Brad Brightbill Victorious In Coalcracker 40 Sportsman Championship At Big Diamond

Story By: BIG DIAMOND SPEEDWAY – MINERSVILLE, PA – Under picture perfect weather condition, the Coalcracker weekend at Big Diamond Speedway got underway with the running of the Coalcracker 40 Open Sportsman race on Fire Management and Control night.

Once again it was the Brad Brightbill leading the way and winning his fourth feature of the year taking home the $1600 first place prize. Ronnie Suhr Jr won his first career feature in the Red White and Blue Autos Roadrunner division while Jason Geesaman was back on top taking the Hellers Gas Street Stock feature. Billy Workman Jr was the winner of the Central PA Legends feature.

The USS Achey Sportsman got underway with Mike Shneck and Kyle Lilick leading the 23-car field to the green with pre-race favorites Brad Brightbill and Brandon Edgar starting fourth and fifth as a result of the draw. Lilick took the lead at the start to lead lap one. A multi-car tangle in turn two on the next lap had Edgar involved putting an end to the much-anticipated battle between himself and Brightbill.

Back to green and Brightbill who was up to second after the yellow took over the top spot. A rash of yellow flags would keep slowing the action in the first half of the race as Brightbill continued to show the way holding off the challenges of Bob Lineman and Wayne Witmer on the many restarts. A lap 17 yellow would be the last of the night as Brightbill’s challengers continued to fall by the wayside.

When the race resumed after the lap 17 restart, Brightbill started to assert his dominance on the field as he pulled out to a commanding lead as the race ran non-stop to the finish with Brightbill winning by over a straight away to take home the big $1600 payday. Tim Fitzpatrick, Kyle Lilick, Chuck Eckert and Ray Woodhall Jr completing the top five.

“Man, I hope we can keep this going to the end of the year,” said an excited Brightbill in the tech shed after the big win. “The car was good tonight, we tightened the car up a little more tonight because of the longer distance and the longer the race went, the better the car got. I was really looking forward to racing with Brandon (Edgar) tonight, he is a good hard racer but unfortunately for him it didn’t work out. I actually clipped my left front in that wreck and I thought I broke the steering rod because the whole steering wheel got rearranged on me but I wiggled the car going down the back stretch and it felt good so I kept going.

Brightbill who is the son of the legendary Kenny Brightbill was proud to get a win on Coalcracker weekend like his father had done in the past.

“Anytime you can get a Coalcracker be it in a modified or in a sportsman is a big deal,” cited Brightbill. “To have my family here with me along with so many friends and my crew is just great. I ‘ve been trying to win one of these for about 16 years and this year we finally did it!”

In the Red White and Blue Autos Roadrunner feature, it was Ronny Suhr Jr winning his first ever feature event. Jon Schlauch took the lead at the start with the fifth starting Suhr Jr immediately on the charge. As the field completed lap two it was Suhr Jr your new leader. Suhr Jr would continue to lead the rest of the way but was challenged throughout the race. TJ Fitzpatrick was the first challenger to take a run at Suhr Jr but to no avail. While the leaders battled up front, 2019 track champion Chris Holland was making his presence felt as he and current points leader Alex Schoffstall joined the fun at the front making it a four-car battle for the lead. Holland would get by Schoffstall and Fitzpatrick to take over the second spot on lap nine. Holland continued to apply heavy pressure to the leader Suhr Jr but Suhr Jr never flinched and went on to take the win in a hard fought and very clean race. Chris Holland would finish second with Schoffstall, Fitzpatrick and Matt Ney the top five.

Jason Geesaman was back in a familiar spot on Friday night as he won the Hellers Gas Street Stock feature event after leader Jeff Haag breaks with under five to go. Robin Wagner led the field to the green with second place starter Geesaman easily taking over the top spot to lead lap one. Haag who started in third quickly moved into second and the battle for the lead was on. Geesaman and Haag would race side by side for the lead with Haag taking over on lap eight. Haag had control of the race and looked like he was on his way to victory when smoke started to appear around lap 14. Haag would only last two more laps before pulling his car into the infield with mechanical failure. Geesaman inherited the lead at that point and easily led the last four laps for the win. Kody Sites, Ryan Smith, John Mcgeoy and Dean Hine were the top five.

The Central PA Legends cars made another appearance at Big Diamond Speedway with Billy Workman Jr taking the lead from Seth Kearchner on lap two and lead the rest of the way to take the win. Scott Houdeshell, Seth Kearchner, Joe Ryan Osborne and Austin Bellemare the top five.

Full Results 8/21/2020 – Fire Management Control of Pennsylvania Night – Coalcracker 40

U.S.S. Achey, Inc. Open Sportsman – Coalcracker 40 – The feature was won by Brad Brightbill and followed by Tim Fitzpatrick, Kyle Lilick, Chuck Eckert, Ray Woodall Jr, Scott Kohler, Cole Stangle, Doug Hendricks, Wayne Witmer, Mike Schneck, Daryl Dissinger, Mike Toth, Glenn Rowan, Brandon Auman, Mike Burrows, Bob Lineman Jr, Marc Berzowski, Blake Reber, Tyler Reber, Ken Eckert Jr, Brandon Edgar, Jeremy Hertzog and Eddie Strada.

The Open Sportsman Heat Races were won by Tim Fitzpatrick and Scott Kohler.

Ultra Shield Hard Charger Award – Doug Hendricks

GME Steering 9th Place Award – Wayne Witmer

Rod End Supply 4th Place Award – Chuck Eckert

Competition Carburetion Fast Lap Winner Award – Brad Brightbill

Gene Latta Ford Central PA Legends – The feature was won by Billy Workman Jr and followed by Scott Houdeshell, Seth Kearchner, Joe Ryan Osborne, Austin Bellemare, Jonathan Robinson, Charles Dell Jr, Quinn Trimmer, Brent Marquis, Shawn Groft, Dwayne Holder, Logan Carbaugh, Cory Phillips, Zach Baxter, Eric Hurst, Scott Mussleman, Cody Atland, Jaiden Reyna, Aaron Updegraff, Jeremy Ott, Bill Diehl, Tyler Garreston and Nikita Johnson.

The Central PA Legend Heat Races were won by Billy Workman Jr and Joe Ryan Osborne.

Ultra Shield Hard Charger Award – Quinn Trimmer

Red, White & Blue Auto’s Roadrunners – The feature was won by Ronny Suhr Jr and followed by Chris Holland, Alex Schoffstall, TJ Fitzpatrick, Matt Ney, Kris Ney, Jim Kost, Seth Reichert, Kevin Holland, Jon Schlauch, Tod Roth Jr, Ronny Suhr Sr, Chris Natale, Tonya Lance, Samantha Zipp, Ray Gara, Alex Ditzler and Joe Bassininsky.

Roadrunner Heat Races were won by Jon Schlauch and TJ Fitzpatrick.

Murphy’s Fabrication Hard Charger Award – Chris Holland

Ultra Shield 4th Place Award – TJ Fitzpatrick

Heller’s Gas Street Stocks – The feature was won by Jasen Geesaman and followed by Kody Sites, Ryan Smith, John McGeoy, Dean Hine, Robin Wagner, Elvin Brennan III, Jeff Haag and Jim Somers Jr.

The Street Stock Heat Race was won by Jasen Geesaman.

Murphy’s Fabrication Hard Charger Award – Dean Hine

Ultra Shield 4th Place Award – John McGeoy