Kressley holds off Gular for thrilling triumph
By Gary Lileck Forestville, PA - Brett Kressley and Mike Gular brought the Big Diamond Speedway crowd to their collective feet and raced side by side to the finish line, concluding the 25-lap 358 Modified feature event. Kressley just edged Gular at the stripe by .021 seconds.
The second generation racer from Orefield PA won his third feature of the season, becoming the driver with most victories in the Quandel Concrete 358 Modified class thus far in 2025.
“That was definitely my closest finish” said Kressley in victory lane. “That’s the exciting thing about it. The not so exciting part is almost losing. We’ll take it. It still counts as a win”.
The East Coast Legends Series made their first of two scheduled visits to the speedway this past Friday. Tanner Jones of Glen Gardener NJ has only competed with the tour a few times this year and made a rare ‘25 start in the Friese Motorsports-12 car. Last month he won the Pro Championship in a six race mini tour in North Dakota and is currently second in points on the paved surface of Wall Stadium Speedway.
Jones relied on his Diamond experience as he was a two-time feature winner here in 2023. “We made some pretty quick ground up to the front” mentioned T. Jones of his cruise through a talented group of drivers from his seventh starting spot. “It wasn’t the easiest to get to the front but we had a few breaks. The car was really fast. It is a rocket ship. I’m so grateful to drive it”.
The U.S.S. Achey 602 Crate Sportsman staged arguably their finest feature of the season with intense and clean racing throughout the field. Defending champion Jordan Henn worked his way to the front from his tenth starting spot and cruised to his seventh career BDS feature win.
The second annual Bob Bowers Memorial took place for the Red White and Blue Autos Roadrunners, honoring a former Late Model racer at the speedway and long time track supporter. Bob’s son Minersville Police Chief Jeffrey Bowers along with family put together extra sponsorship money with help from friends and each Roadrunner feature winner in the twin 12 main events earned $1450. Alex Schoffstall of Llewellyn and Andrew Fayash III of Mary D split victory lane laurels.
In the 25-lap 358 Modified feature, third generation racer Joel Smith took the early race lead. Kressley, behind the wheel of the KB Bicknell powered by a Morgantini Engine, quickly was on the move from his eighth starting spot. He advanced into second on lap two and wasted no time in passing Smith in turns one and two of the third circuit to take possession of the race lead.
Kevin Beach moved into second and multi-time champion Duane Howard (started 10th) grabbed third on lap six. The event’s first caution flag waved with six complete for a Logan Watt and Louden Reimert tangle. After a caution on the ensuing restart for Tyler Dippel, the field regrouped.
When racing resumed Howard and opening day winner Mike Gular (originally started twelfth) disposed of Beach for the second and third spots, following leader Kressley. Gular abruptly slid to the outside of Howard in turns one and two, taking the runner-up spot. After a caution restart on lap ten, Gular continued to make the outside work and passed Kressley for the lead just before the event’s final caution took place with ten laps complete.
As per Diamond rules, the leader has lane choice on restarts. Given his earlier success up high, Gular chose the outside. But Kressley had been strong on the bottom and he reclaimed the front spot on the 11th lap restart. They raced side by side once more on lap twelve with Kressley holding onto the top spot. As green flag racing continued, Kressley placed some ground between himself and Gular, however Gular began to reel him in with less than five laps remaining.
Gular continuously looked for passing room on the inside. On the final lap, he dropped to the bottom of Kressley in turns three and four. They raced feverishly out of the final corner alongside one another and Kressley beat Gular to the line for his 17th career Big Diamond victory. His third win of the season matches Kressley’s win total from last season.
Track legends Howard and 13th place starter Jeff Strunk raced closely and finished third and fourth respectively. Ninth place starter Ryan Watt earned his best finish of the season for fifth. Third generation racer Jack Butler grabbed his third straight top ten of sixth. Reimert rebounded from the earlier caution to place seventh while Beach held on for eighth. Dippel, in the Rochinski-20, drove from the back to finish ninth and Brandon Edgar raced from sixteenth to tenth.
A full field of Legend Cars graced the speedway for their 20-lap feature. Dalton Friese, from his outside row one starting position took the early race lead over Logan Jones. On the sixth lap, D. Friese’s ride briefly sputtered in turn two and L. Jones capitalized. Well established racer Scott Houdeshell moved into second with T. Jones advancing into third.
T. Jones took second on lap ten and charged past L. Jones for the lead via the inside lane of lap twelve. The caution lights flashed for Houdeshell on lap 13 and earlier leader D. Friese brought out a caution on the restart. A red flag took place with two laps remaining for a multi-car accident on the backstretch. Former four cylinder racer at the speedway, Donald Stoudt, was checked by the medical staff and he was ok.
A green, white, checkered finish found L. Jones remaining up front and taking his third career victory at Big Diamond. L. Jones held on for second with nine-time tour feature winner Colton Friese finishing closely in the third spot. Seth Kearchner, who started ninth ended up in fourth. Kelby Friese moved into the fifth spot on lap 14 and remained there at the finish.
Teenaged racer McKenzi Smith led the 602 Crate feature to the opening green flag with area driver Tyler Vidal giving chase. After a couple of earlier caution flags, Smith and Vidal were wheeling and dealing for several laps in a torrid side by side battle with no contact and clean racing. Vidal took the lead on lap eight with Smith regaining the spot one lap later.
Meanwhile points leader Jordan Henn was making his way through the pack. He passed Vidal on lap eleven and moved into the lead ahead of Smith on the twelfth lap. The final caution flag of the contest waved on the 12th circuit. During the final green laps, Vidal masterfully worked past Smith to claim the runner-up position.
Jordan Henn, the grandson of former track championship car owner the Late Dennis Eisenhard, held on to capture his first win of the season in the Tyler and Cody Reber owned 4R machine. Vidal finished a season’s best of second, while third year racer Brennan Chapman recorded his second top five of the year for third. Mike Schneck Jr., who has finished in the top ten in every race that he competed in this season, finished fourth. New Jersey’s Matt Martino, from eighth, finished fifth.
Ryan Murphy stepped into the early race lead of the opening 12-lap Roadrunner feature. Kris Ney followed in pursuit and passed Murphy briefly via the outside lane of lap five. Murphy never hesitated and the young driver raced back into the first spot just one lap later. Andrew Fayash III took second but the caution came out for a Fayash/Ney double spin in turn four.
Murphy led the rest of the distance and cruised to the apparent victory. However, Murphy’s car was disqualified on a technical infraction. The track’s all-time leading Roadrunner division winner Alex Schoffstall worked into second on lap eight and finished there but became the race winner after Murphy’s disqualification. Mike Reichert, in only his second ‘25 start, finished second with sixth year racer Joe Bassininsky taking third. Chuck Fayash ran within the front five throughout most of the race and finished fourth ahead of Jarod Bassininsky, a two-time winner this year.
The second feature began with an exciting battle for the lead with Jim Kost mastering the corners and A. Fayash trying to find a way past the leader. Andrew gained the lead on lap two, with Kost getting it back on the third lap and A. Fayash stealing it away on the fourth circuit. The Bassininsky Bros passed Kost and were exchanging the second spot while A. Fayash remained up front. Schoffstall was executing another classic late race sweep through the field from his eleventh starting spot.
A. Fayash held on for his second win of the season while Joe Bassininsky narrowly held off a vastly closing Schoffstall for the runner-up spot. Jarod Bassininsky finished fourth ahead of C. Fayash.
NIGHTSIDE NOTES: Four-time 358 Modified track champion Craig Von Dohren continues to struggle this year aboard the Bruce Brueche-30. While running near the front of his heat race, Von Dohren’s machine lost the power plant and was finished for the evening…Twenty-seven Modifieds were on hand for their eighth feature race program of the year…Jim O’Hara made his first 602 Crate start of the season in car 44…With a majority of the East Coast Legends traveling a distance, they still managed an impressive 28-car turnout…The track presented Lasting Legends Night as several stars from Diamond’s earlier years were on hand for a meet and greet including: Larry Acker, Keith Hoffman, Mike Radocha, Dennis Somers and Pat Kelly…Next Friday night July 18, the Modifieds, Crate 602, and rookies will be removing their roof and upper back side panel, taking part in the annual “Topless” Night. The Roadrunners will also be on the card with hot laps starting at 7:15PM…
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