This Friday, July 5th, Big Diamond Speedway promoters Jake and Jasmine Smulley present the annual Georgie Stevenson Memorial night sponsored by B & H Landscaping, run in honor of the Big Diamond fan who passed away from cancer at the age of twelve. This season the Quandel Concrete Modifieds will race in Twin 20 lap features with each 20-lap feature awarding a separate set of points towards the season long Quandel Concrete championship. The USS Achey, Inc 602 Crate Sportsman, the Red White and Blue Autos Roadrunners and the XCEL 600 Modifieds will also be part of Friday’s holiday spectacular which will feature the always entertaining Big Diamond Fireworks show.
The sponsor of Friday’s racing B & H Landscaping has been providing commercial, municipal and private landscaping services to Schuylkill County and surrounding areas since 2017. Along with their provided services, they also have mulch, stone, topsoil, firewood and sand available for pick-up or delivery. Please call B & H Landscaping at (570) 527-8953.
Friday night’s show will be run in honor of Georgie Stevenson who was an avid fan of the Big Diamond Speedway along with his family. Georgie and his family supported the speedway religiously each week. Sadly, Georgie was diagnosed with cancer at a young age and while fighting the dreaded disease, the young man worked hard to raise money for cancer research. Georgie’s battle with cancer concluded at the age of twelve when the courageous young man passed away. Georgie loved the sport of dirt racing, especially at his home track, the Big Diamond Speedway.
After Georgie’s passing, his father George worked relentlessly to raise money for the terminally ill children who were also suffering from cancer. The Stevenson family’s goal was to help defray the costs of treatment and to also help the families to deal with anything that was thrown at them. Sadly, George died in 2015 but the Stevenson family’s presence radiates through the speedway with the annual running of the Georgie Stevenson Memorial.
Last Friday night, it was the “Diamond Cutter” Duane Howard finally ending his season long slump by winning the feature event. Howard cut through the field after starting tenth to run away with his 93rd feature win. With the win, Howard moved up to fourth in the Quandel Concrete championship race. Louden Reimert is still the points leader with 2023 champion Brett Kressley in second only 4 points behind. Rookie modified driver Logan Watt sits in third trailing by 53 points followed by Howard and Eddie Strada.
Jordan Henn broke out of his season long winless streak last Friday with a last lap pass for the win in the USS Achey, Inc. 602 Crate Sportsman race. Henn has consistently finished in the top five, but the win had eluded him until last week. With his win, Henn took over the top spot in the race for the USS Achey, Inc 602 Crate Sportsman championship with Jax Yohn now in second. Kevin Olenick, Colin Cox and Matt Martino complete the top five. The 602 Crate 602 Sportsman division has produced a multitude of different winners this season with only Jax Yohn and Xavier Sprague the only drivers with two wins.
If you missed last Friday’s Red White and Blue Autos Roadrunner twin 12 lap features, you missed a great display of racing. There is no arguing that the Roadrunners put on some of the best racing every Friday night and this Friday should be more of the same. Andrew Fayash III leads his uncle Chuck Fayash in the championship standings with Kris Ney, Alex Schoffstall and Mike Reichert the top five.
Completing Friday’s racing card with the XCEL 600 modifieds with their exciting brand of racing. A name familiar with the Big Diamond faithful, Danny Buccafusca who has the most wins in the 602 Crate Sportsman division at Big Diamond will be strapping himself into the Doug Borger house car on Friday night. With Buccafusca’s knowledge of the speedway, he should be in the mix for the win.
A huge Fireworks display will also be on tap for Friday night to celebrate America’s Birthday.
Warmups will get underway Friday at 7:15 PM with racing to follow.
Pit gates will open Friday night at 5:00 PM with the Grandstand gate opening at 5:30 PM
Pit admission is $35 for those with a Big Diamond License. Non-licensed Pit admission is $45.
General admission for this Friday is $30, Senior admission is $28, Kids under 16 are free.