Keith Flach Snags First Modified Win Since 2019

Keith Flach Snags First Modified Win Since 2019

KKeith Flach ran down Kyle Sheldon Saturday and took the lead with seven laps to go. From there, Flach held on to take his first Lebanon Valley Modified victory since 2019.
“I definitely had to work for that one,” Flach said after the race. “They made some changes to the track this week [to] flatten out the bottom. I think we had a good race. It was definitely a lot of fun.”
Flach won by .412 seconds over Brett Haas, who takes the points lead. Kolby Schroder was third, then Marc Johnson and J.R. Heffner.
Brandon Lane started from pole and led early. Kyle Sheldon, who started second, gave chase. Sheldon took the lead on lap 4 and tried to run away, but he had a charging Andy Bachetti not too far behind.
Bachetti was faster than Sheldon and was running him down. Then, Bachetti’s right rear tire went down on lap 16 to bring out a yellow. He would recover to finish seventh.
Flach inherited second with Haas right behind him. Once the green came back out, the three drivers fought each other for the lead. Haas tried to make a move on Flach, but couldn’t get past. Then, Flach made his move on lap 23 for the lead on Sheldon.
Right after Flach took the lead, Ryan Darcy and Olden Dwyer collided to bring out another yellow. On the restart, Haas took second from Sheldon and tried to get past Flach, but just couldn’t do so.
Alan Houghtaling started from the pole in the 358 Modified feature and ran well early on. Further back, a stack up resulted in big damage on Brian Sandstedt’s car and a spin for Kyle Sheldon.
Bachetti, who won last weekend, started seventh and quickly got himself up to third. However, he was more or less stuck there until Ryan Heath slid into the wall in turn 3 to bring out the yellow just after halfway.
On the restart, Bachetti immediately took second away from Ryan Larkin. A lap later, Peter Carlotto stalled entering turn 1 to bring out another yellow.
A second strong restart allowed Bachetti to take the lead on lap 15. From there, he was off to the races as he took his second straight win. The margin of victory was 3.662 seconds over Joey Coppola. Lorne Browe was third, then Haas and Sheldon.
In Sportsman, Anthony Maxon started from pole and led early in his No. 96. Meanwhile, Tim Hartman Jr. started 12th and quickly moved forward. It was a terrible night for Ricky Davis as his car slowed to stop on lap 4 to bring out the first yellow.
Hartman had already moved up to fourth by lap 5. On lap 6, he went three-wide on the backstretch to get past Mike Arnold and Mike Engwer to move up to second. Maxon was dispatched the next lap for the lead.
Davis’ night came to an end on lap 8 after he was squeezed into the wall on the backstretch. That broke a suspension part and put him in the wall in turn 4.
Once the green came back out, Hartman ran out and hid to take his fifth straight Sportsman win to start the season and seventh straight overall. He finished 5.036 seconds ahead of Michael Sabia. Ray Hall Jr. was third, then Mike Arnold and Nick Giardini.
Limited Sportsman saw Owen Lewis start on the pole, then almost immediately jump the cushion in turn 2 on the first lap, giving the lead to John Santolin. Santolin was followed by Garrett Biagiarelli, new to Limited Sportsman this year after previously racing 4-Cylinders.
Biagiarelli was able to snatch the lead on lap 7 when Santolin bobbled momentarily. It looked like Biagiarelli was going to win in his third career start, but Brian Walsh ran him down in the closing laps.
Walsh took the lead with less than three laps to go and held on to take the win. Biagiarelli was second, then Harold Robitaille, Scott Zehnacker and Ray Royals.
Shawn Perez started the Pro Stock feature from the pole and was able to hold off Paul LaRochelle and Dave Stickles early on. Zach Sorrentino had a decent car, but suffered a cut tire that brought out an early caution. He would eventually recover to finish eighth.
LaRochelle took second from Stickles and battled Perez for the lead, but Perez was able to hold him off. A caution due to Tom O’Connor’s spin set up a six-lap sprint to the finish.
On the restart, Nick Hilt Jr. was able to take second from LaRochelle and tried to get Perez. However, he could not do so as Perez took his first career win.
Perez won by .496 seconds over Hilt. LaRochelle was third, then Stickles and Tom Dean.
In Super Street Stock, Chris Stalker claimed the win in his No. 177. The 4-Cylinder feature was rained out and will be made up at a later date.
Madsen Overhead Doors Military Appreciation Night Modified Feature Results (30 laps): 1) Keith Flach, 2) Brett Haas, 3) Kolby Schroder, 4) Marc Johnson, 5) J.R. Heffner, 6) John Virgilio, 7) Andy Bachetti, 8) Kyle Sheldon, 9) Eddie Marshall, 10) Kyle Armstrong, 11) Timothy Davis, 12) Olden Dwyer, 13) Montgomery Tremont, 14) Mike King, 15) Rob Maxon, 16) Matt Pupello, 17) Ryan Darcy, 18) Brandon Lane, 19) Brian Berger
358 Modified Feature Results (24 laps): 1) Andy Bachetti, 2) Joey Coppola, 3) Lorne Browe, 4) Brett Haas, 5) Kyle Sheldon, 6) Ryan Larkin, 7) Jeff Watson, 8) Kim LaVoy, 9) Donny Travaglin, 10) Brady Cordova, 11) Mark Pullen, 12) Peter Carlotto, 13) Ray Hall Jr., 14) Ryan Heath, 15) Michael Sabia, 16) Joe Pravia, 17) Alan Houghtaling, 18) Brian Sandstedt
Sportsman Feature Results (20 laps): 1) Tim Hartman Jr., 2) Michael Sabia, 3) Ray Hall Jr., 4) Mike Arnold, 5) Ryan Giardini, 6) Brady Cordova, 7) Connor Crane, 8) Justin Gozzi, 9) Mike Engwer, 10) Chris Crane Jr., 11) Alan Houghtaling, 12) Karl Barnes, 13) Ricky Davis, 14) Anthony Maxon, 15) Joseph Mennitte
Limited Sportsman Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Brian Walsh, 2) Garrett Biagiarelli, 3) Harold Robitaille, 4) Scott Zehnacker, 5) Ray Royals, 6) Jasen Brewer, 7) Dylan Holmes, 8) Braxton Martin, 9) John Santolin, 10) Kent Clark, 11) Fred Pravia, 12) Owen Lewis, 13) Phil Arnold (DNS)
Pro Stock Feature Results (20 laps): 1) Shawn Perez, 2) Nick Hilt Jr., 3) Paul LaRochelle, 4) Dave Stickles, 5) Tom Dean, 6) Chad Jeseo, 7) Rick Duzlak, 8) Zach Sorrentino, 9) Rocco Procopio, 10) Brian Keough, 11) Tom O’Connor, 12) Richard Spencer, 13) Chris Dyer, 14) Mike Dianda, 15) Frank Twing, 16) Chris Stalker (DNS)
Super Street Stock Feature Results (15 laps): 1) Chris Stalker, 2) Dave Streibel Jr., 3) Jeff Meltz Sr., 4) Dave Streibel, 5) Lou Gancarz, 6) Doug Sterling, 7) Keri VanDenburg, 8) Franklin Smith, 9) Paul Vallee, 10) Evan Denue