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…By Gary Lileck
Forestville, PA-July 6, 2007- Jeff Strunk won Friday’s Jack Rich Inc. Georgie Stevenson Memorial at Big Diamond Raceway for the second year in a row. The extra distance 40-lap 358 Modified feature was worth a crisp $3000 for the current point standings leader.
A large crowd gathered for the twenty-eighth annual Georgie Stevenson Memorial races. The 25-lap Sportsman feature was won by Craig Whitmoyer, while Kevin Olenick emerged victorious in the 15-lap Roadrunner main event.
Shawn Fitzpatrick started inside pole for the 358 Modified feature. The local racer from Pottsville PA placed his Bicknell-102 in front immediately over Tom Umbenhauer. Troy Wink, and Meme DeSantis filled out the top four by the seventh circuit. Wink’s machine suffered a flat right rear tire with nine laps showing on the board, and brought out a caution flag.
Fitzpatrick continued to lead on the restart with Umbenhauer and DeSantis in pursuit. Ray Swinehart and Rick Laubach rapidly worked into the front five. The caution waved with thirteen laps complete for Duane Howard, who slowed in the #114 with a flat tire. Under green conditions, Fitzpatrick led Umbenhauer. Swinehart throttled past DeSantis for the third spot. Swinehart however headed pitside with sixteen laps in the books.
A lap seventeen restart would cause quite a shake-up in the front running order. Umbenhauer and DeSantis made contact in turn four. Strunk, who started sixth on the restart, roared into second past Umbenhauer, while DeSantis slowed and eventually stopped for a caution on lap eighteen. On the ensuing green, another caution would wipe out the start attempt. Fitzpatrick, Strunk, Umbenhauer, Laubach, and Danny Erb was the running order. Under caution, Laubach retreated to the pits with a flat left rear tire.
Fitzpatrick continued to lead under green conditions with Strunk watching from second. Strunk looked for passing room on the inside groove of lap 23. On the next circuit, Strunk dropped to the bottom of Fitzpatrick in turns one and two. Strunk gained command of the top spot as the pair raced down the backstretch. Erb, making his first Diamond start in a couple of weeks, and Umbenhauer followed.
Craig Von Dohren was making moves through the field and passed Umbenhauer on the inside groove of lap 29 to gain fourth. Von Dohren sliced past Erb on the 32nd circuit to advance into third. After 32 laps had been completed, Erb and Howard (who had charged through the field after an earlier pitstop) crashed in turn four. The caution was needed and both cars were towed from the scene with heavy damage.
Strunk remained the race leader under green followed by Fitzpatrick and Von Dohren. Doug Manmiller worked into fourth over Umbenhauer. While Strunk pulled away, the above mentioned four cars raced in tight formation. Von Dohren powered to the inside of Fitzpatrick for the runner-up spot on lap 36. One lap later, Manmiller powered ahead of Fitzpatrick for third. A caution with just two laps remaining would regroup the pack.
The final two laps found Strunk pulling away from the field behind the wheel of the Glenn Hyneman owned Teo Pro Car. Strunk, driving the Gold Rush Trailers/Touch of Green Landscaping #126, visited BDR victory lane for his thirty-fourth career victory at the Coal Region based facility. Von Dohren, the speedway’s all-time win leader, settled for second in the Mike Harvey owned #1c. Manmiller crossed the line in third, however, was thirty pounds light over the scale and subsequently disqualified.
Umbenhauer dropped to the inside of Fitzpatrick on the race’s final lap. As it turned out, this position change was for the third spot. Umbenhauer set the Shiley Fabrication fast time of the race at 17.313. Fitzpatrick finished in fourth while Ryan Watt drove the Purcell-6 from twenty-fifth to fifth. Jimmy Reppert finished sixth ahead of Jeff Sechrist, Bobby Gunther-Walsh (who was actually an alternate and started last), Kurt Spotts (who won the Stevenson Sportsmanship award and was a guaranteed starter), and Dale Hartz.
Walsh joined the starting grid, just after Doug Hendricks lost an engine in the PPB #8 machine prior to the green flag. Ryan Grim actually crossed the line in ninth, however, he was light across the scales.
Heat winners for the 34 cars in attendance were Umbenhauer, Fitzpatrick, Laubach, and Von Dohren. John Willman won the B-main.
The Sportsman feature’s initial start was negated for an eight car tangle in the third turn, which brought out the red flag. Louie Mitchalk’s machine actually hopped over the turn three banking area. Nobody was injured in the accident.
Roy Wiest started outside pole and quickly assumed command of the field. Richard Stankiewicz moved into the runner-up spot on lap seven. On a lap eight restart, good caution-free racing took center stage. Craig Whitmoyer, who started sixteenth, worked into third by the contest’s fifteenth lap. Whitmoyer challenged Stankiewicz and passed him for second on lap sixteen. Wiest held a comfortable advantage, however, Whitmoyer began to chase him down.
With the five lap sign displayed over the field, Whitmoyer closed within a car length of Wiest. Twenty-one laps had been completed, and Whitmoyer looked to the inside of Wiest for the lead in turn one. Contact was made and Whitmoyer took command of the lead. In the second corner, Wiest’s #123 machine went around. Mike Mamanna quickly stopped and Shawn Hiestand, who had nowhere to go, slammed into Wiest. The caution flag flew with only four laps remaining.
Whitmoyer, driving the Carpet Warehouse #99 Bicknell, led during the closing moments. Whitmoyer claimed the $750 victory, his fifth of the season and twenty-first BDR career triumph. Stankiewicz posted his best finish of the season for second. Andy Miller continued his consistent ’07 with a third followed by ’07 feature winners Brad Brightbill and Tom Brennan. Whitmoyer set the Shiley Fabrication fast time of the race – 18.305.
Second generation racer Jordan Umbenhauer finished sixth, while former Micro Sprint competitor Ray Woodall Jr. earned a seventh. Former feature winner Josh Biever crossed the stripe in eighth followed by Garden State based racer Mike Taylor. Rookie competitor Steven Hughes rounded out the top ten.
33 Sportsman were on hand with heat wins going to Codie Berk, Mammana, Stankiewicz, and Taylor. Umbenhauer won the caution-free B-main.
Elvin Brennan grabbed the early lead in the Roadrunner main event. Brennan, while in the race lead, pitted under caution with two laps complete. Ricky Bender inherited the top spot on lap three. Second generation racer Chris Holland passed Bender for the top spot on lap four. Bender regained the spot on lap eight as the front cars battled in a tremendous fight.
Kevin Olenick originally started twelfth. The local Pottsville racer engaged in a highly contested front five battle. On lap 14, Olenick utilized the outside groove to occupy second behind the race leader Bender. On the final lap, Olenick quickly gained ground on the leader. Racing down the backstretch, Olenick tossed his machine to the high side of Bender. In the final corners, Olenick stormed into the race lead.
Olenick drove his 901 Pub/Olenick’s Video #450 Nova to a thrilling win closely followed by Bender. Holland finished third ahead of Derek Bender and previous week’s winner, Joe Hendricks.
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 and grandstand admission for the enduro is only $5. Following the enduro events, test and tune sessions will be held for any and all divisions. For more information on Big Diamond Raceway, visit their website at www.bigdiamondraceway.com
BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY COMPLETE RESULTS – FRIDAY JUly 6 2007
358 Modified Feature (40-laps): 1) #126-Jeff Strunk, 2) #1c-Craig Von Dohren, 3) #19-Tom Umbenhauer, 4) #102-Shawn Fitzpatrick, 5) #6-Ryan Watt, 6) #97-Jimmy Reppert, 7) #318-Jeff Sechrist, 8) #S1-Bobby Gunther-Walsh, 9) #70-Kurt Spotts, 10) #F15-Dale Hartz, 11) #81-Terry Meitzler, 12) #1450-Greg Weiland, 13) #44-Danny Erb, 14) #114-Duane Howard, 15) #14-Rick Laubach, 16) #11D-Billy Pauch Jr., 17) #1K-Randy Bailey, 18) #11-Meme DeSantis, 19) #33-Ray Swinehart, 20) #1-Keith Hoffman, 21) #39x-Scott Frack, 22) #47-Gary Wagner Jr., 23) #29-Kenny Eckert Jr., 24) #27-Troy Wink, 25) #42-Corey Sechrist, 26) #118-Sean Merkel, 27) #91-John Willman. DNS: #8-Doug Hendricks, DQ: #00-Doug Manmiller, #17-Ryan Grim. DNQ: Carroll Hine III, Bobby Trapper, Jamie Schwartz, Mike Nicholas.
Sportsman Feature (25-laps): 1) #99-Craig Whitmoyer, 2) #2-Richard Stankiewicz, 3) #64-Andy Miller, 4) #19B-Brad Brightbill, 5) #26-Tom Brennan, 6) #19-Jordan Umbenhauer, 7) #72-Ray Woodall Jr., 8) #46-Josh Biever, 9) #2T-Mike Taylor, 10) #04-Steven Hughes, 11) #71-Mike Mammana, 12) #84-Leroy Long, 13) #6JR-Kevin Beach, 14) #8-Brad Force, 15) #56-Shawn Hiestand, 16) #123-Roy Wiest, 17) #17-Billy Moyer Jr., 18) #3-Luke Wagner, 19) #17R-Kevin Nolf, 20) #71J-Codie Berk, 21) #33E-Earl Paules, 22) #69-Andy Fayash Jr., 23) #0-Kevin Brady, 24) #44-Frank Cozze Jr., 25) #75-James Morris, 26) #14-Louie Mitchalk. DNQ: Jim Somers Jr., Kyle Somers, Ray Gara, Harry Landis, Shane Moser, Patrick Cozze, Chris James Jr.
Roadrunner Feature (15-laps): 1) #450-Kevin Olenick, 2) #29B-Ricky Bender, 3) #66-Chris Holland, 4) #29W-Derek Bender, 5) #11x-Joe Hendricks, 6) #22-Tom Hablett, 7) #37-Eric Pinkerton, 8) #1-Dave Miller, 9) #101-Gary Renninger, 10) #909-Neil Bressler, 11) #z71-Andy Zvorsky, 12) #711-Bobby Ditzler, 13) #93-Rob Pyle, 14) #201-Brian Johnson, 15) #555-Elvin Brennan III, 16) #17-Bud Vidal, 17) #11-Dan Strenkoski. DNS: #8-Davey Nester. |
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