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UPCOMING EVENTS:
Friday July 4, 7:45PM – Moyer Electronics Presents 29th Annual Georgie Stevenson Memeorial Race. 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, Roadrunners.
Friday July 11, 7:45PM – 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, Roadrunners, Xcel 600 Modifieds.
Sunday July 13, 5:00PM – Nutty Buddy Enduro Series Race Number Three.
DUANE HOWARD SCORES THE TRIPLE FRIDAY NIGHT AT BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY…By Gary Lileck
Forestville, PA – June 27, 2008 – Duane Howard drove the BPG Racing #4 Troyer 358 Modified to his third win of the season Friday night at Big Diamond Raceway. Howard, who resides in Oley PA, notched his fifty-ninth career BDR win, and continues to lead the current points standings battle.
Howard has actually visited victory lane on four occasions thus far in ’08. The former six-time track champion opened the year with a Big Block Modified triumph on March 29. A few weeks later, he scored his first 358 win of the season on April 25, and followed it with another win on June 6.
The 25-lap main event began with a few skirmishes and yellow light fever. Three cautions took place after one lap had been scored. The first caution found second place Corey Sechrist getting out of shape in turn four and a few cars tangled. On the next restart, a few machines made contact and Craig Von Dohren was a victim of circumstances. Von Dohren and Billy Pauch went around in turn four.
Shawn Reimert led early with Sean Merkel racing in second. Merkel throttled his #118 past Reimert for the top spot on a lap five restart. The field settled down starting on lap six, as green flag racing would continue. Howard, who originally started fourteenth, occupied the second spot on the sixth tour, and chased down race leader Merkel.
On lap twelve, Merkel and Howard fought side by side through the corners and down the straights. Merkel, on the outside, remained in front to score the twelfth tour. On the next tour, Howard continued to pressure Merkel on the inside and Merkel outgunned Howard at the line by a half-car. The pair decided the battle on lap fourteen as a persistent Howard outgunned Merkel at the flagstand to become the new race pace setter.
The caution lights flashed for Meme DeSantis (who was racing sixth) when his machine stopped in turn four. Howard pulled away on the restart and placed two seconds between himself and runner-up Merkel. Howard cruised to the victory and remains the only repeat winner in the 358 Modified division after ten point races.
Merkel (Gilbertsville) matched his season high of second place, while previous week’s winner Jeff Strunk (Mohnton) finished within striking distance of Merkel in the third spot. Ray Swinehart (Bechtelsville) competed within the front five during the entire 25-lap duration and finished fourth. Pauch (Frenchtown NJ), subbing for his son Billy Jr., rebounded from the early race incident to claim fifth.
Rick Laubach (Hellertown) advanced from sixteenth to sixth. Troy Wink (Mohrsville) was racing fifth with less than two laps remaining. He held on to claim seventh. Von Dohren (Oley) passed his way back through the field to finish eighth. Terry Meitzler (Kutztown) enjoyed a quiet race, finishing ninth and opening day winner Ryan Watt (Boyertown) finished tenth.
Three 8-lap qualifying heats were held earlier in the evening. Swinehart, Von Dohren, and Howard, shared victories. Gary Hager (Stewartsville NJ) won the consolation.
Ryan Moyer of Schuylkill Haven led all 20-laps in the Sportsman main event, and grabbed his first win of the season. Moyer has returned to the driver’s seat this season after some time away, and enjoyed his finest ’08 performance on Friday evening.
Moyer started from outside pole and immediately jumped into the early race lead. Mike Mammana (started third) quickly followed suit into the runner-up position. Moyer and Mammana raced closely during the contest’s half-way point, with Moyer continuing to lead.
The race’s final twelve laps were completed caution free and Moyer stretched his advantage to nearly two seconds. Moyer went on to capture his third career victory. Fifteenth place starter Earl Paules (Palmerton) returned just one week after his horrific accident on the backstretch. Paules passed Mammana (Nazareth) on lap 19 and finished second. Second generation talent Jordan Umbenhauer (Richland) finished fourth ahead of rookie Kevin Smith (Lehighton).
Former track champion Gary Wagner (Womelsdorf) finished sixth, and Mike Loney (Taylor) grabbed another top ten for seventh. Points leader Kyle Weiss (Hamburg) finished eighth ahead of Kevin Beach (Llewllyn), and Josh Biever (Orwigsburg).
Heat winners were Wagner, Moyer, Rich Stankiewicz, and Brad Brightbill. AJ DeSantis, in his second ’08 start, won the consi.
Neil Bressler of Donaldson claimed his first career win in the 15-lap Roadrunner feature. Bressler impressively held off a pair of past track champions en route to the win.
The event was completed in less than seven minutes, containing no caution flags. Bressler passed Danny Mazy on lap three and pulled to a comfortable lead. Tom Hablett, who started eighth and tenth starter Kevin Holland quickly powered into the top three. As the event drew to a close, Bressler, Hablett, and Holland were racing closely.
On the final lap, Holland glanced to the inside of Hablett as the raced directly behind Bressler. Hablett gave it one last try on the inside lane as the trio raced through the final two corners. Bressler just nipped Hablett (Schuylkill Haven) at the stripe to take the victory. Holland (Pine Grove) finished third ahead of two time winner Kody Sites (Hamburg) and previous week’s winner Kevin Olenick (Forestville).
Heat winners were Bressler and Bud Vidal.
Rodney Kistler won the 20-lap Central PA Legends feature in convincing style. Kistler, a past Micro Sprint star, passed his way through the field and claimed the victory.
Greg Burd led the opening two laps until Tom Mayberry took command. Mayberry is a past 358 Modified competitor and certainly knows Big Diamond well. He led until lap 13 when Kistler, on the high side, claimed the position.
Tim Tomson passed Mayberry for second on lap fourteen and the top three raced closely throughout most of the remaining moments. Kistler grabbed the win with Tomson and Mayberry in tow. Defending tour champion, Steve Nederostek, ended up fourth ahead of Reed Salony.
Friday’s card was sponsored by Jack Rich Inc., Reading Kabota, and Way-Har Farms.
The 29th annual Georgie Stevenson Memorial is slated for this Friday July 4. The 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, and Roadrunners are on the card. Gates open at 5:00PM, warm-ups begin at 7:15PM, and the first heat goes green at 7:45PM.
BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY COMPLETE RESULTS – JUNE 27, 2008
358 MODIFIED FEATURE (25-LAPS): 1) #4-Duane Howard, 2) #118-Sean Merkel, 3) #126-Jeff Strunk, 4) #33-Ray Swinehart, 5) #8-Billy Pauch, 6) #14-Rick Laubach, 7) #27-Troy Wink, 8) #1c-Craig Von Dohren, 9) #81-Terry Meitzler, 10) #6-Ryan Watt, 11) #41-Shawn Reimert, 12) #44H-Gary Hager, 13) #SQ1-Bobby Gunther-Walsh, 14) #70-Kurt Spotts, 15) #178-Dale Hartz, 16) #15x-Dan Hineline, 17) #88D-Meme DeSantis, 18) #24-Doug Manmiller, 19) #99-Craig Whitmoyer, 20) #42-Corey Sechrist, 21) #11-John Willman, 22) #3-Mike Nicholas, 23) #3D-Danny Nicholas, 24) #29-Kenny Eckert Jr. Did Not Qualify: Neil Huber, Randy Thomas, Kevin Albert Jr., Colt Harris.
SPORTSMAN FEATURE (20-LAPS): 1) #6-Ryan Moyer, 2) #4-Earl Paules, 3) #71-Mike Mammana, 4) #19-Jordan Umbenhauer, 5) #7s-Kevin Smith, 6) #33JR-Gary Wagner, 7) #723-Mike Loney, 8) #21K-Kyle Weiss, 9) #6JR-Kevin Beach, 10) #46-Josh Biever, 11) #26-Tom Brennan (alternate), 12) #T102-Tim Fitzpatrick, 13) #35-Ebby Ridge, 14) #164-Andy Miller, 15) #14D-AJ DeSantis, 16) #8-Brad Force, 17) #27-Pete Phillips Jr., 18) #0-Kevin Brady, 19) #32s-Jared Umbenhauer, 20) #15-Mike Lisowski, 21) #5D-Jordan Dreher, 22) #17-Billy Moyer Jr., 23) #28-Lenny Hoffert Jr., 24) #19B-Brad Brightbill, 25) #ONE-Chris James Jr., 26) #31-Harry Landis. DNS: #2-Rich Stankiewicz. Did Not Qualify: Jonathan Kumernitsky, Earl Mace, Jack Amundsen, Ray Gara, Jim Kleedorfer.
ROADRUNNER FEATURE (15-LAPS): 1) #909-Neil Bressler, 2) #22-Tom Hablett, 3) #66-Kevin Holland, 4) #95K-Kody Sites, 5) #450-Kevin Olenick, 6) #11x-Joe Hendricks, 7) #97-Jeremy Becker, 8) #29B-Ricky Bender, 9) #TWO-Hunter James, 10) #17-Bud Vidal, 11) #8c-Chris Holland, 12) #555-Elvin Brennan, 13) #X-Danny Mazy, 14) #66K-Marc Berzowski, 15) #777-Brian Close, 16) #7-Butch Lesher, 17) #48-Byrd Klinger, 18) #2-Gary Willard Jr., 19) #8-Davey Nester, 20) #88-Toby Chase, 21) #105-Joe Brennan, 22) #93-Rob Pyle, 23) #72-Mark Paine. |
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