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…By Gary Lileck
Forestville, PA-July 27, 2007- Mike Nicholas returned to the winner’s circle Friday night at Big Diamond Raceway. Nicholas, a well-established racer from Lebanon PA, won the 25-lap 358 Modified feature, becoming the eighth different winner of the season. It was Mike’s first BDR triumph since April 23, 1993.
“Its been a long time” mentioned Nicholas after scoring the feature victory. “I was struggling with racing and we gave it up for a while”. Nicholas stepped to the side-lines for a while and helped his young son Danny get involved in the sport. He returned to full-time activity this season.
“These guys on the crew give me a good race car every week” continued Nicholas. “You name it we’ve had all kinds of problems this year. But those guys back at the shop kept working hard, and never gave up”. Nicholas had led a good deal of feature laps this season, but had yet to visit victory lane. The wait has ended, and Nicholas scored the $2500 first place prize.
Steven Hughes is sixteen years old and competes in the Sportsman division as a rookie. His father Mike is a former feature winner in the division. Steven, out of Riegelsville PA, stormed to his first career win in Friday’s 20-lap main event worth $1000. Hughes became the twelfth different Sportsman winner of the season.
Eric Pinkerton of Tower City PA was clearly the fastest Roadrunner of the evening. Pinkerton wasted no time in taking the early lead, while racing on the top side of the speedway. Pinkerton won the 18-lap main event, paying $200 to win. It was Pinkerton’s third victory of the season.
Bobby Gunther-Walsh led the twenty-four car 358 Modified feature field to the event’s opening green flag. Third starter Mike Nicholas advanced into the runner-up spot on the opening tour. A pair of caution flags were needed at the completion of four laps. A multi-car tangle on the same lap brought out the red flag. Jeff Sechrist’s machine slowly rolled over, racing out of the fourth corner. Sechrist was not injured and actually restarted the race.
Walsh remained the race leader with Nicholas in pursuit. On lap six, Nicholas glanced to the high side, however, Walsh continued to set the pace. Nicholas pulled alongside of Walsh on the next lap. The pair raced side-by-side for nearly the entire circuit, and Nicholas grabbed the lead as they crossed the line. The event’s final caution flag was unfurled with eleven circuits completed.
Walsh lost a few positions on the ensuing restart, and Nicholas stayed up front. Terry Meitzler, who started tenth, powered into the runner-up position followed by John Willman (started eighth), and Craig Von Dohren, who was fresh off of two straight feature victories. Von Dohren had originally started from the fourteenth spot. Doug Manmiller (started twenty-first) moved into fifth on lap thirteen.
Von Dohren powered to the inside of Willman for third on the fourteenth lap. Meanwhile, Meitzler was reeling in the race leader Nicholas. With just a few laps remaining, Nicholas was entering lapped traffic. Nicholas had to produce a flawless performance as Meitzler was within closing distance. Nicholas raced through the traffic perfectly and Meitzler followed.
Nicholas throttled his self-owned Teo Chassis #3 to his first victory of the season. Meitzler (Kutztown) powered the Dennis Bailey owned #81 to a runner-up finish. Von Dohren (Oley) drove Mike Harvey’s #1c to a third place effort and Willman (Birdsboro) raced the Saracino-91 to a fourth. Nineteenth place starter Billy Pauch Jr. (Frenchtown NJ) grabbed fifth on the event’s final lap, driving the Dinatale #11D.
Manmiller’s machine broke on the final lap, however, he held on to finish sixth. Seventeenth place starter Ryan Watt crossed in seventh. Jimmy Reppert finished eighth ahead of Ray Swinehart and twenty-third place starter Danny Erb.
Mohnton’s Jeff Strunk remains the points leader by 355 markers ahead of D. Manmiller. Strunk suffered through a rare ’07 bad night. Strunk made a few pit stops, eventually retired from the event, and finished nineteenth.
Yellow flag fever took place during the course of the Sportsman main event. A total of nine cautions were needed as the race unfolded. Corey Renninger led the opening eight laps of the contest until his machine got out of shape in the second corner. Second generation racer Codie Berk took command of the field on the restart, with Steven Hughes in tow.
On a lap fifteen restart, Berk and Hughes raced side-by-side for the number one position. Hughes raced strong on the outside groove. On lap sixteen, Hughes out-powered Berk as they raced through the first and second corners. Hughes built a comfortable advantage and never looked back at the competition.
Hughes captured his first ever victory and he was followed by Berk (Shoemakersville), Richard Stankiewicz (Reading), dirt/asphalt racer Earl Paules (Palmerton) and former track champion Tom Brennan (Pottsville). Rounding out the top ten were 7/20 race winner Jordan Umbenhauer, Craig Whitmoyer, Andy Fayash Jr., Kevin Nolf, and Kevin Brady.
Eric Pinkerton (Tower City) literally won the Roadrunner feature on the event’s opening lap. Pinkerton started eleventh and squeezed into the lead as the cars crossed the start/finish line to score lap one. From there, the main event was completed caution-free and Pinkerton drove to a comfortable advantage.
Pinkerton, driving his #37 Monte Carlo bodied Roadrunner, held nearly a full-straightaway lead by race’s end. Previous week’s winner Elvin Brennan (Pottsville) moved into the runner-up spot on lap five and remained there safely at the finish. Three-time winner Kevin Olenick (Pottsville) executed a three wide pass at the finish line to grab third. Ricky Bender (Joliett) ended up a close fourth and Andy Zvorsky (Orwigsburg) took fifth on lap fifteen.
Returning after a week off, Dan Strenkoski finished sixth ahead of new points leader Tom Hablett, Derek Bender, Dave Miller, and Chris Holland.
The three-division card of racing was presented by Ken’s Tire (Cressona, Pottsville, and Frackville). A drawing was held for the Bridgestone Indy Go-Kart. Brian Murray of Pottsville was the lucky winner of the kart. Proceeds of the drawing were added to the winner’s share for each of the three features.
As part of Ken’s Tire Night, car #714 returned to the speedway for a one race only special. Fitzpatrick racing drove a #714 car honoring one of the speedway’s racing legends, Llewellyn’s Billy Schinkel. The popular racer was Limited Late Model track champion in ’76, ’77, and ’78, and Small Block Modified point champion in 1980. The 13-time career BDR Modified feature winner retired after a tremendous career in 1995.
A rain storm swept through the area in the late afternoon. The track crew worked hard and prepared the speedway for the evening’s scheduled starting time. The night’s final checkered flag was thrown just past 10:20PM.
Mark’s Mechanical presents a three-division card of events on Sunday July 29. The popular Winged Super Sportsman tour returns to the BDR clay. This particular class of racing holds a rich history in the speedway’s past seasons. This will be an independent race for the Super Sportsman paying $1200 to win and $150 to take the green flag. The Limited Late Models make their first BDR appearance of the season racing for $800 to win and $100 to take the green. The Central PA Legends will be competing in their third straight race of the weekend in what they are calling a National Qualifier.
Gates open at 3:30PM, warm-ups will begin at 5:30PM and qualifying starts at 6:00PM. Grandstand admission is $12 for adults, and $10 for students, seniors, and military.
The Wingless ARDC Midgets return to Forestville on Friday August 3, and NASCAR Nextel Cup racer J.J. Yeley of Phoenix AZ is scheduled to make another appearance. ARDC has a pair of features set for August 3 along with a full card of 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, and Roadrunners.
Big Diamond Raceway – Full Results – Ken’s Tire Night -Friday July 27, 2007
358 Modified Feature (25-laps): 1) #3-Mike Nicholas, 2) #81-Terry Meitzler, 3) #1c-Craig Von Dohren, 4) #91-John Willman, 5) #11D-Billy Pauch Jr., 6) #00-Doug Manmiller, 7) #6-Ryan Watt, 8) #97-Jimmy Reppert, 9) #33-Ray Swinehart, 10) #44-Danny Erb, 11) #47-Gary Wagner Jr., 12) #S1-Bobby Gunther-Walsh, 13) #F15-Dale Hartz, 14) #W9-Colt Harris, 15) #19-Tom Umbenhauer, 16) #17-Ryan Grim, 17) #714-Shawn Fitzpatrick, 18) #11-Meme DeSantis, 19) #126-Jeff Strunk, 20) #318-Jeff Sechrist, 21) #27-Troy Wink, 22) #14-Rick Laubach, 23) #901-Jamie Schwartz, 24) #1-Keith Hoffman. DNQ: #42-Corey Sechrist, #29-Kenny Eckert Jr., #70-Kurt Spotts, #51-Erik Renninger. Heat winners: M. Nicholas, S. Fitzpatrick, J. Schwartz.
Sportsman Feature (20-laps): 1) #04-Steven Hughes, 2) #71J-Codie Berk, 3) #2-Richard Stankiewicz, 4) #33E-Earl Paules, 5) #26-Tom Brennan, 6) #19-Jordan Umbenhauer, 7) #99-Craig Whitmoyer, 8) #88x-Andy Fayash Jr., 9) #17R-Kevin Nolf, 10) #0-Kevin Brady, 11) #84-Leroy Long, 12) #2T-Mike Taylor, 13) #19B-Brad Brightbill, 14) #35-Ebby Ridge, 15) #64-Andy Miller, 16) #M7-Shane Moser, 17) #15D-Ray Gara, 18) #72-Ray Woodall Jr., 19) #84x-Willard Knecht, 20) #123-Roy Wiest, 21) #KT3-Corey Renninger, 22) #6JR-Kevin Beach, 23) #46-Josh Biever, 24) #61-Patrick Cozze, 25) #7-Dave Mace, 26) #17-Billy Moyer Jr. Heat winners: C. Berk, R. Stankiewicz, S. Hughes.
Roadrunner Feature (15-laps): 1) #37-Eric Pinkerton, 2) #555-Elvin Brennan, 3) #450-Kevin Olenick, 4) #29B-Ricky Bender, 5) #z71-Andy Zvorsky, 6) #11-Dan Strenkoski, 7) #22-Tom Hablett, 8) #29W-Derek Bender, 9) #1-Dave Miller, 10) #66-Chris Holland, 11) #11x-Joe Hendricks, 12) #17-Bud Vidal, 13) #909-Neil Bressler, 14) #16-Robert Derfler, 15) #201-Brian Johnson, 16) Davey Nester, 17) #93-Rob Pyle. DNS: #72-Mark Paine. |
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