Story By: BIG DIAMOND SPEEDWAY – MINERSVILLE, PA – On a beautiful hot summer night, it was Nick Rochinski out of Dickson City, PA winning his first Quandel Concrete Modified feature of the season.
Danny Buccafusca continued to rise towards the top of the USS Achey, Inc. Crate 602 Sportsman point standings by adding to his win total. Kris Ney was the winner of the Red White and Blue Autos Roadrunner feature, and Zach Rhodes was the winner of the PASS 305 Sprint Car main event.
The Quandel Concrete Modified feature was led to the starting line by the No. 10$ of Scott Albert with the No. 44 of Aleia Geisler on the outside. Albert quickly jumped to the lead with Geisler in second trying to hold off the advances of Bobby Trapper Jr. Albert continued to lead the way, Geisler got high coming out of turn four allowing Trapper and Rochinski to go by for second and third. Rochinski his assault as he raced by Trapper for second as the field completed lap five. While Rochinski was setting his sights on the leader, Albert, Ryan Watt, Louden Reimert and Brett Kressley were quickly coming up through the field and into contention.
Watt, who had got out of shape earlier and lost some spots, was on the move using the outside to get around both Reimert and Geisler to move up to fourth behind Albert, Rochinski and Trapper. The Rochinski Enterprises No. 20R was on the move tonight as he quickly caught the leader Albert and effortlessly took over the lead as the field ticked off lap nine. Rochinski. Just as Rochinski was starting to stretch his lead, Jeff Strunk had a big run going down the backstretch going into turn three. Kressley, who looked like he had slowed down, was right in front of Strunk forcing Strunk to get into the back of the No. 19K. Strunk then slowed, bringing out the first yellow flag of the race and headed to the pits.
On the restart, Rochinski once again established himself as the car to beat on this night as raced out to the lead. Watt used the restart to go by Trapper for third with Reimert following suit and into fourth. A battle royale ensued for positions third through sixth between Watt, Reimert, Trapper and Kressley. After disposing of Trapper, Watt, Reimert and Kressley were all over Albert for second. There was action everywhere on the track as Craig Von Dohren started to make a run through the field. Finally with five laps to go, Watt was able to get by Albert for second. Albert continued his strong run in third trying to hold off both Kressley and Reimert. Von Dohren was the fastest car on the track at this time and inserted himself into the battle for a top five with two laps to go.
But this night belonged to Nick Rochinski who scored his second career modifed win at Big Diamond over a strong running Ryan Watt. Both Kressley and Reimert finally were able to get by Albert to finish third and fourth with Albert holding onto fifth by inches over a fast closing Von Dohren.
“It was a great run tonight,” said Rochinski. “I have to thank my brother (Kyle) who is my crew chief and my dad for giving me this equipment. Last week was kind of my fault, we had a fast race car and I stuck my nose where I shouldn’t of and paid the price for it with a DNF early when we had a car capable of winning and there’s no better way than to come back and get the job done. All the green flag laps helped me, once it slows down you tend to get a bunch of cautions and that’s when it gets really dicey. I’ll tell you what, Jake (track owner Jake Smulley) did a job on this track yesterday, I don’t know if he had it opened up when that hard rain came yesterday but this thing had moisture in it all night long. Hat’s off to Jake, Jasmine (Smulley), Kasea (Bauscher-race director) and all the Big Diamond Crew for putting on a show for the fans every Friday night.”
The USS Achey, Inc Crate 602 Sportsman feature saw Daryl Dissinger take the lead at the drop of the green. A first lap yellow saw the No. 4M of two-time winner Logan Watt sitting in turn two after contact with another car. With no laps complete, Dissinger once again was the leader with Danny Buccafusca and Brandon Edgar putting pressure on the leader. Buccafusca took the lead from Dissinger who ended up spinning in turn three after he and Edgar got together while battling for second. When we got back to racing Buccafusca was the leader, but Edgar used the outside lane to take the lead away one lap later with Watt now entering the scene and up to third after restarting at the back of the field.
Buccafusca used a good restart to take the lead back from Edgar but before another lap could be scored, the yellow was out again. New restart, same result as Buccafusca surged to the lead once again over Edgar as Nick Desantis went by Watt for third. Another lap scored, another yellow forcing race officials to go with single file restart. One more caution would slow the race, but it was no obstacle for Buccafusca who raced to his third win of the season followed by Edgar, Watt, Desantis and Xavier Sprague.
The Big Creek Concrete Crate Rookie feature saw polesitter Jax Yohn lead the field to the green and go on to win his fourth rookie feature of the year over Alex Bartorillo, Brennan Chapman, Danica Getz and Bryce Bashore. By virtue of his fourth win, Yohn will be graduated and into the regular crate sportsman class.
In the Red White and Blue Autos Roadrunner feature, it was CJ Ferguson leading the way with cars all over the racetrack behind him with Alex Schoffstall coming to a stop. Kris Ney takes the lead on the restart as a nice four car battler for the top spot was underway between Ney, Ferguson, Chuck Fayash and TJ Fitzpatrick. Ferguson made a run for the top spot late, but it was Ney who held on for the win over Ferguson, Fayash, Fitzpatrick and Jim Kost.
The PASS 305 Sprint cars made their only visit of the year to Big Diamond Speedway with Zach Rhodes taking the win. Rhodes would grab the top spot at the drop of the green. A lap nine caution would slow the field, but Rhodes would once again drive away from the field. Kruz Kepner would make the race close in the latter stages, but Rhodes was not to be denied and went on to take the big win over Kepner, Ken Duke Jr, Erin Statler and Owen Dimm.
Full Results from Friday, July 28th:
Quandel Concrete Modifieds: 1. Nick Rochinski 2. Ryan Watt 3. Brett Kressley 4. Louden Reimert 5. Scott Albert 6. Craig Von Dohren 7. Mike Gular 8. Bobby Trapper Jr. 9. Aleia Geisler 10. Mike Lisowski 11. Duane Howard 12. Dave Dissinger 13. Doug Smith Jr 14. Ken Eckert Jr 15. Heath Metzger 16. Cliff Quinn 17. Kevin Beach Jr 18. Jeff Strunk 19. Wayne Witmer 20. Kevin Fitzpatrick DNS: Rick Laubach and Corey Renninger
Modified Heat Winners: Nick Rochinski, Bobby Trapper Jr & Aleia Geisler
Penske Shocks Gift Certificate Winners: Nick Rochinski ($100), Ryan Watt ($75) and Brett Kressley ($50)
Modified Points Leaders: 1. Brett Kressley 1731 2. Mike Gular 1579 3. Jeff Strunk 1531 4. Louden Reimert 1493 5. Rick Laubach 1349 6. Duane Howard 1341 7. Ryan Watt 1326 8. Craig Von Dohren 1319 9. Mike Lisowski 1318 10. Nick Rochinski 1286
USS Achey, Inc. Crate 602 Sportsman: 1. Danny Buccafusca 2. Brandon Edgar 3. Logan Watt 4. Nick Desantis 5. Xavier Spragure 6. Kevin Olenick 7. Kyle Kania 8. Matt Martino 9. Tyler Vidal 10. Brandon Firestine 11. Rob Tete 12. Daryl Dissinger 13. Marty Shappell 14. Jordan Henn (33)
Sportsman Heat Winners: Logan Watt & Matt Martino
Penske Shocks Gift Certificate Winners: Danny Buccafusca ($100), Brandon Edgar ($75) and Logan Watt ($50)
Crate 602 Sportsman Points Leaders: 1. Logan Watt 1633 2. Jordan Henn 1633 3. Danny Buccafusca 1574 4. Kevin Olenick 1442 5. Brandon Edgar 1251 6. Mike Loney 1153 7. Xavier Sprague 1095 8. Matt Yoder 1090 9. Mike Schneck Jr 1085 10. Nick Desantis 1053
Big Creek Concrete Crate Rookies: 1. Jax Yohn 2. Alex Bartorillo 3. Brennan Chapman 4. Danica Getz 5. Bryce Bashore 6. McKenzi Smith
Red White and Blue Autos Roadrunners: 1. Kris Ney 2. CJ Ferguson 3. Chuck Fayash 4. TJ Fitzpatrick 5. Jim Kost 6. Joe Bassininsky 7. Tod Roth Jr 8. Tonya Lance 9. Eric Buchinski 10. Terry Kramer 11. Alex Schoffstall 12. Jarod Bassininsky
Roadrunner Heat Winners: Chuck Fayash and Alex Schoffstall
Roadrunner Points Leaders: 1. Chuck Fayash 2750 2. Kris Ney 2682 3. CJ Ferguson 2533 4. Alex Schoffstall 2526 5. Jim Kost 2133
PASS 305 Sprints: 1. Zach Rhodes 2. Kruz Kepner 3. Ken Duke Jr 4. Erin Statler 5. Owen Dimm 6. Kenny Heffner 7. Danny Buccafusca 8. Logan Spahr 9. Seth Schnoke 10. Jon Scarborough 11. John Walp 12. Dylan Smith 13. Jeff Paulson 14. Austin Reed 15. Mike Alleman 16. Paul Moyer 17. Timmy Bittner 18. Johnathan Swift 19. Ben Miklos 20. Hunter McFadd 21. Dylan Shatzer 22. Dave Graber 23. Larry McVay
PASS 305 Heat Winners: Logan Spahr, Timmy Bittner & Zach Rhodes