DESANTIS DOUBLES IN BIG DIAMOND FRIDAY NIGHT ACTION

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DESANTIS DOUBLES IN BIG DIAMOND FRIDAY NIGHT ACTION

Whitmoyer Picks Up First Sportsman Win of the Season

The Temple Tornado, Meme DeSantis, blew into the Forestville, PA Big Diamond Speedway on Friday night and into the Victory Lane not once but twice before the night of racing was complete. DeSantis gave car owner, Harvey Bittler two feature wins while the car owner vacationed with family out West.

The first Station House 358 Modified Feature was the rained out event from the April 1st opener. At the drop of the green flag, Kevin Albert, Jr., the lead as DeSantis immediately followed in second. Two caution flags for minor incidents interrupted the racing action as Albert held the lead through lap five.

Albert held off DeSantis for a top five finish just one week earlier but the veteran racer was not to be denied this time as he sailed into the lead, using the outside line by Albert on lap 6. Rick Laubach had the Beer City #7 up to third. Doug Manmiller and Ray Swinehart rounded out the top five by the half way point.

DeSantis complete the race unchallenged. Laubach showed his nose to Albert on several occasions but the young driver held onto second at the checkered flag. Manmiller settled in fourth after showing some muscle. Most of the action came from fifth through tenth in the remaining laps as Craig VonDohren took fifth away from Swinehart on the final circuit.

DeSantis remarked in Victory Lane that his wins have been "few and far between" but he wouldn't have to wait long for the next one.

In the second 25 lap Station House 358 Modified Feature, "The Law", Easton, PA driver, Ricky Yetter, took the lead on lap one from rookie, Brad Arnold. Yetter handily led the field through six caution flags in the first ten laps, moving back out in front each time the green flag waved.

The most serious incident occurred on lap three when Arnold lost the handle on his #27 between turns three and four. In addition to Arnold, the cars of Duane Howard and Jeff Strunk received race ending damage.

DeSantis had already moved into the top five from his 14th place start as he and Laubach battled for position on the restart. Yetter led Colt Harris and Mike Mammana at this point in the race as Laubach took over fourth from DeSantis.

With Yetter out in front, Laubach took second away from Harris on lap eight as DeSantis was hot on his heels.

DeSantis took over second on lap fourteen and immediately set his sights on Yetter. Yetter consistently hit his marks. DeSantis would pull even with Yetter's Stellar Construction #5 through the corners but Yetter had the speed coming off the corner to pull ahead. Yetter battled with a loose race car and just couldn't hold off DeSantis as he took over the lead on lap twenty-three. Laubach was also able to move by Yetter to take second one lap later but the top three were not more than a car length or two apart at the checkered flag.

Harris finished a strong effort in fourth as Manmiller picked up his second top five run of the night in fifth.

After weeks of struggling, Craig Whitmoyer picked up his first win of the season in the USS Achey Sportsman feature, his thirtieth Sportsman win on the 3/8 mile speedway.

Shawn Fitzpatrick was the early race leader in his T102FM. Whitmoyer used a move to the outside to take the lead from Fitzpatrick on lap four as the pair raced out of turn two.

Whitmoyer held a comfortable lead over Fitzpatrick who had Kevin Beach, Jr. knocking on the door through the last half of the race. Doug Hendricks raced from the rear of the field after an early race incident to take fourth away from Sportsman rookie, Mike Glass on the final lap.

Joey Brennan picked up his second win of the season in the Wooden Keg Tavern Roadrunner feature. Jon Schlauch was the early race leader until Brennan took over on lap six. Shon Elk finished second after restarting from the rear. Elk looked to make a move to the inside of Brennan in the closing laps but had to settle for the runner-up finish. Chip Kennedy, Mario Donatti and Schlauch completed the top five at the finish line.

Race Notes

DeSantis' two feature wins moved him up to sixth on the all time feature win list at the Big Diamond Speedway. DeSantis now has 23 wins at Big Diamond. Keith and Doug Hoffman are ahead of DeSantis, each with 35 feature wins. Strong performances by rookie drivers as Modified rookie, Brad Arnold was the winner of the first heat and Sportsman rookie, Mike Glass picked up a top five finish in the feature.

Station House 358 Modified Feature (rained out feature from April 1, 2012) 25 laps

1. Meme DeSantis 2. Kevin Albert, Jr. 3. Rick Laubach 4. Doug Manmiller 5. Craig VonDohren 6. Ray Swinehart 7. Mike Gular 8. Duane Howard 9. Gary Hager 10. Glenn Strunk 11. Keith Hoffman 12. Andy Burkhart 13. Dale Hartz 14. John Willman 15. Colt Harris 16. Tommy Sheetz, Jr. 17. Mike Mammana 18. Nathan Klinger 19. Brian Houseknecht 20. Gary Wagner 21. Dan Hineline 22. Jim Bobbitt, Jr. 23. Jeff Strunk 24. Ricky Yetter 25. Danny Hieber 26. Ryan Godown

Station House 358 Regular Modfiied Feature - 25 laps

1. Meme DeSantis 2. Rick Laubach 3. Ricky Yetter 4. Colt Harris 5. Doug Manmille 6. Craig Whitmoyer 7. Keith Hoffman 8. Tommy Sheetz, Jr. 9. Dale Hartz 10. Craig VonDohren 11. Dan Hineline 12. Gary Hager 13. Glenn Strunk 14. John Willman 15. Chris Esposito 16. Jim Bobbitt, Jr. 17. Gary Wagner 18. Andy Burkhart 19. Danny Hieber 20. Mike Mammana 21. Brian Houseknecht 22. Brad Arnold 23. Jeff Strunk 24. Duane Howard 25. Ryan Godown 26. Ray Swinehart

USS Achey Sportsman Feature - 20 laps

1. Criag Whitmoyer 2. Shawn Fitzpatrick 3. Kevin Beach, Jr. 4. Doug Hendricks 5. Mike Glass 6. Kaitie McCardle 7. Harry Landis 8. Heath Metzger 9. Daryl Dissinger 10. Charles Webber 11. Mike Lisowski 12. Ray Woodall, Jr. 13. Wayne Witmer 14. Steve Searock IV 15. Tim Fitzpatrick 16. Josh Hertzog

Wooden Keg Tavern Roadrunner Feature - 20 laps

1. Joey Brennan 2. Shon Elk 3. Chip Kennedy 4. Mario Donatti 5. Jon Schlauch 6. Jim Kost 7. Brian Buchinski 8. Glen Rowan 9. Kyle Killian 10. Terry Kramer, Jr. 11. Jesse Krasnitsky 12. TJ Fitzpatrick