Big Diamond Speedway hosted the third night of the Yokohama Tire Eastern Storm Presented by Levan Machine & Truck Equipment on Friday, featuring the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship and the BQ Concrete 358 Modifieds. Both feature events produced first-time winners at the track, with California's Mitchel Moles and Pottstown's Tim Buckwalter each earning long-awaited victories.
Moles, of Raisin City, California, captured the USAC Sprint Car feature and the accompanying $6,000 payday after previously finishing runner-up during the last two Eastern Storm appearances at Big Diamond.
Starting alongside pole sitter Chase Stockon, Moles quickly grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag and established an early advantage over Justin Grant, Stockon, Kevin Thomas Jr. and Brady Bacon.
While Moles controlled the race out front, the battle behind him intensified. Briggs Danner and Kevin Thomas Jr. traded positions in an entertaining side-by-side duel before Danner moved past Thomas and set his sights on Grant and Stockon.
By the halfway mark, Moles held a comfortable lead before a caution on lap 19 for a spin involving Olivia Thayer tightened the field. On the restart, Moles maintained command while Danner charged past Grant to take second.
Despite the challenge, Moles was flawless over the closing laps and secured his first career Big Diamond Speedway USAC victory and his first triumph on the Eastern Storm tour.
Brady Bacon, Justin Grant and Chase Stockon rounded out the top five.
"It feels good to finally get one of these at Eastern Storm," said Moles. "I told Logan (Seavey), I think it was two years ago, 'man, I really want to win here.' It's got a hell of a crowd and it's in the middle of nowhere. It's kind of the stuff I like."
The 358 Modified feature, paying $3,000 to win, provided plenty of excitement as Buckwalter held off points leader Louden Reimert in a thrilling battle to claim his first victory of the season at Big Diamond after four runner-up finishes.
The race opened with a three-wide battle involving Corey Renninger, Cliff Quinn and Tim Fitzpatrick, with Quinn emerging as the early leader.
A restart on lap two allowed Buckwalter, who started sixth, to quickly move into contention. He advanced to third, then second, before using the outside groove to take the lead on lap five.
Fitzpatrick soon challenged Buckwalter and briefly led on lap nine, but Buckwalter regained the top spot exiting turn two. At the same time, Reimert moved into second and began applying pressure.
For the remainder of the race, Buckwalter and Reimert engaged in a fierce duel, with Reimert searching for an opening while Buckwalter protected the bottom lane aboard the Weller Motorsports No. 942.
Buckwalter's patience paid off as he held on over the final 13 laps to score the breakthrough victory.
"It feels great to finally get one and just for Dennis and Donna Weller for trusting in me to run this car," said Buckwalter. "We've had a lot of speed, but it seemed that we just couldn't knock the door down."
Buckwalter admitted he nearly gave the race away before settling into a defensive strategy against Reimert.
"Once Louden showed us his nose I just had to slow down and be patient and that's what we did for the last 13 laps," he said. "I knew he was there and he's just so good this year around the bottom and I knew that's where I had to stay on those closing laps."
Duane Howard finished third after moving into the position on lap 14. Logan Watt held off Mike Lisowski to complete the top five.
Both Moles and Buckwalter left Big Diamond Speedway with milestone victories, ending lengthy stretches of near-misses in front of a packed Eastern Storm crowd.
Contributed by Dino Oberto, Big Diamond Speedway.
USAC Sprint Car Results (30 Laps)
| Finish | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Mitchel Moles |
| 2 | Briggs Danner |
| 3 | Brady Bacon |
| 4 | Justin Grant |
| 5 | Chase Stockon |
| 6 | Robert Ballou |
| 7 | Kyle Cummins |
| 8 | Jake Swanson |
| 9 | Hayden Reinbold |
| 10 | Ricky Lewis |
| 11 | Cale Coons |
| 12 | Christian Bruno |
| 13 | Steven Dreviki |
| 14 | CJ Leary |
| 15 | Kevin Thomas Jr. |
| 16 | Charles Davis Jr. |
| 17 | Ronald Helmick |
| 18 | James Turnbull |
| 19 | Olivia Thayer |
| 20 | Logan Seavey |
| 21 | Dirk Rimrott |
358 Modified Results (25 Laps)
| Finish | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Tim Buckwalter |
| 2 | Louden Reimert |
| 3 | Duane Howard |
| 4 | Logan Watt |
| 5 | Mike Lisowski |
| 6 | Mike Gular |
| 7 | Tim Fitzpatrick |
| 8 | Chris Esposito |
| 9 | Kevin Beach Jr. |
| 10 | WB James |
| 11 | Jax Yohn |
| 12 | Kevin Olenick |
| 13 | Mike Laise |
| 14 | McKenzi Smith |
| 15 | Chris Jenkins |
| 16 | Ron Haring Jr. |
| 17 | Cliff Quinn |
| 18 | Corey Renninger |
| 19 | Rock Laubach |
| 20 | Wayne Witmer |
| 21 | Brandon Edgar |
| DNS | Hunter Metzger |
| DNS | Heath Metzger |