Dylan Hoch Claims 602 Crate Win 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.  The crates have the opportunity to run two complete programs with separate qualifying and features all in one night and makes for quite an interesting night for the crate teams who choose to do double duty in both classes with the same car.

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 final feature of the night was the 602 crates with Cody Kline in Kurt Bettler’s #54 entry leading at the green but he was quickly overtaken by Dylan Hoch from the outside pole position on lap 4.  Hoch proceeded to check-out on the field & negotiate lapped traffic flawlessly on his way to the win and his second trip to victory lane this season.  The 25 lap feature was run in 6.54 minutes without any caution flags.

Dylan Hock commented in victory lane “Car was better on the bottom today but I used both high and low lines as well as a little of the bumper to get through lapped traffic.  We figure out a little bit more every time we get on track here at Grandview.  Tonight we pretty much figured out how to get our car hooked on a slick track.”

The crate top ten was rounded out by Kurt Bettler in second place followed by Joey Vaccaro, Glenn Strunk, Cody Manmiller, Ryan Grim, Tyler James, Steve Lyle, Decker Swinehart and Dakota Kohler in 10^th.

Heats were won by Cody Kline, Dylan Hoch, Ryan Conrad and Cody Manmiller.   Last chance consolations were won by Roger Gaskill.

602 Sportsman Crate Feature (25-laps) 5/08/21:

1. Dylan Hoch, 2. Cody Kline, 3. Joey Vaccaro, 4. Glenn Strunk, 5. Cody Manmiller, 6. Ryan Grim, 7. Tyler James, 8. Steve Lyle, 9. Decker Swinehart, 10. Dakota Kohler, 11. Tyler Peet, 12. Logan Bauman, 13. Ryan Conrad, 14. John Josko, 15. Joel Smith, 16. Jimmy Leiby, 17. Talan Carter, 18. Anthony Raisner, 19. Eric Kocher, 20. Roger Gaskill, 21. Kody Sites, 22. B.J. Joly, 23. Joe Toth, 24. Doug Snyder.

DNQ: Scott Kohler, Hunter Iatelas, Kris Ney, Bryan Blankenbiller, Joe Ciambrone, Zach Steffy and Wayne Rotenberger.

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.

Pit Notes

The podium & field was full of slingshot drivers who are moving up to sportsman division.  Dylan Hoch, Cody Kline and Joey Vaccaro were on the podium tonight and all three are slingshot drivers among others like Doug Manmiller, Logan Bauman and Talene Carter. 

Dylan Hoch won the open sportsman division on the first open sportsman division and crate division doubleheader at Grandview in April.  At the second race this week Dylan won the 602 crate feature and sits with one win in each division with two of five of the open/crate double headers completed. 

Dylan Hoch won the 602 crate feature from the pole position and finished 7^th from an 11^th starting position in the open sportsman division.  He also won both the open sportsman and 602 crate heat race.  Dylan Hoch commented “We missed the setup a little in the open sportsman feature.  We were able to make adjustments based on the sportsman feature and that helped us with our crate heat and feature setup.  We really had the car hooked up on the slick track tonight.  My brother was showing me the lead gap with his hands but I still don’t know exactly how much margin I have at any given time.  The lapped traffic was scary.  It was great to final have a day without motor issues.”

Cody Kline jumped in the usually Kurt Bettler piloted 54 for his first time ever in a 602 crate car and held on to a 2^nd place finish.  Kurt Bettler noted “I ran only the opens on Saturday night.  I made the open sportsman feature and pulled in early to save the car for Cody.  Cody is a slingshot superstar and I was very happy to have him in our car.  We have been indoor teammates for several years.  We had a wild thrash to get the car ready for Cody.  I weigh about 100 pounds more than Cody so we had to fix the steering arm which was damaged in the open race, add weight, fuel and get the car a little bit more maneuverable for a first time driver.  It was Cody’s first ever race in a sportsman car and I was extremely proud of the way he handled himself.”

Cody Kline reflected “We started the day pulling the #1 pill.  I won the heat race which gave me the pole in the feature in the “heads up” format.  To say I was nervous and anxious is an understatement.  Grandview is a huge stage.  Once the feature started I quickly got a feel for how much the track had changed since the heat race.  I lead 2 or 3 laps before getting passed for the lead.  Once I was following another car; it fell right in place on what I needed to do as a driver.  The feature went caution free which meant we caught lapped traffic.  As we caught the back of the field I realized I was going to have to learn how to pass cars in a crate right now.  After the race Kurt and car owner Fred were all smiles.   To be my first time in a crate at Grandview and able to qualify and then finish 2^nd in the feature is unbelievable to me.  I still don’t know how it came about but I cannot thank Fred & Kurt enough for allowing me to race the car this week.”

Joey Vaccaro finished 3^rd from a 5^th starting position to get his second 3^rd place finish in a row.  Joey noted “We tried some new stuff in the sportsman heat that didn’t work and we didn’t make the handicap.  Since we were starting in the back we made some laps in the feature and pulled in since we wanted to save the car for the crate race and we were not in a position to win the sportsman race.  At the last crate race everyone was running the top.  Tonight everyone was running the bottom; so I tried the top in the heat and went straight forward to 2^nd place in the heats and I decided to stay on the top in the feature.  The past two weeks have been really good and it’s been great to get rid of the bad luck that has been following us this spring.” 

Glenn Strunk returned to the seat of the Leiby 9L for the crate division race.  Glenn moved forward to a 4^th place finish from a 13^th starting position on a very slick track that started taking rubber half way through the feature.  Back at the trailer Glenn noted “I never got to be on the same team with my brother Jeff.  It is awesome to be part of a family operation and get to see brothers work together in the same racing operation.  In the heat race; the motor was flat and Jimmy had overheating problems during the sportsman race and had to switch cars to Jesse’s black 9.  We changed the spark plugs and the car was better in the feature.  I was able to run from 13^th to 4^th in a race with no cautions.  That’s good by modified standards and outstanding for a crate.  The track was really slick and took rubber during the feature which made the bottom better and eventually locked it down.”

Cody Manmiller finished 5^th and just got passed at the line by Glenn Strunk for 4^th place.  Cody commented “We qualified for the open show from the heat and handicapped to 13^th starting position.  Our number one goal with the open show is to qualify and then stay clean so we have a race car for the crate race.  We want to be competitive in the open sportsman race but don’t want to tear up the car before the crate race.  In the course of these open / crate double features you are on the track so many times in a relative short time span you can feel the track changing.  These open /crate double headers put an awful lot of laps on the track and eventually the track will lock down which is what happened about half way through the crate feature.  The tracks was really racy for the earlier sportsman feature.  At the same time the additional laps are great to get in one night.” 

Tyler James finished 7^th from a 9^th starting position for his best finish of the season.  Tyler ran both the open sportsman and 602 crate division.  The night got off to a rough start as Tyler got tagged hard while trying to exit the track in the heat with carburetor issues.  Tyler noted “We were dropping out of the feature with carburetor problems when we got hit from the rear.  We missed the open sportsman consolation call as we were still working to the carburetor.  We got the carburetor issues all straight and was able to run the entire crate program.  The 7^th place finish tonight was our best of the season.”

Logan Bauman had a career day as the first year 602 crate driver qualified for both the open sportsman and 602 crate division features.  Logan posted a career best 12^th place finish in the 602 crate feature and a 14^th place finish in the open sportsman feature.  He also added his second heat race win in the sportsman division at Grandview.

The Superior Auto team of Ryan Conrad (327) and Doug Snyder (69S) raced in both the open sportsman division and 602 crate division.  After a slow start this season due to issues with a new motor; Ryan has changed back to last year’s motor so the extra laps couldn’t come at a better time for the 327 driver.  Ryan was a DNQ for the open sportsman feature while Uncle Doug qualified the 69S entry and finished 9^th in the open sportsman feature.  In the 602 crate sportsman heat race it was the 327 on the pole and the 69s on the outside pole.  The Superior Auto team broke away for the field and battled each other for 8 laps with no gap larger than .194 between the 327 and 69S.  In the end Ryan held the lead for all 8 laps with Uncle Doug right next door.    Both team cars qualified for the crate feature where Ryan posted a 13^th place finish and Doug broke a u-joint and was a on the hook DNF.  Postrace Uncle Doug reflected “Our team cars had an awesome battle for 8 laps in the heat race.  The cars were equally matched and I’m very proud of Ryan.  We got Ryan’s car too tight in the feature.”

Talene Carter Jr. made his first visit to Grandview and finished 17^th from a 23^rd starting position in the 602 crate feature.  The 14 year old slingshot standout is in his first season of 602 crate sportsman racing and participated in both the open sportsman and 602 crate programs.

Joe Toth was an unexpected visitor since his weekly track was closed due to weather.  Joe has recently won his first spec 358 modified race but also continues to race his 602 crate.  Joe had mechanical issues and pulled off early in the feature.   

Jimmy Leiby had an epic day which took him behind the wheel of 3 different cars before his day ended.  Jimmy ran the 9L and his brother’s black 9 in the open sportsman program.    Both cars had radiator and overheating problems so for the 602 Crate program Jimmy jumped in Nick Faust’s 332 entry for the first time.  Jimmy qualified for the 602 crate feature and finished 16^th.

The 602 crates were well represented with 21 crates entering the open sportsman race against 22 open sportsman entries.  For the 602 crate race there were 32 crates making the call for the heat races.  10 crate drivers qualified for both the open sportsman and 602 crate features – Dylan Hoch, Kurt Bettler/Cody Kline, Cody Manmiller, Joey Vaccaro, Decker Swinehart, Doug Snyder, Logan Bauman, Dakota Kohler, Jimmy Leiby and Anthony Raiser.  The best composite finish was Dylan Hoch with a 7^th in the open sportsman and a win in the crate sportsman for an average finish of 4^th in the two divisions.

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.