(Oley, Pa.) The 2025 Quandel Concrete 358 Modified championship at Big Diamond Speedway saw one of the most competitive point races in the track’s 53-year history. At just 24 years old, Louden Reimert of Oley clinched the title by finishing only one point ahead of Jeff Strunk and eight points ahead of Duane Howard.
Strunk and Howard have a combined 16 Big Diamond titles while Reimert was able to outdo the formidable veterans in garnering his career first track championship.
“It’s just kind of something that I thought of marking off my checklist. We’ve enjoyed celebrating so far and it’s always going to my name going into the history books and we’re very proud of that,” said Reimert, who wrapped up his seventh season of racing in the 358 Modified division.
The 358 Modified class at Big Diamond Speedway consistently delivers some of the most engaging weekly racing events in the northeast region. This past season further exemplified this distinction, featuring not only a high caliber of competition but also a notable escalation in intensity during the final weeks with those drivers vying for the prestigious division championship.
For Reimert, the title would come down the final points race of the season, matter-of-fact it would be the final lap and final corner as to how the outcome would be decided.
In the closing laps of the finale the three title contenders were closely following each other in positions two, three and four with Howard ahead of Strunk and Reimert. Howard had a lock on second place which, given Strunk was keeping a spot up on Reimert, would have been enough to win his unprecedented 10th track title.
However, Reimert persisted in an intense battle with Strunk and with one lap to go they were deadlocked. In a final strategic move he went inside of Strunk and upon exiting the final two corners they raced neck and neck to the finish with Reimert nipping him at the line for third place, which would also be the deciding factor in earning the needed points to claim the championship.
“I knew it was going to come down to the wire as the race went on and I wasn’t really sure because of all the heat race points and how it all was going to shake out,” recollected Reimert.
“I started pretty far back in that race and didn’t know exactly how many spots I needed to be in front of second or third place, so I just began passing cars and I got within a couple spots of them (Strunk/Howard). I figured it doesn’t really matter where I’m at in points, if I can pass cars, I’m going to pass cars. And that’s kind of the mentality I used and that’s what got me the championship.”
In gaining the crown Reimert scored three wins while notching nine top-5s and a dozen top 10s. Of his trio of victories, the one that will standout most was winning the “Fritz Roehrig Memorial Money in the Mountains” feature on April 18. The 50-lapper had originally been billed as a $10,000-to-win show, however, track owners Jake and Jasmine Smulley decided to double that amount provided 45 or more cars signed in and made a heat race qualifying attempt. That number was reached and so too were the stakes that doubled on the spot, making it the highest paying feature in track history with $20,000-to-win.
“You know, I never thought I’d be racing for that kind of money. And to win a race like that, that’s crazy. Winning the money, that’s one thing, and huge for me and the team. But I would say what was the coolest thing of the night was just seeing my dad race again. I never thought I’d see that ever again. I grew up watching him race every weekend for the first 13 years of my life. And to see him hop back in a car and give it a shot again was probably one of the coolest things I’ve seen in recent years,” said Reimert.
Reimert is part of a distinguished lineage of racers, beginning with his grandfather, Terry Reimert, followed by his father, Shawn Reimert. In Louden, he has demonstrated commendable skill in upholding the family legacy while achieving notable success in his own right. Before moving into 358 Modifieds he raced Sportsman Mods and earned a championship with them also in 2018 at Grandview Speedway. And speaking of Grandview he was this year’s points runner-up to Howard.
“I never saw myself doing anything different in some capacity. It’s super cool to be able to race Modifieds just like my dad and grandfather did and race at the same tracks they did and be able to have some success in the same places that they raced,” said Reimert.
“It’s still a family effort, me and my dad and my grandfather out in the garage pretty much every night and to get to spend time with them and go racing with them means the world to me.”
Reimert also gives much credit and praise to his long-time car owner Doug Flurer. Together they have forged a dynamic relationship that has brought them to the forefront as not only front runners but likely winners each time they roll into the track.
“I couldn’t ask for anyone better to deal with, and I don’t think there’s ever been a time where I had to go to him (Flurer) and ask for an upgrade or anything. It’s always him coming to me and saying, what do we need? What do we got to do? What can I do to get us better?” Reimert said.
“Doug and his wife and two kids they do so much for my family and me. The bottom line is, without him, I wouldn’t be racing and I wouldn’t be racing a Modified. For him to take a chance on me right out a Sportsman and put me in his Modified, if I was a car owner, I would have canned myself after the first half of the year, because I was bad,” he continued.
“But for him to stick by us, this is going to be our seventh season together, and stick with me and my whole group for this amount of time and have faith in us that we’ll get better, we’ll get the car where it needs to be, and we’ll go win some races, it means the world to have someone like that.”
Reimert gratefully acknowledged the efforts of his crew also who are all hands-on deck from the moment the car rolls off the trailer to all the hours put in at the race shop.
“Everyone on my team works super hard and they want to win just as bad as I do and that’s what you need to be competitive on a weekly basis, you need a good group of guys behind you,” said Reimert.
“The days of being a one-man band or a two-man band, they’re over for the most part. It’s just so tough anymore with all the technology in a race car to try and cover all your bases with one or two people, it takes an army,” he went on the say.
“But my guys all worked super hard all year, and we always felt like we were going to the track and unloading a car that could win every night. I’m grateful to have guys behind me that give me the car I need to go out there and win races with. All my guys want just as bad as I do.”
With the 2026 season not far off the horizon Reimert and his team are making plans to return to the weekly 358 wars while also getting in a few big-block Modified shows.
“Our plans are to race Big Diamond and Grandview weekly. We’re also going to try and travel some more and do some more big block racing. Doug Flurer and Kenny Kilblehouse, I should say Kenny and his wife Stephanie, and the Flurer family helped us. We’re putting together a new car and new big block motor. We’re going to go travel a little bit with that.”