5.5.23 Big Diamond Speedway Results

On a beautiful crisp spring night, the racing at Big Diamond was anything but as Louden Reimert pulled off a last lap last corner pass of Duane Howard to win the Quandel Concrete Modified feature. Former NASCAR star David Stremme wired the field in winning the Mid Atlantic Modified feature. Teenager Paulie Hartwig III held off a determined Brandon Edgar to win the USS Achey Crate 602 Sportsman main event and finally after three second place finishes to start the year Chuck Fayash finally made it back to victory lane.

Veteran modified driver Frank Cozze led the 24-car starting field to the green flag and immediately pulled out to a big lead. Duane Howard was quickly on the move after starting fifth as went to third on lap four and one lap later was into second. Cozze had opened up a big lead at this point, but Howard started to close the gap as the leaders took the crossed flags at the halfway point. Lap 15 saw Howard get side by side with Cozze for the lead and on lap 16 Howard was the new leader.

Howard started to pull away from Cozze as now Brett Kressley, Nick Rochinski, Louden Reimert and Jeff Strunk all converged on second place. Lap 10 saw Reimert move into second place and start to set his sights on the leader Howard as he was getting held up by lapped traffic. Lap 22 saw Reimert up alongside Howard as the two battled for the top spot. Howard seemed up to the challenge as he kept his fellow Oley, PA neighbor at bay. Howard took the white flag with Reimert all over him for the lead. Coming into turn three, Howard left a little room at the bottom and Reimert stuck his car in the opening. The two cars made contact with Howard getting a little out of shape allowing Reimert to get by for the crowd-pleasing win in the non-stop 25 lap feature event. Following Reimert and Howard across the line were Kressley, Cozze and Strunk.

“The car was rocket fast, I had to be patient there and wait to make my move,” mentioned an excited Reimert in victory lane with track co-announcer Dino Oberto. “That last lap there was racing, I have known Duane long enough and raced with him long enough to know he would’ve done the same thing to me. I am sorry to him but when it came down to it, I really wanted to win. To be racing with these guys let alone beating them means the word to me. I was the little kid sitting in these stands 15 years ago. It feels like yesterday that I was watching all these guys racing and just to be out there on the same track with them is amazing to me.”

The Mid Atlantic Modifieds made their first ever visit to the Big Diamond and it was former NASCAR driver David Stremme who came away with the win. Stremme started on the pole by virtue of the draw and immediately jumped out to a comfortable margin. Mid Atlantic Modified star Ray Kable III immediately moved to the second spot. A lap nine yellow slowed Stremme’s pace allowing Kable III to pull up even with the leader. Stremme once again jumped to a big lead when the race resumed with two-time MAM champion Michael Altobelli now up to third. While Stremme was pulling away, Kable III and Altobelli were putting on a show racing for the runner-up spot. The second and last yellow of the race was put out on lap 18 giving Kable III and Altobelli one last shot at the leader Stremme.

Stremme was not going to be beaten on this night and streaked across the line to win the 25-lap feature with Altobelli getting by Kable III to finish second. Kable III, Justin Cullum and Kirk Baker rounded out the top five.

“I tell you, when I was coming here, I thought where is there a racetrack on top of these mountains,” said a happy Stremme talking to Big Diamond co-announcer Barry Angstadt. “It’s (Big Diamond) a really awesome place. It has a lot more grip than we are used to and I was hoping it would be slick. It got a little choppy and these little tires will tear it up. It is definitely a fun place and I hope they have us back and we can bring some more cars. I owe this to my wife since she drew the pole and I just had to stay out of trouble and keep my nose clean from hitting those yuke tires because they always win when you hit them. It was a lot of fun and I hope we get to come back.”

The USS Achey Crate 602 Sportsman feature saw the No. X5 or Daryl Dissinger lead the race from his pole starting position. Dissinger continued to lead the way as Matt Yoder started to pressure the veteran racer as the race approached the halfway point. While Dissinger was maintaining his lead, Paulie Hartwig III, Brandon Edgar were making moves towards the front. A lap 16 yellow proved to be the turning point of the race. Hartwig III made a move on the restart to get by Dissinger to be the new leader with Edgar running the topside to get by Dissinger and now into second. The yellow was out once again on lap 18 setting up a green, white checkered scenario to complete the race. Edgar gave it all he had the last two laps getting alongside Hartwig III to get by for the win, but Hartwig III was making his car as wide as possible. Going into turn three on the last lap Edgar made a last-ditch effort to get by on the outside but just got a little too high as Hartwig III streaked off the turn to win his first ever Crate Sportsman feature at Big Diamond. Edgar finished a strong second with Yoder, Dissinger and Nick Desantis the top five.

The Big Creek Concrete Crate Rookie feature saw Jax Yohn take his second win of the season over opening night winner Bryce Bashore.

Chuck Fayash finally put himself in victory lane in the Red White and Blue Autos Roadrunner feature after finishing second in all three races run so far this year. Fayash took over the lead on lap two and was never contested as he went on for the win. Alex Schoffstall, CJ Ferguson, Kris Ney and Jesse Krasnitsky were the top five.

Full Results from Friday night May 5th

Quandel Concrete Modifieds: 1. Louden Reimert 2. Duane Howard 3. Brett Kressley 4. Frank Cozze 5. Jeff Strunk 6. Nick Rochinski 7. Mike Gular 8. Ryan Watt 9. Craig Von Dohren 10. Wayne Witmer 11. Kevin Beach Jr 12. Mike Lisowski 13. Rick Laubach 14. Doug Smith Jr 15. Bobby Trapper Jr 16. Scott Albert 17. Tim Fitzpatrick 18. Corey Renninger 19. Shawn Fitzpatrick 20. Shawn Light 21. Heath Metzger 22. Jared Umbenhauer 23. Dave Shirk 24. Timmy Buckwalter

Did Not Qualify: Aleia Geisler, Bryan Rhoads, Hunter Metzger, Mike Behm & Kenny Eckert Jr

Modified Heat Winners: Doug Smith Jr, Brett Kressley & Frank Cozze

Modified Consi Winner: Timmy Buckwalter

Penske Shocks Certificate Winners: Louden Reimert ($100), Duane Howard ($75) & Brett Kressley ($50)

Modified Points: 1. Louden Reimert* 543 2. Jeff Strunk 496 3. Mike Gular* 477 4. Brett Kressley 465 4. Craig Von Dohren* 465 6. Nick Rochinski 385 7. Duane Howard* 372 7. Rick Laubach 372 9. Ryan Watt 353 10. Mike Lisowski 333

Mid Atlantic Modifieds: 1. David Stremme 2. Michael Altobelli 3. Ray Kable III 4. Justin Cullum 5. Kirk Baker 6. Alyssa Rowe 7. Eddie Sites 8. Brad Sites 9. Anthony West 10. Doug Ostwald 11. Tyler Belcher 12. Devin Frey 13. Jared Spalding 14. Jacob McConnell

Mid Atlantic Modifed Heat Winners: Ray Kable III & Michael Altobelli

USS Achey Crate 602 Sportsman: 1. Paulie Hartwig III 2. Brandon Edgar 3. Matt Yoder 4. Daryl Dissinger 5. Nick Desantis 6. Logan Watt 7. Mike Schneck Jr 8. Jordan Henn 9. Mike Loney 10. Matt Martino 11. Kevin Olenick 12. Shon Elk 13. Talan Carter 14. Marty Shappell 15. Glenn Rowan 16. Chad Putalavage 17. Danny Buccafusca 18. Justin Lilick 19. Brandon Firestine 20. Mia Guy 21. Xavier Sprague 22. Kevin Kaplafka 23. Troy Gibson 24. John Deatrich

Crate 602 Sportsman Heat Winners: Daryl Dissinger, Brandon Edgar & Paulie Hartwig III

Penske Shocks Certificate Winners: Paulie Hartwig III ($100), Brandon Edgar ($75) & Matt Yoder ($50)

Crate 602 Sportsman Points: 1. Brandon Edgar 565 2. Logan Watt** 545 3. Jordan Henn* 525 4. Nick Desantis 459 5. Paulie Hartwig III* 430 6. Talan Carter 427 7. Danny Buccafusca 375 8. Mike Schneck Jr 373 9. Matt Yoder 361 10. Kevin Olenick 353

Big Creek Concrete Crate Rookies: 1. Jax Yohn 2. Bryce Bashore 3. Alex Bartorillo 4. Danica Getz 5. Brennan Chapman 6. McKenzi Smith 7. Brady Shea 8. Chase Rehbein

Crate Rookie Points: 1. Jax Yohn** 760 2. Bryce Bashore* 640 3. Brennan Chapman* 630 4. Danica Getz 580 5. Brady Shea 540

Red White and Bue Autos Roadrunners: 1. Chuck Fayash 2. Alex Schoffstall 3. CJ Ferguson 4. Kris Ney 5. Jesse Krasnitsky 6. Jim Kost 7. Blaine Fritz 8. TJ Fitzpatrick 9. Eric Buchinski

Roadrunner Heat Winner: Chuck Fayash

Roadrunner Points: 1. Chuck Fayash* 805 2. Kris Ney* 664 3. Alex Schoffstall** 625 4. CJ Ferguson 5. Jim Kost 552