By Dino Oberto
(Minersville, PA 5-29-26) Through the first eight races of the season defending Big Diamond Speedway 358 Modified champion Louden Reimert of Oley has been very fast and consistently reeling off strong finishes, but although he’s shown plenty of quickness, he’s only credited with leading a single feature lap, however, it was the one that counted most.
On BQ Concrete Night Reimert inherited the top spot with one lap to go and then held off a valiant charge by Tim Buckwalter to earn his first win here of 2026.
Reimert was headed for a strong finish, but not necessarily a victory as Rick Laubach held a commanding lead late in the race. That changed dramatically on the final lap. Entering the last corner, Tim Fitzpatrick was just ahead of Laubach when his car suddenly stepped sideways. With nowhere to go, Laubach made contact with Fitzpatrick, and both cars came to a stop, opening the door for then runner-up Reimert to take over the lead.
That would set up a one lap dash to the checkers between Reimert and Buckwalter. With just enough power to get the job done Reimert scored the victory with the Doug and Annie Flurer owned No. 15.
“First and foremost, I have to say that I feel horrible for Rick (Laubach) and that’s a super tough deal coming out of (turn) four to the checkered, that was tough and he obviously had the car to beat tonight. But unfortunately, stuff like that happens and we were at the right place at the right time,” said Reimert who notched his 10th career Big Diamond Speedway win.
“That last lap of the race was probably the hardest lap I ran because I know just how these things go and as everyone saw you don’t know what happens until you come across that finish line and you have to be on your toes for a restart like that because whoever is beside you or behind you is going to do whatever it takes to win.”
At the outset Aleia Geisler took control of the early lead ahead of Cliff Quinn and Laubach but no sooner was the first lap run than the race was halted when Logan Watt took a wild tumble in Turn 3. Thankfully, he walked away unscathed.
On the restart Laubach wasted no time as he quickly moved past Quinn, then slipped by Geisler to take the lead. From there he stretched his advantage during a long green-flag run and steadily pulled away from the field.
While Laubach continued to lead comfortably, Geisler held firm in second and kept Buckwalter at bay until the midway point. Reimert then worked his way past Geisler as well, setting up an intense battle with Buckwalter before securing second place with 10 laps remaining and the pair would remain locked in a fierce battle from there on.
“Timmy ran me clean,” said Reimert, who thanks to his win has assumed the point’s lead.
“The car has been really consistent, and we’ve had some different track conditions over the first part of the season here and it’s been steadily fast and hats off to my guys who all work hard to get this car fast and where it needs to be and it’s finally paying off.”
Last week’s winner Jax Yohn came from 17th to third while Cody Manmiller and Mike Liswoski rounded out the top five.
What a year this is turning out to be for Kevin Fitzpatrick of Branch Dale who is proving to be “The Real Deal.” In a matter of five starts, amazingly he’s won four times.
Fitzpatrick started out the season in the Big Creek Concrete Rookie 602 Crate Sportsman class and reeled off three straight wins which then elevated him into the regular USS Achey Inc. Sportsman division.
Qualifying for just the second time, Fitzpatrick looked like a natural among a strong field of veteran drivers. After taking the lead from Tyler Vidal following a lap one restart, Fitzpatrick then held his stance the rest of the way in claiming his first win with the regular Sportsman.
His effort came hard-earned too as Zach Steffey and Matt Martino made him work hard for the win. Several times Steffey made valid attempts to get by and most of those tries saw Martino tagging closely along. But Fitzpatrick was able to maintain a consistent line of defense which enabled him to keep his lead and go on to score the popular verdict.
In the Red White and Blue Autos Inc. Roadrunners Alex Schoffstall of Llewellyn motored to an unprecedented division record-extending 40th career win.
And to say that it was hard-fought would be a huge understatement as he worked tirelessly to get the lead from Joe Bassininisky while also having to fend off Mike Reichert at the same time. But in typical Schoffstall style he remained focused and zeroed in on Bassininsky, looking for just the right moment to make his move.
With the laps winding down Schoffstall finally made his race winning maneuver with three laps to go, passing Bassininsky and then going on the record the remarkable feat of 40 class wins.
The Infinite Solutions Group Keystone Sport Compact Series made their second appearance of the season and Brian Moyer of Reading would claim the win, but it came as a bit of a surprise.
With three laps remaining, the race was stopped after one car rolled over and several others were caught up in the incident. During the stoppage, then-leader Ian Whitcomb suddenly pulled off, handing the lead to Moyer. Moyer then held on over the final laps to finish ahead of Gary Grimm and Andrew Keefer and claim the unexpected victory.
358 Modified finish (25 laps): 1. Louden Reimert, 2. Tim Buckwalter, 3. Jax Yohn, 4. Cody Manmiller, 5. Mike Lisowski, 6. Brandon Edgar, 7. Aleia Gesiler, 8. Kevin Beach Jr., 9. Kevin Olenick, 10. Heath Metzger, 11. Cliff Quinn, 12. Mark Gaugler, 13. Hunter Meztger, 14. Rick Laubach, 15. Tim Fitzpatrick, 16. Mike Burrows, 17. Corey Renninger, 18. Wayne Witmer, 19. Logan Watt DNS: Jimmy Leiby
602 Crate Sportsman finish (20 Laps): 1. Kevin Fitzpatrick, 2. Zach Steffey, 3. Matt Martino, 4. Dakota Kohler, 5. Nick Hamm, 6. Ryan Graver, 7. Brennan Chapman, 8. Mike Schneck Jr., 9. Trevor Bixler, 10. Ryan Conrad, 11. Tajae Adams, 12. Devin Whitmoyer, 13. Zach Moyer, 14. Tyler Vidal, 15. Jim O’Hara, 16. Mason Harakel, 17. Aaron Weaver, 18. Ed Mrochko, 19. Reice Widger, 20. Mark Behm, 21. Kevin Smith, 22. McKenzi Smith, DNS: Dennis Graber
Roadrunner finish (20 laps): 1. Alex Schoffstall, 2. Joe Bassininsky, 3. Mike Reichert, 4. Jarod Bassininsky, 5. Andrew Buchinski, 6. Tod Roth Jr., 7. Jim Kost, 8. Joey Brennan, 9. TJ Fitzpatrick, 10. Brian Johnson 12. Eric Bichinski
Sport Compact finish (20 laps): 1. Brian Moyer, 2. Gary Grimm, 3. Andrew Keefer, 4. Nathan Keim, 5. Eric Spangler, 6. Landon Pyle, 7. Rick Jennings, 8. Delanna Rehbein, 9. Josh Bittner, 10. Rob Weil, 11. Ian Whitcomb, 12. Vince Wollyung, 13. Adam Kratzer, 14. Kelly Frantz, 15. Larry Eck, 16. Rob Pyle