By Dino Oberto
(9-4-26) Big Diamond Speedway closed out its regular point season Friday evening on the Fayash Memorial/USS Achey Inc. Night and in the BQ Concrete 358 Modifieds Boyertown’s Logan Watt picked up another win and with a runner-up finish Louden Reimert from Oley took his second straight division championship.
When the 25-lap event got under way McKenzi Smith and Kevin Olenick brought the field to the green with the No. 450 of Olenick leading the opening tour over Smith.
Cautions over the first few laps kept things slow going but once the race got its rhythm it would be Olenick setting the pace while seventh starting Watt powered his way up to second followed by Reimert.
While Olenick skillfully held the lead, Watt and Reimert waged a spirited battle for second, trading the position several times. Watt secured the runner-up spot on a lap-eight restart and quickly closed in on Olenick. The two then raced wheel-to-wheel, and at the start of lap 15, Watt took over the lead.
Over the waning laps, Olenick came under pressure from Reimert and surrendered second place with two laps remaining. Reimert, however, ran out of time to challenge Watt, who secured his third win of the year.
Although Olenick was indeed fast and in contention to win all race long and Reimert battled closing in at the end, Watt’s No. EZ4 displayed just a bit more power which clearly made the difference in getting the victory.
“The car was a little snug and I kind of had to let the track come to me and it was getting a little black and a little slicker and the car was then starting to work better,” said Watt.
“I tried the top in the beginning to get around (Kevin) Olenick and (Louden) Reimert and I just couldn’t quite get there, and I was getting tight and when I saw it started to slicken up I knew that was my chance to go.”
Racing for the Fitzpatrick’s, it was Watt’s third win this season although he did change rides for the night in doing so.
“We brought the EZ4 back out tonight and this car was a rocket all night and even the T3 has been good but to pull this car back out and come here and win with it, that’s a pretty good start and set-up to the Coalcracker,” said Watt.
“This one is for my aunt Sharon, she sadly passed away on Tuesday, and she was with us here tonight in spirit.”
Reimert meanwhile celebrated with his second consecutive championship for car owners Doug and Annie Flurer.
Olenick equaled his best finish with third while Jared Umbenhauer outdueled Rick Laubach on the final lap to round out the top five.
The USS Achey Inc. 602 Crate Sportsman already had a champion as Lehighton’s Ryan Graver had clinched the previous race. But for Graver he wasn’t done there as he put an exclamation point on his championship season by winning yet another feature.
In very much the same fashion in which he did throughout the year, Graver used crafty moves to advance frontward and race his way to a division leading fifth win.
For much of the race it was in the hands of Aaron Weaver who maintained a solid lead over Jim O’Hara and Dakota Kohler.
Meanwhile, Graver was steadily advancing from his 10th-place starting position. On a lap-eight restart, he surged from seventh to third, but the move was erased when the restart was called back. Even so, the impressive charge made it clear that he was a serious contender.
As Weaver remained in control, following a caution with nine laps to go, Graver, who had been fifth, tucked in behind Brennan Chapman as both moved to second and third respectively. Those two then went side-by-side until lap 15 when Graver progressed to the runner-up spot and he wasn’t done there either. After overtaking Brennan, he immediately set his sights on Weaver. Two laps later, he made the race-winning move with an inside pass coming off Turn 2.
For Graver and his Monte Poole owned No. 17P he raced to five wins, a dozen top-5s and 14 top-10s, in 17 starts and all tops within the division.
Weaver’s strong second place performance was a season best finish. Chapman settled for third, points runner-up Zach Steffey was fourth, and O’Hara rounded out the top five which for him was also his best finish to date.
The Red White and Blue Autos Inc. Roadrunners running the annual Andrew Fayash Jr. Memorial Crazy 8s which was four eight-lap features, started out with a twist as the first race was run in the opposite direction. But despite the curveball thrown at the drivers they all performed exceptionally well.
Tod Roth Jr., led the way for the first four laps but he was having constant pressure from Joey Brennan of Minersville. That insistence on Roth made him yield up the lead to Brennan who then held off Alex Schofftsall for his fourth win of the year.
In the second eight, which was back to the normal direction, Chuck Fayash from Schuylkill Township took command from the get-go although Schoffstall and Brennan were hot on his heels. But running in a race in memory of his brother there was no giving in as he held solidly for his third win in the last six races.
When the third feature hit the track it became the Brennan and Brennan show. Elvin Brennan III jumped into the early lead and by lap four Joey Brennan began an intense side-by-side race with him. J. Brennan would win out on that very close battle and then go on to victory for the second time on the night.
In the finale “The Skook Bandit” Jonathan Trumbo of Landingville held off Schoffstall over the eight lap distance and earned himself a first win with the Roadrunners.
For Schoffstall he ended the night as the 2026 division champion and becomes an unprecedented 4-time title-holder with the Roadrunners.
In the Big Creek Concrete Rookie 602 Crate Sportsman feature Zach Moyer of York grabbed the lead from Blake Vidal with five laps to go and went on to notch his second win of the season.
Vidal had led from the drop of the initial green and was looking to pick up his career first triumph but fast moving Moyer was keeping close tabs on him and after a side-by-side dual he made the race winning move exiting Turn 4 on the completion of lap 10. He then stayed perfect the remaining laps en route to the checkers.
358 Modified finish (25 laps): 1. Loagan Watt, 2. Louden Reimert, 3. Kevin Olenick, 4. Jared Umbenhauer, 5. Rick Laubach, 6. Tim Buckwalter, 7. Jax Yohn, 8. Wayne Witmer, 9. Mike Lisowski, 10. Chris Espisito, 11. Rusty Smith, 12. Aleia Geisler, 13. Tim Fitzpatrick, 14. Cliff Quinn, 15. Kenny Hildebrandt, 16. Dave Disinger, 17. McKenzi Smith, 18. Kevin Beach Jr., 19. Ken Eckert Jr., 20. Zane Roth, 21. Alan Rudalavage, 22. Heath Metzger, 23. Corey Renninger
602 Crate Sportsman finish (20 laps): 1. Ryan Graver, 2. Aaron Weaver, 3. Brennan Chapman, 4. Zach Steffey, 5. Jim O’Hara, 6. Matt Martino, 7. Nick Hamm, 8. Devin Whitmoyer, 9. Scotty Heilman, 10. Kyle Kania, 11. Michael Samony, 12. Reice Widger, 14. Mason Harakel, 15. Matt Ney, 16. Tyler Vidal, 17. Kevin Fitzpatrick, 18. Joh Mitman, 19. Dakota Kohler, 20. Mike Espisito
1st Roadrunner finish (8 laps): 1. Joey Brennan, 2. Alex Schoffstall, 3. Andrew Buchinski, 4. Chuck Fayash, 5. Elvin Brennan III, 6. Glenn Rowan, 7. Tod Roth Jr., 8. TJ Fitzpatrick, 9. Terry Kramer, 10. Johnatan Trumbo, 11. Jesse Krasnitsky 12. Alex Ditzler
2nd Roadrunner finish (8 laps): 1. Fayash, 2. Schoffstall 3. J. Brennan, 4. Buchinski, 5. Brennan III, 6. Kramer, 7. Krasnitsky, 8. Trumbo, 9. Rowan, 10. Ditzler DNS: Roth Jr., Fitzpatrick
3rd Roadrunner finish (8 laps): 1. J. Brennan, 2. E. Brennan III, 3. Schoffstall, 4. Kramer, 5. Trumbo, 6. Fayash, 7. Krasnitsky DNS: Buchinski, Rowan, Trumbo, Fitzpatrick, Roth Jr., Ditzler
4th Roadrunner finish (8 laps): 1. Trumbo, 2. Schoffstall, 3. J. Brennan, 4. E. Brennan III, 5. Fayash, 6. Kramer DNS: Rowan, Krasnitsky, Fitzpatrick, Roth Jr., Buchinski, Ditzler
Rookie 602 Crate Sportsman finish (15 laps): 1. Zach Moyer, 2. Josh Metzler, 3. Tyler Chase, 4. Lucas Weil, 5. Nick Clemens, 6. Blake Vidal, 7. Payton Renninger, 8. Brandon Fidler, 9. Gage Phillips Jr.