BY KEN BRUCE – It was a very successful weekend for Big Diamond Speedway as they push forward to opening day this coming Friday, April 12th.
First up was the Parade of Power taking place in the town of Minersville, PA on Saturday. Many of the Big Diamond competitors participated in showing off their new racecars for the upcoming 2024 season. Winners of the Parade of Power Best in Show awards went to: Modified – #EZ102 of Shawn Fitzpatrick/Ryan Watt, Crate 602 – #333 of Johnny McGeoy and Roadrunner – #1 of Jarod Bassininsky. Thank you to everyone who helped in putting the Parade of Power together and to those teams that participated.
Sunday was practice day as the speedway gates swung open for the first time in 2024. Bright sunny skies and a cool wind greeted the over 60 teams that brought their racecars to get on the track for the first time in hopes of dialing them in for the season.
The bulk of the participants for practice were of course the track’s four main divisions, the Quandel Concrete Modiifieds, the USS Achey Crate 602 Sportsman, the Red White and Blue Autos Roadrunners and the Big Creek Concrete Rookie Crates. Other divisions that were represented were 410 Sprints, Wingless Sportsman, SpeedStr, Limited Late Models, Enduro’s and Vintage car.
Nick Rochinski, Matt Yoder and Brandon Edgar each were fastest in the modified sessions. Kevin Olenick led two of the three Crate 602 Sportsman sessions with Nick Desantis topping the charts in the other. It was not a surprise that Alex Schoffstall and Chuck Fayash were fastest in all but one of the four Roadrunner test sessions. CJ Ferguson was fastest in the other.
A great group of Crate 602 Rookies were on hand getting their feet wet for the first time at Big Diamond. Chrstopher Buffalino, Scottie Heilman and Teague Miller were fastest in their respective test sessions.
Ryan Watt, on hand testing the EZ102 for the Fitzpatrick Racing group said the track was super smooth and is looking forward to opening night this Friday.
Another modified driver I spoke to was Brandon Edgar. Edgar said he was happy with how his practice went although with the sun and wind, the track went away pretty quickly but is very much looking forward to opening night when the track will have more juice in it.
With all the preseason activities completed, it is now time to get the 2024 season underway next Friday, April 12th with the second annual Thaw Brawl. $4,052 winners share for the Quandel Concrete Modifieds, $1,052 winner’s share for the USS Achey Crate Sportsman and $452 to the winner of the Red White and Blue Autos Roadrunner feature. Look for the Big Diamond 2024 opening day release in the next couple of days.
PHOTO: DINO OBERTO