BUTLER WINS SPORTSMAN COAL CRACKER, BECKER WINS ROADRUNNER FEATURE & TITLE, FITZPATRICK & WEAVER ALSO VICTORIOUS
MINERSVILLE, PA - August 29th, 2014
Coal Cracker weekend at Big Diamond Speedway began on Friday evening, August 29th with an array of divisions in action.
First on the agenda was the Coal Cracker 40 for the USS Achey Sportsman division. Shawn Light led lap #1 from his pole starting position before Clay Butler took over the lead from position #4. Butler led the first nine caution plagued laps before Brett Kressley took over the lead on a restart on lap ten. Kressley set a blistering pace over the next 20 laps, lapping all but the top ten cars and looked to be well on his way to victory. On lap 30 disaster struck the young talent, as a small puff of smoke appeared as Kressley entered turn one, and his car quickly slowed on the backstretch. Kressley pulled to the infield, and Butler now all of a sudden found himself back in the lead. Now second place running Tim Fitzpatrick tried in vane to track down the leader, but it was to no avail, and Butler pulled into victory lane for his biggest win ever at the Schuylkill County oval. Fitzpatrick held on for second, with Steve Searock IV, Kevin Beach Jr., and Mike Lisowski rounding out the top five. 2014 Sportsman Point Champion Wayne Witmer was sixth, with Shawn Light, Harry Landis, Billy Moyer Jr., and Charles Webber completing the top 10. An awards presentation was held at intermission for Sportsman Champion Witmer, his first ever at the track.
After a huge pile up on the original start, Roadrunner title contenders Chris Holland and Jeremy Becker suddenly found themselves on the front row, up from their original fourth and seventh place starting positions. Holland quickly jumped into the lead on the restart, with Becker in tow. Holland led the first six laps before Becker was able to wrestle away the lead. From there Becker led the rest of the way, with Holland close, but never quite able to find his way back by Becker for the lead. Becker would pull into victory lane as the race winner and 2014 Savage 61 Roadrunner Point Champion. Holland would come home second, with Tom Hablett, TJ Fitzpatrick, and Shon Elk rounding out the top five. Sixth thru tenth were Andrew Fayash III, Tim Fitzpatrick Jr., Jesse Krasnitsky, Terry Kramer Jr., and Joe Kavanaugh.
Next on tap was a 20 lap non-winners race for the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic DIRTcar 358 Modifieds. To be eligible you had to have run or attempted to qualify for 5 feature events during the 2014 season. Seven cars lined up for the event, with a guaranteed starting spot in Sunday's Coal Cracker 72 race worth $700 awaiting the winner. Shawn Fitzpatrick bolted into the lead from his pole starting spot and quickly pulled away to a huge lead. Around the mid-point of the race though, Kyle Follweiler and Kyle Borror began tracking down the leader, and with two laps to go there was all of a sudden an exciting three car battle for the lead. With two to go Follweiler took the lead entering turn one, but exiting turn two he jumped the cushion ever so slightly, resulting in contact between all three cars. When the dust settled, Fitzpatrick was now once again in the lead, and was able to hold on to win the race, punching his ticket into Sunday's big event. Borror came home second, with Lou Cicconi, Scott Albert, and Paul Moyer rounding out the top five.
The Outlaw Enduro cars rounded out the evening with a 20 lap event. Fourth starting Keith Ramer led the first four laps before 14th starting Rick Weaver took over the lead and simply dominated, opening up a huge lead over the rest of the field until a caution brought them all back together on lap #15. On the restart, former Raodrunner competitor Kevin Holland was now on his tail, but Weaver was once again able to pull away for the victory, followed by Holland, Ramer, Tyler Lucas, and Chuck Eckert.
All focus now turns to Sunday, August 31st for the biggest race of the season at Big Diamond, the Jack Rich Memorial Coal Cracker 72 event paying $10,000 to win and $700 just to take the green flag. Once again, a great field of cars is expected for this race. American Racer or Hoosier tires will be permitted. Drivers will draw for their heat starting spot and redraw for the feature if they finish in a redraw position in their heat race. Twenty-six cars are slated to start the feature event. Also on the card will be the Savage 61 Roadrunner in their Coal Cracker 25 event paying $300 to win, and a huge fireworks display. Gates will open at 4 PM on Sunday, with warm-ups at 7:45 PM, and the first heat hitting the track at 8:15 PM. Grandstand general admission on Sunday will be $25.00, with active military (with ID) and kids 12 and under admitted free of charge. Pit participation fees will be $40.00 with no license required. Car entry fee for the Coal Cracker 72 event is $60.00 the day of the race. All 72 laps will be run under green flag conditions!
Wristband policy for those that attended last weeks racing event will be as follows. Modified wrist bands can be used for Sunday's event. For the fans, grandstand wristbands can be used for Sunday's show and pay the $10.00 difference. If you cannot attend, please send the wristband to P.O. Box 671, Minersville, PA 17954 for a full refund. Be sure to include a return address.
Big Diamond Speedway Full Results 8/29/2014
Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic DIRTcar 358 Modifieds Non-Winners Race (20 Laps)
1) Shawn Fitzpatrick 2) Kyle Borror 3) Lou Cicconi 4) Scott Albert 5) Paul Moyer 6) Kyle Follweiler 7) Bobby Gunther Walsh
USS Achey Sportsman (40 Laps)
1) Clay Butler 2) Tim Fitzpatrick 3) Steve Searock IV 4) Kevin Beach Jr. 5) Mike Lisowski 6) Wayne Witmer 7) Shawn Light 8) Harry Landis 9) Billy Moyer Jr. 10) Charles Webber 11) Brett Kressley 12) Chad Putalavage 13) Todd Huffman 14) Brad Brightbill 15) Doug Hendricks 16) Ray Woodall Sr. 17) Mike Glass 18) Josh Hertzog 19) Charles Fayash 20) AJ Gerhart 21) Ray Woodall Jr. 22) Marc Berzowski 23) JR Fulper DNS) Mark Behm
DNQ) Craig Whitmoyer, Rob Reigel
Heat Winners - Doug Hendricks, Clay Butler, Steve Searock IV
Savage 61 Roadrunners (20 Laps)
1) Jeremy Becker 2) Chris Holland 3) Tom Hablett 4) TJ Fitzpatrick 5) Shon Elk 6) Andrew Fayash III 7) Tim Fitzpatrick Jr. 8) Jesse Krasnitsky 9) Terry Kramer Jr. 10) Joe Kavanaugh 11) Jason Brown 12) Elvin Brennan III 13) Jim Kost 14) Kyle Wingle 15) Jon Schlauch 16) Greg Zelinsky 17) John Whyne 18) Jared Seigfried 19) Kris Ney 20) Devin Trexler 21) Bill Wingle Jr. 22) Bruce Ditzler
Red, White & Blue Autos Inc. Hard Luck Award (Feature Cars Only) - Kris Ney
Outlaw Enduros (20 Laps)
1) Rick Weaver 2) Kevin Holland 3) Keith Ramer 4) Tyler Lucas 5) Chuck Eckert 6) Matt Lawrence 7) Willie Metz 8) Joel Matter 9) Bobby Eckert 10) Chuck Detweiler 11) Gary Grim 12) Robert Wellman 13) Chris Angstadt 14) Scott Lord 15) Ralph Bankes
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