Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders close out first half with win

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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders AAron Judge enjoys All-Star Futures Game

<p>LAUREL RUN &#8212; Donnie Bachman never did get the chance to run the course of the legendary Giants Despair Hillclimb.</p><p>But his car did.</p><p>And it performed like the champion his family and friends knew Bachman to be.</p><p>Driving in his memory and in the 1986 Chevy Corvette Bachman owned, his long-time friend Billy Feist flew up the one-mile Northampton Street course in 50.540 seconds, less than seven-tenths of a second from the record of 49.881 the event&#8217;s Super Touring O class.</p><p>&#8220;It was an honor,&#8221; Feist said softly after his weekend of runs at Giants Despair were finished.</p><p>That marked the latest way Bachman was honored after his death in Wilkes-Barre May 1 wrenched the hearts of city residents.</p><p>A long-time Martz Trailways mechanic by trade, Bachman became well-known as a neighborhood watchdog by reporting suspected criminal activity around his Wilkes-Barre home. He was also a fan of fast cars, attended past Giants Despair Hillclimbs, and talked often of fixing up his old Corvette in hopes of one day entering it in the storied local hillclimb. Before he got the chance, though, Bachman was killed walking from his car to his house after work in May.</p><p>&#8220;He wanted to race this race, but &#8230; his car still raced this race,&#8221; Feist said.</p><p>Watching her late husband&#8217;s car climb the Giants Despair hill proved heartwarming for his widow, Lori Bachman.</p><p>&#8220;It meant everything,&#8221; Lori said. &#8220;That&#8217;s all he wanted to do.&#8221;</p><p>She knew exactly where to turn to bring her husband&#8217;s dream of putting his car in the hillclimb to fruition.</p><p>&#8220;I put all my faith in Billy,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I trust him. I knew Billy and all his guys could do it. They&#8217;re a great team.&#8221;</p><p>Feist teamed with Donnie Bachman to enter the Corvette in a competition at Pocono Raceway two years ago. But their relationship went much deeper than that.</p><p>&#8220;Oh, I knew him for 20 years,&#8221; said Feist, from Bear Creek, a regular in the annual Giants Despair race who typically finishes among the top five overall. &#8220;He lived close to my parents&#8217; house growing up. He was friends with my father. He ran this car at Pocono with me, he was trying to build it as a race car, never got to do it.&#8221;</p><p>When Feist was recruited to continue that mission, he didn&#8217;t hesitate.</p><p>&#8220;After he passed, Lori asked me if I&#8217;d be interested in building the car in tribute to Donnie,&#8221; Feist said. &#8220;That&#8217;s what we did.&#8221;</p><p>It wasn&#8217;t easy.</p><p>&#8220;Our thoughts from the beginning were just to get the car here - we only had 3 1/2 weeks to do it - and get it to make a pass at the hill,&#8221; Feist said.</p><p>But with the assistance of the team&#8217;s crew chief Ryan Evans and the rest of his team of mechanics and repairmen, Feist brought Bachman&#8217;s car to a flying finish.</p><p>&#8220;We ended up with a best-time of 50.5,&#8221; Feist said. &#8220;So that&#8217;s a lot better than we expected. Overall, it was a great weekend.</p><p>&#8220;Just great.&#8221;</p><p>They may not be done.</p><p>Bachman&#8217;s car will become part of Feist&#8217;s garage, and is headed to the Weatherly Hillclimb later this year - and possibly more racing events in the future.</p><p>The Feist team sees it as a way to keep Bachman&#8217;s dream, and his legend, very much alive.</p><p>&#8220;Oh, yeah, we&#8217;ll run this car at Weatherly and do some road runs with it,&#8221; Feist said. &#8220;&#8221;We only had 3 1/2 weeks to do it. The car&#8217;s just going to keep improving, and getting bigger and better.</p><p>&#8220;This is only the start of it.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Lori Bachman of Wilkes-Barre, left, widow of Donnie Bachman, and Bill Feist of Laurel Run stand with his car after posting the fastest time in its class during the Giant's Despair Hillclimb on Sunday afternoon.   Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_GiantsDespair_32.jpg</photo0><caption0>Lori Bachman of Wilkes-Barre, left, widow of Donnie Bachman, and Bill Feist of Laurel Run stand with his car after posting the fastest time in its class during the Giant's Despair Hillclimb on Sunday afternoon.   Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Billy Feist drives car of the late Donnie Bachman to brink of a class record</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>To see video of Bill Feist&#8217;s final attempt at Giants Despair in the car of his late friend Donnie Bachman, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BrJUs6mjuc" target="_blank">visit the TLSports Youtube channel</a>.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table class="mceItemTable" style="border:none;width:98%;"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;">_BrJUs6mjuc</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;">YouTube</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BrJUs6mjuc</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;">&lt;iframe width=&#8221;560&#8221; height=&#8221;315&#8221; src=&#8221;https://www.youtube.com/embed/_BrJUs6mjuc&#8221; frameborder=&#8221;0&#8221; allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;">Bill Feist&#8217;s final attempt at Giants Despair in the car of his late fried, Donnie Bachman.</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;">Paul Sokoloski | Times Leader</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-top:10px;font-size:70%;color:#555;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

Billy Feist drives Giants Despair Hillclimb in honor of the late Donnie Bachman