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STRUNK WINS SECOND STRAIGHT, BRIGHTBILL AND HENDRICKS NOTCH FOURTH WINS OF SEASON; SHUEY CAPTURES LATE MODEL TRIUMPH AT BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY…By Gary Lileck Forestville, PA – July 25, 2008 – Jeff Strunk captured his second straight 25-lap 358 Modified feature win of the year Friday night at Big Diamond Raceway. It was the Mohnton PA racer’s third overall win of the season at the three-eighth’s mile clay oval.
Brad Brightbill of Sinking Springs won his second straight Sportsman feature, a 25-lap main event which paid $800 to win. Joe Hendricks of Auburn cruised to his fourth 15-lap Roadrunner feature win, while Brian Shuey of Shoemakersville won the 25-lap Limited Late Model feature victory worth $800.
Ken’s Tire Co., along with Wink Motorsports & Brinkman Coins, presented the four-division card in front of a packed grandstand. Scott Winger and his Bigfoot Monster Truck appeared courtesy of Bridgestone & Firestone Tires. ARCA Stock-car competitor, Bobby Gerhart Jr., was on hand as well.
The original start of the 358 Modified feature was negated on four occasions, as yellow flag fever developed early. Bobby Gunther-Walsh took command of the contest in the opening moments. Colt Harris and Mike Nicholas followed suit. Walsh led the opening four laps, until he developed trouble down the backstretch and slid into the infield. Harris became the new race leader on lap five.
While Harris showed the way, Nicholas battled with Sean Merkel for the runner-up spot. Merkel, on the outside, cruised past Nicholas on the ninth circuit. Merkel quickly reeled in the race leader Harris, and edged him at the line to score the tenth lap. Meanwhile Strunk started from fourteenth and had entered the top five in the early going.
Strunk, driving Glenn Hyneman’s #126, charged to the outside of Nicholas in turn two of lap thirteen to take the third spot. In one lap, Strunk duplicated that move with a pass on Harris to grab second. With fourteen laps scored, Merkel held a two and a half second advantage over Strunk, Harris, Nicholas, and Ryan Godown. Merkel’s margin was erased, however, as the caution flag waved with fourteen in the books. Harris had his back bumper hanging and had to make a pit stop, relinquishing his third spot.
On the lap fifteen restart, Strunk nailed the accelerator on his Lombardo powered machine and immediately passed Merkel for the lead. Merkel did attempt an inside dash in turn three, but Stunk remained in control. Godown worked past Nicholas for third, and fifteenth place starter Duane Howard entered the front five. Nicholas dropped from the pace during a lap sixteen yellow flag period, ending his fourth place effort. Strunk would lead the field back to green followed by Merkel, Godown, Howard, and sixteenth starter Meme DeSantis.
Strunk ran his own race up front, and second place was anybody’s race. A spectacular confrontation took center stage as several cars battled for the runner-up position. Merkel and Godown exchanged the spot, and DeSantis worked ahead of Howard on lap twenty. DeSantis continued his march to the front as he edged Godown at the line to complete lap twenty-four.
Up front, Strunk marched to a full straightaway advantage and captured his third feature win of the season. Merkel (Gilbertsville) grabbed the runner-up spot, while two-time feature winner DeSantis (Temple) made a late race surge to third. Godown (Ringoes NJ) started tenth and ended up fourth. Howard (Oley), a four-time main event winner this season, rounded out the front finishing five.
Troy Wink (Mohrsville) finished sixth ahead of eleventh starter Rick Laubach (Quakertown), seventeenth place starter Shawn Fitzpatrick (Pottsville), Doug Manmiller (Shoemakersville), and third generation racer Billy Pauch Jr. (Frenchtown NJ).
The remainder of Friday’s card was actually a continuation from this past Sunday. Rain had postponed the evening’s events after a few qualifying races had been completed.
The extra-distance 25-lap Sportsman feature began with a wild accident on the front stretch. Jordan Umbenhauer made hard contact with the wall and young Stephen Hughes flipped. The red flag was thrown, and no injuries were reported in the crash.
Rookie competitor Pete Phillips Jr. jumped into the early race lead. Eleventh place starter Brad Brightbill advanced into the runner-up spot on lap three. Brightbill raced closely behind Phillips for numerous laps. Another hard crash took place with seven laps complete. Several cars made contact up front which left a few wrecking in turns one and two. Lenny Hoffert’s car rolled over, bringing out the red once again. Nobody was injured.
Phillips continued to keep a hard charging Brightbill in his rear view during the next several laps. Unfortunately for Phillips though, his car began to experience a soft left rear tire. It finally flattened with seventeen laps on the scoreboard and Phillips spun in the second turn.
Brightbill led the remaining eight circuits and cruised to his second straight and fourth overall victory of the season. Kyle Weiss (Hamburg), driving Daryl Dissinger’s #x5 this week, powered to a runner-up finish. ’06 Sportsman champion Gary Wagner (Womelsdorf) finished third ahead of Josh Biever (Orwigsburg) and defending champion Craig Whitmoyer (Hamburg), who started 23rd.
Teenager Chris James Jr. (Mohrsville) continued his solid season with a sixth place finish. Mike Mammana (Nazareth) started twentieth and ended up seventh. The track’s first point champion (in 1972) Roy Wiest (Elizabethville) made his first ’08 start and finished eighth. Rookie Jared Umbenhauer (Richland) placed ninth ahead of Shawn Fitazpatrick (Pottsville). The eleventh and final car to finish was that of first year driver Mike Lisowski (Minersville).
The Limited Late Models made their first appearance of the season. The caution flag waved on twelve occasions during the course of their 25-lap main event.
Carl Graves placed the Leinbach Brothers owned machine up front during the event’s early stages. Third place starter Brian Shuey pressured the race leader for several laps. Shuey blasted into the lead on a lap six restart. Two laps later, Graves retired to the infield with mechanical problems.
Shuey professionally worked through lapped traffic and enjoyed a healthy lead whenever the caution flag was not in the process of waving. Despite a yellow flag with only two laps remaining, Shuey continued pace the field.
Shuey drove to the convincing victory, behind the wheel of his #5* machine. Although Mike Walls crossed the line in second (Walls had taken the spot on lap 23), he crossed the scales light and was disqualified. Gene Knaub (Dover) started sixteenth and methodically worked through the field to gain the second spot. DJ Mease (Harrisburg) ended up third followed by Sean Merkel (Gilbertsville) who enjoyed a highly successful evening. Mark Malcolm (Hatfield) finished fifth after starting nineteenth.
Ron Kline (Salfordville) started last (28th) and powered to a sixth place result. Jonathan Favinger (Birdsboro) cruised to a seventh place finish followed by Bryon Sipe (Leesport), Rick Todorow (Quakertown), and Travis Mease (Harrisburg), who rebounded from an earlier spin. Incidentally, John Baker was the seventh car to cross the line, however, he was light in the post race weigh-in.
Rob Pyle led the opening four laps of the Roadrunner feature. Neil Bressler, a winner earlier this season, passed Pyle for the top spot on lap five. Joe Hendricks was making some impressive maneuvers through the field from his eighth place starting spot. After a side-by-side backstretch drag race, Hendricks passed Bressler for the lead on the eighth lap. A few laps later (lap 11), Bressler spun to the infield, relinquishing his second spot.
A caution flag period regrouped the field with two laps to go. Hendricks placed some distance between himself and the field and went on to record his fourth victory of the season. Hendricks currently holds the most ’08 Roadrunner wins. Kevin Olenick (Forestville) moved into second on lap twelve and remained there at the finish line. Defending track champion Tom Hablett (Schuylkill Haven) charged from fifteenth to third. Marc Berzowski (Branchdale), returning to competition this season after a few years away, marched to a fourth place finish over Kevin Holland (Pine Grove) who had pitted twice for flat tires and still managed a fifth place finish.
The ARDC Midgets are returning to Big Diamond on Friday August 1. It is the second ARDC appearance of the season. ARDC joins the 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, and Roadrunners in a four-division show on August 1. The second Chad Miller Memorial takes place on Friday August 8. This event honors a young man who tragically lost his life in an automobile accident last summer.
BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY RESULTS –FRIDAY JULY 25, 2008 358 MODIFIED FEATURE (25-LAPS): 1) Jeff Strunk, 2) Sean Merkel, 3) Meme DeSantis, 4) Ryan Godown, 5) Duane Howard, 6) Troy Wink, 7) Rick Laubach, 8) Shawn Fitzpatrick, 9) Doug Manmiller, 10) Billy Pauch Jr., 11) Gary Hager, 12) Craig Von Dohren, 13) Dale Hartz, 14) Jeff Sechrist, 15) John Willman, 16) Eric Kocher, 17) Greg Weiland, 18) Ryan Watt, 19) Mike Nicholas, 20) Craig Whitmoyer, 21) Colt Harris, 22) Kevin Albert Jr., 23) Bobby Gunther-Walsh, 24) Ray Swinehart. Did Not Qualify: Danny Nicholas, Dan Hineline, Kenny Eckert Jr., Dale Huber. SPORTSMAN FEATURE (25-LAPS): 1) Brad Brightbill, 2) Kyle Weiss, 3) Gary Wagner, 4) Josh Biever, 5) Craig Whitmoyer, 6) Chris James Jr., 7) Mike Mammana, 8) Roy Wiest, 9) Jared Umbenhauer, 10) Shawn Fitzpatrick, 11) Mike Lisowski, 12) Kevin Brady, 13) Pete Phillips Jr., 14) Earl Paules, 15) Corey Renninger, 16) Patrick Cozze, 17) Justin Andrews, 18) Lenny Hoffert Jr., 19) Kevin Beach, 20) AJ DeSantis, 21) Steve Yankowski Jr., 22) Tom Brennan, 23) Billy Moyer Jr., 24) Kevin Smith, 25) Jonathan Kumernitsky, 26) Jordan Umbenhauer, 27) Steven Hughes. Did Not Qualify: Colt Harris, Jeff Sterner, Mike Loney, Rich Stankiewicz, Marc Herman, Ebby Ridge, Marc Corcoran, Tyler Carl, James Morris, Adny Fayash Jr., Jack Amundsen, Bill Nahodil. LIMITED LATE MODEL FEATURE (25-LAPS): 1) Brian Shuey, 2) Gene Knaub, 3) DJ Mease, 4) Kyle Merkel, 5) Mark Malcolm, 6) Ron Kline, 7) Jonathan Favinger, 8) Bryon Sipe, 9) Rick Todorow, 10) Travis Mease, 11) Kyle Saylor, 12) Dallas Wenrich, 13) Harry Henning III, 14) Greg Hoffmaster, 15) Jeff Geake, 16) Chaz Walls, 17) Ed Trimbur, 18) Buddy Wharton, 19) Grant Adams, 20) Erick Metzger, 21) Carl Graves, 22) Mike Kellner, 23) Chuck Schutz, 24) Laudan Seigfried, 25) Dustin Hollinger. DQ: Mike Walls, John Baker. ROADRUNNER FEATURE (15-LAPS): 1) Joe Hendricks, 2) Kevin Olenick, 3) Tom Hablett, 4) Marc Berzowski, 5) Kevin Holland, 6) Chris Holland, 7) Ryan Olenick, 8) Gary Renninger, 9) Brian Close, 10) Danny Mazy, 11) Neil Bressler, 12) Davey Nester, 13) Toby Chase, 14) Kody Sites, 15) Jim Kost, 16) Jeremy Becker, 17) Butch Lesher, 18) Dave Kalbach, 19) Hunter James, 20) Ricky Bender, 21) Joe Brennan, 22) Byrd Klinger, 23) Cory Swartz, 24) Gary Willard Jr., 25) Rob Pyle. |
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