Kenny Tremont Returned to Winning Form in the Small-Block Division at ‘The Valley’
Story and Photos By: MATT NOLES / RACERSGUIDE.COM
WEST LEBANON, NY- June 4, 2017- Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
After a near-perfect and unquestionably dominant season in the small-block division at the Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, New York in 2016, the pressure to return to near immortal status seemed to be out of reach as the 2017 season got underway in April.
With results that were undoubtedly superb through the opening stages of the title chase, they weren’t what many – including the Tremont faithful – were accustomed to seeing. After last night’s victory, some of those doubts have been washed away convincingly.
As has become the norm for the better part of four decades, the ‘Sand Lake Slingshot’ made it look easy on his way to the checkered flag; in truth, it was anything but. When the driver of the No. 115 cracked the top-three, he ran into a bit of a road block; the leaders.
“We got up to third and then were stuck for a little while,” Tremont said. “I mean, what do you do? Houghtaling and Hall were so evenly matched so we just waited and hoped that nobody came along to pass us. They were having a good race really; I just wanted one guy to clear the other so I could get an open lane.”
Though patience is a virtue that Tremont has in spades, he still wasn’t immune from trying the extreme inside of the speedway through turns three and four on a few occasions. “We were able to get to them on the inside but that was it,” He continued. “You get bogged down so much with the small-block that you lose momentum and it takes a lap or two to get back up to speed.”
The S&S Paving entry has been stout thus far into the 2017 campaign and for Tremont, it isn’t that his program is lacking or tailing off from the previous year – which some may point to the reason for the later than normal trip to victory lane – it’s far more complicated than that.
“I think that some of the guys we’re racing against are going better this year,” explained Tremont. “You have to give them credit. They all have good equipment and they’re going better. Honestly, you’d have to sit down and look at last year’s lap times and this year to see who is better and who isn’t and then there’s the track to consider whether it’s slower or faster. There are a lot of factors to consider.”
The fact remains that where racing is concerned, you can works just as hard as you have in previous years and spend just as much time in the shop during the week as you have in previous years and still be behind. It’s a fickle, fickle business.
“You could do everything right and work harder than everyone else and still lack speed,” said Tremont with a laugh. “And have no clue why. Our program is good; it’s definitely good but there’s always room to improve and go better.”
With the way the Tremont small-block team looked on Saturday night, that previous statement could bode ill for the rest of the field because if there’s one thing that the wily veteran has proven over the course of his career it’s this; once he gets on a roll, he’s nearly impossible to stop.
“We have some work left to do but I’m happy so far,” Tremont concluded. “The brakes could be a little bit better, the shock package could be a little bit better but it’s just minor stuff really. At this point in the season, I think we’re where we need to be. We still have to build on this; we can’t lay down now but we’re definitely in good shape.”
Matt Noles is a contributing writer for Racers Guide and Dirt Track Digest. He currently resides in Sprakers, New York and can be reached via e-mail at matt_noles@yahoo.com.
