~ By Tom Boggie

Ken Tremont Jr. is 58 years old, has 384 career wins, and is already in the Hall of Fame.

Matt Sheppard is 38 years old, has 380 career wins and is in the midst of a Hall of Fame career.

Jack Lehner is 21 years old and has zero career big block modified wins.

But on consecutive nights last weekend, Lehner gave two of the biggest names in modified racing all they could handle.

On Friday night, Lehner, nicknamed the Ginga Ninja for his plethora of red hair, battled with Tremont at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, and came away with a career-best second place finish. On Saturday night, he was second to Sheppard at Orange County Speedway in Middletown, which he’s using as a Saturday night home this season.

He was also in action on Wednesday, competing in the first Super DIRT Series race of the year at Bridgeport Speedway. After starting 21st, Lehner worked his way up to fifth before blowing a tire, which dropped him to 15th in the final order of finish.

The driver out of Saratoga Springs suffered through a rash of engine problems early in the year, at one point even getting a loaner from engine builder John Grant, but it looks like those issues are ironed out now.

All of Lehner’s success comes from hard work. After a long career in go-karts, he started racing in the limited sportsman division when he was 16 and progressed up the ladder, to sportsman, 358 modifieds and then to big blocks. Last year, he ran the entire Super DIRT Series for the first time, competing at tracks he had only heard about. He had one top-five finish, a fifth at Brockville late in the season, and finished 12th overall in points. But all of the long hours in the garage and long road trips that he and crew chief Ryan Stites put in are beginning to pay off.

“If everything goes right, we don’t get behind,” said Lehner after his second-place run at Albany-Saratoga last weekend. “If we get torn up, or if we hurt the motor, or if we’re struggling to figure out how to make the car better, we can get behind. There are a lot of nights when we’re in the garage until 3 in the morning, like we were last night, and we’re right back there again at 8 the next morning.”

Lehner Racing isn’t an unlimited-budget operation. His primary car is a 2020 Bicknell he purchased at the end of the 2019 season. His backup car is a 2017 Bicknell he bought from Sheppard. His primary sponsor is Benson’s Pet Center.

“It can be tough, at times,” Lehner said. “I pay for the cars, my father (Jeff, a former SCCA champion) pays for the engines. We’re definitely a low-budget team, compared to some of the guys we’re racing against. But we’ve learned to be really crafty and take care of the things we have.”

Tire choice might have been the only thing that prevented Lehner from getting his first career big block win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Friday. Lehner could close up on Tremont during long runs, but Tremont, who had opted for a softer tire, had the edge on the numerous restarts that occurred.

“On the restarts, he could fire first and he was getting me by a car length or so every time,” said Lehner. “In the middle of the race, he had me covered, but at the end, I came back. But he ran a perfect race.”

STEWART’S CORNER
Stewart Friesen went 2-for-3 on the dirt earlier this week, winning the Mike Colsten Memorial at 5 Mile Point on Monday, and then taking the checkered flag at the SDS race at Bridgeport on Wednesday. He also ran at Orange County on Tuesday, but broke the rear suspension in the Halmar 44.

Friesen’s win at Bridgeport on Wednesday was his 17th victory of the season.

Because he was competing in the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series last Friday in Kansas, Friesen was a no-show at Albany-Saratoga and lost his point lead to Mike Mahaney.

GOIN’ BOWLING
It looked like Old Timers Night Sunday at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.

Veteran Brian Whittemore won the sportsman/modified feature, his first career win in that division. The last time Whittemore was in victory lane at the Bowl was in May 1995, when he raced late models. That’s a span of 9,192 days without a victory.

The Sunday card at the Bowl also included pro stocks, and Kim Duell came away with the win (his first of the year) and the first-place money of $1,000. That was Duell’s first win at Devil’s Bowl in 10 years. Want some more trivia? Duell’s first win ever at Devil’s Bowl came on July 23, 1988, when he was racing modifieds.

The Bowl also ran a special program last Saturday, with invader Tim Fuller winning the 358 modified feature.

Devil’s Bowl will be holding a Big Block/Small Block Challenge on Aug. 9. The 50-lap feature will pay $10,000 to win.

AROUND THE TRACKS
Friday night’s card at Albany-Saratoga Speedway will be “Stan Da Man Night,” a tribute to promoter Lyle DeVore’s late father. The 32-lap modified feature will pay $3,200 to win (Stan’s favorite car was his ‘32 Ford coupe) and heat race winners will receive a $320 bonus.

Andrew Buff broke out of his slump in a big way last weekend. He recorded his first sportsman win of the year at Albany-Saratoga on Friday, took the checkered flag for the first time at Glen Ridge on Sunday and then recorded his first career win at Orange County on Tuesday.

Speaking of Glen Ridge, there have been seven different crate modified winners in as many weeks. I’ve got a feeling that trend will end this weekend.

Fans of Albany-Saratoga Speedway were stunned to see Marc Johnson’s new ride last Friday. Johnson, who had been nicknamed “The White Knight” for the simple color scheme on his Troyer chassis, debuted a new Bicknell chassis with red lettering over a black body. Hey, if you’re going to go, go big. Johnson was running in the top five in the modified feature when he pulled into the infield with mechanical problems on lap 16.

Tim Hartman Jr. made a rare visit to Lebanon Valley Speedway last Saturday and won the sportsman feature. Rookie Brett Haas recorded his first career big block win, using a motor he had borrowed from fellow competitor Olden Dwyer. Haas had damaged his primary motor the week before.

One of the better performances of the week came from Bill August in the limited sportsman feature at Albany-Saratoga last Friday. August started last in the 22-car field and worked his way to up third, even though the 20-lap feature was run caution-free.

Danny Varin finished 10th in the modified feature at Albany-Saratoga. Not a big deal, you say? I beg to differ. He had to go to the rear after getting tangled up with Rich Ronca and Cass Bennett on the second lap, and had to go to the rear again on lap 9 after an incident with Jackie Brown Jr.