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SURPRISE FIRST TIME WINNER AT BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY, DALE HARTZ IS VICTORIOUS…By Gary Lileck
Forestville, PA – August 15, 2008 – Dale Hartz, a 25-year old racer from Shoemakersville PA, grabbed his very first career 358 Modified feature win Friday night at Big Diamond Raceway. Hartz became the 94th driver to sign his name on Big Diamond’s all-time 358 Modified win list in the track’s 37 year history.
Hartz, who drives a car owned by Bethel’s Neil Huber, was strong throughout the entire evening. Hartz’s #178 Bicknell Chassis led the 25-lap feature contest from wire-to-wire. Hartz held off one of the division’s highly accomplished racers, Mike Nicholas, en route to the decisive triumph.
Although this victory was Hartz’s first career 358 win, it was his second overall BDR achievement. Hartz picked up a Roadrunner main event victory back on June 30, 2000, over eight years ago.
Billy Moyer Jr. of Pine Grove PA captured his first 20-lap Sportsman feature win of the season, while Joe Hendricks of Auburn PA made it a half-dozen on the year. Hendricks won his sixth Roadrunner main event. The 358 Modified Pepsi Challenge winner was Duane Howard of Oley PA.
Hartz led the 25-car 358 Modified feature field to the opening green flag from his inside front row starting spot. The event’s first accident took place with two laps complete. Ray Swinehart’s Troyer-33 slowed in turns three and four. A multi-car collision occurred, which involved seven cars. ’08 feature winners Jeff Strunk, Billy Pauch Jr., and Ryan Watt were included in the crash.
Hartz led the field back to green with Shawn Fitzpatrick, Gary Hager, and Mike Nicholas in pursuit. Rick Laubach, who started 25th, spun in turn two, bringing out the caution flag with five laps complete. This turned out to be the second and final stoppage of the contest.
Hartz continued to show the way on lap six. Nicholas and Hager worked past Fitzpatrick for second and third respectively on the ninth lap. Hartz enjoyed a comfortable lead while fine battles were shaping up throughout the field. At the half-way point, Hartz led over Nicholas, Hager, and Fitzpatrick. Just behind the front four, Doug Manmiller, Duane Howard, and Craig Von Dohren were battling fiercely for position.
With five laps to go, Nicholas gained some ground on Hartz. Hager raced third ahead of Howard and Von Dohren. As laps clicked away, Hartz inched closer to the moment of truth. He made no mistakes and powered his machine to a first career victory in front of a supportive grandstand.
Hartz exited his car in the winner’s circle and stood triumphantly on the roof. “This car has been fast the last couple of weeks”, mentioned Hartz. “I was trying not to make any mistakes out there. The guys had this car running so smooth, and I just wanted to hold on for the win. This track is in excellent shape tonight”. Hartz became the tenth different 358 Modified winner of the season.
Nicholas, a veteran driver from Lebanon PA, throttled his self-owned #3 Teo to a runner-up finish. Hager of Stewartsville NJ had a new motor (acquired from racer Brian Kressley) under the hood of his #44 and ended up in the third spot. Four-time feature winner Howard (Oley) finished fourth ahead of Von Dohren (Oley) who had won two races in a row to begin August.
Manmiller (Shoemakersville) drove the Wink Motorsports-00 to a sixth place effort over two-time winner Meme DeSantis (Temple). John Willman (Birdsboro) returned behind the wheel of his #74W and finished eighth. Ryan Godown (Ringoes NJ) raced from nineteenth to ninth and ’07 Sportsman champion Craig Whitmoyer (Hamburg) grabbed tenth.
The top eleven competitors in points competed in the third annual Pepsi Challenge. This event consists of one on one match races until a final driver remains. Ray Swinehart (Bechtelsville) won the first nine races, earning him $450. Howard defeated Swinehart in the tenth race, and unseated Craig Von Dohren in the final battle to capture the $1050 top prize.
The Sportsman feature began with a pair of caution flags before a lap had been scored. In the opening yellow flag, several cars made contact on the backstretch and Kyle Weiss got turned around exiting the second corner. Weiss, who won his first Sportsman feature of the season just a week earlier, was forced to retire from the race.
In the second incident, pole starter Lenny Hoffert Jr. went around going into turn one. In an amazing turn of events nobody made contact with the spinning car, however, a few cars did crash in turn one. Racing would go one lap until four-time feature winner Brad Brightbill went around on the front stretch.
Rookie competitor Mike Lisowski led the opening lap. Mike is the nephew of former BDR Street Stock competitor Charlie Sorokach. Daryl Dissinger took command on the second lap. Billy Moyer Jr. quickly followed Dissinger into the runner-up position. Moyer worked past Dissinger for the race lead on the fifth circuit.
After seven laps had been completed another crash involving Brightbill, Gary Wagner, Josh Biever, and Hoffert took place in turn four. Moyer continued to show the way over Dissinger. Earl Paules, who started thirteenth, had worked into the third position and brought invading Garden State based racer Rich Scagliotta with him. On lap 14, Paules and Scagliotta advanced ahead of Dissinger.
Paules closed on race leader Moyer during the event’s final moments. Moyer drove a flawless race, however, and guided his Troyer #17 to the winner’s circle. It was Moyer’s seventh career BDR Sportsman victory, and first of the season. He became the eighth different winner of 2008.
Paules (Palmerton), a five-time winner this year, finished in the second position ahead of Scagliotta (Bound Brook NJ), who was making a rare Friday night BDR appearance. Dissinger (Harrisburg) captured a second straight top five of fourth. Mike Loney (Taylor) quietly whispered through the field from his twelfth starting spot and grabbed fifth.
Chris James Jr. (Mohrsville) was up to third at one time in the event and held on for sixth. Former champion Tom Brennan (Pottsville) finished seventh ahead of Brightbill (Sinking Springs) who rebounded from several set backs to take eighth. Roy Wiest (Elizabethville) grabbed his third top ten in four events by finishing ninth. J. Biever (Orwigsburg) raced back from an earlier incident to finish tenth.
The 15-lap Roadrunner feature began on a wild note as several cars got together on the frontstretch. Neil Bressler was forced pitside with damage and Kevin Olenick’s machine rested inside of turn one. Danny Mazy took command under green conditions. Chris Holland, driving his father’s #66 this week, followed in the runner-up position.
Holland took command of the top spot on a lap three restart. Joe Hendricks, who started eleventh, advanced into second on lap four. Hendricks steered the family familiar #11x into the lead on a lap six restart. His next challenge would arrive from young second generation rookie talent Kody Sites.
Sites had taken the runner-up spot on lap ten and abruptly battled with Hendricks for the lead. They made contact on lap 13 and remained close as the event drew to a conclusion. Sites pulled directly behind Hendricks as the pair screamed out of turn four to grab the checkered flag.
Hendricks captured his ninth career Roadrunner feature win with Sites finishing a close second. Defending track champion Tom Hablett (Schuylkill Haven) crossed third ahead of Jeremy Becker (Pottsville), who has been enjoying a strong second half of the season, and third year racer Kevin Olenick (Pottsville) who rebounded from an ealier setback to finish fifth.
A fan appreciation BBQ picnic was held on Friday with special thanks going out to Jim Bowman Trucking, Jeff’s Truck Detailing, and Bashore Trucking.
This Sunday August 17, Big Diamond Raceway presents race number three of the Nutty Buddy Enduro Series. A 100-lap race will be held for the 6/8 cylinders and the 4 cylinder likewise compete in a 100-lap endurance event. Racing starts at 5PM and adult general admission for this show is just $5.
The final points race of the season is set for Friday August 22. Currently, Jeff Strunk leads Duane Howard in the 358 Modified race by 145 points. Brad Brightbill is 155 markers ahead of second place Kyle Weiss in the Sportsman showdown. Joe Hendricks closed within five points of Kevin Olenick in the Roadrunner battle which should certainly be a real barn burner on Friday. Only 125 points separate the top five in Roadrunner points.
BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY RESULTS – FRIDAY AUGUST 15, 2008
358 MODIFIEDS
First Heat (8-laps): 1) Colt Harris, 2) Mike Nicholas, 3) Ryan Watt, 4) Craig Whitmoyer, 5) Duane Howard, 6) Meme DeSantis, 7) Ryan Godown, 8) Bobby Gunther-Walsh.
Second Heat (8-laps): 1) Gary Hager, 2) Troy Wink, 3) Billy Pauch Jr., 4) Doug Manmiller, 5) Jordan Umbenhauer, 6) Neil Huber, 7) Kevin Albert Jr., 8) Chris Gambler, 9) Rick Laubach.
Third Heat (8-laps): 1) Craig Von Dohren, 2) Dale Hartz, 3) Shawn Fitzpatrick, 4) Ray Swinehart, 5) John Willman, 6) Jeff Strunk, 7) Kenny Brightbill, 8) Greg Weiland.
Pepsi Challenge: Swinehart def. Willman, Swinehart def. Watt, Swinehart def. Wink, Swinehart def. Godown, Swinehart def. Laubach, Swinehart def. Manmiller, Swinehart def. Pauch Jr., Swinehart def. DeSantis, Swinehart def. Strunk, Howard def. Swinehart, Howard def. Von Dohren.
25-LAP FEATURE: 1)#178-Dale Hartz, 2) #3-Mike Nicholas, 3) #44H-Gary Hager, 4) #4-Duane Howard, 5) #1c-Craig Von Dohren, 6) #00-Doug Manmiller, 7) #88D-Meme DeSantis, 8) #74W-John Willman, 9) #R1-Ryan Godown, 10) #99-Craig Whitmoyer, 11) #126-Jeff Strunk, 12) #14-Rick Laubach, 13) #19-Kenny Brightbill, 14) #7-Colt Harris, 15) #333-Kevin Albert Jr., 16) #19J-Jordan Umbenhauer, 17) #T102-Shawn Fitzpatrick, 18) #1450-Greg Weiland, 19) #35-Chris Gambler, 20) #SQ1-Bobby Gunther-Walsh, 21) #27-Troy Wink, 22) #33-Ray Swinehart, 23) #8-Billy Pauch Jr., 24) #6-Ryan Watt, 25) #X1-Neil Huber.
SPORTSMAN
First Heat (8-laps): 1) Daryl Dissinger, 2) Chris James Jr., 3) Gary Wagner, 4) Rich Scagliotta, 5) Earl Paules, 6) Brad Force, 7) Tom Brennan, 8) Kevin Brady, 9) AJ DeSantis.
Second Heat (8-laps): 1) Kyle Weiss, 2) Rich Stankiewicz, 3) Josh Biever, 4) Kevin Beach, 5) Pete Phillips Jr., 6) Jonathan Kumernitsky, 7) Brad Brightbill, 8) Jordan Dreher, 9) Jason James.
Third Heat (8-laps): 1) Billy Moyer Jr., 2) Lenny Hoffert Jr., 3) Roy Wiest, 4) Mike Loney, 5) Mike Lisowski, 6) Earl Mace, 7) Kevin Smith, 8) Marc Corcoran.
20-LAP FEATURE: 1) #17-Billy Moyer Jr., 2) #4-Earl Paules, 3) #8T-Rich Scagliotta, 4) #x5-Daryl Dissinger, 5) #723-Mike Loney, 6) #ONE-Chris James Jr., 7) #26-Tom Brennan, 8) #19B-Brad Brightbill, 9) #123-Roy Wiest, 10) #46-Josh Biever, 11) #27-Pete Phillips Jr., 12) #6JR-Kevin Beach, 13) #8-Brad Force, 14) #28-Lenny Hoffert Jr., 15) #0-Kevin Brady, 16) #5D-Jordan Dreher, 17) #7-Earl Mace, 18) #15-Mike Lisowski, 19) #73-Jason James, 20) #33JR-Gary Wagner, 21) #36-Jonathan Kumernitsky, 22) #2-Rich Stankiewicz, 23) #21K-Kyle Weiss.
ROADRUNNERS
First Heat (6-laps): 1) Danny Mazy, 2) Marc Berzowski, 3) Kody Sites, 4) Chris Holland, 5) Gary Renninger, 6) Tom Hablett, 7) Butch Lesher, 8) Brian Close, 9) Hunter James, 10) Byrd Klinger.
Second Heat (6-laps): 1) Ryan Olenick, 2) Jeremy Becker, 3) Joe Hendricks, 4) Neil Bressler, 5) Kevin Olenick, 6) Jim Kost, 7) Gary Willard Jr., 8) Toby Chase, 9) Davey Nester, 10) Joe Brennan.
15-LAP FEATURE: 1) #11x-Joe Hendricks, 2) #95K-Kody Sites, 3) #22-Tom Hablett, 4) #97-Jeremy Becker, 5) #450-Kevin Olenick, 6) #66K-Marc Berzowski, 7) #555-Jim Kost, 8) #2-Gary Willard Jr., 9) #66-Chris Holland, 10) #TWO-Hunter James, 11) #88-Toby Chase, 12) #777-Brian Close, 13) #48-Byrd Klinger, 14) #7-Butch Lesher, 15) #8-Davey Nester, 16) #101-Gary Renninger, 17) #X-Danny Mazy, 18) #105-Joe Brennan, 19) #909-Neil Bressler, 20) #45-Ryan Olenick. |
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