Duane Howard Claims Second Win of Season at Grandview & Pit Notes

A wash-out of a weekend took just enough break from raining on Saturday for Grandview Speedway squeeze in a triple header of modified, sportsman and crate 602 for the second time this season. 

A brisk and downright cold night was endured by fans and racers alike to produce an outstanding night of competitive racing with 39 mods; 43 sportsman and 34 crates for a total of 116 race cars on hand for the three division card of racing.

The modified feature saw Jesse Leiby lead the first 21 laps from the pole position only to have forward storming Duane Howard take over the lead on lap 22 with Craig Von Dohren hot on Howard’s heels and making a strong bid for the lead when a caution flew for a turn 1 wall tangle that ended the night for Jesse Leiby, Brad Brightbill and Richie Hitzler with all cars sustaining front end and or heavy body damage.  The ensuing lap 25 restart was the third and final caution of the feature and the single file restart was timed perfectly by Howard to get a good jump on Craig Von Dohren and hold him off for the last 5 laps and take his second Grandview win of the 2021 season.

In victory lane Duane Howard noted “To win these features you have to get to the front before the competitive cars get there.  I got to the leader first and had to race him hard for several laps to get the lead.  The incident in turn 1 was right in front of us and I saw it developing and just picked a line and keep the car straight  and I had just enough room to negotiate by.  We missed the setup last week but everyone on this team worked really hard this week and they are the reason we are back in victory lane this week for the second time this season.”

The modified top ten was rounded out by Craig Von Dohren in 2^nd followed by Mike Gular, Brett Kressley, Mike Lisowski, Jared Umbenhauer, Kyle Weiss, Jeff Strunk, Craig Whitmoyer and Danny Bouc in 10^th place.

Heat race winners were Mike Lisowski, Jessie Leiby, Brett Kressley and Ron Haring Jr.

Last chance consolations were won by Ryan Grim and Dillion Steuer.

Modified Feature (30 laps) – 5/08/21

 1. Duane Howard, 2. Craig Von Dohren, 3. Mike Gular, 4. Brett Kressley, 5. Mike Lisowski, 6. Jared Umbenhauer, 7. Kyle Weiss, 8. Jeff Strunk, 9. Craig Whitmoyer, 10. Danny Bouc, 11. Doug Manmiller, 12. Brad Grim, 13. Kevin Hirthler, 14. Dillon Steuer, 15. Brad Arnold, 16. Louden Reimert (provisional), 17. Tim Buckwalter, 18. Bobby Gunther Walsh, 19. Cory Merkel, 20. Ron Haring Jr., 21. Darrin Schuler, 22. Jesse Leiby, 23. Ryan Lilick, 24. Justin Grim, 25. Ron Kline, 26. Brad Brightbill, 27. John Willman (provisional), 28. Richie Hitzler, 29. Ryan Grim, 30. Dylan Swinehart.

DNQ: Brett Gilmore, Carroll Hine III, Dan Waisempacher, Glenn Owens, Eric Biehn, Jack Butler, Joe Funk, Mark Kratz and Nate Brinker.

Pit Notes – Modified

Duane Howard picked up his second win of the season from an 11^th starting position.  Duane pulled off early last week which relegated him to a 22^nd place finish so this week’s win comes at a good time and keeps him in 4^th place in the current point standings.   Duane commented “Car felt good in the heat race and we made some changes for the feature.  We missed the setup last week so we did a lot of homework this week with spring smashing and coils and we really had the car dialed in tonight.  I had a little trouble getting past the leader who didn’t want to relinquish the lead but we were straight and rolling really good and got the lead just before the lap 25 caution.   The incident in the turn one wall was right in front of me but I saw it developing and stayed straight and drove right through it.  On the single file restart I knew if I kept the car straight and didn’t make any mistakes no one would be able to get under me and the top was so far around with no ledge and no bit that they weren’t going to get around me on the top either.”

Craig Von Dohren grabbed another 2^nd place finish bringing his season total to four second place finishes and one 9^th place finish.  Craig came from the 13^th starting position to second and is currently 2^nd in the point standings only 2 points behind Kressley.  It looks like it’s just a matter of time before the 2’s start turning into 1’s.

Mike Gular paid a visit to his old Saturday night home this week and the 2018 Grandview champion didn’t forget a beat about his old home track.  Mike finished 3^rd from a 16^th starting position.

Another homecoming was for Timmy Buckwalter who has visited his old Saturday night home track for the past two weeks.  This week Tim was competing in the Team 51 Motorsports of South Jersey entry and finished 17^th.  Last week he was in the Norm Saxton 23X and finished a strong 3^rd place.

Brett Kressley posted a 4^th place finish from a 14^th place starting position this week.  Brett continues to be 5 for 5 with all his point race finishes still in the top 5 with two 1^st place, one 3^rd and two 4^th place finishes so far this season.  Despite his best start to the season ever; Kressley only has a 2 point lead over Craig Von Dohren in the season points who has four second place finishes and one 9^th.  The point battle is already week to week with only 5 weeks in the books and 18 weeks to go.  

Mike Lisowski secured his best finish of the season with a 5^th place finish.  Mike’s best finish previously this season was a 24^th place finish and he has been plagued with mechanical issues for the prior 3 weeks.   Mike noted “Today we finally had some things go our way this season.”

Jared Umbenhauer finished 6^th from his 12^th starting spot and continues a 4 race streak of top 10 finishes with  2^nd, 1^st and 9^th and a 6^th place finish today.  Jared noted “We have a very good car right now and that helps a lot with my confidence.  I know I can come from the back of the field and move forward.  I need to improve on restarts and lose less positions that I have to fight to get them back.”

Craig Whitmoyer lost a motor last week just as he crossed the finish line in the last chance consolation to qualify for the feature but then was a DNS for the feature last week.  Craig had his backup motor in this week and got back on track with a 9^th place finish to add to a prior 6^th place finish 2 weeks early.

Kyle Weiss finished 7^th this week adding to 3 consecutive weeks of top ten finishes with a 7^th, 10^th and 7^th after a DNF at the season points opener and an off week.

Jesse Leiby had the best night of his season so far and just came up 8 laps short in the feature.  Jesse won his heat race by nearly 4 seconds.  In the feature he led for 21 laps and unfortunately was involved in a tangle on lap 25 which ended his night while running 4^th.  Despite a disappointing end to his night Jesse turned the corner and was 5 laps away from his best finish of the season.

Louden Reimert had engine problems in the heat and consolation resulting in a DNQ and 1^st alternate status.  Louden exercised a provisional to start 29^th on the field and was able move forward 13 spots for a 16^th place finish which kept him 6^th in the points standings.  Louden noted “After engine problems in the heat and consolation we were able to resolve our problem and had a fast car in the feature.”

Corey Merkel and Ron Haring Jr. both continued their qualifying streaks to 5 races in a row and Haring won his first heat race of the season.  Both drivers are looking for their first top ten finish of the season and with both of them qualifying every week it may be sooner than later.

Brad Grim is another car that has qualified for every points event feature this season.  Brad has been fast and consistent in the heat races and this week was able to get a 12^th place finish from a 21^st starting position for his best feature finish of the season.

Next up at Grandview on Saturday May 15 is the USAC East Coast Sprints along with the modifieds and sportsman divisions for a triple header program with racing starting at 7:30 PM.