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…By Gary Lileck
Forestville, PA-June 29, 2007- Jeff Strunk throttled across the finish line in third as the checkers fell upon Friday’s 25-lap 358 Modified main event. During the post race weigh in, however, the apparent first, second and fourth place cars crossed the scales light and were subsequently disqualified. Strunk, of Mohnton PA, passed the scale test and earned his third Big Diamond Raceway feature win of the season.
Wink Motorsports, National Earth Services, and Hillside SPCA presented a three division card of events this past Friday evening at the Forestville, PA based dirt track. Craig Whitmoyer of Hamburg, PA grabbed his fourth Sportsman feature win of the year, while Joe Hendricks of Auburn, PA doubled on the season for his second Roadrunner main event triumph.
Troy Wink (Mohrsville) led the 24-car field to the opening green flag and paced the pack for three circuits. On a lap four restart, Pottsville’s Shawn Fitzpatrick powered into the number one position. Fitzpatrick and Doug Hendricks performed in a brief restart battle for the top spot. Hendricks eventually was involved in a turn four incident on lap eight.
After a couple of restart attempts with seven laps in the books, Meme DeSantis (Temple) guided his machine into the second spot behind race leader Fitzpatrick. A caution period took place with ten laps complete, which placed DeSantis on the outside of Fitzptrick for the ensuing restart. DeSantis surged quickly into the top spot as the pair raced into turn one of the eleventh circuit.
Strunk, driving the Glenn Hyneman owned #126 powered by a Lombardo Racing Engine, originally started from the fifteenth spot. Strunk had worked into the top ten by the lap seven mark of the contest. On the thirteenth lap, Strunk entered the top five. Strunk executed a two-car sweep into the third position with just five laps remaining in the event.
DeSantis, back behind the wheel of the Craig Hiester #11, continued to lead despite a restart with two laps remaining. Fitzpatrick, in his self-owned #T102 Bicknell, watched from the second position. DeSantis and Fitzpatrick crossed for the ostensible one-two finish. Following two weigh in attempts by DeSantis, Fitzpatrick, and fourth place Keith Hoffman (Whitehall) each were light on the scales, which certainly reshuffled the finishing order.
Strunk won his thirty-sixth career BDR feature. This ranks him third on the all-time winner’s list. Craig Von Dohren (Oley) started twelfth and ended up grabbing second in the end. Three-time feature winner Rick Laubach (Quakertown) followed in the third position. Jeff Sechrist (Wernersville) continued his impressive ’07 season with a fourth place effort. Sean Merkel (Gilbertsville) returned to BDR after a few weeks hiatus and rounded out the top five.
Jimmy Reppert (Hamburg) finished sixth ahead of Gary Wagner Jr. (Womelsdorf), Dale Hartz (Hamburg), Kenny Eckert Jr. (New Ringgold), and Corey Sechrist (Womelsdorf).
A trio of qualifying heat races were contested earlier in the evening. Winners were: Jamie Schwartz, Troy Wink, and Shawn Fitzpatrick.
The 20-lap Sportsman feature began with three separate incidents before the completion of one lap. The most serious accident was a turn three tangle. Corey Renninger’s machine vaulted nose first into the wall and was then collected by several cars. Another car nailed the side of Renninger’s mount. The red flag was thrown as Renninger was treated trackside by the Tremont Area Ambulance.
Roy Wiest led the opening half of the contest as he set the pace for the first ten laps. Wiest is the speedway’s ’72 and ’76 SBM track champion. Rich Stankiewicz, who started third, edged ahead of Wiest in turn three of lap eleven to become the new race leader. Kevin Beach quickly moved into the runner-up spot behind Stankiewicz. Contact was made between the leaders on a lap sixteen restart and several cars got out of shape in an accident including Wiest. Stankiewicz was called on triggering the incident and was sent to the rear of the field. He chose to head pitside.
Beach, a second year Sportsman racer from Llewellyn, continued to lead. Twentieth place starter Craig Whitmoyer raced in the runner-up spot. On the final lap, Whitmoyer tossed his Bicknell-#99 to the high side of Beach in turns one and two. Racing out of the second corner, Whitmoyer leaped into the race lead.
Whitmoyer captured his twentieth career Sportsman feature win (ranking first on the all-time list). Beach settled for second. Young racer Shawn Hiestand (Leesport) finished third ahead of Brad Brightbill (Sinking Springs) and Tom Brennan (Pottsville). Attrition took its toll as only eleven cars finished the contest.
Sportsman heat race winners were: Roy Wiest, Richard Stankiewicz, Steven Hughes, and Jarrad Miller. The B-main was won by Brad Force, who was making his first start of the season.
Dan Strenkoski (Llewellyn) led the first five laps of the Roadrunner 15-lap feature. Strenkoski, making his second start in the former Kevin Beach Roadrunner, was passed by former Enduro racer Gary Renninger on the sixth lap. Renninger remained in front until the event’s closing moments.
Joe Hendricks started from the thirteenth spot. Hendricks worked past Renninger as they raced into turn one of lap fourteen. From there it was Hendricks taking his third career feature win with Renninger taking second. Second generation rookie racer Chris Holland (Pine Grove) grabbed third ahead of local racer Ricky Bender (Joliett) and former feature winner Andy Zvorsky (Orwigsburg).
The red flag was actually thrown on this event with thirteen laps complete. Strenkoski limped his #11 into the infield showing smoke, and a fire developed. Strenkoski quickly escaped from his machine and was not injured.
TWO RACES THIS UPCOMING WEEKEND: On Friday July 6, Big Diamond Raceway will present the 28th annual Georgie Stevenson Memorial. This season’s event is the second under the direction of promoters Buddy Biever, Dave Dissinger, and Barry Bashore. The 358 Modifieds will headline this year’s card, as they are competing in a 40-lap feature paying $3000 to win. The Sportsman (25-laps $750 to win) and Roadunners (15-laps $150 to win) will also be on hand.
Georgie Stevenson was one of the speedway’s most supportive fans. The youngster could be found in the spectator stands on any given Friday evening. Sadly, Georgie Stevenson lost his battle with cancer at the young age of twelve.
During Georgie’s battle with cancer, he worked hard to raise money for the cause. Georgie won the Optimist-Man of the Year Award in 1979 from the Pottsville Optimist Club for all of his hard work. Since Georgie’s passing, his father George continued to work hard by helping the families of terminally ill children. Georgie’s younger brother, Chris Stevenson continues that tradition today.
The Georgie Stevenson Memorial is a very special event for race fans and drivers alike. Many drivers make a point of competing in this event yearly. Big Diamond has presented this show annually in Georgie’s honor. 2007 marks the 28th annual version of the Stevenson Memorial and it is being presented by Jack Rich Inc.
In the 2006 Georgie Stevenson Memorial race, Jeff Strunk of Mohnton PA captured the 358 Modified 40-lap feature victory. Strunk had won numerous features and track champions, however, a victory had eluded him in the Stevenson race. Strunk, the current points leader, would like nothing more than winning back-to-back GSM races. Luke Wagner of Grantville won the Sportsman feature while Kirby Schlappich of Temple was victorious in the Roadrunner main event.
On Friday July 6, gates will open at 5:00PM with warm-ups at 7:00PM and heats getting underway at 7:30PM. Admission for the Stevenson Memorial event is $15 and children 10 and under will be admitted free.
Sunday July 8 is race number three of the Naftzinger’s Used Auto Parts Nutty Buddy Enduro Series. A four cylinder enduro and six/eight cylinder enduro will be contested. Racing begins at 4PM with gates opening at 2PM grandstand admission is a fan friendly $5. Following the enduros, test and tune sessions will be held for any and all divisions. Please note- This is the Test and Tune that originally scheduled for July 3 and will now take place on July 8.
For more information on Big Diamond Raceway, visit their website at www.bigdiamondraceway.com
BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY COMPLETE RESULTS – FRIDAY JUNE 29 2007
358 Modified Feature (25-laps): 1) #126-Jeff Strunk, 2) #1c-Craig Von Dohren, 3) #14-Rick Laubach, 4) #318-Jeff Sechrist, 5) #118-Sean Merkel, 6) #97-Jimmy Reppert, 7) #47-Gary Wagner Jr., 8) #F15-Dale Hartz, 9) #29-Kenny Eckert Jr., 10) #42-Corey Sechrist, 11) #1450-Greg Weiland, 12) #69-Bobby Trapper, 13) #81-Terry Meitzler, 14) #27-Troy Wink, 15) #6-Ryan Watt, 16) #901-Jamie Schwartz, 17) #8-Doug Hendricks, 18) #3-Mike Nicholas, 19) #00-Doug Manmiller, 20) #17-Ryan Grim, 21) #91-John Willman, 22) #S1-Bobby Gunther-Walsh. DQ: #11-Meme DeSantis, #102-Shawn Fitzpatrick, #1-Keith Hoffman.
Sportsman Feature (20-laps): 1) #99-Craig Whitmoyer, 2) #6JR-Kevin Beach, 3) #56-Shawn Hiestand, 4) #19B-Brad Brightbill, 5) #26-Tom Brennan, 6) #8-Brad Force, 7) #98-Tim Apgar, 8) #46-Josh Biever, 9) #72-Ray Woodall Jr., 10) #64-Andy Miller, 11) #14-Louie Mitchalk, 12) #2-Richard Stankiewicz, 13) #123-Roy Wiest, 14) #917-Jarrad Miller, 15) #04-Steven Hughes, 16) #6-John Stangle, 17) #44-Frank Cozze Jr., 18) #71J-Codie Berk, 19) #17-Billy Moyer Jr., 20) #33E-Earl Paules, 21) #3-Luke Wagner, 22) #61-Patrick Cozze, 23) #KT3-Corey Renninger, 24) #19-Jordan Umbenhauer, 25) #ONE-Chris James Jr., 26) #17R-Kevin Nolf. DNQ: Mike Taylor, Leroy Long, Kevin Brady, Ray Gara, Willard Knecht, Shane Moser, Kyle Somers.
Roadrunner Feature (15-laps): 1) #11x-Joe Hendricks, 2) #101-Gary Renninger, 3) #66-Chris Holland, 4) #29B-Ricky Bender, 5) #z71-Andy Zvorsky, 6) #1-Dave Miller, 7) #29W-Derek Bender, 8) #16-Robert Derfler, 9) #37-Eric Pinkerton, 10) #93-Rob Pyle, 11) #450-Kevin Olenick, 12) #00-Tom Hablett, 13) #11-Dan Strenkoski, 14) #909-Neil Bressler, 15) #72-Mark Paine, 16) #555-Elvin Brennan, 17) #711-Bob Ditzler. DNS: #8-Davey Nester.
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