For the second straight season, Frank Twing honored the late Jimmy Langenback at Lebanon Valley Speedway with a trip to Victory Lane.
The Mill River, MA, driver, who raced against Langenback for years, stormed around Tom Dean on the outside of Turn 2 and survived several restarts to win Saturday’s Old Buzzard 30—his fifth career DIRTcar Pro Stock Series triumph.
Zach Sorrentino and Dean led the field to the green in the 30-lap Feature, with Sorrentino using the outside to take the lead as they exited Turn 2. However, Dean kept pace with Sorrentino for the first four laps, while Twing, in third, started catching the top two.
Dean’s first opportunity to wrestle the lead away came on Lap 5. While running the middle of the racetrack, his No. 413 gained momentum in Turn 2, pulling even with Sorrentino as they entered Turn 3. With the two outside lanes taken, Twing tried filling the inside lane, going three-wide with Sorrentino and Dean as they exited Turn 4. But despite their efforts, Sorrentino kept his No. 54S car ahead as they reached the start/finish line.
Three laps later, Dean got another opportunity, gaining even more momentum as he raced with Sorrentino down Lebanon Valley’s long backstretch. Dean used that momentum in Turn 3 to slide his rear bumper ahead of Sorrentino’s nose, taking the lead.
Twing followed Dean past Sorrentino for second, but the race’s first caution slowed the field on Lap 10 when Jay Casey spun in Turn 2.
When the race resumed, Dean protected the bottom, which opened the outside lane for Twing. The Bay State driver thundered to the top and drove around Dean to take the lead as they raced down the backstretch.
Just as it looked like Twing would drive away, Dean had a chance to get the lead back 10 laps later. Following a caution on Lap 22, Dean, rolling the bottom, slid in front of Twing’s No. 317 in Turn 2. But Twing anticipated the move and switched lanes as they exited the corner, driving back by Dean as they reached Turn 3.
From there, even with three cautions past the Lap 30 mark, no one could catch Twing as he went on to score the $1,600 victory.
Twing said the track was different from what he expected, which played into his favor.
“This is amazing,” Twing said. “I was looking at the track and I thought, man, there’s nothing on the bottom. And then there was. That was the only thing I could do. Trying to figure out where to go on restarts, that was pretty tough. I knew the last 14 cautions there at the end, I had to stay on the bottom because Tommy (Dean) was putting on a clinic there.
“I just want to say this really means a lot. Jimmy and me, we went a long way back.”
Dean settled for second, earning his best career DIRTcar Pro Stock Series finish.
“I think I had the car to beat out there tonight, to be honest,” Dean said. “I kept getting jumped on the start, and he would be getting into me or getting me loose. I don’t know if it was (Jason) Casey or Pete (Stefanski). They had me about sideways coming down the frontstretch and I couldn’t give Frank all I had.”
Defending Series champion Pete Stefanski crossed the line third, after starting 23rd. The six-time champion from North Tonawanda, NY, said he was happy with his run after moving up 20 positions.
“After starting 23rd, that’s a long way to go at this racetrack,” Stefanski said. “To finish third was just awesome.”
With this podium finish, Stefanski reclaimed the Series points lead by 22 points over Marc Lalonde, who finished 21st.
Jocelyn Roy finished fourth, and Tyler Bushey rounded out the top five.
UP NEXT: The DIRTcar Pro Stock Series heads to Mohawk International Raceway in Akwesasne, NY, on Saturday, Sept. 13.
For more on the DIRTcar Northeast, follow the DIRTcar Northeast Facebook page and the Series’ X/(Twitter) page.
DIRTcar Pro Stock Series Feature (30 Laps): 1. 317-Frank Twing, 2. 413-Tom Dean, 3. 2-Pete Stefanski, 4. 48-Jocelyn Roy, 5. X15-Tyler Bushey, 6. 54S-Zach Sorrentino, 7. 110-Devon Camenga, 8. 2H-Luke Horning, 9. 78-Paul Larochelle, 10. 09-Shawn Perez Sr., 11. 177-Chris Stalker, 12. 58-Roxanna Roy, 13. 32-Richard Spencer, 14. 324-Jason Casey, 15. 63-Ryan Crellin, 16. 52- Tom O’Connor, 17. 2Z-Hugh Page, 18. 04-Jaxson Ryan, 19. 12S-Dakota Sharp, 20. 17-Nick Hilt, 21. 8-Marc Lalonde, 22. 28- Phil Difiglio, 23. 09J-Shawn Perez Jr., 24. 51-Jason Meltz, 25. 711- Rich Crane, 26. 777-Tommy Lizotte, 27. 311-Brian Keough, 28. 17P- Marc Peladeau, 29. 322-Jay Casey, 30. 55-Dave Stickles, 31. 62-Rocco Procopio
