Kressley Makes it Two Wins in a Row at Grandview

The 10^th Grandview modified and sportsman points race for looked like any other cloudy and cool race day but a pop up shower put substantial rain on the track right after hot laps.  With no more rain on the radar Grandview started over again and ran a second set of hot laps.  After a 2 hour delay the 3 division program started late but was run in its entirety within 3 hours.

The modified feature was led to green by Mark Levy and Darrin Schuler.  Schuler in the 74 entry checked out on the field by nearly 2 seconds for 11 laps but then the one and only caution of the feature came out and restacked the field.  On the restart Schuler chose the high side and put Eric Biehn on the low side but a cross over by Biehn got him back on the high groove and he bolted into the lead on lap 12 for his first of the night.  On lap 25 a lapped car made slight contact with Biehn in the high groove which is all Kressley needed to make his move to the low side and take the lead to cruise into victory lane with Mike Gular, Eric Biehn, Ryan Lilick and Doug Manmiller rounding out the top 5.

A strong top 10 was rounded out by Richie Hitzler in 6^th, Craig Von Dohren, Ryan Grim, Duane Howard and Louden Reimert.

In a 1:00 AM victory lane as Kressley commented “Car was awesome tonight.  We tried a few new things that worked well.  The top was better tonight and thanks to the Rogers family the track turned out pretty nice.”

The modified heats were won by Ryan grim, Richie Hitzler, Brett Kressley and Eric Biehn.  Consolation wins went to Alex Yankowski and Craig Whitmoyer.

The sportsman feature saw pole sitter Steve Young with Tom Miller on the outside pole bring the field to green and stay in the front of the field  until lap 16 when Jesse Leiby passed Miller for the 2^nd position while Ryan Beltz continued to methodically pick off positions from his 12^th starting position.  On lap 21 Jesse Leiby took his shot for the win but the car got too high and gave Ryan Beltz the perfect time to make his move from 4^th.  On lap 23 Beltz reeled in Young for the lead and proceeded to check out on the field and collect his first win of 2020.  On the final lap Tommy Miller moved into 2^nd place putting Steve Young to 3^rd place on the night.

The top ten was rounded out with Derrick Smith in 4^th, Kenny Bock, Kyle Lilick, Jesse Leiby, Jack Butler, Nate Brinker and Brad Arnold.

 In victory lane Beltz noted “Car was perfect and unbelievable.  We had a little different setup tonight thanks to Ryan Watt who told us to make some setup changes and we won from 12^th starting position.  This week I watched videos of other drivers who have been winning and they move all over the track as they move through the field and that’s what I did tonight.  This is the 3^rd time that Brett (Kressley) and I have won together on the same night.”

Sportsman heat winners were Steve Young, Bryan Rhoads and Kenny Bock.  Consolation was won by Chuck Eckert.

Grandview Modified Feature (30-laps) 8-29-20

Winner – 1. Brett Kressley, 2. Mike Gular, 3. Eric Biehn, 4. Ryan Lilick, 5. Doug Manmiller, 6. Richie Hitzler, 7. Craig Von Dohren, 8. Ryan Grim, 9. Duane Howard, 10. Louden Reimert, 11. Jeff Strunk, 12. Justin Grim, 13. Dillon Steuer, 14. Jared Umbenhauer, 15. Rick Laubach, 16. Alex Yankowski, 17. Darrin Schuler, 18. Kevin Hirthler, 19. Bobby Trapper Jr., 20. Briggs Danner, 21. Dan Waisempacher, 22. Ron Kline, 23. Craig Whitmoyer, 24. Brad Grim, 25. Bob Trapper, 26. Mark Levy, 27. Dylan Swinehart,     28. Ray Swinehart.

DNQ: Bobby Gunther Walsh, Brett Gilmore, Mark Kratz, Colt Harris, Carroll Hine III, Kenny Gilmore, Ron Myers and John Willman.

Grandview Sportsman Feature (25-laps) 8-29-20:

Winner – 1. Ryan Beltz, 2. Tom Miller, 3. Steve Young, 4. Derrick Smith, 5. Kenny Bock, 6. Kyle Lilick, 7. Jesse Leiby, 8. Jack Butler, 9. Jesse Landis, 10. Nate Brinker, 11. Brad Arnold, 12. Chris Esposito, 13. Kyle Smith, 14. Mark Kemmerer, 15. Mike Mammana, 16. Brian Hirthler, 17. Nathan Mohr, 18. Jimmy Leiby, 19. Dakota Kohler, 20. Chuck Eckert, 21. Bryan Rhoads, 22. Doug Snyder, 23. Lex Shive, 24. B.J. Joly.

 DNQ: Ryan Conrad, Cory Edelman, Troy Conrad, Scott Kohler, Cole Stangle

Modified Pit Notes

The modified feature ran with one caution and was completed in just over 12 minutes while the Sportsman feature had no cautions and competed in just over 7 minutes. 

Brett Kressley checked out on the field with 5 laps to go and drove into victory lane from a 16^th starting position in a 30 lap feature with only 1 caution.  Kressley is usually one of only a handful of cars running on the high side but this week with the late rain the high groove was the place to be with everyone running high but it didn’t matter to Kressley as he could run anywhere on the track.

Brett Kressley’s win gives him back to back Saturday night wins and is his third win in the month of August.  Kressley is the only driver with 3 wins so far this season at Grandview and he also had the biggest payday of his career with his win of the Forrest Rogers Memorial.

Amidst all the pandemic and Covid-19 confusion Mike Gular quietly returned to his home track of Grandview this season.  Gular missed the first couple of point races but in the past 3 races he has finished 2^nd, 3^rd and 2^nd and is dialed back into his 2018 championship form.

Eric Biehn had his strongest outing of the season with a 3^rd place finish after leading for 15 laps.  Biehn has been qualifying for all the features this season but mostly from the consolation and starting in the 26-28^th position in the feature.  On Thursday night at Thunder on the Hill the 87 team tried some new shocks and a few setup changes which netted Biehn a 3^rd place finish in their heat race which was their best heat finish of the season.  From there they made a few more adjustments and on Saturday won their first heat race of the year which landed them the 4^th starting position in the feature. Biehn got mighty close to that first career win this week with his 3^rd place finish.  Biehn is looking forward to continued progress in the front of the field and move toward his first career modified win.

Richie Hitzler had his best day ever at Grandview with a 6^th place finish in the feature as well as a heat race win by a checked out straightaway.  Last week Hitzler went back to his 2019 base setup and with a few additional adjustments this week was able to see major improvements in speed and handling of his # 9 entry.   Hitzler was delighted with his best finish ever and is looking forward to continue to have success on a weekly basis.

Ryan Grim just keeps clicking off the top 10 finishes with his third 8^th place finish in a row and maintaining his 6^th position in the season point standings.  Grim also won his heat race from the 7^th starting position which has been a key to his success with good starting positions in the feature due to strong runs from the back in his heat races.

Ryan Lilick moved from his 7^th starting position get secure his best results this year with a 4^th place finish in the modified feature.  Lilick was as high as second place at one point but finished with a strong 4^th place.  Lilick had major motor issues in the prior week and was a DNQ after not being able to finish either the heat race or consolation.  Lilick had the good fortune of having a Thunder on the Hill event this week which he used to figure out the motor issues from last week.  The extra effort paid off in a big way with a 4^th place finish for Ryan Lilick.

 The father son duo of Bobby Trapper and Bobby Trapper Sr. just returned to racing 3 weeks ago and both were able to qualify in the field this week.

Duane Howard continues to have an up and down season but nonetheless still sits 3^rd in points only 100 points from 1^st with 2 races to go.  In his heat race Howard caught the cushion on lap 8 and bicycled up on two wheels and was able to save the car from going over but fell out of a qualifying position sending him to the consolation were he qualified 23^rd for the feature.  Despite a very quick 30 lap feature with only one caution flag Howard was still able to drive through the field and secure a 9^th place finish from his 23^rd starting position.

Jeff Strunk brought out the only caution of the modified feature on lap 11 with a flat tire.  Despite only 19 green flag laps after going to the back of the field Strunk was still able to move forward 15 positions and finish with in 11^th place.  Last week Strunk had almost identical situation with a flat on lap 12 and running back up to a 9^th place finish from the rear of the field.

Briggs Danner and Kenny Gilmore both rolled several times in a heat race contact incident.  Due to the early rain shower the night’s events were fast paced with minimal time in between heats and consolations but both drivers made the call for the consolation.  Kenny Gilmore’s car had front end damage which caused Gilmore to pull off and call it a night after 2 laps.  Briggs Danner was able to pick-up a 4^th place finish in the consolation and qualify 28^th for the feature.   Danner finished the feature in 20^th position but nonetheless an outstanding effort to get the car back on track after a heat race roll over.

2 seasons of weekly attendance suddenly pulled all together in one night for Mark Levy in the 711J as he qualified for his first feature of the season and led the field to green for the first time in his two seasons at Grandview.   On any given night at Grandview there are many personnel victories both small and large that often go unnoticed and Levy had a boatload of them tonight.  Mark Levy switched from racing asphalt at Mahoney Valley to racing dirt at Grandview last year.  With a motor and chassis upgrade this winter the 711J entry has been improving each week this season and staying longer in a qualifying positions during the heats but just not being able to put it all together until this week.    Levy led his qualifying heat for 9 laps and finished second in his qualifying heat to earn a handicap position in the feature for the first time at Grandville.   In the feature Levy stayed in the top 3 for 11 laps before getting parked on the outside during a restart and falling to the back of the field.  When the feature ended the 711J was still running on the track only 1 lap down after completing his best outing of the season.  You bet the 711J will be back next week.

Darrin Schuler has got the heat races down as he has been qualifying in a handicapped position most weeks during the season but has yet to be able to secure a top 10 finish in a feature this year.  The 74 entry led the first 11 laps of the feature with a commanding lead until the only caution of the race came out.  Schuler and the 74 team are looking forward to putting together a full feature run up front which appears to be not too far off.

Sportsman Pit Notes

Ryan Beltz in his 221 entry was able to move from 12^th starting position to 1^st in 7 minutes and 37 seconds of a caution free feature racing which means he made all 11 passes under green flag conditions.  The week before Beltz ran from 24^th starting position to a 9^th place finish and with some advice from Ryan Watt he was able to get his 1^st victory of the season and 5^th career sportsman win.

Jesse Leiby broke his rear housing tube in hot laps session # 1 and looked to be done for the night.  For the second time this season; in steps Nick Faust who offers Jesse Leiby his car for the night as Leiby is in the top 10 in the point standings.  Jesse jumped in the 332 entry and grabbed a 2^nd place finish from a 6^th place starting position in the heat race.  In the feature Jesse Leiby was “going for the win” while in 2^nd place but got too high in turn 4 and fell back for a 7^th place finish in the 332 entry.  An outstanding effort for the combined teams of Jesse Leiby and Nick Faust.

In the second hot lap session Lex Shive had wall contact which bent the rear clip and appeared to be the end to the 5K’s night.  But the determination of the father son combo had the car out for the heat race and missed qualifying by one position.  Shive returned for the consolation and qualified bent clip and all in the 11 car field with a 3^rd place finish. 

Tom Miller has been starting up front with good qualifying efforts but unable to stay there in the feature due to tangles and other mechanical issues.  But a 7 minute and 37 second feature was just what the 77T team needed to get their best finish of the season in 2^nd place.

Derrick Smith also was able to secure his best finish of the season with a 4^th place finish and was also the highest finishing crate entry.

Bryan Rhoads in his 602 crate entry is one of the sportsman rookies who has made an impact in the class this season.  He has made 8 appearances and has won 4 heat races this season.  The longer run feature finishes have eluded the 922 but with strong heat races it will be just a matter of time before Rhoads gets a top 10 finish in the feature.

How tough is it to run from week to week at Grandview?  Point leader Brain Hirthler started the feature in 24^th position which was one spot from a DNQ.  Hirthler worked his way up to a 16^th place finish to maintain his points lead of 110 points but every week is a challenge to make the field from top to bottom.

Racing action continues at Grandview Speedway on Saturday September 5 with the 11^th point race and a full program of racing featuring the modifieds, sportsman and the 1^st annual “Hard charger Challenge” for modifieds with racing starting at 7:30.