Kenny Tremont Jr. Destroys the Field at Lebanon Valley Speedway, New York

Ah yes, opening night.  Time to re-acquaint yourself with the sights, sounds and smells of the race track.  Everything from the teams and drivers, the sounds of dozens of V8 engines, and the oh-so-pungent smell of leaded race fuel.

Ultimately, opening night at Lebanon Valley Speedway had partly cloudy skies, but chilly temperatures that dipped down into the low 40’s by the time the night was over.  In other words, it was a typical April night of racing.  With the Super DIRTCar Series holding their season opener Saturday night at Fulton Speedway, only appearance points were on the line for the Modifieds, but that didn’t take away from the action at all.

JR Heffner started from pole by virtue of winning his heat race with Kenny Tremont, Jr. right alongside.  As the race got going, the two past champions who had battled in their heat race pulled away from the rest of the field while Wayne Jelley and Kyle Sheldon fought over third.

After a few laps of trying to make the move, Tremont made the pass for the lead on Heffner in turn 4 on lap 9.  Amidst the loud cheers from the assembled crowd, Tremont began to pull away from the pack in the heavy traffic.

Jelley and Sheldon made short work of Andy Bachetti and proceeded to spend nearly the entire race nose-to-tail or side-by-side, their battle only briefly interrupted by lapped traffic.  Eventually, Jelley was able to get the upper hand.

The race ran caution-free, allowing Tremont to coast on his huge lead to his record-extending 121st career Modified victory at the Valley.  It is his first win on the high banks since August, 2013.


Hal of Fame, Kenny Tremont Jr.

 121st Career Victory at the Valley !