A field of 34 Big Block Modifieds turned out for Thursday night’s Diamond State 50 at Delaware International Speedway.
It was the second event of the Full Throttle Series and the third round of the Short Track Super Series Fueled by VP Velocita South Region.
Heats were won by Canada’s Stewart Friesen, Dover’s Dale Hawkins, Brian Kressley of Orefield, Pa. and Jeff Strunk of Bechtelsville. Pa. Jordan Watson of Milford won the consolation.
With 14 laps to go in the feataure, David VonDohren’s hopes were dampened when he slowed to bring out the yellow. The top three were still Friesen, Duane Howard and David VanHorn. Seemingly out of nowhere, Ryan Watt blasted into the top five on the outside.
Ryan Godown stopped to bring out the yellow with six to go and on the restart Watt grabbed the lead with Friesen slipping all the way back to fourth.
Watt would not be denied his first Delaware International win as he led the remaining three laps to take the checkered.
“I love coming down here,” said Watt. “The fans are great. I love the track here. We have had a bunch of seconds down here and led a bunch of laps but just couldn’t seem to put it in victory lane.
“The track was a little too heavy at first and I needed it to go away a little. Then I lost some brakes and couldn’t run on the bottom. But when the top started coming in I didn’t have to use my brakes.”
In the 20-lap AC Delco 602 Sportsman feature, it only took two laps for Matt Stangle to work by Dwayne Crockett for the lead. The last half of the race was all green and Stangle made no mistakes to collect the $1,000 victory, his first at Delaware International.
In the 12-lap Super Trucks main, Robert Smith took the top spot just after halfway and held off Jerry Hill for the remaining distance to take the win.
In the Delmarva Charger 12-lap feature, the red was out on the first lap after a tangle in the first turn involving Randy Merritt, Ben Knotts and Earl Truitt. Truitt was complaining with pains in his chest and was treated on the scene by paramedics before being airlifted to the hospital.
Scott Calhoun held off Robert Paczkowski then Jay Sipple from lap four on to take his second win of the season.
Brothers square off at U.S. 13: Once a year, veteran track official Jerry Ketterman puts together one of the top bracket racing shows in the Mid-Atlantic.
With $1,000 to win in each of the two Bad 8 divisions and a whopping $5,000 to win in Top ET, it tends to bring out the best of the best.
Last Sunday was no exception as a great field of cars were on hand to try for their share of Ketterman’s Super Bad 8 Show money.
The Top ET final boiled down to a pair of brothers, with Jerry Russell of Felton taking home the $5,000 prize.
Russell was paired against brother Jamie Russell in the final. The difference in the race was at the starting line when Jerry had a .004 reaction to Jamie’s .018. Jerry took and the $5,000 with a 6.533/156.33 on a 6.51 dial.
Jamie was on he dial running a 6.119/166.63 on a 6.11 dial. Semi-finalist was the “Delaware Destroyer,” Danny Bastianelli, who lost to Jamie Russell while Jerry had the bye.
Steven Boone of Ingleside, Md., took home the win in Bad 8 Dragster and Doug Farace of Towson, Md., won in the Bad 8 Full Body.
Other winners on the day included: John Myers of Glen Burnie, Md. in Mod ET; Harvey Powell of Felton in Pro Bike; Michael Jefferson of Parsonsburg, Md. in Street; Josh Davis of Laurel in Hot Rod; Angelina Battaglia of Elkton, Md. in Jr. Street; Danielle Donze of Felton in Jr. Dragster 1 and Nicholas Bowie of Greensboro, Md. in Jr. Dragster 2.
Results
Diamond State 50: 1. Ryan Watt; 2. Duane Howard; 3. Stewart Friesen; 4. Brett Kressley; 5. Jordan Watson; 6. Jeff Strunk; 7. Rick Laubach; 8. Billy Pauch, Jr.; 9. Jamie Mills; 10. Anthony Perrego; 11. Jesse Hill; 12. Jim Britt; 13. Brad Trice; 14. David VanHorn; 15. Frank Cozze; 16. Danny Johnson; 17. Ryan Godown; 18. Craig VonDohren; 19. Jimmy Horton; 20. Ron Roberts; 21. Scott VanGorder; 22. H.J. Bunting; 23. Danny Bouc; 24. Jojo Watson; 25. Matt Jester; 26. Dale Hawkins; 27. Robert Dutton; 28. Shawn Ward; DNQ: Billy Pauch; T.J. Williams; Kenny Brightbill; Mike White; Howard O’Neal; Kevin Sockriter
AC Delco 602 Sportsman; 1. Matt Stangle; 2. Jordn Justice; 3. Dwayne Crockett; 4. Scott Hitchens; 5. Mike Hough; 6. Jason Rush; 7. David Jenkins; 8. Matt Smith; 9. Nick Alberti; 10. Brandon Dennis; 11. Ryan Riddle; 12. David Crossman; 13. Trent Van Vorst; DNS: Jeremy Harrington.
Super Truck: 1. Robert Smith; 2. Jerry Hill; 3. David Smith; 4. Thomas Lecates; 5. Mike Kennedy; 6. Dale Elliott; 7. Rocky Whitley; 8. Billy Lockwood; 9. Tim Quay; 10. Kirk Miles; 11. Dick Beauchamp; 12. Thomas “Action” Jackson; 13. Dylan Reed; 14. Bobby Reed; 15. Brian Meisenholder; 16. Matt Esham.
Delmarva Charger: 1. Scott Calhoun; 2. Jay Sipple; 3. Tanner Marvel; 4. Robert Paczkowski; 5. Ashley Merritt; 6. Bud Sipple; 7. Randy Merritt; 8. Earl Truitt; 9. Ben Knotts.