DESPITE A VALIANT EFFORT, BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY FEATURES FALL TO RAIN, BIG BLOCK MAIN EVENT TO BE CONTESTED THIS FRIDAY
(Track Press Release By Gary Lileck) Forestville, PA – March 28, 2010 – Big Diamond Raceway made every possible attempt at presenting Sunday’s 2010 season opener. Cars were on the track at 2:00PM and qualifying for Big Block Modifieds and Wingless ARDC Midgets was completed quickly. Unfortunately, Mother Nature continued to shower the speedway surface with rain and the Big Block Modified A-Main starters were called to the pit area. The 40-lap/$4000 to win main event will be completed this Friday April 2 along with a complete regular program of 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, and Roadrunners.
March 28, 2010 Video Highlights
Big Block Modifieds and ARDC Midgets Qualifying Highlights
(DVD Note: The footage from the March 28th partial show will be combined with the opening night video for a special two-day video at the regular single DVD price.)
Twenty-eight Big Block Modifieds were split into a trio of qualifying heat races earlier in the show. Brett Hearn of Sussex NJ drew the pole starting spot and won the opening heat race by a comfortable margin. Although Hearn was the race dominator, second place Ryan Godown in the Norm’s Save Station #357 set a new track record with a lap of 16.184.
Boyertown’s Craig Von Dohren, the track’s all-time leading SBM feature winner, drove his Small Block powered #1c to a victory in the second qualifier over invading racer Billy Decker of Unidella NY. Defending SBM track champion Duane Howard of Oley was invlolved in a minor heat race tangle, and charged back from the tail to finish fourth.
Third generation talent Tommy Scheetz III of Boyertown delivered an impressive performance in the third heat race, leading the entire ten lap distance. Matt Sheppard of Waterloo NY already has three feature wins to his credit in 2010. Sheppard made the vault from eighth to second in this event, adjusting very quickly to an unfamiliar speedway.
PJ Gargiulo of Mohnton PA won the first of three ARDC Midget heat races. Gargiulo, who is always a front running force when the Midgets invade Big Diamond, narrowly defeated the Big Diamond dominator, Frank Polimeda of Fort Lee NJ (the 2009 ARDC Diamond winner).
Billy Pauch Jr. defended his home turf with a triumph in the second qualifier. The Frenchtown NJ resident, a five-time Big Diamond SBM feature winner, throttled Shawn Burke’s #54 to the front early and led all eight laps. Justin Grosz of Hawley PA moved up a pair of positions to finish second.
Royersford’s Steve Buckwalter dominated the third and final heat race. Buckwalter, who spilts his time between ARDC and 410 Sprint-cars, drove his #0 machine to the victory. Dusty Heistand of Manheim PA started seventh and quietly worked through a talented field of racers, placing in second.
The 8-lap ARDC consi found a familiar BDR face taking the checkered flag. Tracy Readinger of Oley PA formerly competed in Big Diamond’s Small Block Modified division. Readinger was the race winner.
Sunday’s rain delayed Big Block Modified feature will kick start the Friday night season on April 2. A full card of 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, and Roadrunners will follow. Most of the invading modified drivers have confirmed they will be in attendance for Fridays program as well as a few teams bringing 358 modifieds to battle the Big Diamond regulars in what should be a fantastic event.
Grandstand admissions are: Adults – $12, Students (13-17), Seniors (over 60), Military (with ID) – $10, and kids (6-12) – $3. The bring a bunch Friday special is available for 2 Adults and a unlimited number of children(6-12) in your group for $30.
Meanwhile, the ARDC Midget competitors will have a double features night on Sunday May 2, when they share the headlines with the ASCoC 410 Sprint-cars.
Big Diamond Raceway has joined the twitter.com community. The web address is http://twitter.com/bdraceway . Fans and competitors are encouraged to check in for updates concerning the track. The official speedway website is www.bigdiamondraceway.com .
The Big Diamond Raceway is a 3/8 mile clay oval auto racing facility located just outside of Minersville PA. The speedway presents weekly Friday night racing of 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, and Roadrunners.
BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY – COMPLETE RESULTS – BIG BLOCK MODIFIEDS – MARCH 28, 2010
First Heat (10-laps): 1) 20-Brett Hearn, 2) 357-Ryan Godown, 3) 3-Mike Nicholas, 4) 99L-Larry Wight, 5) 14M-Doug Manmiller, 6) 85-Ted Lamb Jr., 7) 7-Colt Harris, 8) 19-Brent Boyer, 9) 976-Don Norris Jr.
Second Heat (10-laps): 1) 1c-Craig Von Dohren, 2) 91-Billy Decker, 3) 14-Jimmy Horton, 4) 4-Duane Howard, 5) 66-Jerry Higbie Jr., 6) 41-Jeff Strunk, 7) 314-Ricky Yetter, 8) 44-Frank Cozze, 9) 1L-Billy Lowden Jr., 10) 78-Neil Huber.
Third Heat (10-laps): 1) 37x-Tommy Scheetz III, 2) 9s-Matt Sheppard, 3) 5-Rick Laubach, 4) 11-Billy Pauch Jr., 5) 1-Stewart Friesen, 6) 10-Bobby Varin, 7) J3-Dale Hartz. DNF: 118-Sean Merkel, 42P-Pat Ward.
FEATURE LINE-UP FOR FRIDAY APRIL 2 (40-LAPS): 1) Brett Hearn, 2) Craig Von Dohren, 3) Ryan Godown, 4) Rick Laubach, 5) Mike Nicholas, 6) Jimmy Horton, 7) Larry Wight, 8) Tommy Scheetz III, 9) Duane Howard, 10) Matt Sheppard, 11) Billy Decker, 12) Billy Pauch Jr., 13) Doug Manmiller, 14) Jerry Higbie Jr., 15) Stewart Friesen, 16) Ted Lamb Jr., 17) Jeff Strunk, 18) Bobby Varin, 19) Colt Harris, 20) 314-Ricky Yetter, 21) J3-Dale Hartz, 22) Brent Boyer, 23) Frank Cozze, 24) Don Norris Jr., 25) Billy Lowden Jr., 26) Neil Huber, 27) Sean Merkel, 28) Pat Ward.
