Andy Fayash III scores his first Roadrunner win, Kost, Weller and Laubach all visit Victory Lane Friday Evening at Big Diamond Speedway.

Andy Fayash III scores his first Roadrunner win, Kost, Weller and Laubach all visit Victory Lane Friday Evening at Big Diamond Speedway.

Minersville, PA June 19, 2015
The URC 360 Sprint cars made a stop at the Big Diamond Speedway Friday evening and put on a great show for the large crowd that was in attendance on this beautiful evening for racing. The field was led to the green for their 25 lap feature event by Joe Trenca and Justin Barger. Trenca would set the early pace, but then Josh Weller would take over the top spot on the second lap. From there he would work his way through the tail end of the field and lap several cars before finding his way to Victory Lane. Meanwhile, Trenca would find himself battling with Justin Barger for the runner up spot and it would be Barger who would finish runner up followed by Trenca, Curt Michael and Robbie Stillwaggon. The race was stopped for on lap 22 when Tyler Ross spiraled over the wall between turn 3 and 4 and left the racing surface. The driver was ok and despite landing on his wheels after what some called a helicopter style flight, his car was unable to continue after it landed in the trees just outside of the track. The heats were won by Joe Trenca, Justin Barger and Josh Weller and the Consolation event was won by Larry Kelleher.

The Lias Tire 358 Modified Feature saw Justin Grim and Kyle Follweiler lead the field to the green flag for the start of their 25 lap feature event. Grim would take the early lead, followed by Scott Albert. Albert would take over the top spot on the restart on lap 3, but Grim would quickly take the top spot back. Justin had Billy Pauch Jr. on his rear bumper, and on lap six, Billy would take over the top spot. Grim would soon be facing the challenges from Rick Laubach who was working his way to the front hoping to score another victory this season. Grim would have a tire go down and have to exit the track during a caution period on lap 11 and despite the efforts of his crew, he would return to the race on the next completed lap, leaving him one lap down on the field. Laubach would get his chance to go after the lead after the restart on lap 12 and would jump out in front of Billy Pauch Jr., but Pauch was not going to sit back and let Rick have the top spot honors for long, as he regained the lead on lap 15. It looked as though Pauch had the win locked up, but coming out of turn 2 on the final lap, his car slowed and this gave Laubach the chance to get by him and score the victory. Duane Howard would finish in the runner up spot, followed by Jared Umbenhauer, Ray Swinehart and John Willman. The GME Hard Charger Award was earned by Duane Howard for starting 14th and finishing 2nd for a gain of 12 positions. The heats were won by John Willman, Colt Harris and Kyle Follweiler.

The Savage 61 Roadrunners would be in the spotlight as they were running double feature events, one was to make up the June 12 feature that was canceled due to the weather and then the regularly scheduled feature event for the evening. Jim Kost has been on a winning streak in the Roadrunner class and he started on the pole for the make up feature after the luck of the draw put him there. He was joined on the front row by Chris Holland on the start of the 20 lap feature event and Holland would show the way for the first 4 laps. Kost would take over the lead on lap 5 and hold off the challenges of Elvin Brennan and Tim Fitzpatrick in order to score his third win in a row. Brennan would finish second followed by Tim Fitzpatrick, Kris Ney and Jesse Krasnitsky. The second Savage 61 Roadrunner feature event would be dominated by Elvin Brennan, but Andy Fayash III was determined to park his car in the Red White and Blue Autos Victory Lane this Father’s Day weekend and waited for the moment when Brennan would slip up and he could make his move to become the race leader. The finals laps provided a great battle as Fayash would pull up along side of Brennan but would fade back slightly coming out of the turns, but staying on Brennan’s bumper. During the final lap, Fayash would take over the lead and be the first to cross the finish line; winning his first Roadrunner feature event and scoring a very emotional victory that left most fans in attendance with tears in their eyes as Fayash thanked everyone for their continued support, faith and encouragement and then he dedicated the win to his Father. Finishing second was Jeremy Becker followed by Chris Natale, TJ Fitpatrick and Jesse Krasnitsky. The Red White and Blue Autos Hard Luck award was awarded to Andy Fayash III in the first Roadrunner feature event and Dave Long Jr in the second feature event. The heats were won by Andy Fayash III and Elvin Brennan.

Coming events:

Friday June 26 will be Blyth’s Cleaning Services Night and will feature the Lias Tire 358 Modifieds, USS Achey Sportsman and Savage 61 Roadrunner divisions. The Sportsman will be pulling double duty as they will run their make up feature event from June 12 as well as a full regular night of racing. The Roadrunners will take center stage as they run their Crazy 8 Feature events. The class will run 4 8 lap features that evening, and it is an event that is always exciting as these full fender racers take to the track for their chance to gain some ground in the point standings with the 4 separate feature point paying events. General Admission for this event is $15, Senior Citizens are $12 and children 12 and under and active military with ID are admitted for free.

Coming up on Friday July 3 will be the Georgie Stevenson Memorial race where the Modifieds will be running a 35 lap feature event paying $4,000 to win and $300 just to take the green in the feature event. There will also be a Cash Dash for the Lias Tires 358 Modifieds presented by Mark’s Service Center. The USS Achey Sportsman will be competing for $1,000 in their feature event that evening. The Savage 61 Roadrunners and 600cc Modifieds will join in on the fun. There will be a great fireworks display for families to enjoy and celebrate our Nations Birthday. General Admission for this event will be $25 and children 12 and under and active military with ID are admitted for free.
Gates Open at 5:45 PM with Warm ups starting at 7:45 and racing getting underway at 8:15.

For more information, please visit the tracks Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/bigdiamondspeedway or on the web at www.bigdspeedway.com

Full Results:

Lias Tire 358 Modified Feature Results – 1. Rick Laubach 2. Duane Howard 3. Jared Umbenhauer 4. Ray Swinehart 5. John Willman 6. Kyle Follweiler 7. Kevin Beach Jr. 8. Andy Burkhart 9. Bobby Gunther Walsh 10. Scott Albert 11. Paul Moyer 12. Shawn Fitzpatrick 13. Justin Grim 14. Billy Pauch Jr. 15. Joe Mooney 16. Dan Hineline 17. Heath Metzger 18. Colt Harris 19. Jimmy Bobbit Jr. 20. Steve Young 21. Craig VonDohren 22. Meme DeSantis 23. Mario Dinatale

Savage 61 Roadrunners June 12 Make Up Feature Results- 1. Jim Kost 2. Elvin Brennan 3. Tim Fitzpatrick 4. Kris Ney 5. Jesse Krasnitsky 6. Shon Elk 7. Chris Holland 8. Terry Kramer Jr. 9. Joe Kavanaugh 10. Chris Natale 11. TJ Fitpatrick 12. Kermit Jacoby 13. Andy Fayash III DNS- Jon Schlauch, Bruce Ditzler and Kyle Wingle

Savage 61 Roadrunners Feature Results- 1. Andy Fayash III 2. Jeremy Becker 3. Chris Natale 4. TJ Fitzpatrick 5. Jesse Krasnitsky 6. Terry Kramer Jr. 7. Chris Holland 8. Shawn Fitzpatrick 9. Jim Kost 10. Shon Elk 11. Elvin Brennan 12. Kris Ney 13. Dave Long Jr. 14. Kermit Jacoby

URC Feature Results – 1. Josh Weller 2. Justin Barger 3. Joe Trenca 4. Curt Michael 5. Robbie Stillwaggon 6. Jason Clauss 7. Randy West 8. Troy Betts 9. Davie Franek 10. Jimmy Stetzel 11. Brad Franks 12. Scott Lutz 13. Keith Prutzman 14. Kevin Albert 15. Mark Bitner 16. Art Liedl 17. Jason Cherry 18. Tyler Ross 19. Larry Kelleher 20. JR Berry 21. Andy Best