FORESTVILLE — The words “once in a blue moon” were never more appropriate than Friday night at Big Diamond Speedway.
On a night with that celestial occurrence, the rare second full moon in the same month, five drivers scored their first wins at Big Diamond in their divisions.
“It’s been exactly 21 years to the day since I won a race a Penn National,” said Albert, winner of the 358 modified feature, referring to the now defunct speedway in Grantville, which hosted his last victory.
Albert led all 25 laps.
The other first-time winners Friday night were Orwigsburg’s Tyler Reeser in the Tri-State RaceSaver 305 sprints, Brockton’s Charles Fayash in roadrunners, Palm’s Bob Wink in the enduro dash and Friedensburg’s Jim Somers Jr. in street stocks.
In the 358 modified feature, Albert got the benefit of 18 green-flag laps to close the race. His lap times were slowing in lapped traffic as the race concluded.
“I’ve had issues with the power steering over the past two weeks, and it was acting up again,” Albert said. “If somebody had gotten beside me, I’d have had trouble racing side-by-side with somebody.”
The winner’s check came at the right time for Albert.
“We were about out of money. We were week to week,” he said. “This will keep us going for a while and it’s just a huge pick-up for everybody involved.”
Colt Harris, who inherited second place when Justin Grim’s car broke on the seventh lap, finished in that spot. Kyle Follweiler was third ahead of Kevin Beach Jr. and Duane Howard.
Leading every lap from the outside pole, Reeser scored his seventh career 305 sprint victory, but his first at Big Diamond, located 20 minutes by car from his home.
“We’re definitely on a roll,” he said after his fifth win of 2015. “We’ve got all three things. I’m in the right mentality, the car’s hooked up, and I’ve got a great crew behind me.”
New York driver Joe Kata III placed second ahead of Stephanie Stevens-Dodson, Mike Haggenbottom and Adam Carberry.
Fayash, who earlier this season won a sportsman feature, used his night off from that division to step into Andrew Fayash III’s No. 157 roadrunner.
“My nephew (Andy) had to go to Florida for a little work and said I could take it out for a spin,” Charles Fayash said.
With three laps remaining, Fayash passed race leader Jesse Krasnitsky and held off track points leader Jim Kost for his first roadrunner victory in his first time in the car.
About the winning pass, Fayash said, “I thought I’m driving it down into (Turns) 3 and 4, and he (Krasnitsky) got ahead of me. He pushed (up the track) again and I went under him.”
Krasnitsky settled for third place ahead of T.J. Fitzpatrick and Terry Kramer Jr.
Winning from the outside pole, Somers, who last took a feature in 2007 at Selinsgrove Speedway, completed a goal with his triumph in Friday’s street stock feature.
Breaking a two-race win streak by points leader Jasen Geesaman, Somers said, “I lost my dad three years ago. He used to come to the races with me. He was actually Big Diamond 1979 late model champion.
“So when I heard they opened street stocks here, I knew I had to come up here and try to get a win for him.”
Rich Bossinger took second spot ahead of Chris Derr, Mike Radocha and Jeremy Becker.
Wink took the lead in the 60-lap enduro dash when he and race leader Chuck Detweiler collided on the 41st lap to send Detweiler into a spin.
But Detweiler rallied from nearly one-half lap down to nearly catch Wink at the finish. Chuck Keeley was third ahead of Gary Landis and Ryan Berger.
In heat action, Albert and Harris took 358 modified qualifiers. Shon Elk and Krasnitsky won roadrunner heats. Geesaman took the street stock heat.
The TSRS 305 sprint heats were won by Bill Jones Jr., Tim Tanner Jr. and Kata.
A moment of silence was held prior to the program after two deaths during the week. Gino Dinatale, the 16-month-old son of 358 modified driver Mario Dinatale, was recognized along with Mike Bailey, a 358 modified driver who died after he was stricken before a race last Tuesday at Grandview Speedway, Bechtelsville.
Drivers conducted a helmet drive through the stands to benefit both families.
Big Diamond will host 358 modifieds, roadrunners and 600cc modifieds next Friday in an 8:15 p.m. program. The “FANdemonium” promotion includes free grandstand admission.
Big Diamond Speedway Friday’s results
Tri-State RaceSaver 305 sprints (20 laps) —1. Tyler Reeser, 2. Joe Kata III, 3. Stephanie Stevens-Dodson, 4. Mike Haggenbottom, 5. Adam Carberry, 6. Scott Ellerman, 7. Tim Tanner Jr., 8. Joe Kay, 9. Erin Statler, 10. Jason Rochelle, 11. Karl Freyer, 12. Keith Anderson, 13. Tony Smolenyak, 14. Alex Potosky, 15. Darren Miller, 16. Bill Jones Jr., 17. Zach Burd, 18. John Martin, 19. Terry Schaeffer, 20. Mike Esposito, 21. Samantha Lieberman, 22. Cody Flach, 23. Jonathan Jones
358 modifieds (25 laps) —1. Scott Albert, 2. Colt Harris, 3. Kyle Follweiler, 4. Kevin Beach Jr., 5. Duane Howard, 6. Rick Laubach, 7. Andy Burkhart, 8. Billy Pauch Jr., 9. John Willman, 10. Ray Swinehart, 11. Meme DeSantis, 12. Joe Mooney, 13. Steve Searock IV, 14. Heath Metzger, 15. Shawn Fitzpatrick, 16. Paul Moyer, 17. Kent Reinert, 18. Jim Bobbitt Jr., 19. Justin Grim, 20. Jared Umbenhauer
Roadrunners (20 laps) —1. Charles Fayash, 2. Jim Kost, 3. Jesse Krasnitsky, 4. T.J. Fitzpatrick, 5. Terry Kramer Jr., 6. Devin Trexler, 7. Elvin Brennan, 8. Tim Fitzpatrick Jr., 9. Chris Natale, 10. Shon Elk, 11. T.J. Kennedy, 12. Tim Spesak, 13. Chris Reichert, 14. Chris Holland, 15. Dave Long Jr., 16. Andrew Buchinski, 17. Bruce Ditzler, 18. Jon Schlauch, 19. Kris Ney
Street stocks (20 laps) —1. Jim Somers Jr., 2. Rich Bossinger, 3. Chris Derr, 4. Mike Radocha, 5. Jeremy Becker, 6. Dave Kamp, 7. Jasen Geesaman
Enduro (60 laps) —1. Bob Wink, 2. Chuck Detweiler, 3. Chuck Keeley, 4. Gary Landis, 5. Ryan Berger, 6. Chris Angstadt, 7. Robert Willman