The third night of the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Eastern Storm took place last night at the Big Diamond Speedway with Logan Seavey winning the 30-lap main event over Mitchell Moles. Kevin Beach Jr was the winner of the 25 lap Quandel Concrete 358 Modified feature and Jim Kost returned to victory lane in the Red White and Blue Roadrunners.
The USAC Sprint feature saw Mitchell Moles and Logan Seavey lead the 25-car field to the green flag with Moles vaulting from the pole to lead with Seavey and Justin Grant on his heels. Lap five saw starter Warren Alston display the first yellow when Carson Garrett spun his No. 15. Moles was back in front on the restart with Seavey in second as 7th place starter Brady Bacon was quick on the gas and moving up to fifth. Lap 7 saw another yellow out for Garrett once again who lost his left wheel in turn two and coming to a stop.
It was Moles again leading the field as the green flag flew and the racing resumed with Seavey, Grant and now Bacon who sped past Swanson and into fourth. Seavey now had his sights set on the leader Moles pulling up to him as the field approached halfway. Lap 15 is when Seavey made his move and swept past Moles on the outside to take the lead away. As Moles started to pull away, Bacon’s good run came to an end when he stuck the No. 69 into turn three a little too hard and caught the left rear tire of Grant causing Bacon to spin and bring out the yellow.
On the restart Moles used a slider move to regain the lead through turns one and two but Seavey was up for the challenge and cut back under Moles to take back the lead. With no more yellows to slow the pace, Seavey opened a five to six car length lead. Moles had one last shot when the leaders caught the back of the field on lap but to no avail as Seavey kept his advantage to win the race over Moles, Grant, Briggs Danner and Alex Bright.
“This was big for us, I mentioned earlier that these guys bounce back so well, and I am confident when I get in it and it doesn’t deter me,” said the happy Seavey after the race. “These guys make sure it is on kill when I get back in it and every time we have a bad night, we seem to redeem ourselves. We made some changes to get to where we needed it on a big racetrack and tonight the track was gripped up. It was a good rebound, and we have a few more nights to and hopefully we can keep it up.”
The 25-lap Quandel Concrete Modified feature got off to a rough start with multiple pile ups slowing the start of the race. Local drivers Kevin Beach Jr and Mike Lisowski brought the 24-car Quandel Concrete modified field to the green flag with Beach out dragging Lisowski on the start to lead the way. The race was halted before a lap could be completed with a multi-car crash into turn on involving Jeff Strunk, Brett Kressley, Aleia Geisler and Mike Burrows all involved. All but Geisler were able to continue. The field was re-racked for a complete restart. On the restart Lisowski was able to out drag Beach into turn one for the lead but the pass was for naught as Ron Haring Jr spun in turn two to bring out the yellow. The third time was a charm with Beach and Lisowski racing side by side for the race lead with Lisowski coming out on top through turns three and four to lead lap one. Racing was short lived as Jack Butler got sideways in turn one and started bouncing bringing out the yellow. Butler never stopped and was able to regain his spot towards the front of the field.
The ensuing restart saw Beach return the favor on Lisowski using the outside lane to take over control of the race. The racing was short lived as another multi-car tangle ensued on lap five involving Duane Howard, Brandan Edgar, Doug Smith Jr, Mike Gular and Strunk. The No. 15G of Howard and the No. 119 of Smith had to be towed into the pits with Gular, Strunk and Edgar all heading pit side as well. Edgar was the only car that was able to return to the track. This time, Beach chose the outside on the restart and was able to maintain his lead. Beach and Lisowski pulled away from third place running Shawn Fitzpatrick who was busy holding off his teammate Ryan Watt. Ryan Watt was now closing in on Lisowski as the field took the crossed flags with Reimert getting by Fitzpatrick one lap later for fourth. Meanwhile, Beach was on a Sunday drive keeping a safe margin between himself and second place running Lisowksi who was trying to hold off the hard charging Ryan Watt.
This race belonged to Kevin Beach Jr who cruised to his second career Big Diamond modified win over Ryan Watt, who passed Lisowski on the last lap for second. Lisowski was third with Reimert in fourth over a high-flying Kressley who came from the rear of the field to finish fifth.
“The car was a rocket, but nobody knows what we had to do to this car between the heat and the feature,” said the victorious Beach post-race. “The carburetor broke and I was literally strapping myself in as they finished up working on it. It still has a stutter in it in the corners, so I didn’t know how long we were going to stay out front with it. The car was tight all night and we didn’t touch it all after the heat. I want to thank everyone who helps me out and all my sponsors who stuck behind me. To go from not qualifying two weeks in a row to winning is pretty sweet.”
The Red White and Blue Autos Roadrunner feature was another barnburner of a race with Jim Kost and Chuck Fayash swapping the lead back and forth with Kost coming out on top to win the 20-lap race over Chuck Fayash, TJ Fitzpatrick, Mike Reichert and Andrew Fayash III.