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…By Gary Lileck
Forestville, PA – April 18, 2008 – Meme DeSantis picked up his first Big Diamond Raceway feature victory since July 15, 2006 this past Friday night. DeSantis held off a high flying Duane Howard en route to his win in the 25-lap 358 Modified feature.
Brinckman Coins (Souderton PA) sponsored the evening’s festivities with other main event wins going to Clay Butler of Milford NJ (make-up Sportsman feature), Tom Brennan of Pottsville (Sportsman), and Tom Hablett of Schuylkill Haven (Roadrunners).
Mike Nicholas led the opening lap of the 358 Modified feature until his car retreated pitside with a left front flat tire. DeSantis, driving his self-owned #88D Teo, powered into the top spot on lap two. Howard started eighth and muscled into the runner-up spot on the event’s sixth circuit.
DeSantis withstood several restart attempts during the opening half of the contest, and Howard raced in the second position. Seventh starter John Willman, steering his self-owned #74W, assumed control of the third position on lap eight, and battled along the way with defending track champion Jeff Strunk, driving Glenn Hyneman’s #126.
The final ten laps were completed caution-free. DeSantis continued to tour the three-eighth’s mile clay oval in quick fashion while Howard remained within striking distance. Howard tossed the Chad Sinon owned #4 Troyer to the outside lane during the event’s closing moments as he remained glued to the race leader DeSantis. On lap 24, the pair raced with a mere one car length between them on the backstretch.
DeSantis, a popular racing veteran from Temple PA, made no mistakes while leading the field and denied Howard’s strong efforts as the event drew to a close. DeSantis drove to the winner’s circle for the 18th time in his illustrious BDR career while Howard, a former six-time track champion, throttled to a close runner-up finish.
“The car has been good all year and the driver is just catching up” mentioned DeSantis of his new ride this season. DeSantis rebounded from a rough season opener the previous week, when his car sustained front-end damage in a feature accident. Howard, likewise, bounced back from a heartbreaker in the ’08 lid lifter, when his engine expired after dominating the event.
Strunk of Mohnton advanced into the third position on lap 20 and remained there at the finish. Although Willman crossed the line in fourth, his machine weighed in light on the scales and he was disqualified. Second place starter Kevin Hirthler of Boyertown moved into the fourth spot. Hirthler had enjoyed a successful evening, racing with the top five throughout the event’s duration. Sixth place starter Ryan Godown of Ringoes NJ scored his first top five of the season with a fifth place effort.
Billy Pauch Jr. of Frenchtown NJ started fourteenth and nailed down a sixth place finish. Ryan Watt of Boyertown remained the points leader by virtue of his seventh place result. Watt had started from sixteenth. Craig Von Dohren of Oley worked back through the field after a second lap caution and ended up eighth. Jason Hamilton of Erwinna (started 24th) grabbed his second straight top ten finish of ninth and Shawn Fitzpatrick of Pottsville finished tenth after beginning from 23rd.
32 cars were trackside with qualifying heat wins going to Troy Wink, Sean Merkel, Kevin Hirthler, and Mike Nicholas. Craig Von Dohren won the consi.
The Sportsman completed their held-over 16-lap main event from the previous Friday, a race that was postponed due to rain. Invading racer Clay Butler started outside pole and immediately shot into the top spot. Kyle Weiss maneuvered into the second position on lap seven.
Butler and Weiss raced closely during numerous moments of the contest. A caution took place with just two circuits remaining. Butler led the field to a green flag, and Weiss glanced to the outside. The duo raced nose-to-tail down the back straight of the nineteenth lap. On the final circuit, Butler added a little more room between himself and Weiss.
Butler drove to his first career Big Diamond victory with Weiss (Hamburg) in pursuit. Josh Biever (Orwigsburg) started and finished in the third spot. Mike Loney (Taylor) made a rare BDR start and ended up fourth ahead of Rick Raisner (Easton) who had actually led the original opening four laps back on April 11.
Rounding out the top ten were second-generation racer Patrick Cozze (Easton), Billy Moyer Jr. (Pine Grove), Tim Fitzpatrick (Branchdale), Brad Brightbill (Sinking Springs) and Kevin Smith (Lehighton).
Former three-time track champion, Tom Brennan, started from the pole in the regularly scheduled 20-lap Sportsman main event. Brennan led virtually unchallenged throughout most of the feature behind the wheel of his self owned #26.
While Brennan led, Weiss and Jordan Umbenhauer staged a fine battle for the runner-up spot. Umbenhauer darted to the inside of Weiss at the stripe to complete lap 19. Meanwhile, Brennan pulled away by about a second and headed to the winner’s circle for his 13th career BDR victory.
Umbenhauer (Richland) placed second ahead of Weiss. Kevin Beach (Llewellyn), entering his third season of Sportsman competition, finished fourth. Brad Brightbill was racing sixth by lap seven, until he was involved in a caution. Brightbill rallied back to finish fifth.
Sophomore racer Steven Hughes (Riegelsville) finished sixth ahead of John Stangle (Whitehouse Station NJ), Ray Woodall (Easton), newcomer Dan Yankowski (Throop), and Butler.
Heats for the 41-car field were won by Kevin Beach, Tim Apgar, Tom Brennan, and John Stangle. Josh Biever won the consi.
2007 Roadrunner point champion, Tom Hablett, was involved in a tangle on opening day. He would start from the outside pole in race two of the season. Hablett and Elvin Brennan raced closely during the 15-lap main event’s opening half.
Tenth place starter Kevin Olenick joined in on the battle and Olenick passed Brennan for second while scoring lap ten. For the second straight week, Olenick chased down the race leader and watched intently from the runner-up spot. Hablett executed a flawless performance and remained atop of the field.
Hablett drove the #22 Nova to his fifteenth career BDR victory with Olenick, a third year racer from Forestville, directly in his rear tire tracks. A surprising effort was turned in by a first starting Kody Sites (Hamburg) who raced from twelfth to third. Brennan (Pottsville) finished fourth ahead of opening day winner Kevin Holland (Pine Grove).
The Roadrunners pulled 24 cars with heat wins going to Joe Hendricks and Tom Hablett.
Big Diamond Raceway will compete this Sunday April 20 as Naftzinger’s Used Auto Parts and Detweiler’s Towing presents the Nutty Buddy Enduro Series Race Number One. Over sixty cars have pre-entered between the two classes, and interest continues to grow for this Sunday’s race. Pit gates open at 1:30PM, spectator gates at 3:00PM and racing goes green at 5:00PM. Adult general admission for the Enduros is just $5.
Further information on Big Diamond raceway may be obtained on the world wide web at www.bigdiamondraceway.com
COMPLETE RACE SUMMARY – BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY – APRIL 18, 2008
358 MODIFIEDS
FEATURE (25-LAPS): 1) Meme DeSantis, 2) Duane Howard, 3) Jeff Strunk, 4) Kevin Hirthler, 5) Ryan Godown, 6) Billy Pauch Jr., 7) Ryan Watt, 8) Craig Von Dohren, 9) Jason Hamilton, 10) Shawn Fitzpatrick, 11) Terry Meitzler, 12) Ryan Grim, 13) Shawn Reimert, 14) Troy Wink, 15) Mike Nicholas, 16) Dale Hartz, 17) Colt Harris, 18) Rick Laubach, 19) Doug Manmiller, 20) Craig Whitmoyer, 21) Ray Swinehart, 22) Tom Umbenhauer, 23) Bobby Gunther-Walsh, 24) Keith Hoffman, 25) Sean Merkel, DQ: John Willman.
DNQ: Gary Hager, Kenny Eckert Jr., Corey Sechrist, Kevin Albert Jr., Jeff Sechrist, Dan Hineline.
SPORTSMAN
FEATURE (20-LAPS): 1) Tom Brennan, 2) Jordan Umbenhauer, 3) Kyle Weiss, 4) Kevin Beach, 5) Brad Brightbill, 6) Steven Hughes, 7) John Stangle, 8) Ray Woodall Jr., 9) Dan Yankowski, 10) Clay Butler, 11) Rick Raisner, 12) Josh Biever, 13) Brad Force, 14) Ebby Ridge, 15) Daryl Dissinger, 16) Steve Yankowski Jr., 17) Mike Loney, 18) Rich Stankiewicz, 19) Kevin Smith, 20) John Pursell, 21) Ryan Moyer, 22) Mike Mammana, 23) Tim Apgar, 24) Tim Fitzpatrick, 25) Andy Fayash Jr., 26) Dave Lauver.
DNQ: Patrick Cozze, Jason Neidlinger, Luke Wagner, Shane Moser, Pete Phillips Jr., Earl Mace, Kermit Horning, Lenny Hoffert Jr., Conrad Fitch, Chris James Jr., Earl Paules, Kevin Brady, Greg Stepanchuk, Billy Moyer Jr., Gary Wagner.
ROADRUNNERS
FEATURE (15-LAPS): 1) Tom Hablett, 2) Kevin Olenick, 3) Kody Sites, 4) Elvin Brennan, 5) Kevin Holland, 6) Chris Holland, 7) Joe Hendricks, 8) Rob Pyle, 9) Jeremy Becker, 10) Gary Willard Jr., 11) Butch Lesher, 12) Bud Vidal, 13) Toby Chase, 14) Davey Nester, 15) Byrd Klinger, 16) James Szoke, 17) Dan Mazy, 18) Brian Close, 19) Ed Kuperavage, 20) Cory Swartz, 21) Ricky Bender, 22) Gary Renninger, 23) Ryan Olenick, 24) Mark Paine. |
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