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EXPERIENCE PAYS OFF, OWENS AND HOCH EACH VICTORIOUS SUNDAY AT BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY…By Gary Lileck
Forestville, PA – August 17, 2008 – Keith Owens of Auburn and Lance Hoch of Mertztown each captured victories as part of Sunday’s Naftzinger’s Used Auto Parts Detweiler’s 24 Hour Towing Nutty Buddy Enduro Series Race #3.
In front of a nice crowd at Big Diamond Raceway, Owens captured his first 6/8 cylinder 100-lap win of the season. Owens brought some experience to the table. He is a former Sportsman-Modified competitor and has been active in the Enduro Series for the last few seasons. It was Keith’s second career win, the first since June 10, 2007.
Hoch, likewise, has been in victory lane before. He won five Roadrunner features and one Sportsman main event during the course of his career. Last season, Hoch returned to BDR, joining the four cylinder enduro class. Hoch actually crossed the finish line second in the 100-lap event, however, the apparent first place car was disqualified in post race tech.
The 6/8 Cylinder (Big Car) class brought a solid field of forty-six competitors. Kevin Brown, who has supported the BDR enduro races since the beginning, led the opening four laps. Mark Spencer, a competitor on both dirt and asphalt, started eighteenth and quickly worked ahead of Brown for the race lead on lap five.
Joey Zvorsky moved into the top spot on lap 28, after Spencer was involved in a tangle. Owens, who started 37th, powered past Zvorsky for the lead with 36 laps showing on the scoreboard. Zvorsky’s car retreated to the infield one lap later. Owens led the remainder of the contest and built a healthy eighteen second lead by race’s end.
Owens made his first start of the season a memorable one as he cruised to the winner’s circle. Phil Levering (Parkerford) was the second and final car on the lead lap. Levering posted his third top ten of the season in the runner-up spot.
Shawn Naftzinger (Auburn) crossed the finish line a lap by himself in third. Ironically Naftzinger has finished first, second, and third in the opening trio of events. Second generation talent Shon Elk (Sinking Springs) started the contest from the back and powered to a fourth place finish. Mike Naftzinger (Auburn) started twelfth and grabbed a season’s best finish of fifth. Nineteen of the original forty-six starters remained at the finish.
Hoch started fourth in the small car race. He passed Jeremy Krauss for the lead on lap eight. Chris Holland, who began from twenty-fourth, stormed past Hoch to grab the number one position on the 27th your. When the field received the crossed flags (half-way signal), Holland enjoyed a healthy full straightaway advantage.
During the second half of the event, Hoch and fourteenth starter Todd Morgan had worked into the top two positions. Hoch nearly was caught in a tangle with 18 laps remaining and fought his car from spinning. While Hoch encountered traffic, Morgan gained ground on the race leader.
On the 97th lap, Hoch drove to the outside of traffic, while Morgan chose the bottom. One lap later, the duo drag raced down the backstretch. Morgan erupted into the race lead. Morgan led the closing moments and drove to the apparent victory. His car failed post race tech, however, with exhaust issues and Hoch was awarded the victory.
Four of the apparent top six finishers ran into problems in the tech inspection area. Hoch was victorious over earlier leader Holland (Pine Grove). Wayne Krauss (Mertztown) drove to his second top five finish of the season for third. Mike Ventura made his first BDR start of the season and finished a solid fourth. Kevan Schaeffer (Orwigsburg) started twelfth and drove to a fifth place effort.
The Nutty Buddy Enduro Series will return for their next BDR meet on Sunday September 14 at 5:00PM.
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. Gates open at 5:00PM and racing begins at 7:45PM.
BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY RESULTS – SUNDAY AUGUST 17, 2008
6/8 CYLINDER CAR ENDURO (100-LAPS): 1) #33-Keith Owens, 2) #39-Phil Levering, 3) #6-Shawn Naftzinger, 4) #10x-Shon Elk, 5) #777-Mike Naftzinger, 6) #310-Bill Stockert, 7) #327-Chris Reichert, 8) #46-Kevin Brown, 9) #3-Jamie Naftzinger, 10) #71F-Forrest Peters, 11) #58-Doug Naftzinger, 12) #86-Kevin Martin, 13) #86x-Mark Spencer, 14) #911-Sam Detweiler, 15) #102-TJ Fitzpatrick, 16) #8-Jason Brown, 17) #37-James Distano, 18) #73-Aaron Bowman, 19) #25-Joe Kavanaugh, 20) #302-Ralph Bankes Jr., 21) #8J-Vince James, 22) #714JR-Justin Schinkel, 23) #94-Robert Bankes, 24) #556-Bob Engle, 25) #9-Brian Buchinski, 26) #349-Adam Dietzel, 27) #98-Ray Cinqmars, 28) #1-Joey Zvorsky, 29) #69J-Brian James, 30) #54-Steve Benulis, 31) #17R-Tim Fitzpatrick Jr., 32) #6M-Mark Purcell, 33) #99-Tom Gibson, 34) #1L-Chett Lovell, 35) #63-Mike Reichert, 36) #0-Billy Price Jr., 37) #888-Robert Staller Jr., 38) #71-David Burkert, 39) #49-Chuck Dietzel, 40) #2-Ron Kriner, 41) #84-Ralph Bankes III, 42) #75-Howie Bott, 43) #13-Jon Landis, 44) #83-Jeff Krause, 45) #78-Kirby Schlappich, 46) #61s-Christian Donati.
4 CYLINDER CAR ENDURO (100-LAPS): 1) #127x-Lance Hoch, 2) #8c-Chris Holland, 3) #85-Wayne Krauss, 4) #27V-Mike Ventura, 5) #44-Kevan Schaeffer, 6) #39-Phil Levering, 7) #73-Jeremy Krauss, 8) #56-Andrew Tobash, 9) #13-Chris Schaeffer, 10) #2s-Darrel Herman, 11) #81-Jasen Geesaman, 12) #78-Steve Greiss, 13) #72M-Joel Matter, 14) #7-Mike Fiskaldo, 15) #90-Kurt Spotts, 16) #11x-Joe Marko Jr., 17) #24-Larry Spencer, 18) #15-Earl Eichert Sr., 19) #127-Gary Grim, 20) #72-Earl Eichert Jr., 21) #27x-Tony Wetzel, 22) #77-James Foose Jr., 23) #14-Tyler Stump, 24) #55-Dutch Brensinger, 25) #70-Paul Noll, 26) #22-Eric Mitchell, 27) #30-Jaxson Detweiler. DQ: #72x-Todd Morgan, #5-Steve Wilson, #54-Jeff Sheetz, #7x-Randy Adams. |
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