MEME DESANTIS CELEBRATES 20TH CAREER FEATURE VICTORY FRIDAY AT BIG DIAMOND RACEWAY...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.
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 (Temple) enjoyed his finest moment of the season by finishing in fifth.
Qualifying heat race winners were: Ricky Yetter, Colt Harris, and Jeff Strunk.
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