Jeff Strunk Claims First Modified Win of Season at Grandview & Pit Notes

Grandview Speedway hosted the Firecracker 40 a week late due to a rain postponement but this time with only clear skies with seasonable temperatures which presented perfect racing conditions for the “4^th of July” racing celebration.  The season points chase moved into week # 11 of 20 for modified and sportsman divisions.

 In the modified 30 lap feature it was Jeff Strunk taking the win with a lap 22 pass of Kevin Hirthler for his first Grandview victory this season.

Mart Kratz led the field to green and for the first 7 laps until mechanical issues sent him pit side relinquishing the lead to the high side charging Kevin Hirthler with Jeff Stunk in strong pursuit.  On lap 22 Strunk was able to use the improving bottom line to move into 1^st and take the win over who moved into Brett Kressley in 2^nd while Kevin Hirthler rounded out the podium in 3^rd.

In victory lane Jeff Strunk noted “We have been solid and up front lately and everything seems to be coming together now.  It is always intense year and doesn’t ever get dull here at Grandview.  There are a lot of good cars hear and at times you have to be patience and bide your time and other times you need to run hard.  Tonight we picked the right times and it all worked out for us.  I hesitated with the top; tried the top; but stayed to the bottom which worked out for us to be able to get by Kevin.  The track was great and this place is always good to me.”

 The top ten was rounded out by Brett Kressley in second followed by Kevin Hirthler, Craig Von Dohren, Jared Umbenhauer, Tim Buckwalter, Danny Bouc, Craig Whitmoyer, Duane Howard and Jack Butler in 10^th place.

The heat races were won by Cory Merkel, Justin Grim and Ryan Lilick.   The last chance consolation was won by Carroll Hine III.

Modified Feature Results (30-laps):

Jeff Strunk, 2. Brett Kressley, 3. Kevin Hirthler, 4. Craig Von Dohren, 5. Jared Umbenhauer, 6. Timmy Buckwalter, 7. Danny Bouc, 8. Craig Whitmoyer, 9. Duane Howard, 10. Jack Butler, 11. Nate Brinker, 12. Eric Biehn, 13. Darrin Schuler, 14. Carroll Hine III, 15. Cory Merkel, 16. Mark Kratz, 17. Dylan Swinehart, 18. Ryan Lilick, 19. Jesse Leiby, 20. John Willman, 21. Justin Grim, 22. Joe Funk III, 23. Brett Gilmore, 24. Ryan Grim, 25. Ray Swinehart, 26. Doug Manmiller, 27. Kyle Weiss, 28. Brad Grim.

DNQ: Brad Arnold, Mike Lisowski, Ron Kline, Bobby Gunther Walsh, Ron Haring Jr., Jordan Henn, Mike Tyson, Glenn Owens

Modified Pit Notes – 7/10/21

The first half of the modified season has seen Brett Kressley win a surprising five of the ten features at Grandview and still only have a 91 point lead over second place Craig Von Dohren who manages to stay right with Kressley every week.   And as it turns out this week was no different with Kressley finish 2^nd and Von Dohren right behind in 4^th.

Jeff Strunk picked up his first win of the season at Grandview from the 9^th starting position.  Jeff started the season with his first 7 races as either a top 5 or a top 10 finish until week 8 & 9 when disaster struck with two weeks of tangles and DNF’s resulting in a 26^th and 28^th.  But last week Jeff improved with his second 3^rd place finish of the season and continued to improve this week with his first Grandview win of the season.  The win also propels Jeff into 5^th place in the season points with 9 races to go.  Back at the trailer Jeff commented “We had a great run tonight from 9^th and just had to bide our time and let stuff clear out to make our move.  We ran 8 or 10 laps side by side with Kevin and it was good clean racing and we came out on top this time.  We used a softer tire tonight for the track conditions which we usually use a harder tire.   The bottom was getting better and top started to fall off with about 6 to 8 laps to go which worked out just perfect for us.  My plan was to keep working Kevin so his tires would heat up and we would be able to clear him and that’s what we did on lap 22.  Especially here at Grandview; there is not much give and you have got to take it when you can.  Wish we could have gotten this win sooner in the season but we’ll take this one and look forward to keeping it going into the 2^nd half of the season.”

Brett Kressley continued his amazing now 11 race string of 5 wins and 6 top 5/10 finishes in the Grandview point races this year but this time it wasn’t without a close call.  On a lap 4 restart; Kressley got tagged in the rear and did a complete 360 but kept moving and was able to retain his 11^th place position in the field.  From there it was back to business as usual as Brett moved forward to a 2^nd place finish from his 15^th starting position and as a bonus he was even able to pass Craig Von Dohren and add an additional 20 points to his points lead.  Back at the trailer Brett reflected “Early in the race my lane got bottled up and we got tagged from behind, I completed a 360 and fortunately was able to keep moving.  We struggled a bit early to find our line and where the car was better.  About half way through I decided to commit to the bottom and just keep the car under me.  I was shocked to get all the way to 2^nd and pass Craig and we got some help from some timely restarts. “

Kevin Hirthler led nearly half of the feature and finished a season best 3^rd place.  In his heat race Hirthler used all his experience to miss a spinning car & tangle that could have completely changed his night.  Back at the trailer Kevin commented “We had a good heat and made the handicap to start 8^th with Strunk and all the good guys lined up right there behind us.  We got the lead and had yellows to deal with but that’s part of leading.  I think………; getting out front you think is a good thing but the guys coming up through the field get to feel the track out a bit and you have no clue what is going on behind you.  I kind of made my positions up on the top side of the race track and didn’t know what the bottom was doing.  With us running the last race of the night; it resulted in the bottom getting cleaned off enough that the rubber started building from the tires on the bottom side of the race track.  The surface on the bottom side became the predominant lane and the lap times on the bottom became better than the top.  Jeff was from passing low and high and he knew the bottom was getting cleaned up.  I kept putting Jeff down in the good lane on the restarts; not knowing that the bottom was coming in.  It turned out we got 3^rd we’ll take it.  Car is still straight.  Had a real good night with all three cars.  Adrianna qualified the sportsman car and won her heat race in her first week in the handicap.  We have all the faith in her to run the car and get it qualified.  She runs the car well and keep it straight.  Brian won the sportsman feature and ran his butt off and took that win and congratulations to him.  I always feel good when Brian wins because I’m a big part of preparing and getting his car ready and helping him with setup.  My car last week developed a vibration and we checked everything and I think it’s something in the motor so it’s getting checked out by the engine builder this week.  I’m anxious to get that car back on the track because it has been really strong for us.    This car tonight is the car Mike Maresca ran to a 5^th place finish last week and we were able to get a 3^rd with it tonight.” 

Craig Von Dohren continues to keep the pressure on points leader Brett Kressley with a 4^th place finish from his 14^th starting position.   Craig was on the top and like Hirthler got passed by Kressley who found the bottom was working in the final laps.  Earlier in the heat race Craig had

Von Dohren continues to be within 100 points of Kressley which is only 10 positions difference in one race.  Both Von Dohren and Kressley continued their string of 11 straight top 5 and top 10 finishes so the battle at the top of the point standings continues.

Jared Umbenhauer continued his consistent top 5 & 10 runs with a 5^th place finish from a 12^th starting position.  Postrace Jared noted “It’s in one piece and we were just not quite as fast as a couple of cars in front of us.  Tonight was about being in the right lane at the right time and working with what you got.   The track went through a cycle and laid rubber and by the end of the race it was all bottom lane.”

Tim Buckwalter finished 6^th from a 16^th starting spot in the feature.  Tim just missed the handicap by one position which would have improved his starting position to the front of the field.  In the next few weeks; Buckwalter could be handicapping to the front of the field and very well could be in strong contention for a win with an improved starting positon.  Tim capped of a great weekend of racing with a 6^th place finish at Grandview to add to a Friday night 2^nd place finish at Big Diamond behind winner Mike Gular.  The 23X team also in contention for the Big Diamond points championship only 78 points behind Duane Howard in second place.

Danny Bouc the driver of Norm Hansell’s 357 has seen lows and highs in his first year at Grandview.  After a season low last week with a DNQ; it didn’t look a lot better this week when Danny got caught up in a lap 4 early seven car tangle in the feature.  But as luck would have it; the 357 came out of the tangle without any damage and didn’t have to go to the pits.  Despite going the tail of the field on lap 4; Danny was able to work his way through the field for a 7^th place finish from a 21^st starting position.   Back at the trailer Danny noted “We were able to salvage a decent finish tonight.  We are really good when the track is black and slick.  We started back in the 21^st position which I call the “red zone” and it’s easy to get in big trouble in the red zone.  Our goal in future races is to do better in the heats and stay away from starting back in the red zone.  Tonight we got stuck together with another car on lap 4 and had to go to the tail of the field but was able to make a strong run back into the top 5.  We faded on the last restart and got stuck on the outside and shuffled back to a 7^th place finish.  I was able to pass anywhere I could find space until the last 5 laps when the track pretty much latched down.  This was much better than going home early like we did last week with a DNQ.  We’ll take it and look to improve next week.”

Craig Whitmoyer had a strong run with an 8^th place finish from a 17^th starting position.  After a just missed by one position DNQ last week; Craig rebounded with a return to the top ten with his 4^th top ten finish of the season.  Postrace Craig commented “We made some changes from the heat to get the car to turn better in the feature.  We are still missing something in the handling of the car but all in all a good night for our team.  Hopefully we can get the car better in the heats so we can make the handicap soon and not have to start so far back in the feature.”

To say that Jack Butler has been battling adversity in the past two weeks might be an understatement of fact.  Jack has stayed the course and weathered the storm for two weeks of hard earned 10^th place finishes.  His 10^th place finish came from a 24^th starting position but that’s just the beginning.   The Butler # 5 started the night off with a last place heat race finish putting them in a 10^th place staring position in the consolation.  But despite starting 10^th Jack finished a strong 3^rd placing him 24^th starting position in the feature.  In the feature Jack was involved in 2 wrecks; had 2 front flats; 2 trips to pits; and one bent axle for 20 laps and still managed a 10^th place finish for his second 10^th in a row.  Back at the trailer Jack reflected “This was an entertaining night to say the least.  We had a bad heat race and were just out to lunch with our setup.  We are handicapping back toward mid pack now and there is no buffer between us and the top guys any more.  They are right on our back bumper from the start of the heat race.  We made a lot changes for the consolation and it was great to see them work as we moved forward to 3^rd from a 10^th starting position to transfer to the feature.  In the feature we cut the left front tire for pit stop # 1 and then had pit stop # 2 for a cut right front tire and the crew found that the axle was bent.  My dad made sure I knew I had a bent axle to deal with and I went back out with 20 laps to go in the feature.  I was able to find a rhythm despite the bent axle and we finished the night with a 10^th place finish.”  

Nate Brinker finished 11^th from a 19^th starting position in the feature despite getting bent up in an early tangle.  The 11^th place finish is great progress for the 14 team who changed motors three races ago among other setup changes as they search for a consistent and competitive setup.  Back at the trailer Nate Brinker noted “We were a little loose in the heat and got shuffled back but still transferred to the feature.  We made some adjustments to our top 5 night and the car was hooked up.  It was the best this car has ever been, balanced, drive everything.  A little short on luck; as we got caught up in that wreck early on which bent the front end but the car still wasn’t bad.  I was able to stay with Howard and follow him through the field and ended the night racing side by side with Howard for a few laps which was absolutely awesome.  Our new setup this week helped a lot.”

Eric Biehn had an uphill battle all night but the 87 team stayed the course and turned the tables to a 12^th place finish from a 28^th starting position and earning the hard charger bonus.  The night didn’t start too well for Eric as the car fell back 3 positions in the heat and 4 positions in the consolation but still managed to grab the final transfer spot into the feature.  Postrace Eric noted “Well the track was heavy early on and we totally missed the setup in the heat and consolation as the car was really tight and pushed on entry.  We loosen it up for the feature and the car was a lot better.  In the feature we were able to move forward, pass cars and stay out of trouble.  All in all happy with 12^th and getting the hard charger.  This is our second 12^th in a row and we are hoping it will give us a solid baseline for the rest of the season.”

Mark Kratz saw another strong run while leading the feature slip away when he pulled off on lap 8 to go to the pits due to high temperature readings.  Mark reflected “The temp gauge malfunctioned and went all the way up and I pulled into pits to check for leaks.  When we restarted the car the temperature gauge was back to normal so I rejoined the field and we finished 16^th.  It was a shame to lose our opportunity leading the race over a false alarm; but I’d do it all over again since the motor is our most important asset and we can’t take any unnecessary risks.  We’ll check all the wiring, water temp gauge and do our regular maintenance and be back next week.”

Next up at Grandview is the United Racing Club sprint cars joining the Modifieds and Sportsman for a three division show on Saturday, July 17th with racing starting at 7:30 PM.