By KEN BRUCE
Out of all of the previous Money in the Mountains races over the years, the weather this past Friday was the best I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. The warm weather provided some hot racing on the track with Duane Howard (see Howard/Getz story) besting Timmy Buckwalter for the $10,000 first place prize.
For Buckwalter, it was a race he thought he had control of until a late race restart allowed Howard to make his move for the win.
“We just have to get our car a little bit better on restarts,” cited Buckwalter while his No. 23X was going through post-race technical inspection. “We have to get our carburetor situation figured out. We can’t give big races away because of carburetors. I thought Duane jumped us a little bit there, but it is what it is and you have to have the equipment and the driver to finish it off and we just didn’t do that tonight.”
“We felt good there through the middle portion of the race and then the carburetor started to act up on the restarts and in the middle of the corners. I don’t know what it is that caused it, but we will have to go back to the drawing board to figure it out. You want to pull off wins in these big races and you can’t give them away like that on restarts, that is just stupidity on my part. It was still a good run for us, and I have to thank Norm Saxton (car owner), JPA and I have to thank Jason Leindecker. We switched to his motors and probably should have had that one for him so we will come back next week and see if we can get one spot better.”
Another Third-Place Finish for Louden Reimert
Probably the most consistent driver through the first two weeks at Big Diamond was Louden Reimert. The Oley, PA driver has finished third in both features this season and is on the verge of getting his second career win at the track.
“It would be much cooler if you were talking to me after a win,” said Reimert alongside his No. 16 Modified in post-race tech. “I don’t think no one was going to beat Duane (Howard) tonight. It has been a strong start overall; we have had a couple of bad breaks especially big block racing and I am just really glad our small block program is where it needs to be right now. We just need to find a little more speed especially when the track is a little rough like it was tonight. I just couldn’t get comfortable out there, but we weren’t bad and a top three car. It was a good 50 laps for us, and we brought it back in one piece and we won the cash dash (worth $2,000) so overall it was a pretty good night.”
Money in the Mountain Notes:
There were a total of 35 Modifieds in the pits on Friday night. Heat wins went to Dillon Steuer, Louden Reimert, Ryan Grim and Ken Eckert Jr…
Ryan Grim was behind the wheel of the Aleia Geisler No. 44 Friday night giving the car a good run. Grim won his heat race but was a feature DNF…
Ryan Watt was a spectator in the pits on Friday night working on his son’s Logan Watt’s Crate Sportsman. Unfortunately for Ryan, he was involved in a very hard crash Wednesday night at Delaware International in his Modified and thought it would be best to take Friday night off after experiencing some soreness from the accident…
Keeping the theme of Ryan’s going. Both Ryan Krachun and Ryan Godown had hoped to be racing on Friday night but were not able to make it. Krachun’s No. 29K was still being worked on after a hard crash last Saturday at Bridgeport. The R&M Motorsports No. 26 of Godown was absent due to work commitments…
Great race for New York driver Dillon Steuer who ran in the top five all night ending up with a strong fourth place finish…
Eddie Strada is a driver to watch out for if he can just qualify better. So far Strada has competed in three races this season in the No. 33 modified, two at Big Diamond and one at Grandview. Strada has won the hard charger award in all three races…
Billy Pauch Jr., was a strong contender in the feature until a left rear suspension issue forced him to pull off the track late…
Frank Cozze has been in attendance both weeks at Big Diamond but has had no luck. After hitting the third turn wall hard on opening night, the team had to replace the rear clip of the No. 44. Last Friday Cozze was involved in another hard crash in his heat race after Craig Von Dohren got sideways between turns one and two causing the cars behind him to check up and get together. The crash ended Cozze’s night…
Anthony Perrego showed up with the Vinnie Salerno No. 4* Modified. Perrego struggled with a bad draw and did not qualify in his heat to win one of the two consolation races. Perrego hung in there in the feature and ended up with an eighth place finish…
It was a bad night for the Fitzpatrick team Modifieds as both cars failed to qualify…
Brett Kressley’s luck at Big Diamond so far this season has been nothing but bad. Kressley has been fast through the first two weeks but unfortunately has had engine problems both nights…
Dylan Swinehart had a strong top ten run going in the No. 74 until pulling up lame with only a few laps to go ending with a DNF…
Opening night winner Craig Von Dohren was surprisingly not a factor all race long after starting second. Von Dohren slipped backwards and was running in the top 10 until front end issues forced him to pull off the track…
Jeff Strunk looked like he was going to be a factor early on in the race, looking very fast in the Glenn Hyneman No. 126. Strunk was up to third behind Buckwalter and Howard early on. Strunk struggled with the track late in the race with him ending up a very disappointing ninth…
Congratulations to Logan Watt on winning his second Crate 602 Sportsman feature of the season in a great battle with Brandon Edgar. It was a genuine pleasure to watch these young men battle hard and race each other with respect. Something some of the veteran drivers should take a look at…
