LAUBACH NARROWLY DEFEATS DESANTIS IN EXCITING FINISH AT BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY

(Track Press Release by Gary Lileck) Forestville, PA – Rick Laubach of Hellertown topped Meme DeSantis by a close margin in Friday’s 25-lap 358 Modified feature at Big Diamond Raceway. By virtue of his triumph, Laubach became the 11th different winner of the season.

August 13, 2010 Video Highlights

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

358 Modifieds Feature Highlights

358 Modified Pepsi Challenge 1-on-1 Match Races Highlights

Sportsman Feature Highlights

Roadrunners Feature Highlights

Mike Mammana of Nazareth captured his second 20-lap Sportsman win of the year, and Tom Hablett of Schuylkill Haven grabbed a season’s first 20-lap Wooden Keg Roadrunner feature win. The fifth annual Pepsi Challenge for 358 Modifieds was won by Billy Pauch Jr. of Frenchtown NJ.

Big Diamond Raceway swings right back into action this Sunday with race #5 of the Dan Drobnick Welding Enduro Series. Gates open at 4:00PM and racing begins at 6:00PM. The 6/8 Cylinder (Big Car) Enduro goes a distance of 100-laps, while the 4 Cylinder (Small Car) division also competes in a 100-lap endurance event. The Ladies Race will be 50-laps. Adult General Admission to the grandstands is just $7.

After experiencing an assortment of bad luck this season, Dan Hineline looked strong in the early moments of Friday’s 358 Modified main event. Hineline paced the field during a couple of restart attempts and remained in front for the first eleven laps. On a lap 12 restart, M. DeSantis placed his brand new #88D in front of the field. Laubach, who originally started ninth, quickly followed M. DeSantis into the runner-up spot.

Laubach passed M. DeSantis on a lap 16 restart, but Meme remained within shouting distance. The Temple based racer pulled closer with five laps to go, fell back a little, and finally made a mighty charge with less than two laps remaining. On the final lap, M. DeSantis looked to the high side in turns one and two. Later he glanced to the bottom of the final two corners and tried the high side as the pair raced to the checkered flag.

Laubach captured his eighth career Big Diamond Raceway victory behind the wheel of Johnny Rea’s #R1 machine with April 23 winner M. DeSantis grabbing the runner-up spot. Doug Manmiller (Shoemakersville) started 13th (ironically on Friday the 13th) and salvaged a good night, finishing third. Current points leader Craig Von Dohren (Boyertown) raced from 15th to fourth and two-time feature winner Jeff Strunk (Mohnton) powered from 14th to fifth.

The father/son combination of Billy Pauch Sr. and Jr. (Frenchtown NJ) finished sixth and seventh respectively. Colt Harris (Pittman) competed inside the top five during a good portion of the event and ended up in eighth. Second generation racer Kyle Follweiler (Slatington) finished ninth and June 18 feature winner AJ DeSantis (Temple) rounded out the top ten.

Three qualifying heats were completed earlier in the evening with wins going to: AJ. DeSantis, Troy Wink, and Colt Harris.

In the always entertaining Pepsi Challenge (a series of one-on-one match races), John Willman (2 wins), Kevin Albert Jr. (4 wins) and Billy Pauch Jr. (4 wins) were each victorious. Pauch defeated Jeff Strunk in the final elimination race and earned a total of $1150 for his efforts.

Corey Renninger led the opening two laps of the Sportsman feature before Steven Hughes took command on lap three. Mammana started sixteenth and passed Hughes for the top spot on the 13th lap. Mammana became the first repeat winner of the season. His victory fell just one day short to the one year anniversary of his first career triumph.

Hughes (Riegelsville) remained in the second spot while Mike Loney (Taylor) defeated Craig Whitmoyer (Hamburg) in a terrific battle for the third position. Tom Brennan (Pottsville) captured his third straight top five finish since returning to the speedway after a few weeks away. Rounding out the top ten were: Jared Umbenhauer (Richland), Doug Hendricks (Orwigsburg), Kevin Beach (Llewellyn), Kenny Eckert Jr. (New Ringgold), and Joey Funk III (Coopersburg).

Heat winners were: Renninger, Jason James, and Jordan Dreher.

Joe Kavanaugh led the opening two laps of the Roadrunner feature until Joey Brennan moved into the top spot. Marc Berzowski, who started fifth, became the new race leader on a lap five restart. Meanwhile, Tom Hablett was charging from his ninth starting spot. Hablett moved to the outside of Berzowski on lap seven, and grabbed the lead. The 2007 track champion led the remainder of the event virtually unchallenged.

Points leader Elvin Brennan (Pottsville) moved into the runner-up spot on lap 19 and Berzowski (Branchdale) settled for third. Kevin Olenick and Ryan Olenick, both of Forestville rounded out the front finishing five. Qualifying heat winners were: Kavanaugh and J. Brennan.

BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY COMPLETE RESULTS – FRIDAY AUGUST 13, 2010

358 MODIFIED FEATURE (25-LAPS): 1) R1-Rick Laubach, 2) 88D-Meme DeSantis, 3) 14M-Doug Manmiller, 4) 1c-Craig Von Dohren, 5) 41-Jeff Strunk, 6) 1-Billy Pauch Sr., 7) T102-Billy Pauch Jr., 8) CR7-Colt Harris, 9) 42-Kyle Follweiler, 10) 14D-AJ DeSantis, 11) 333-Kevin Albert Jr., 12) 87-Andy Burkhart, 13) 15x-Dan Hineline, 14) 44B-Jim Bobbitt Jr., 15) 78-Neil Huber, 16) 24-Scott Miller, 17) 74W-John Willman, 18) 27-Troy Wink, 19) 357-Ryan Godown, 20) J3-Dale Hartz, 21) 21-Addison Meitzler, 22) 18-Michael Weinert, 23) 33-Ray Swinehart, 24) 37-Nate Christman, 25) 34-Mark Behm, 26) 44-Gary Hager. DNS: 5-Ricky Yetter.

SPORTSMAN FEATURE (20-LAPS): 1) 71-Mike Mammana, 2) 04-Steven Hughes, 3) 17D-Mike Loney, 4) 99-Craig Whitmoyer, 5) 26-Tom Brennan, 6) 19U-Jared Umbenhauer, 7) 8H-Doug Hendricks, 8) 17x-Kevin Beach, 9) 520-Kenny Eckert Jr., 10) 14J-Joey Funk III, 11) 7-Kevin Smith, 12) 0-Kevin Brady, 13) 73-Jason James, 14) J3-Corey Renninger, 15) 64-Wayne Witmer, 16) 5-Jordan Dreher, 17) 8JR-Warren Floyd Jr., 18) 93-Ryan Moyer, 19) 343-Jeremy Hertzog, 20) 72-Ray Woodall Jr., 21) 45x-Andy Fayash Jr., 22) 31K-Jimmy Kleedorfer, 23) 17-Billy Moyer Jr., 24) 15-Mike Lisowski Jr., 25) 88D-Nick DeSantis, 26) 19-Brad Brightbill.

WOODEN KEG TAVERN ROADRUNNER FEATURE (20-LAPS): 1) 22-Tom Hablett, 2) 555-Elvin Brennan, 3) 66K-Marc Berzowski, 4) 450-Kevin Olenick, 5) 45-Ryan Olenick, 6) 22G-Steve Gromis, 7) 126-Jim Kost, 8) 88-Toby Chase, 9) 550-Joe Kavanaugh, 10) 29B-Ricky Bender, 11) 40-Jon Schlauch, 12) 102-TJ Fitzpatrick, 13) CR7-Jordan Quinn, 14) 4-Nate Klinger, 15) 105-Joey Brennan, 16) 00-Glenn Rowan, 17) 11x-Joey Hendricks, 18) 23-Ed Kuperavage, 19) 61s-Christian Donati.