Modified driver Louden Reimert proved the crème always rises to the top. Reimert, who’s been on a tear as of late, didn’t have it easy en route to last Friday’s win at Big Diamond Speedway.
The trouble started from the time he unloaded his modified. It wouldn’t start. By the time his team diagnosed the issue — the battery — they had missed hot laps.
Then as Reimert put his car in reverse to line up for his heat race, the car’s driveshaft fell out.
“My fault,” Reimert admitted. “I forgot to tighten where the U-joint meets the yoke in the rear end.”
He missed his heat race. Before the feature, officials graciously allowed Reimert a lap around the track to check if his car was in working order. It was then his fortunes began to turn. Reimert would have to start the feature from dead last, though, 20th spot.
“My mindset was to get out there and get the best finishing position possible,” Reimert said. “I could not afford a DNF. The cards fell my way and I went for the win.”
During the 25-lap feature, Logan Watt pulled off the track with mechanical woes while leading. Another front-runner, Tim Buckwalter, experienced a mechanical failure, necessitating a tow off the track. That opened the door for Reimert to get into position for a win. He sat in third for a lap 16 restart.
“Two of the best drivers at Big Diamond had mechanical problems, but theirs were in the feature,” Reimert said. “I was lucky that mine were before the feature.”
From there, Louden Reimert rode onto the win. It was his second in a row at Big Diamond, and third consecutive trip to victory lane, with a visit to Grandview Speedway’s mixed in between. This win, however, felt a bit different.
“Why was I all smiles? This win was unexpected, to say the least,” Reimert said. “Never in my career had I started last in a feature and won it.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
