Bouc, Whitmoyer win Coalcracker features
A strong field of 358 Modifieds were on hand on Sept. 2 at the Big Diamond Speedway as Jack Rich, Inc. presented the annual Coalcracker 72. When it was all said and done it was invader Danny Bouc taking home the big $10,000 first place prize.
“Man, I had to really work for that one,” said a very happy Bouc in victory lane. “The track was really hammer down up top and that’s me and once I got out front I knew I had to just hit my marks and I knew it was going to be tough for them guys to get around me. That trophy is pretty cool, but the check is what I really want so I can pay some bills.”
In the 20-lap USS Achey Sportsman feature it was once again young Alex Yankowski, 14, putting his stamp on the track championship by winning the race and the 2018 points title.
In the Coalcracker 72, Yankowski led the field through lap 23 until Buoc wrestled away the lead. The mandatary fuel break stopped the race on lap 40 giving all the drivers a chance to get out of the cars and take a breath to get ready for the last 32 circuits. The running order at the fuel break saw Bouc leading the way with Godown, Pauch Jr, Yankowski and Howard the top five.
When the race resumed it was Bouc once again taking command as he opened up a small advantage over Godown. Von Dohren was now into fifth and starting to make his move as he worked his way past Howard setting his sights on Pauch Jr. The next stoppage was on lap 57 as Strunk slowed to bring out the yellow as he headed for the pits.
The restart is where Godown made his move as he pulled up alongside Bouc coming out of four but Bouc never wavered and held off the veteran going into turn one to keep the lead. Von Dohren who had gotten by Pauch Jr was now putting the pressure on Godown and at one point slid under him only to have Godown cross back over to take the spot back. This was exactly what Bouc wanted to see as he was able to open up a small lead while they battled it out for second behind him. The last yellow of the race was thrown on lap 57 when the fourth-place car of Pauch Jr stopped in turn two with an apparent flat tire.
Bouc would have to have the restart of his life as now he had the track’s big three in Godown, Von Dohren and Howard all right behind him. However, Bouc was not fazed and hit the restart perfectly to grab the lead once again with Godown directly behind him just waiting for a mistake. It did not happen as Bouc hit his marks to perfection each and every lap to stay in front and take the biggest win of his career. Godown drove a great race to finish second with Mike Gular who pitted after the fuel break to replace a leaking left rear tire making a remarkable comeback to finish third just getting by Howard on the last lap. Howard finished fourth with Ryan Krachun in fifth. David Hunt crossed the finish line in fifth but was scored a lap down from earlier. Craig Von Dohren had multiple issues in the last few laps going over the cushion a couple times and even almost going flipping to finish out of the top ten.
“After the night we had last night (at New Egypt) this is just awesome,” said Bouc. “This is exactly what we needed, I’ve been up since 7:30am this morning hammering away on this car after last night. It was a great race, Ryan (Godown) is tough wherever we go, he ran me clean and I knew I had to hit my marks to keep him behind me. I couldn’t have done any of this without my crew and my sponsors and I can’t thank them enough.” Results Jack Rich Coalcracker 9/2/18 The Jack Rich Coalcracker 72 was won by Danny Bouc followed by Ryan Godown, Mike Gular, Duane Howard, Ryan Krachun, Ryan Watt, Tim Buckwalter, Shawn Fitzpatrick, Louden Reimert, Rick Laubach, John Willman, Craig VonDohren, Scott Albert, Alex Yankowski and David Hunt. Did not finish were Billy Pauch Jr, Jeff Strunk, Mike Lisowski, Brett Kressley, Brian Papiez, Jared Umbenhauer, Gary Hager, Wade Hendrickson and Frank Yankowski. Did not qualify were Skylar Sheriff, Kevin Beach, Wayne Witmer, Cliff Quinn, Brandon Grosso, Meme DeSantis, Matt Stangle, Brad Arnold, Heath Metzger, Bobby Gunther Walsh and Dan Hineline. The modified heats were won by Duane Howard, Craig Von Dohren, Ryan Watt, and Rick Laubach. The consolation races were won by Brett Kressley and Scott Albert. The U.S.S. Achey final points race was won by champion Alex Yankowski followed by Cale Ross, Wayne Witmer, Ray Woodall, Tim Fitzpatrick, Kody Sites, Mike Schneck, Ed Mrochko, Gary Grim, Marty Resnick and Chris Brennan. Did not finish were Daryl Dissinger, Jeremy Hertzog, Craig Whitmoyer, David Burns, Doug Hendricks, Ryan Godown Jr, Nate Klinger, Dakota Kohler and Shawn Light. Did not start was Blake Reber and disqualified was Kris Lilick. The sportsman heats were won by Doug Hendricks and Alex Yankowski. The Savage 61 Road Runner division was won by Kris Ney followed by Mike Reichert, Chris Holland, Matt Ney, Terry Kramer Jr, Fred Everly, Shon Elk and Joey Brennan. Did not finish were Jim Kost, Nate Hill, Kyle Dice, Cory Lindenmuth and Shawn Mulhall. The Excel 600 modified division was won by DJ Hunt followed by Sam Scicchitano, Geoffrey Sutton, Hunter Deihl, Korey Inglin, Gabby Meixell, Dakota Kohler, Ray Gradwell, Steve Sterner, Madyson Pachinko, Grant Schibilia and Shawna Schibilia. Did not finish were Travis Fichter, Keith Inglin, Brian Blankenbiller and Richie Hitzler.
Coalcracker 40
With rain all around the speedway, the management of Big Diamond Speedway pushed on with the once rained out Friday night portion of Coalcracker weekend to close out the 2018 season at the 4/10’s mile dirt oval.
The USS Achey Sportsman division was the headliner on the evening at they took part in the Leindecker Race Engines 40 lap main event with $1800 going to the winner. It was veteran Sportsman campaigner Craig Whitmoyer holding up the big check in victory lane as he led the race from start to finish.
“We had a good run here tonight,” said Whitmoyer as his car was being inspected after the victory. “It’s been a good year here for us, not great but good. The car was really good tonight; we’ve been making changes. It’s been hard on restarts here for us and it’s been hard to get to go. It’s usually been a little bit tight on the starts, but we’ve been making changes every week and I think we’ve gotten it better each time . ... It’s a good way to end the season here at Big Diamond and now we look towards next weekend.” Results from 9/07/18 Leindecker Race Engines Sportsman Coalcracker 40 - 1. Craig Whitmoyer 2. Kyle Kania 3. Cale Ross 4. Kris Lillick 5. Jim Houseworth 6. Nate Klinger 7. Shawn Light 8. Dakota Kohler 9. Chuck Fayash 10. Glenn Rowan 11. Kevin Brady (DNF) 12. Nate Moore 13. Michael Burrows 14. Jeremy Hertzog 15. Gary Grim 16. Alex Yankowski 17. Doug Hendricks 18. Jeff Hertzog. Sportsman Heat Winners - Alex Yankowski & Doug Hendricks Savage 61 Road Runners Feature - 1. Kris Ney 2. Jim Kost 3. Mike Reichert 4. Shon Elk 5. Matt Ney 6. Shawn Mulhall 7. Terry Kramer (DNF) 8. Cory Lindenmuth 9. Jeff Wrightstowne 10. Alex Dixler 11. Fred Everly 12. Chris Holland. Road Runner Heat winner - Cory Lindenmuth