Dylan Hoch and Glen Strunk Win Sportsman and Crate Titles at Grandview & Pit Notes

For the first time Grandview Speedway ran the Sportsman division and a separate crate division on the same night.  Crate competitors had the option to run in both classes in the same night and many took advantage of the opportunity to run in two features in one event.  Without a doubt it was a busy night for the crate drivers and an historical one with the first ever Grandview Crate division winner in victory lane at the end of the night.

The sportsman feature was led to green by Ebby Ridge and Tyler James.  Ridge pulled away from the field for 15 laps until the 5^th caution of the race.  Dylan Hoch was in 2^nd after methodically moving through the field from his 9^th starting position.  On the restart Hoch was able to bolt to the lead as Ridge got pinned on the bottom and fell back through the field.  Hoch quickly broke out to nearly a 3 second lead over Kenny Gilmore in second place only to have the 6^th caution come out on lap 24 almost at the same time his engine started smoking.  On the final restart Hoch had no power steering and his 35 entry was overheating but he was able to hold off Kenny Bock for his first trip to victory lane at Grandview Speedway. 

The sportsman top 10 was rounded out by Kenny Bock in 2^nd followed by Kenny Gilmore, Jimmy Leiby, Dakota Kohler, Kyle Smith, Ryan Beltz, Ebby Ridge, Mark Kemmerer and Nathan Mohr in 10^th.

Heat races were won by Ebby Ridge, Dylan Hock, Tyler James and Jesse Landis.  Last chance consolations were won by Logan Bauman and Decker Swinehart.

In victory lane Dylan Hoch commented “It is a great night except for my engine overheating and not knowing it.  I’d be a little bit more excited if the warning light worked before the gauges skyrocketed. We’ll be back next week.  I was thankful for the yellows that allowed me to make a couple of adjustments and I was able to roll the middle.  I was praying for the race to end with about 5 laps to go when it felt like I lost power steering and man are these things hard to steer without power steering.  I am thankful and lucky to be here in victory lane.  We had a great car all night.”

25 Lap Sportsman Feature – 4/17/21 @ Grandview Speedway

 1.Dylan Hoch, 2. Kenny Bock, 3. Kenny Gilmore, 4. Jimmy Leiby, 5. Dakota Kohler, 6. Kyle Smith, 7. Ryan Beltz, 8. Ebby Ridge, 9. Mark Kemmerer, 10. Nathan Mohr, 11. Doug Snyder, 12. Parker Guldin, 13. Cody Manmiller, 14. Mike Schneck, 15. Brian Hirthler, 16. Cody Schantz, 17. Tyler James, 18. Logan Bauman, 19. Chris Esposito, 20. Lex Shive, 21. Bryan Rhoads, 22. Kurt Bettler. 23. B.J. Joly, 24. Decker Swinehart, 25. Mike Stofflet, 26. Jesse Landis.

DNQ: Brad Force, Joey Vaccaro, Andy Clemmer, Tom Miller, Chuck Eckert, Nick Faust, John Mooney, Dominic Devlin, Wayne Rotenberger, Colton Perry.

Sportsman Pit Notes – 4/17/21

Dylan Hoch won his first sportsman feature in his second time out with his 2012 crate motored Bicknell.  Dylan came from 9^th starting position and checked out on the field only to see his 3 second lead disappear with a last lap caution and almost simultaneously his car began smoking from a broken serpentine belt that took out his fan and power steering.  Despite the last lap drama and fighting an overheating car with no power steering Dylan held on for one more lap after the single file restart to take his first trip to victory lane at Grandview.

Back at the trailer Dylan reflected “We didn’t really know what exactly went wrong in the sportsman feature but after getting back to the pits it was clear the serpentine belt broke and tore up the fan and the power steering line which lead to the car overheating and blew the radiator hose.  We were scheduled to be on the pole of our crate heat but couldn’t make the call with everything we had to get fixed.   We had so many people helping us I couldn’t hardly get near the car and I want to thank each and every one that helped us make the call for the consolation.”

Dylan Hoch may have missed his heat race for the crates but the car was too good to give up on for the night so they got the car out for the crate last chance consolation and got into the program with the 21^st starting position.  Dylan raced to an 8^th place feature finish from his 21^st starting position in the one caution feature to serve notice that the 35 car is ready for some Grandview points racing in 2021 season.

Kenny Bock finished 2^nd from an 8^th starting position for his best finish of the season after changing this winter from a sportsman motor to a crate motor.  Back at the trailer Kenny commented “We were glad we qualified in both heats tonight and didn’t have to deal with two consolations.  I really liked the two full programs in one night.  Anytime you get more racing is a good thing.  In the sportsman feature we had a really good track and the car was hooked up.  We were passing a car to a corner and was running in 3^rd when Dylan’s smoke made Kenny (Gilmore) woo up a bit and I was able to sneak under him for 2^nd place.  Running second in the sportsman/points race was a huge deal for us.  It would had been bittersweet if we got the second in the crate/non-points race.  I’m really gratefully for my team’s efforts to turn this car around for two features in one night.  I felt the best ever in this car tonight and I’m comfortable and gaining confidence driving this crate car.  After our trip to Florida and Short Track Super Series this spring we have sorted it all out and it’s coming together just at the right time.”

Kenny Gilmore cruised to his second consecutive 3^rd place finish from a 16^th place starting position.  Gilmore was in 2^nd but couldn’t hold the position on the last lap when a smokescreen from Dylan Hoch allowed Bock to duck low and move Gilmore back to a 3^rd place finish.  Gilmore has two consecutive 3^rd place finishes which puts him atop the sportsman points by 51 points over 2^nd place Ryan Beltz.

Jimmy Leiby had a strong outing in the sportsman division with a 4^th place finish from an 11^th place starting position in his 9L entry.  For the second program of the night Jimmy switched to Jesse’s black 9 while Glenn Strunk jumped in the 9L for the crate event.  Jimmy grabbed a solid 10^th place finish from an 18^th starting position in a one caution feature while Glenn Strunk used the one caution to take the lead and win in Jimmy’s 9L entry for a trip to the Grandview victory lane for his first time since 2010.

Dakota Kohler had two solid finishes with two separate cars.  The 604 crate entry finished a solid 5^th from a 10^th starting position while the 602 crate entry finished 5^th from a 6^th starting position.  Back at the trailers Dakota noted “We tried some different setup stuff with the sportsman car tonight.  We had to swap our Grandview tires quickly between the cars as we switched from the sportsman event to the crate event.  We couldn’t move forward too much but got two solid top 5’s tonight.”

Ebby Ridge won his first heat race in grand fashion with a 3 second margin of victory.  That put Ebby on the pole for the feature and he again checked out for the first 15 laps until the 5^th caution when Dylan Hoch took the lead on the restart and Ebby faded back into the pack but still posted an 8^th place finish and his best finish of the season.  Back at the trailer Ebby noted “We had a transmission problem the first week and were just dealing with some new car bugs last week but this week we had plenty of power and the car handled well.  On that 5^th restart the track just slicked off more than I thought and in hindsight I probably should have switched to the top on the restart but it’s hard to leave the bottom when you have been pulling away from everyone for 15 laps using the bottom.  We got some great baseline information this week and look forward to making adjustments next week.  We are also looking forward to our first full season at Grandview.”

Last’s week’s winner Brian Hirthler got caught up in an early 6 car tangle which sent him to the pits and the back of the field.  Brian finished 15^th but was not the finish the points leader was looking for as he dropped from the points leader to 7^th but we’ll only 2 weeks into the season with 21 races to go.  The defending 2020 points champion will be scrapping for every point every week as his 5 point margin last year proved you don’t want to leave any points on the track during the season.

Nat Mohr collected his 2^nd top ten finish of the season as the 17m has gotten off to a consistent start to the season which has them currently sitting 6^th in the season long points.  Nat started in 14^th position but on lap 15 he was assessed a penalty and sent to the back of the field.  In the final 10 laps the 17M moved from last on the field to a 10^th place finish.  In the prior week the 17M finished 6^th from a 7^th starting position and was able to stay up front to finish with a solid run.  Nat stated “My team has got this car on rails so far this season.  We are ready to go this season and can’t wait to get back on track next week.”

Lex Shive had a heartbreaker as his transmission broke on lap 15 while running in 4^th.  Lex stated “It’s only getting faster and we are very close but not a perfect setup yet.  We have made some wholesale changes and she has woke up a bit.  If we can get a night without mechanical downsides we will be up front in the end.”

Grandview rookie competitors Tyler James and Logan Bauman are moving forward very quickly from week to week.  Tyler James grabbed his first sportsman heat race win this week while Logan grabbed his first last chance consolation win.  Both rookie drivers qualified for both the sportsman feature and the 602 crate feature and got over 65 competitive laps as they build their notebook on Grandview in their first season.

The sportsman feature was before the modifieds and the track was still very heavy which would appear to have favor the sportsmen motors over the crates.  The top ten finishers were divided equally between 5 crates and 5 sportsmen motors.  The 36 entries on the grounds were also equal with 18 crates and 18 sportsmen motors.

There were twelve 602 crates that qualified for both the sportsman feature and the crate feature. 

The unique format of having a two for one race night for crates is not going to get anything but better and the next event with both the sportsman division and crate division on the card is Saturday May 8^th. 

602 Crate Feature

The final feature of the night was Grandview’s first ever 602 crate feature event.  Ryan Grim held a comfortable lead for the first 14 laps.  But on a lap 14 restart Glenn Strunk in Jimmy Leiby’s 9L entry took command of the lead and drove into victory lane with a margin of victory of over 2 seconds over Tyler Peet in second place.   Glenn Strunk picked up the first 602 feature win at Grandview speedway and visited victory lane for the first time since 2010.

In victory lane Glenn Strunk noted “The car worked really well and I didn’t make any adjustments during the caution laps.  The car was on the edge of being tight but very smooth up top.  On the restart Ryan didn’t block me and then I was able to get away from him.  I want to thank Ryan Grim and Decker Swinehart for running me clean.  This was one of my most enjoyable and fun races that I’ve ever won at Grandview.  I would like to dedicate this race to my dad who is in the hospital.  I can’t thank John, Jesse, Jimmy and the entire Leiby family enough for this wonderful opportunity.”

The sportsman top ten was rounded out by Tyler Peet in second place followed by Ryan Grim, Decker Swinehart, Dakota Kohler, Rylan Lillick, Doug Snyder, Dylan Hoch, Mike Laise and Jimmy Leiby.

The crate heat winners were Ryan Grim, Kris Ney and Decker Swinehart.  Roger Gaskill won the 602 crate last chance consolation.

602 Crate Sportsman Feature (25-laps):

1. Glenn Strunk, 2. Tyler Peet, 3. Ryan Grim, 4. Decker Swinehart, 5. Dakota Kohler, 6. Ryan Lilick, 7. Doug Snyder, 8. Dylan Hoch, 89. Mike Laise, 10. Jimmy Leiby, 11. Steve Lyle, 12. Kenny Bock, 13. Parker Guldin, 14. Cody Manmiller, 15. Scott Kohler, 16. Logan Bauman, 17. B.J. Joly, 18. Cory Edelman, 19. Tyler James, 20. Kris Ney, 21. Roger Gaskill, 22. Nick Faust, 23. Joey Vaccaro, 24. Kurt Bettler

 DNQ: Hunter Iatalese, Andy Clemmer.

Next up at Grandview is the USAC National Midget tour along with the 358 modifieds on Thursday night April 22 with racing starting at 7:30 PM.