Rick “The Quaker Shaker” Laubach charged from a 12th-place starting position Friday night to secure his second consecutive BQ Concrete 358 Modified feature win at Big Diamond Speedway.
The victory, the 30th of Laubach’s career at the 3/8-mile oval, highlighted Tony’s Meat Market Night, an evening defined by multi-lane racing and photo finishes across all four divisions.
“Jake (Smulley) once again gave us a great track and you could run multiple lines tonight,” Laubach said in Victory Lane. “I started 12th and I got knocked back to like 16th or 17th, but I just ran calm.”
Duane Howard controlled the early stages of the 25-lap headline event while Logan Watt and Cody Manmiller battled for position behind him. As the race entered the final laps, Watt intensified his pressure on Howard, finally taking the lead on lap 22.
However, Laubach had already surged into the top three. Moments after Watt took the lead, Laubach slipped past Howard and immediately overtook Watt to claim the top spot.
“What more can you ask for, Big Diamond is back,” Laubach said. “We didn’t do a damn thing to this car from last week… You don’t have to work on your car much when there’s a track to race at; you just have to drive it if you’re comfortable with it.”
Watt finished second, followed by Howard, Louden Reimert—who recovered from an early lap-two caution to finish fourth—and Tim Buckwalter.
602 Crate Sportsman Kevin Smith of Lehighton capitalized on a lap-15 restart to overtake Ryan Conrad and secure his first win of the season. Conrad had fended off teammates Smith and Nate Brinker for much of the race, but a late caution for point leader Ryan Graver reset the field. Smith utilized the outside lane on the restart to seize the lead. Conrad and Brinker finished second and third, respectively.
Roadrunners Minersville’s Joey Brennan ended an eight-year winless drought, dating back to 2018, by winning a 20-lap thriller. Brennan faced a constant assault from Jared Bassininsky, Alex Schoffstall, and Mike Reichert. On the final lap, Schoffstall pulled even with Brennan, resulting in a drag race to the checkers. Brennan secured the win by a margin of 0.021 seconds.
Keystone Sport Compact Series Making their first appearance of the season, Jeff Foster of Aspers won the 20-car 4-Cylinder feature. Foster trailed leader Larry Eck until two laps remained, using lapped traffic to maneuver into the lead for the victory.
Big Diamond Speedway Results
Friday, April 17, 2026
358 MODIFIEDS Feature (25 Laps): 1. Rick Laubach, 2. Logan Watt, 3. Duane Howard, 4. Louden Reimert, 5. Tim Buckwalter, 6. Cody Manmiller, 7. Jax Yohn, 8. Mike Lisowski, 9. Mike Burrows, 10. Brandon Edgar, 11. Wayne Witmer, 12. Kevin Beach Jr., 13. Alan Rudalavage, 14. Tim Fitzpatrick, 15. Cliff Quinn, 16. Hunter Metzger, 17. Heath Metzger, 18. Kevin Olenick, 19. Alex Tonkin, 20. Aleia Geisler, 21. Corey Renninger, 22. Kenny Hildebrandt. Did Not Start: WB James.
602 CRATE SPORTSMAN Feature (20 Laps): 1. Kevin Smith, 2. Ryan Conrad, 3. Ralph Mele, 4. Nate Brinker, 5. Matt Martino, 6. Mike Schneck Jr., 7. Tajae Adams, 8. Brennan Chapman, 9. Zach Steffey, 10. Kevin Fitzpatrick, 11. Dakota Kohler, 12. Reice Widger, 13. Nick Hamm, 14. Ed Mrochoko, 15. Devin Whitmoyer, 16. Mark Behm, 17. Ryan Graver, 18. Aaron Weaver, 19. McKenzi Smith, 20. Mike Stofflet, 21. Steve Hughes, 22. Logan Starr, 23. Mark Mohr, 24. Kevin Brady. Did Not Qualify: Tyler Vidal, Mason Harakel, Dennis Graber, Tyler James.
ROADRUNNERS Feature (20 Laps): 1. Joey Brennan, 2. Alex Schoffstall, 3. Jared Bassininsky, 4. Mike Reichert, 5. TJ Fitzpatrick, 6. Kris Ney, 7. CJ Ferguson, 8. Brian Johnson, 9. Andrew Buchinski, 10. Jim Kost, 11. Tod Roth Jr., 12. Eric Buchinski.
4-CYLINDER (Keystone Sport Compacts) Feature (20 Laps): 1. Jeff Foster, 2. Larry Eck, 3. Bruce Long, 4. Dan Stein, 5. Chase Harline, 6. Shane Flaherty, 7. Kelly Frantz, 8. Andrew Keefer, 9. Adam Kratzer, 10. Gary Grim, 11. Josh Huber, 12. Rick Jennings, 13. Nathan Keim, 14. Delanna Rehebein, 15. Phil Levering, 16. Brian Moyer, 17. Eric Spengler, 18. Vincent Wollyung, 19. Landon Pyle, 20. Trevor Rump.
Article, results by Dino Oberto/Big Diamond Speedway
Top photo by Mike Knappenberger
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