Sunday, June 22, 2008

Big Diamond Raceway Friday night 6/20

This past Friday night at the BDR saw another great crowd come out to check the action out on the track, and they weren't disappointed when the left....Although, ma nature did have many of us looking over our shoulder, as lightning was lighting up the sky just North of the race track, but not a drop of rain fell at the race track.

Jeff Strunk took his first win of the year in the Keystone Racing #126 "Red Rocket"....The overall racing throughout the feature was probably the best it's been all year long, as there was plenty of side by side racing, more than a few times it's was three and even four wide, just what the fans want to see, and we were LOVIN' IT....Strunk was FAST (ripped of the fastest lap during the faeture), but Duane Howard and the BPG #4 was on the move, rim riding around the rim of the track in turns 1 and 2, and doing his amazing power move through turns 3 and 4, he's AMAZING at the place....As the race was winding down, Howard was on the move, he started to reel in the red #126 but ran out of laps, it would have been very interesting to see what would have happend if it was a 35 lap race instead of a 25 lapper, but it wasn't, and Strunk got the job done....The rest of the top 5 in the sbm's was Billy Pauch Jr, Doug Manmiller and Meme Desantis, all of whom ran a GREAT RACE.

Some sbm notes....The car count was back up to 35 sbm's this week, NICE, especially after seeing the car count dip to under 30 the last 2 weeks....Grandview Speedway regulars Stewart Friesen in the Hansell 357, Danny Hieber in the Korentsky Nitro Fish 107, and Shawn Horning in the Horning Racing 8 all made the tow to BDR, only Hieber made the feature field....Actually, I could be wrong, but this might have been Hieber's first ever race at the place, and he did VERY WELL, looking good out there and taking home a solid 11th place finish....A few '08 BDR regulars who have been missing lately also returned, Dan Hineline and Kenny Eckert returned after both have been missing due to motor issues....And Rookie of The Year contender Kevin Albert Jr was back in his #333, reportedly he was missing due to being on vaction the past 2 weeks....And first time starter (and Dale Hartz car owner) Neil Huber made his first start of the year in the red and white X-7.....It was GREAT to see Kevin Hirthler back at BDR this past Friday night after missing the last 2 weeks, it looked like they found "something" as Hirthler was FLYING on the outside coming up from the back after making the race through the consi, hopefully we'll be seeing much more of the Green 117 team.....A few "shout outs' go to Troy Wink and Gary Hager, both are getting better each week and both brought home the best finishes of the year, with Wink taking 6th and Hager grabbing 7th.....Shawn Reimert brought home his top 10 of the year (I believe) taking 9th, after running well most of the race....And John Willman took home a nice 10th in second run in the Eastern Rigging #11.

Folk's, the BDR Road Runner's have been, plain and simple, AMAZING, and this week was no different....It seems every week there is a 7-8 car battle for the win ALL RACE LONG, it's just INCREDIBLE....Kevin Olenick in the #450 led a 3 wide run to the checkered flag and it came down to a radiator at the line, it was AWESOME, Rob Pyle cossed the line 2nd, but that finish wouldn't stand, as he was later DQ'd for a rule infraction....Joey Hendricks, who has 2 wins this year, was then awarded 2nd....Mr Consistancy Elvin Brennan finshed 3rd and probably held the point lead....Kody Sites brought home 4th (a rookie in the division who has a couple of wins)....Marc Brezowski finished 5th, Marc was making his return to BDR aboard the Kuperavage #66, he lead most of the way only to have it slip away in the last few laps....Honestly, the RR division at BDR is probably one of the most exciting division anywhere right now at just about any track, these guys are just putting on some incredible shows lately ad the fans LOVE IT....Word is out to check these guys out, you won't be disappointed.

I'm not the BIG 600 cc mod follower out there, I do enjoy them, but I'm not a big expert on who's who out there, but these guys did put on another good show....Mike Keppler finally returned to BDR's victory lane on Friday night.....Last year Keppler practically dominated the action at BDR when the 600's came to town, Friday night he got the job done....He was followed by Butch Getz and previous BDR winner Nick Mady....A little 600'cc not, racer Chuck Miller took his 3c out of the "ball park" in turn 3, it was SCARY, it was great to hear he was OK, can you say ALTITUDE?

As for the BDR Spts race, well, I have to apologize for this week, as it was getting late, and I had to get up early for a trip to Fonda Speedway in NY on Saturday, so I had to skip the Spts race this week.....But I did hear I missed some "crazy" stuff....Earl Paules, a previous 4 week winner, IN A ROW, rolled his #4 over the backstretch, I was told the damage looked pretty heavy, hopefully they get the car back together and he is back next week....Also heard that Brad Brightbill was just INCREDIBLE out there...."Pap Pap" as many like to call him, Brightbill had his black 19 FLYING back to the front, heard he was just "on another planet" compared to the rest, but luck did him in, as the front bumper fell off on his charge to the front, which brought the black falg out, as racing without a front bumber is a "NO NO"....Tom Brennan went on to take his 2nd win of the year over, Kevin Beach, Kyle Weiss was 3rd in his #21, 4th was newcomer Mike Loney in the #723 and 5th went to Billy Moyer Jr in his #17....Hopefully next week I'll have a better Spts report for the blog

Don't forget, coming this Wednesday at the NEW BDR is the World of Outlaw Late Models, making their first appearance EVER at the place, the show should be one that has people talking for a long time once it's over....BDR sbm star Jeff Strunk will be in the field in the Bernheisel #119, actually Strunk took the #119 out for some practice laps Friday night, come Wednesday night, Strunk should do just fine.

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