By Ken Bruce
Friday night at Big Diamond Speedway was a very emotional night for Nick Rochinski and his family. The driver from Dickson City, Pa not only won his first modified feature of the season which in itself can produce emotions but to double that up, Rochinski had to attend the funeral of his grandmother who was very influential in his driving a race car.
“Tonight, was a special win for our family,” said an emotional Rochinski. “It was a hard week for all of us and to be able to get the win tonight and dedicate it to her is something I will never forget. My grandmother is probably the reason I got involved with racing. She took me to the Daytona 500 when I was five years old and we would go to Richmond, North Wilkesboro, Dover and just hitting the NASCAR tracks and that’s where I got that go fast bug in me from the beginning when I was young and now here I am. My grandmother was a huge diehard Dale Earnhardt fan, and this win is for her.”
Starting fifth on the grid, Rochinski had the No. 20R into the lead quickly and never looked back as he raced out to a huge advantage. Ryan Watt had started to cut into his lead a little at the end, but Rochinski raced under start Nicole Flood’s checkered flag to get the huge and much needed win for the family-owned team.
“My brother (crew chief Kyle Rochinski) did a great job tonight setting up the car,” explained Rochinski. “Like you said, the car has been fast lately, and it is great that we finally found something that works here consistently down here. Like I said in victory lane, Jake (track promoter Jake Smulley) did a fantastic job tonight with the track. It was very hot today and the track still was able to hold the moisture. I would have to say the track was probably the best it has been all year. It was a good team win and really happy for my dad (Brian). He was really looking for a win.”
The Rochinski team is one of the few if not the only team at Big Diamond who races a TEO chassis. The team has been very loyal to the TEO brand over the years, and it was a good feeling to finally be able to get them a win.
“I really like to get them guys (TEO Fabrications) a win, they really deserve it,” mentioned Rochinski. “They work hard, and I think I am the only TEO in the field and there are not many around here on the Pennsylvania Spec circuit, so I hope this opens up a couple of guys eyes to give one a try. TEO has a new chassis out now, the RXD. That’s not what this particular car is but we are looking at getting one here soon. These cars work just as good as a Bicknell, there is just not as much feedback and help to get them going and figure things out.”
Getting a win was a big deal for the team with so many big money spec 358 races coming up in the next six weeks.
“With some of the bigger races coming, this will hopefully get our confidence going in the right direction,” commented Rochinski. “We have been close is some of the bigger races, we just got to keep it going, keep the tires under us and I think we have a good shot of getting that big win.”
Big Diamond Nuggets:
There were 22 modifieds in action on Friday night with heat wins going to Nick Rochinski, Bobby Trapper Jr and Aleia Geisler…
Jeff Strunk and the No. 126 had a rough night breaking a shock tower in the feature after running into the back of Brett Kressley early on when Kressley slowed, and Strunk had a big run going at the time…
Ryan Watt and the Fitzpatrick Racing team have had a great go of it lately. Watt driving the No. T102 team have finishes of fourth, first, fourth and second in their last four races in the Huffman powered Bicknell…
Duane Howard and the Butch Getz No. 15G team seemed to have lost their way the past couple of weeks. After winning two times early in the season, the team has come off the rails lately with a DNQ two weeks ago and this Friday, Howard just couldn’t get the car the way he wanted and could only muster up an eleventh-place finish. With some big races coming up, you can be sure the team will get back on track…
Rick Laubach who looked very fast in his heat race had a water pump go bad just as the modified feature was coming onto the track resulting in a DNS…
Craig Von Dohren seems to have found some speed in the Dave Dissinger No. 88X. Von Dohren languished in the back of the top ten most of the race but came on at the end like he was shot out of a cannon missing out a top five finish by inches…
Great run for Scott Albert who has struggled most of the season. Albert led the early laps of Friday night’s feature until Rochinski passed him. He then held on for a well-deserved fifth place finish…
Aleia Geisler is looking more and more comfortable in the seat of her No. 44 modified as the season goes along. Geisler won her heat race Friday night and then drove to a nice ninth-place finish in the feature…
Shaun Fitzpatrick’s son Kevin Fitzpatrick was behind the wheel of Uncle Tim’s No. EZ102 modified on Friday night for the first time this season. Unfortunately, the car had steering problems forcing Kevin to pull off after the race started…
With Jordan Henn suffering a blown engine in his heat race coupled with Logan Watt’s third-place finish in the feature, Watt has retaken the Crate 602 Sportsman points lead…
Kudos to the No. 33 Crate team of Skyler Sherrif who owns the car the Jax Yohn drives in the Crate Rookie division for allowing Henn to use his car to start the Crate Sportsman feature…
I can be reached for any questions and comments by email at dirtracefan25@hotmail.com or on Twitter (X) @dirtracefan25
