A longtime Big Diamond Speedway tradition continued Friday night as the annual Georgie Stevenson Memorial was held as part of B & H Landscaping Night, honoring the memory of a young race fan while helping another child facing a medical challenge.
The event, which honors Georgie Stevenson, a young racing enthusiast who passed away from cancer in 1979 at the age of 12, once again carried on its mission of giving back. This year’s guest of honor was 3-year-old Cason Kimmel and his family, who were presented with money raised during the event to help with medical expenses related to an upcoming surgery for Spastic Diplegic Cerebral Palsy.
On the track, the BQ Concrete 358 Modifieds highlighted the night with twin 20-lap, $2,000-to-win features. It proved to be a memorable evening for Stroudsburg’s Heath Metzger, who captured his first career Modified victory at Big Diamond Speedway, while current points leader Louden Reimert of Oley added to his impressive season with his fourth victory of the year in the second feature.
Metzger started from the pole in the opening feature and quickly took control in a caution-free race that was completed in just six minutes and six seconds.
While Metzger built a comfortable advantage early, Jax Yohn and Rick Laubach battled behind him for second. Laubach eventually moved past Yohn after a dozen laps and began closing the gap on Metzger.
With three laps remaining, Laubach had cut into the lead and was within striking distance. On the final lap, Laubach pressured Metzger through the closing corners, but Metzger held his line and crossed the finish line first to secure the milestone victory.
“This has been a long time coming, 10-plus years and I got some really good people who help me out and finally things are turning the right way,” Metzger said after the win.
“I heard someone tucking up underneath me coming into (turns) one and two and wasn’t sure who it was, so I was trying to get to the bottom on the last two laps and just protect the line and hope that we could pull it off,” he added.
The second Modified feature saw the top 12 inverted, putting Alan Rudalavage and Mike Gular on the front row. After an early caution involving Rudalavage and another restart following a Corey Renninger spin, Reimert took advantage.
After Tim Buckwalter briefly challenged for the lead, Reimert used the outside lane on the restart to gain momentum and take command. From there, Reimert controlled the remainder of the race on his way to his fourth win of the season and second consecutive victory.
“These races are always tough, and you never know what hand you’re going to get dealt for the second feature when you have an invert, but it played in our favor after a couple of wild opening laps there and that was that,” Reimert said.
In the USS Achey Inc. Sportsman feature, Lehighton’s Ryan Graver charged from the ninth starting position and took the lead by lap four.
Early in the race, Aaron Weaver, Tajae Adams, and Bryan Rhoades battled for position before Graver moved into contention. Following a lap two restart, Graver climbed to second and soon worked past Weaver for the lead.
Bryce Bashore later moved into second and challenged Graver throughout the closing laps. The two made contact late in the race in Turn 4, causing Graver’s car to slide, but he recovered and held on to reach the checkered flag first.
Following the race, however, a protest was filed against Graver’s car. His engine was removed for inspection and evaluation, with the final outcome pending.
The Red White and Blue Autos Inc. Roadrunner feature went to Llewellyn’s Alex Schoffstall, who took the lead following a complete restart and never looked back. Chuck Fayash recovered from an early spin to finish second.
The Infinite Solutions Keystone Sport Compact Series produced another first-time winner as Dalmatia’s Bruce Long captured his first career victory.
The 20-lap feature ran caution-free and featured a race-long battle between Long and Larry Eck. Eck led from lap two, but Long stayed within reach as the two traded pressure throughout the event.
The final lap provided the biggest moment as Eck and Long encountered slower traffic entering the final corner. Contact between the leaders caused Eck to slide sideways, while Long maintained control and drove away with his first victory. Brian Moyer moved into second, while Eck recovered to finish third.
Information contributed by Dino Oberto
1st Modified Feature Finish (20 Laps)
| Position | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Heath Metzger |
| 2 | Rick Laubach |
| 3 | Jax Yohn |
| 4 | Kevin Beach Jr. |
| 5 | Mike Lisowski |
| 6 | Kevin Olenick |
| 7 | Brandon Edgar |
| 8 | Duane Howard |
| 9 | Louden Reimert |
| 10 | Tim Buckwalter |
| 11 | Mike Gular |
| 12 | Alan Rudalavage |
| 13 | Chris Esposito |
| 14 | Corey Renninger |
| 15 | Logan Watt |
| 16 | Wayne Witmer |
| 17 | McKenzi Smith |
| 18 | Hunter Metzger |
| DNS | Aliea Geisler |
2nd Modified Feature Finish (20 Laps)
| Position | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Louden Reimert |
| 2 | Tim Buckwalter |
| 3 | Duane Howard |
| 4 | Brandon Edgar |
| 5 | Mike Lisowski |
| 6 | Jax Yohn |
| 7 | Rick Laubach |
| 8 | Logan Watt |
| 9 | Chris Esposito |
| 10 | McKenzi Smith |
| 11 | Hunter Metzger |
| 12 | Wayne Witmer |
| 13 | Corey Renninger |
| 14 | Alan Rudalavage |
| 15 | Mike Gular |
| 16 | Kevin Beach Jr. |
| 17 | Heath Metzger |
| 18 | Kevin Olenick |
| DNS | Aliea Geisler |
Unofficial 602 Crate Sportsman Finish (20 Laps)
| Position | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Graver |
| 2 | Bryce Bashore |
| 3 | Nate Brinker |
| 4 | Bryan Rhoades |
| 5 | Shawn Light |
| 6 | Trevor Bixlor |
| 7 | Aaron Weaver |
| 8 | Tajae Adams |
| 9 | Reice Widger |
| 10 | Tyler Vidal |
| 11 | Brayden Shelton |
| 12 | Ed Mrochko |
| 13 | Zach Steffey |
| 14 | Mike Schneck Jr. |
| 15 | Payton Renninger |
| 16 | Matt Martino |
| 17 | Nick Hamm |
| 18 | Mark Behm |
| 19 | Ken Eckert Jr. |
| 20 | Kevin Smith |
| 21 | Michael Samony |
| 22 | Dakota Kohler |
| 23 | Kevin Fitzpatrick |
Roadrunners Finish (20 Laps)
| Position | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Schoffstall |
| 2 | Chuck Fayash |
| 3 | Joey Brennan |
| 4 | Brian Johnson |
| 5 | Jim Kost |
| 6 | Terry Kramer |
| 7 | Eric Buchinski |
| 8 | Andrew Buchinski |
4-Cylinder Finish (20 Laps)
| Position | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Bruce Long |
| 2 | Brian Moyer |
| 3 | Larry Eck |
| 4 | Ian Whitcomb |
| 5 | Andrew Keefer |
| 6 | Adam Kratzer |
| 7 | Rick Jennings |
| 8 | Kelly Flemming |
| 9 | Kelly Frantz |
| 10 | Nathan Keim |
| 11 | Roger Kummerer |
| 12 | Josh Bitner |
| 13 | Eric Spangler |
| 14 | Vincent Wullyung |
| 15 | Clay Wolluyung |
| 16 | Landon Pyle |