FORESTVILLE - It seemed the toughest part of Jeff Strunk's night was remembering the victory lane routine.
After Strunk won Friday's 25-lap 358 modified feature at Big Diamond Speedway, he parked his No. 4 in victory lane - and suddenly left to head to the scales.
Finding his weight was legal, Strunk returned to accept the accolades for his first win at Big Diamond this season.
"We used to always do victory lane before the scales, so I guess they changed that," said the Boyertown resident, adding, "I've won 40-some races here and always went to victory lane first."
That section of Big Diamond's infield was a busy place Friday night.
In addition to Strunk, other visitors included 358 late model winner Sean Merkel and four winners of the roadrunners' Crazy 8s 8-lap features - Kris Ney, Tim Fitzpatrick Jr., T.J. Fitzpatrick and Jeremy Becker.
Strunk was driven by a need for redemption following a 24th-place finish the preceding week.
"We just got high in (turns) one and two and spun out, ended up getting collected there and messed the car up," Strunk said about his last Big Diamond appearance. "We got it all fixed up for this week, and it was real good."
Strunk led every lap after surging from the third starting spot to the front in the first two turns. His drive was interrupted by three caution flags and a brief red flag. The latter waved when Lou Cicconi Jr. drove his car into the infield. The car then caught fire, and Cicconi was able to exit as the track's fire crew extinguished the flames.
From there, Strunk held off Ray Swinehart, bidding for his second win, by 2.93 seconds. Kevin Smith placed third ahead of Duane Howard and points leader Rick Laubach.
Merkel, of Gilbertsville, dominated the 11-car 358 late model feature for his second win at Big Diamond.
"I talked to a modified driver earlier and he said, 'Run the bottom. There's grip there.' So I just stuck to the bottom," Merkel said.
Billy Wampler placed second ahead of Ben Whitaker, Scott Haus and Andy Haus.
No roadrunner driver could win more than one Crazy 8s feature, though Tim Fitzpatrick Jr. and Becker maintained their tie with three feature wins each in 2014.
The first three features all occurred around heat races for the other two divisions. After the first race's lineup was determined by a draw for starting spots, the feature winner drew inversions for the next race.
Ney, of Gordon, and Fitzpatrick Jr., of Branchdale, each won from the outside pole, while T.J. Fitzpatrick, of Tremont, won from the pole.
For Ney and T.J. Fitzpatrick, the victories were their first checkered flags at Big Diamond.
"It's only my second year in a roadrunner, so it feels damn good," Ney said.
T.J. Fitzpatrick noted he has been racing for six seasons before he won his first feature.
Added Fitzpatrick: "Doing it for a long job, learning on our own for the most part. Luckily, we were able to get it in victory lane."
Minersville's Joey Brennan received $50 and both oil and oil filters as the reward for the best average finish in the Crazy 8s. The runner-up in two races, he had a finishing average of 3.75.
Laubach, Kevin Albert Jr. and Bobby Varin won 358 modified heats and Shawn Fitzpatrick took the consolation. Merkel and Scott Haus took 358 late model qualifiers.
Big Diamond will host the 2nd Andy Fayash Memorial for sportsmen in next Friday's 8:15 p.m. program. The 358 modifieds and roadrunners also will compete.
Big Diamond Speedway
Friday's results
358 modifieds (25 laps) - 1. Jeff Strunk ($2,750), 2. Ray Swinehart, 3. Kevin Smith, 4. Duane Howard, 5. Rick Laubach, 6. Billy Pauch Jr. 7. Meme DeSantis, 8. John Willman, 9. Bobby Varin, 10. Kevin Albert Jr., 11. Kyle Follweiler, 12. Jared Umbenhauer, 13. Colt Harris, 14. Tim Fitzpatrick, 15. Joe Mooney, 16. Shawn Fitzpatrick, 17. Bobby Gunther Walsh, 18. Heath Metzger, 19. Brett Kressley, 20. Dan Hineline, 21. Frank Cozze, 22. Lou Cicconi Jr., 23. Jamie Spears, 24. Kent Reinert, 25. Craig Von Dohren, 26. Scott Albert.
358 late models (20 laps) - 1. Sean Merkel ($1,000), 2. Billy Wampler, 3. Ben Whitaker, 4. Scott Haus, 5. Andy Haus, 6. Steve Nederostek, 7. Danny Snyder, 8. Steve Weikel, 9. Bryon Sipe, 10. Jim O'Hara. DNS - Drew Weiser.
Roadrunners
Crazy 8s (Feature 1, 8 laps) - 1. Kris Ney, 2. Joey Brennan, 3. Shon Elk, 4. Terry Kramer Jr., 5. Jeremy Becker, 6. Chuck Eckert, 7. Jesse Krasnitsky, 8. Tom Hablett, 9. Tim Fitzpatrick Jr., 10. Devin Trexler, 11. Chris Holland, 12. Jim Kost, 13. Bruce Ditzler, 14. Joe Kavanaugh, 15. Jared Seigfried, 16. John Whyne, 17. T.J. Fitzpatrick, 18. Andrew Fayash Jr.
Crazy 8s (Feature 2, 8 laps) - 1. T. Fitzpatrick Jr., 2. Trexler, 3. Eckert, 4. Becker, 5. Kost, 6. Kramer, 7. Holland, 8. Brennan, 9. Elk, 10. Krasnitsky, 11. T.J. Fitzpatrick, 12. Seigfried, 13. Fayash, 14. Kavanaugh, 15. Ney, 16. Ditzler, 17. Hablett, 18. Whyne.
Crazy 8s (Feature 3, 8 laps) - 1. T.J. Fitzpatrick, 2. Brennan, 3. Holland, 4. Elk, 5. Kost, 6. Becker, 7. Krasnitsky, 8. Eckert, 9. Kramer, 10. T. Fitzpatrick Jr., 11. Ney, 12. Seigfried, 13. Kavanaugh, 14. Fayash, 15. Ditzler, 16. Trexler. DNS - Whyne, Hablett.
Crazy 8s (Feature 4, 8 laps) - 1. Becker, 2. Eckert, 3. Brennan, 4. Kost, 5. Elk, 6. Holland, 7. T.J. Fitzpatrick, 8. T. Fitzpatrick Jr., 9. Kramer, 10. Kavanaugh, 11. Seigfried, 12. Trexler, 13. Fayash, 14. Krasnitsky, 15. Ditzler, 16. Ney. DNS -Whyne, Hablett.