MEME DESANTIS CELEBRATES 20TH CAREER FEATURE VICTORY FRIDAY AT BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY

(Track Press Release by Gary Lileck) Forestville, PA – April 23, 2010 – Legendary dirt track racer, Meme DeSantis of Temple captured his 20th career Big Diamond Raceway feature victory this past Friday night. In doing so, DeSantis became the third different 358 Modified feature winner of the season.

April 23, 2010 Video Highlights

Order the complete race night DVD at the GSP Shop or get it at the track!

358 Modifieds Feature Highlights

Sportsman Feature Highlights

Joey Funk Sportsman Heat Race Crash

Roadrunners Feature Highlights

Young second generation talent, Jared Umbenhauer of Richland rebounded from some early season tough luck to score his first 20-lap Sportsman feature victory of the year. Defending track champion Kevin Olenick of Forestville grabbed his first triumph of the year in the 20-lap Wooden Keg Tavern Roadrunner feature.

The evening began with a frightening moment in the pit area, where luckily nobody sustained injuries. A fire in the tech shed took place just as the cars were on the speedway for slow laps. The fire was extinguished and cars were back on the speedway just past 8PM. Track officials kept the show moving at a fast pace and it was completed in less than three hours.

DeSantis started the 25-lap main event from the ninth position. Sitting behind the wheel of Harvey Bitler’s #88D Teo, DeSantis missed a few early race accidents which scratched some of Diamond’s top equipment from the field. Defending track champion and previous week’s winner Duane Howard was actually involved in a pair of crashes, and former five-time champion Jeff Strunk had been eliminated in an accident.

After working into the front five during the event’s early moments, Meme passed his son AJ DeSanits for the runner-up spot on lap six. Ricky Yetter set the pace up front, however, DeSantis was quickly gaining on the race leader with his Lombardo Racing Engines powered machine. On lap 15, DeSantis glanced to the inside of Yetter as the pair screamed down the backstretch. DeSantis grabbed possession of the lead, racing out of the fourth corner. Suddenly, Yetter’s machine had developed a right rear flat tire.

During the closing laps, the front four cars were racing with equal ground between each other. On the final lap, DeSantis began to close on a trio of lapped cars but remained in control of the contest. The driver known to his many fans as the “Temple Tornado” added another accomplishment to his long list of Big Diamond achievements by capturing his 20th career victory at the speedway.

DeSantis mentioned the importance of his victory, while celebrating in the winner’s circle. Meme’s son AJ had led the first lap and ran up front throughout the race’s duration. Meme’s youngest son Nick made his first ever competition start in the Sportsman class.

David Van Horn Jr. (Harmony NJ), in his second full season of BDR activity, captured a season’s best finish of second, after starting from eleventh. Opening day winner Craig Von Dohren (Boyertown) closely trailed Van Horn for a while but settled into the third spot. Ryan Godown (Ringoes NJ) rejoined the field after a lap 1 incident. He rallied to finish fourth and took command of the point’s lead. AJ DeSantis (Teomple) enjoyed his finest moment of the season by finishing in fifth.

Qualifying heat race winners were: Ricky Yetter, Colt Harris, and Jeff Strunk.

Billy Moyer Jr. led the opening eight caution-free laps of the Sportsman main event. On the restart, Jared Umbenhauer quickly advanced into the top position. Defending Coalcracker 50 race winner Mike Loney passed Moyer for the second spot at the event’s half-way point. Caution flags would regroup the field with 16 and 17 laps on the scoreboard.

On the final restart, Umbenhauer made no mistakes and actually put some space between himself and the field. The third year racer held on to capture his second career BDR Sportsman victory. Between his father Tom and brother Jordan, the entire Umbenhauer family scored 10 career Sportsman feature wins at the speedway.

Loney (Taylor) finished a season’s best of second, while Moyer (Pine Grove) rebounded from a previous race DNF to finish in third. Newcomer Sammy Piazza (Lawrenceville NJ) is quickly catching on at Big Diamond as he ended up in the fourth position. Second generation racer Justin Andrews (Lehighton) rounded out the front finishing five.

Heat race winners were: Justin Andrews, Billy Moyer Jr., Mike Loney, and Sammy Piazza. Kevin Beach won the consi.

K. Olenick has been battling mechanical problems all season. In the opener, his car experienced transmission trouble. Earlier in the evening, while leading his heat race, the car lost a belt, causing the engine to overheat. For the 20-lap A-main, Olenick experienced no setbacks.

In the midst of a magnificent battle, K. Olenick worked through a talented field of racers. They exchanged positions on several occasions, with K. Olenick grabbing the runner-up spot on lap 13. The caution flag was thrown with just six laps remaining in the event.

Joey Brennan was running the race of his career since the original green flag. Brennan, who switched to a new Monte Carlo this season, continued to show the way, but K. Olenick was making a charge for the top spot. They raced side-by-side on lap 16, and K. Olenick (on the inside) took command of the lead on the backstretch. Olenick held on to become the third different winner in three events.

Brennan (Minersville) captured a career best result of second. Previous race winner Joey Hendricks (Auburn) ended up in third and opening day victorious driver, Kody Sites (Hamburg) finished in fourth. Toby Chase (Bernville) grabbed his second top five of the season in fifth.

Ed Kuperavage and Elvin Brennan shared the qualifying heat race victories.

Big Diamond Raceway completes the month of April and kicks May into gear with two race dates this upcoming weekend. Friday April 30 is a three-division show of 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, and Roadrunners. Gates open at 5:00PM and qualifying begins at 7:45PM.

The O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions 410 Sprint-cars make their first ever appearance at BDR on Sunday May 2 along with two ARDC Midget features (rain rescheduled race from March 28 and regular main event). Gates open at 2:00PM with racing to begin at 6:00PM.

BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY COMPLETE RESULTS – FRIDAY APRIL 23, 2010

358 MODIFIED FEATURE (25-LAPS): 1) 88D-Meme DeSantis, 2) 71-David Van Horn Jr., 3) 1c-Craig Von Dohren, 4) 357-Ryan Godown, 5) 14D-AJ DeSantis, 6) 44-Gary Hager, 7) T102-Billy Pauch Jr., 8) 107-Danny Hieber, 9) 14M-Doug Manmiller, 10) 3A-Kevin Albert Jr., 11) CR7-Colt Harris, 12) 39-Danny Nicholas, 13) 44B-Jim Bobbitt Jr., 14) 74W-John Willman, 15) 5-Ricky Yetter, 16) J3-Dale Hartz, 17) 5JP-Richie Pratt Jr., 18) 24-Scott Miller, 19) 15x-Dan Hineline, 20) 33-Ray Swinehart, 21) 37x-Tommy Scheetz III, 22) 41-Jeff Strunk, 23) 42-Kyle Follweiler, 24) 4-Duane Howard, 25) 6-Troy Wink, 26) 78-Neil Huber, 27) 54-Billy Warren, 28) R1-Rick Laubach.

SPORTSMAN FEATURE (20-LAPS): 1) 19U-Jared Umbenhauer, 2) 17D-Mike Loney, 3) 17-Billy Moyer Jr., 4) 29-Sammy Piazza, 5) 24H-Justin Andrews, 6) 8H-Doug Hendricks, 7) 18-Michael Weinert, 8) 19-Brad Brightbill, 9) 7-Kevin Smith, 10) 17x-Kevin Beach, 11) 04-Steven Hughes, 12) 5-Jordan Dreher, 13) 15-Mike Lisowski Jr., 14) T102-Tim Fitzpatrick, 15) xx5-Andy Miller, 16) 73-Jason James, 17) 26-Tom Brennan, 18) 4B-Clay Butler, 19) 99-Craig Whitmoyer, 20) 72-Ray Woodall Jr., 21) 71-Mike Mammana, 22) 31-Harry Landis, 23) 8-Brad Force, 24) 45x-Andy Fayash Jr., 25) M5-Greg Weiland, 26) 5W-Pat Wall. DNQ: x5-Daryl Dissinger, 110-Bill Finneran, 88D-Nick DeSantis, 343-Jeremy Hertzog, 00-John Kovatch IV, 8JR-Warren Floyd Jr., J3-Corey Renninger, 83-Josh Hertzog, 49-Troy Gibson, 3H-Marc Herman, 14J-Joey Funk III, 520-Gary Rothermel, 8M-Shawn Horning.

WOODEN KEG TAVERN ROADRUNNER FEATURE (20-LAPS): 1) 450-Kevin Olenick, 2) 105-Joey Brennan, 3) 11x-Joey Hendricks, 4) 95K-Kody Sites, 5) 88-Toby Chase, 6) 454-Mike Radocha, 7) 66K-Marc Berzowski, 8) 22-Tommy Hablett, 9) 22G-Steve Gromis, 10) 126-Jim Kost, 11) 23-Ed Kuperavage, 12) K9-Kirby Schlappich, 13) 29B-Ricky Bender, 14) 6D-Butch Helsel, 15) 8-Davey Nester, 16) 98K-Chip Kennedy, 17) 61s-Christian Donati, 18) 45-Ryan Olenick, 19) 555-Elvin Brennan, 20) 550-Joe Kavanaugh, 21) 102-TJ Fitzpatrick, 22) 17-Tyler Vidal, 23) 4-Nate Klinger, 24) 666-Cory Baver, 25) CR7-Eric Ochenrider.