By Dino Oberto
(8-21-26) When Douglasville’s Timmy Buckwalter stood in Victory Lane after his win last Friday evening at Big Diamond Speedway it kept him very much alive in the championship hunt as he stayed second in points to leader Louden Reimert with just three regular season races remaining.
But Buckwalter noted that he wasn’t so concerned about points and was instead focused on the two big races left to run, the Prelude to the Coalcracker and the Coalcracker itself. And on DBR Industrial Services LLC Night for the Prelude, Buckwalter checked one of the two off his bucket list as he scored a thrilling victory over Reimert in Friday’s 50-lap feature and collected a very nice sum of $10,000 in the process.
When a caution waved with four laps to go Buckwalter was lined up alongside race-long leader Reimert who he had been chasing since the outset. On the resumption of the race, he then rode the rim, went side-by-side with Reimert and as the duo headed down the front straight ready to complete the 47th tour he took over the lead and held it for his second straight and third win of the season.
“Man I’d rather be lucky than good any day in this sport, that was Louden’s race but with those couple laps to go after the caution I said, well Duane (Howard) is in third and if I miss (turn) one then I’m going to be in third and if I hit (turn) one then we’re going to get alongside Louden and he gave me enough room down the front stretch that I could just carry speed in and that was it,” said Buckwalter, who for the first time won back-to-back features at Big Diamond.
A redraw of the top heat finishers would see indisputably two of the hottest drivers line up on the front row – Reimert and Buckwalter – and despite a star-studded field, those two would captivate the crowd as they did battle.
And in a span of 44 nonstop laps that took place after a lap two caution Reimert was showing the way and quite honestly looked self-assured to make this his race as he was driving with pinpoint accuracy around lapped traffic and staying just enough car lengths ahead of Buckwalter.
Reimert was so quick and good that he had just started lapping into the top 10 when a caution waved for eighth running Jax Yohn who suffered a tire. That ensuing restart would become the race’s turning point too.
With a clear track in place for the top two Buckwalter throttled his Dennis and Donna Weller owned No. 942 on the top lane and the pair continued side-by-side as they worked around the 3/8-mile. Building a strong head of steam Buckwalter then charged past Reimert as they hit the start/finish line and remained in control over the final few laps to take the $10,000 victory.
Upon exiting his car Buckwalter marched right over to his ecstatic crew and would thank each one for the effort they put into his Dennis and Donna Weller owned No. 942.
“Them guys right there are the reason we are standing here in Victory Lane. I was at the beach all last week and they gave me a rocket ship tonight. They asked me what they have to do and I told them keep it the way it was last week,” said Buckwalter.
“I am so thankful to Dennis and Donna Weller for having faith in me and when your owners believe in you and give you everything you need then it makes my job a lot easier.”
Interestingly, each of Buckwalter’s three wins this season has come against Reimert, and every race has gone down to the wire. This time, Buckwalter stayed as close as he could—especially while working through lapped traffic—but Reimert appeared to have the race in hand until the late caution changed the outcome.
“You’re just kind of rolling through the traffic and I got to Louden and the next thing you know I didn’t see him. I looked up at the (score) board and saw that Duane was in third, but I was hungrier to get Louden and keep my nose clean in lapped traffic,” explained Buckwalter.
“I just wasn’t that great on the bottom and as good as he (Reimert) was, he could just maneuver traffic a lot better than me. I knew that if I got him in the top I was going to keep sliding myself in three and four and once I got him I just had to slow it down and not miss the bottom and he’ll go to the top but he is much faster on the inside so as long as I slowed his entry down I knew he wasn’t going to get me on the bottom,” he continued.
“And hats off to Jake (Smulley) again with a racy track again. We were down on the bottom and there was a little bit of character on the curb, and it was really good.”
While Buckwalter and Reimert continued their clash, Howard remained within striking distance in third. In the closing laps, however, Anthony Perrego slipped past him to take the position at the checkered flag. Logan Watt completed the top five.
Much like the Modified feature, the USS Achey Inc. 602 Crate Sportsman feature would see the top two point getters facing off for the win and it would be Zach Steffey of Sinking Springs grabbing victory over Ryan Graver. The win allowed Steffey to shave a few points between he and Graver and keep him very much in title contention heading into the final two races.
Aaron Weaver led the opening lap, but Kevin Fitzpatrick took command on the next circuit and quickly built a comfortable advantage. Behind him, Michael Samony was turning in a strong run in second while holding off Steffey.
When the race reached its halfway mark a caution waved which would then see things begin to change after the action resumed. Steffey zipped past Samony for second and would go head-to-head with Fitzpatrick. The double-wide action would go in favor of Steffey who completed the pass at the outset of lap 12.
At the same time Graver, who had entered in the top five back on lap nine, advanced to third and just as Steffey did with Fitzpatrick, he also raced neck-and-neck with Fitzpatrick and would secure second spot with five laps to go.
There would be no changing at the front from that point as Graver then stuck close behind in second as Steffey never wavered after taking the lead and raced to his third win this season.
Fitzpatrick settled for third while Matthew Laubach, who was making his Big Diamond debut, drove to an impressive fourth after coming from 19th. Trevor Bixler completed the top five.
The old saying, “It isn’t over till it’s over,” could best describe the amazing action that took place in the Red White and Blue Autos Inc., Roadrunners feature and winner Chuck Fayash of Schuylkill Township can certainly attest to that. Fayash led only one lap, but it was the one that counted most, the last.
This race was a full throttle adrenalin ride from start to finish. It began with Jarod Bassininsky leading over point leader Alex Schoffstall with Fayash and Joey Brennan hovering closely behind.
Two-wide racing is exciting enough, but this race saw tighter three car action than you could ask for. Bassininsky held off Shoffstall and all the while Fayash was in on the attack.
A lap shy of mid-race would be unfortunate for Bassininsky as while under a blanket he got into the turn four tire barrier which brought out a caution.
On the reset Shoffstall and Fayash then combatted between each other in a fiercely fought sparring match while directly behind was Brennan.
As the trio approached the white flag, it was clear that any one of them could emerge victorious—and the crowd was in for an unforgettable finish.
Upon exiting the second corner Schoffstall slipped high and went partly off the berm while Fayash and Brennan ducked underneath him. Fayash then clung to the lead and withstood all that Brennan and Schoffstall could throw at him in picking up his third win in the last five races.
For the second time in as many races the Big Creek Concrete Rookie 602 Crate Sportsman saw a new winner park in Victory Lane.
Bernville’s Tyler Chase, making only his second start, led from the pole and delivered a flawless flag-to-flag performance. Zach Moyer did his best to mount a challenge but could not get close enough to make a pass and settled for second.
358 Modified finish (50 laps): 1. Tim Buckwalter, 2. Louden Reimert, 3. Anthony Perrego, 4. Duane Howard, 5. Logan Watt, 6. Mike Gular, 7. Alex Yankowski, 8. Jared Umbenhauer, 9. Dom Buffalino, 10. Colin Cox, 11. Adrianna Delliponti, 12. Kevin Beach Jr., 13. Bobby Butler, 14. Aleia Geisler, 15. Alex Tonkin, 16. Heath Metzger, 17. Jax Yohn, 18. Rick Laubach, 19. Darren Schuler, 20. Brett Kressley, 21. Mike Lisowski, 22. Chris Espisito, 23. Corey Renninger, 24. Bryan Kuhl
DNQ: Alan Rudalavage, Jimmy Leiby, Kevin Olenick, McKenzi Smith, Ken Eckert Jr., Cliff Quinn, Wayne Witmer, Zane Roth, Ron Haring Jr., WB James, Hunter Metzger
602 Crate Sportsman finish (20 laps): 1. Zach Steffey, 2. Ryan Graver, 3. Kevin Fitzpatrick, 4. Matthew Laubach, 5. Trevor Bixler, 6. Reice Widger, 7. Matt Martino, 8. Michael Samony, 9. Steve Hughes, 10. Nick Hamm, 11. Brennan Chapman, 12. Brett Gilmore, 13. Mason Harakel, 14. Kyle Kania, 15. Tajae Adams, 16. Mark Mohr, 17. Devin Whitmoyer, 18. Colby Trenge, 19. Jim O’Hara, 20. Dakota Kohler, 21. Aaron Weaver, 22. Ed Mrochko, 23. Tyler Vidal, 24. Cory Lindemuth
Roadrunner feature finish (20 laps): 1. Chuck Fayash, 2. Joey Brennan, 3. Alex Schoffstall, 4. Kris Ney, 5. TJ Fitzpatrick, 6. Terry Kramer, 7. Jesse Krasnitsky, 8. CJ Ferguson, 9. Jim Kost, 10. Jarod Bassininsky, 11. Glenn Rowan, 12. Andrew Buchinski, 13. Dave Shultz III
Rookie 602 Crate Sportsman finish (15 laps): 1. Tyler Chase, 2. Zach Moyer, 3. Blake Vidal, 4. Lucas Weil, 5. Josh Metzler, 6. Michael Eckhardt DNS: Brandon Fidler