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By Dino Oberto
(Minersville, PA 4-24-26) Any concerns regarding track conditions at Big Diamond Speedway and the limited opportunities for passing during the initial two weeks were completely alleviated in the most recent events. The last two shows, particularly Friday’s Tony’s Meat Market Night, showcased all four feature races delivering exciting, high-quality action with finishes that kept fans on the edge of their seats, right down to the wire.
Of those thrilling outcomes, “The Quaker Shaker” Rick Laubach of Quakertown, authored a magnificent performance in capturing his second straight win in the headline BQ Concrete 358 Modifieds.
12th starting Laubach came on like gangbusters over the final few laps and was engaged in a sizzling battle with front runners Duane Howard and Logan Watt. With four laps to go Watt had taken the lead from Howard and at the same time Laubach advanced to second. He then zeroed in on Watt and the next time by, hurdled to the front and held on for the exhilarating victory.
“Jake (Smulley) once again gave us a great track and you could run multiple lines tonight,” said Laubach.
“I started 12th and I got knocked back to like 16th or 17th but I just ran calm and then once I got towards the front and everyone singled out and they moved somewhere I moved to the other place and that’s all you could ask for in racing.”
Outside front-row starter Howard took quick command of the feature while Cody Manmiller and Watt battled for second. By lap three Watt had advanced past Manmiller and then stayed in close behind Howard.
Even though Watt was persistent in trying to get to the front, Howard remained strong in holding down his post. Coming into the wanning laps though, things began to intensify. Watt had upped the pressure and began swooping down on Howard while the fast-approaching Laubach suddenly came into the picture by way of his zipping quite rapidly around others.
Despite Watt’s relentless efforts to advance, Howard continued to defend his position at the front, showing remarkable resilience. As the race entered its final laps, the intensity increased dramatically. Watt ramped up his challenge, closing in on Howard and applying greater pressure.
Meanwhile, Laubach, who had been steadily advancing through the field, suddenly emerged as a major contender, swiftly overtaking competitors and joining the fray for the lead.
Watt’s insistency finally paid off when he was able to thrust by Howard at the start of lap 22. However, his stay at the front was short-lived as Laubach continued with his burst of forward drive, slipping by Howard and then charging right past Watt for the lead which he clung to the finish.
Fourth place finisher Louden Reimert was also a swift-moving car, having come from the back following a lap-two caution but blasted his way to solid finish. Tim Buckwalter rounded out the top five.
It was the 30th career win for Laubach at Big Diamond and the fourth time he had notched back-to-back verdicts.
“What more can you ask for, Big Diamond is back,” and elated Laubach said in Victory Lane.
“We didn’t do a damn thing to this car from last week, didn’t even scale it. You don’t have to work on your car much when there’s a track to race at, you just have to drive it if you’re comfortable with it.”
In the USS Achey Inc. 602 Crate Sportsman main, Kevin Smith of Lehighton used a lap-15 restart to get by race-long leader Ryan Conrad and score his first win of the season.
From the early going Conrad was working feverously to maintain his lead as he was having to withstand the onslaught of teammates Smith and Nate Brinker. And despite the duel who were coming at him from both sides, Conrad never wavered.
His fate, though, would be sealed when point leader Ryan Graver spun and brought out a caution with five tours remaining. Smith was lined up to Conrad’s outside and as the action resumed he simply outgunned past and took over the lead.
Although Conrad tried his best to recapture what was his, Smith prevailed while Brinker finished a close third.
The Red White and Blue Autos Inc. Roadrunner feature was flat out close racing from start to finish. And the record will show that Minersville’s Joey Brennan would take the lead on lap seven and hold it to the finish but there was plenty more to this story.
As the race unfolded Brennan was submersed under the most intense pressure from the likes of Jarad Bassinisky, Alex Schoffstall and Mike Reichert as all four cars continually ran under a blanket.
And while Brennan held the lead the other trio traded spots back and forth and appeared at any given time could snag the top spot. But Brennan refused to back down as he remained firmly footed in his quest to reach the checkers first.
The final lap would be the most adrenaline-charged of them all. With Schoffstall now second he was able to pull even with Brennan, and they would then run neck-and-neck to the finish. By the narrowest of margins, .021-seconds, Brennan eked out the victory. It would also mark the end of an eight year dry spell, having last won a feature in 2018.
The Infinite Solutions Group Keystone Sport Compact Series made their first appearance of the season and did not disappoint either with a solid 20 car field and an action-pack feature race that would see Jeff Foster of Aspers battle against Larry Eck en route to scoring the popular win.
Eck was leading the event from lap eight and with six laps to go would have Foster breathing down his back. Foster kept glued to the tail of Eck and then using lapped traffic to his advantage he was able to set up and slip by for the top spot with just two laps remaining and score the victory.
358 Modified finish (25 laps): 1. Rick Laubach, 2. Logan Watt, 3. Duane Howard, 4. Louden Reimert, 5. Tim Buckwalter, 6. Cody Manmiller, 7. Jax Yohn, 8. Mike Lisowski, 9. Mike Burrows, 10. Brandon Edgar, 11. Wayne Witmer, 12. Kevin Beach Jr., 13. Alan Rudalavage, 14. Tim Fitzpatrick, 15. Cliff Quinn, 16. Hunter Metzger, 17. Heath Metzger, 18. Kevin Olenick, 19. Alex Tonkin, 20. Aleia Geisler, 21. Corey Renninger, 22. Kenny Hidlebrandt DNS: WB James
602 Crate Modified finish (20 laps): 1. Kevin Smith, 2. Ryan Conrad, 3. Ralph Mele, 4. Nate Brinker, 5. Matt Martino, 6. Mike Schneck Jr., 7. Tajae Adams, 8. Brennan Chapman, 9. Zach Steffey, 10. Kevin Fitzpatrick, 11. Dakota Kohler, 12. Reice Widger, 13. Nick Hamm, 14. Ed Mrochoko, 15. Devin Whitmoyer, 16. Mark Behm, 17. Ryan Graver, 18. Aaron Weaver, 19. McKenzi Smith, 20. Micke Stofflet, 21. Steve Hughes, 22. Logan Starr, 23. Mark Mohr, 24. Kevin Brady DNQ: Tyler Vidal, Mason Harakel, Dennis Graber, Tyler James
Roadrunner finish (20 laps): 1. Joey Brennan, 2. Alex Schoffstall. 3. Jarod Bassininsky, 4. Mike Reichert, 5. TJ Fitzpatrick, 6. Kris Ney, 7. CJ Ferguson, 8. Brian Johnson, 9. Andrew Buchinski, 10. Jim Kost, 11. Tod Roth Jr., 12. Eric Buchinski
4-Cylinder finish (20 laps): 1. Jeff Foster, 2. Larry Eck, 3. Bruce Long, 4. Dan Stein, 5. Chase Harline, 6. Shane Flaherty, 7. Kelly Frantz, 8. Andrew Keefer, 9. Adam Kratzer, 10. Gary Grim, 11. Josh Huber, 12. Rick Jennings, 13. Nathan Keim, 14. Delanna Rehebein, 15. Phil Levering, 16. Brian Moyer, 17. Eric Spengler, 18. Vincent Wollyung, 19. Landon Pyle, 20. Trevor Rump
COMING EVENTS:
May 2 & 3 2X Monster Trucks https://www.2xmonstertrucks.com/
May 8 @7:00 pm JRL Emergency Services Night 358 Modifieds, Limited Lates Models $1500-to-win,
Roadrunners, Xcel 600 Mods + Pocono Raceway ticket giveaways
May 15 @7:00 pm Red White and Blue Autos Inc. Night 358 Modifieds, 602 Crate Sportsman Classic $2000-to-win/$225-to-start, Roadrunners
