got a big run on the inside of turn 2 to take the lead away from LaRochelle. Chad Jeseo followed into second.

From here, Sorrentino was able to hold off Jeseo to take his third win of the year and move into second in points. LaRochelle was third, then Dean and Perez.

In Street Stock, Dave Streibel Jr. took the lead away from pole sitter Franklin Smith on the first lap. Chris Stalker and Jeff Meltz Sr. followed into second and third. From there, the trio ran away from the rest of the field and attempted to settle things among themselves.

Meltz ended up spinning out of third with three laps to go. The spin itself did not cause the yellow. A lap later, Meltz stalled in turn 2 to bring out the yellow.

Dave Streibel Jr. was able to hold on in a two-lap shootout to win his second straight feature. Stalker was second, then Dave Streibel, Mike Bussino and Bob Gibson.

In the 4-Cylinder feature, Jon Shepard was able to sweep around Jason Peck on the first lap to take the overall lead. From there, he was able to hold to take the win. Bradley Batho was second, then Jim Guertin. In Single-Cam, Tim Meltz, driving a newer Honda Prelude, took the victory in fourth overall.

Modified Second Annual Bryan Goewey Memorial Results (44 laps): 1) Andy Bachetti, 2) J.R. Heffner, 3) Keith Flach, 4) Brett Haas, 5) Kyle Armstrong, 6) Marc Johnson, 7) Kenny Tremont Jr., 8) Ryan Darcy, 9) John Virgilio, 10) Kolby Schroder, 11) Eddie Marshall, 12) Mike King, 13) Kyle Sheldon, 14) Brett Hearn, 15) Matt Pupello, 16) Timothy Davis, 17) Olden Dwyer, 18) Ryan Charland, 19) Brandon Lane, 20) Brian Berger, 21) L.J. Lombardo, 22) Wayne Jelley, 23) Kenny Aanonsen Jr.

Small Block Modified Results (24 laps): 1) Ray Hall Jr., 2) Jason Herrington, 3) L.J. Lombardo, 4) Andy Bachetti, 5) Kevin Petrucci, 6) Lorne Browe, 7) Montgomery Tremont, 8) Jeff Watson, 9) Peter Carlotto, 10) Ryan Charland, 11) Kim LaVoy, 12) Donny Travaglin, 13) Ryan Heath, 14) Jeff Reis, 15) Brady Cordova, 16) Brian Sandstedt, 17) Joey Coppola, 18) Ryan Larkin, 19) Olden Dwyer, 20) Brian Peterson*

*- Brian Peterson finished second on the track, but was moved to the back due to an illegal torque arm being found on the car in post-race inspection.

Sportsman Feature Results (20 laps): 1) Brady Cordova, 2) Gary O’Brien, 3) Ricky Davis, 4) Kevin Ward, 5) Chris Lynch, 6) Karl Barnes, 7) Kevin Ames, 8) Rob Maxon, 9) Shane Powell, 10) Tim Hartman Jr., 11) Jim VanZandt, 12) Matt Burke

Unofficial Limited Sportsman Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Alex Palmer-Sawyer, 2) Anthony Maxon, 3) Owen Lewis, 4) Craig Coons, 5) Harold Robitaille, 6) John Santolin, 7) Allyson Papp, 8) Kent Clark, 9) Ira Doull, 10) Brian Walsh, 11) Mike Arnold, 12) Mike Engwer, 13) Scott Zehnacker*

*- Scott Zehnacker originally won the feature on-track, but unapproved aluminum shocks were found during inspection. The results are unofficial as of this writing due to officials trying to determine the punishment.

Limited Sportsman Cordova Heating & Plumbing Dash (4 laps): 1) Mike Arnold, 2) Scott Zehnacker, 3) Harold Robitaille, 4) Craig Coons, 5) Alex Palmer-Sawyer, 6) Owen Lewis

Pro Stock Feature Results (20 laps): 1) Zach Sorrentino, 2) Chad Jeseo, 3) Steven LaRochelle, 4) Tom Dean, 5) Shawn Perez, 6) Bruno Cyr, 7) Frank Twing, 8) Fred Lee, 9) Brian Keough, 10) Justin Chaput, 11) Dave Stickles, 12) Phil Defiglio, 13) Mike Dianda, 14) Katarina Foster

Street Stock Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Dave Streibel Jr., 2) Chris Stalker, 3) Dave Streibel, 4) Mike Bussino, 5) Bob Gibson, 6) Ray Royals, 7) Keri VanDenburg, 8) Jeff Meltz Sr., 9) Lou Gancarz, 10) Franklin Smith, 11) Peter Huntoon, 12) Josh Bussino

4-Cylinder Dual-Cam Feature Results (10 laps): 1) Jon Shepard, 2) Bradley Batho, 3) Jim Guertin, 4) Jason Peck, 5) Mike Duncan

4-Cylinder Single-Cam Feature Results (10 laps): 1) Tim Meltz, 2) Joe Wolfe, 3) Joey Batho, 4) Dylan MacLeod

4-Cylinder Combined Feature Results (10 laps): 1) Jon Shepard, 2) Bradley Batho, 3) Jim Guertin, 4) Tim Meltz, 5) Jason Peck, 6) Mike Duncan, 7) Joe Wolfe, 8) Joey Batho, 9) Dylan MacLeod