(7-31-26) Big Diamond Speedway hosted the 10th Annual Dave Kamp Memorial on Friday evening, with bonus money awarded to competitors in the USS Achey Inc. 602 Crate Sportsman and Red White and Blue Autos Inc. Roadrunner divisions through the combined efforts of racer John Deatrich and a generous group of sponsors.
In the Sportsman feature Lehighton’s Ryan Graver scored his division leading fourth win of the season.
Graver, who started 12th, used his patented outside line in charging his way frontward and by lap eight was running in the top-5 and wasn’t done with his forward-thinking at that point either.
Following a restart on the same circuit Graver advanced to fourth and yet another spot the next time around. With nine laps to go he motored to second behind leader Reice Widger.
Widger had taken the lead away from early pace setter Tyler Vidal at the halfway mark and was upholding his position over Graver, however, just as he was entering Turn 4 and ready to complete the 12th lap he suddenly spun and any hopes of a win dashed along with it.
This handed the lead over to Graver who then cruised to the checkers for his fourth win in 14 starts.
Matt Martino had a strong run and did get close a few times to Graver but near the end could not maintain and settled for a season best second. Racing to third was Kevin Fitzpatrick who had to fend off Craig Whitmoyer and Ed Mrochko.
Mrochko put forth his best run in sometime as he ran as high as second and then remained highly competitive in notching a well-earned top five.
In the first of Twin-12s for the Roadrunners Chuck Fayash from Schuylkill Township passed point leader Alex Schoffstall after a torrid side-by-side battle with six laps to go and then went on to claim his second win in the last three starts.
Not only was this his 14th Roadrunner victory and 15th overall, but it came exactly 11 years to the day of his career first win. Joey Brennan gave a close chase in taking third.
In the second feature, Kris Ney of Gordon wrestled the lead from Jesse Krasnitsky on lap two, then found himself locked in an electrifying three-car battle with Schoffstall and Brennan. The trio raced lap after lap in tight formation, with virtually no margin for error.
The intensity never eased as the race reached its closing laps. Coming to the white flag, Schoffstall edged ahead by only a bumper, with Brennan still firmly in contention.
Rounding the final corner, Ney found just enough momentum to surge past Schoffstall at the finish line, while Brennan crossed close behind in third.
During the second heat of the Roadrunners there was a scary moment when Brian Johnson made hard contact against the Turn 3 tire barrier. Due to the severity of the accident and as a precaution Johnson was airlifted to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville. As of press time he has a concussion, some bruising and remained overnight for additional observation.
Mason Harakel of New Ringold has been biding his time each week with the BQ Concrete Rookie 602 Crate Sportsman, steadily improving with every race and tonight he reached a high water mark of his young career, winning for the very first time.
Harakel assumed the lead after a second attempt at the start and from there held his own ahead of runner-up Devin Whitmoyer.
The DHM Excavating East Coast Legend Series had big money on the line as $1500 was up for grabs to the winner of the 25-lap feature so naturally a great field was on hand looking to snag the cash and what a thriller of race it turned out to be too.
Jermey Ott of Carlisle waged a battle royale with Tanner Jones throughout the run as the pair constantly went back and forth in exchanging the lead. Ott moved ahead for good on lap 17 but with two laps to go Jones was able to pull alongside and they then raced neck-and-neck to the checkers with Ott eking out the verdict.
Not only was the race for the lead thrilling but likewise behind the front pair was an equally rousing tussle as Colton Friese, Logan Jones and Lincoln Kearchner ran under a blanket all race long in rounding out the top five.
Sportsman feature finish (20 laps): 1. Ryan Gaver, 2. Matt Martino, 3. Kevin Fitzpatrick, 4. Craig Whitmoyer, 5. Ed Mrochko, 6. Brennan Chapman, 7. Aaron Weaver, 8. Zach Steffey, 9. Trevor Bixler, 10. Dylan Swinehart, 11. Dakota Kohler, 12. Brandon Firestine, 13. Tyler Vidal, 14. John Deatrich Jr., 15. Shannon Slaughter, 16. Jim O’Hara, 17. Matt Ney, 18. Tajae Adams, 19. Reice Widger, 20. Josh Mitman, 21. Michael Samony, 22. Nick Hamm
1st Roadrunners feature finish (12 laps): 1. Chuck Fayash, 2. Alex Schoffstall, 3. Joey Brennan, 4. Jarod Bassinisky, 5. Kris Ney, 6. TJ Fitzpatrick, 7. Jesse Krasnitsky, 8. Jim Kost, 9. Andrew Buchinski, 10. CJ Ferguson, 11. Tod Roth Jr., 12. Joe Bassininsky DNS: Brian Johnson DQ: Jonathan Trumbo
2nd Roadrunners feature finish (12 laps): 1. Ney, 2. Schoffstall, 3. Brennan, 4. Fitzpatrick, 5. Buchinski, 6. Joe Bassininski, 7. Fayash, 8. Ferguson, 9. Krasnitsky, 10. Kost, 11. Roth Jr. DNS: Jared Basininsky
Rookie 602 Sportsman finish (15 laps): 1. Mason Harakel, 2. Devin Whitmoyer, 3. Lucas Weil 4. Zach Moyer, 5. Payton Renninger, 6. Lorenzo LoPiccolo, 7. Michael Eckhart, 8. Daisy Dove
Legends feature finish (25 laps): 1. Jeremy Ott, 2. Tanner Jones, 3. Colton Friese, 4. Logan Jones, 5. Lincoln Kearchner, 6. Seth Kearchner, 7. Bill Deihl, 8. Zach Smith, 9. Jeremy Hahn, 10. Moses Goetz, 11. Owen Wagaman, 12. Jayden Powell, 13. KJ Massey, 14. Blake Nalley, 15. Ben Marrow, 16. Dave Benner, 17. Darren Lucas, 18. Justin Wagaman, 19. Scott Montgomery, 20. Devin Freise, 21. Hunter McElroy, 22. Shjon Dove, 23. Rick Hartwig, 24. Alex McCollum