Going into the 2nd season of racing in the Berks / Lebanon Modified Racing Series, last years Small Block Champion Randy Haydt claimed the initial title by not winning a race. This year Randy cracked into the win column in the season opener on the Tri-Oval. After that he scored another win on the 8 lane to go along with 2 Runner up finishes to win the title by 6 points. Randy now leads the BLMRS win list with 5. Going into the final race veteran H.O. racer but new comer to the Berks / Lebanon Series Sam Heller was in the running for the title after scoring 3 top 3 runs and his 1st career Series win at Woodland Raceway. Sam settled for a 8th place finish in the final race but still came away with a 2nd place finish in the final standings. Tim ” Little T ” Bowers also scored 3 Top 5 finishes including a win in the final race to finish 3rd in the final totals. It was Tim’s 4th career Berks / Lebanon Series win. Jim LeVan scored a 3rd place finish in the Series opener also added 2 more Top 5 finishes to finish 4th in the final standing. Closing out the Top 5 Mark Williams had 2 top 5 finishes, including a strong runner up finish in race 3 to hold on a 5th place finish by 3 points. Scott Bender finished 6th including a 3rd place finish at Woodland Raceway. Brian Sponagle was 7th with a 4th place finish at Woodland Raceway. Cory Reinhard was 8th including a pair of 6th place runs. Toby Reinhard was 9th including a 3rd place finish at ” Little T’s “. Bill Rowley was 10th his best run was a 6th place finish in the final race.
( 11 – 15 ) – 11th Gary Hetrick / 12th Tony Zappacosta ( 2 wins ) /13th Nick Wummer ( 2 wins ) / 14th Savannah Cunnius / 15th Bob Amore.
Feature winners: Randy Haydt – 2, Sam Heller – 1, Tim “ Little T ” Bowers – 1.
Randy Haydt Wins Big Block Title
After claiming the Small Block title by 6 points the Big Block championship turned into a “TORRID” 3 way battle between Randy Haydt, Jim LeVan who was last years Big Block Champion and Tim “ Little T “Bowers. Randy capped off the season with wins in the final 2 races to edge Jim by 3 points and ” Little T ” by 6 points. Jim LeVan did all about he could do scoring 3 straight 2nd place finishes and a season ending 4th place to finish off a strong season in 2nd place. Little T scored his win in race 2 at Woodland Raceway ended the season with a 2nd place finish capping off a very good season finishing 3rd. Brian ( Mr. Tri – Oval ) Sponagle started off the season with his 1st career Berks / Lebanon Series win, than collected a pair of 6th place finishes ending a good season 4th in the final totals. Toby Reinhard scored a 3rd and 4th place finish at Woodland Raceway and on the 8 lane on way to a 5th place finish. Scott Bender was 6th with a 3rd place finish at Woodland Raceway, Mark Williams was 7th including 2 top 5 finishes. Cory Reinhard was 8th with a Top 5 at Woodland. Bill Rowley finished 9th with a pair of 8th place finishes. New comers this year Bob Amore and Sam Heller finished tied for 10th, with Bob scoring a 5th place finish in the final race and Sam starting off the Series with a 6th place effort on the tri-Oval.
( 12 – 15 ) 12th Gary Hetrick ( 1 win ) / 13th Savvy ( 1 win ) / 14th Tony Zappacosta / 15th Nick Wummer.
Feature winners: Randy Haydt – 2, Brian Sponagle – 1, Tim ” Little T ” Bowers – 1
Berks / Lebanon Stats:
The 4 race Series was well attended with 74 racers entering for an average of 18.5, up slightly from last year. With a Berks / Lebanon Series record of 22 at Randy’s Raceway on the 8 lane. Small Blocks had 12 different segment winners, with Sam Heller leading the pack with 10 segment wins. Big Blocks had 14 different winners with Jim Levan winning the most with 11. We saw a good group of new comers this year including Sam Heller, Nick Wummer. Savannah Cunnius, Bob Amore, Matt Stabinger, Ed Kenderdine and Tom Wenner.
Sponsors:
Thanks to Billy and Linda Decker, Jim and Helen LeVan, Mark and Jody Williams and Tim Bowers for the great food and drinks that were provided at each race. Also thanks to Jody for the fine scoring job she does at each race.
