FORESTVILLE - Add "Georgie Stevenson Memorial winner" to the list of accomplishments in the storied career of Meme DeSantis.
DeSantis took the lead from Doug Manmiller on Lap 14 and never faltered, claiming his first Georgie Stevenson Memorial victory in front of a near capacity crowd at Big Diamond Speedway on Friday evening.
Manmiller bolted into the lead from his pole starting spot, followed closely by Billy Pauch Jr. Pauch Jr. retired early from the event, handing second place over to DeSantis, who immediately started pressuring Manmiller using the extreme outside lane.
Lap after lap, Desantis pulled even in the turns, only to have Manmiller inch ahead on the straightaways.
The complexion of the race changed dramatically on Lap 14 when Manmiller hooked bumpers while trying to negotiate a lapped car, slowing his momentum for just a moment. This slight hiccup allowed DeSantis to overtake Manmiller for the lead, with Manmiller dropping all the way back to sixth.
A huge pileup between Turns 1 and 2 brought out the red flag on Lap 16, as the track was completely blocked from the number of cars involved.
On the restart, DeSantis took the outside lane and continued to use the high groove to lead over second place Craig Von Dohren and Jeff Strunk in third.
With less than five laps to go, the leaders entered lapped traffic, which allowed Von Dohren to pull within a car length or two of DeSantis. Von Dohren never made a serious bid for the lead, and DeSsantis crossed the stripe first for his first win of the season at Big Diamond and 26th of his career.
Von Dohren came home second. Strunk held on for third, followed by Manmiller and Ray Swinehart.
In the 20-lap USS Achey Sportsman feature, defending point champion Doug Hendricks took the lead from his pole starting position and was never really challenged, leading all 20 laps to score his first win of the season.
Billy Moyer Jr. nipped Shawn Light at the line for second, with Light finishing a season-best third. Kevin Beach Jr. was fourth followed by Mike Lisowski.
Jeremy Becker scored his second win of the season in the Savage 61 Roadrunners after a race-long battle with Glenn "Buckshot" Rowan, and Chris Holland.
As is the norm with the roadrunner division, the outcome was never decided until the final turn, with Becker crossing the line barely a car length ahead of Holland, who just inched out Rowan for second.
Big Diamond Speedway
Friday's results
358 Modified Georgie Stevenson Memorial (33 laps)
1) Meme DeSantis ($3,300) 2) Craig Von Dohren 3) Jeff Strunk 4) Doug Manmiller 5) Ray Swinehart 6) Ricky Yetter 7) Tim Buckwalter 8) Kevin Smith 9) Dale Hartz 10) Andy Burkhart 11) Bobby Gunther Walsh 12) Jim Bobbitt Jr. 13) Kevin Albert Jr. 14) Dan Hineline 15) John Willman 16) Shawn Fitzpatrick 17) Nick Desantis 18) Kyle Borror 19) Craig Whitmoyer 20) Ron Haring Jr. 21) Mike Mamanna 22) Eric Biehn 23) Brad Arnold 24) Justin Grim 25) Billy Pauch Jr. 26) Frank Cozze DNQ) Blaine Bracelin, Donny Hartz, Tom Umbenhauer, Duane Howard
Sportsman (20 laps)
1) Doug Hendricks 2) Billy Moyer Jr. 3) Shawn Light 4) Kevin Beach Jr. 5) Mike Lisowski 6) Joe Mooney 7) Ray Woodall Jr. 8) Corey Renninger 9) Robin Schultz 10) Tim Fitzpatrick 11) Wayne Witmer 12) Charles Fayash 13) Todd Huffman 14) Jared Seigfried 15) Chad Putalavage 16) Jared Umbenhauer 17) Harry Landis 18) Josh Hertzog DNS) Mark Herman
Roadrunners (20 laps)
1) Jeremy Becker 2) Chris Holland 3) Glenn Rowan 4) Kyle Killian 5) Ricky Bender 6) Tim Spesak 7) Terry Kramer Jr. 8) John Whyne 9) Tim Fitzpatrick Jr. 10) Jim Kost 11) Kris Ney 12) Devin Trexler 13) TJ Fitzpatrick 14) Shon Elk 15) Alan Renninger 16) Jesse Krasnitsky 17) Marc Berzowski 18) Dave Miller 19) Neil Bressler DQ) Joey Brennan DNS) Charlene Lisowski, Joe Kavanaugh
XCEL 600 Modifieds (20 laps)
Richie Hitzler