Kyle Smith Claims First Win at Grandview with Assist from Rain Shower & Pit Notes

After another week off due to a rainout last week; Grandview Speedway returned to action for week 12 of the modified and sportsman points racing along with outlaw vintage racing series.  Comfortable and mild conditions prevailed for the majority of the day but right before the night was complete a small rain drizzle made a brief visit to the speedway that ended the sportsman feature with an early & unexpected early checkered 13 lap feature.

The sportsman feature also continued a familiar pattern in recent weeks with 6 cautious before lap 10 but the new wrinkle this week was a rain shorten race being checkered just past the half-way point on lap 13 with Kyle Smith picking up his career first Grandview win over Steve Young and Kenny Gilmore.

The Sportsman feature was led to green by Paul Effrig.  Steve Young was able to maintain the lead for the first 10 laps despite six cautions and one 20 minute long red flag to untangle a six car pile-in tangle in turn 4.  A light drizzle developed around lap 8 and on the 5^th restart when Kyle Smith made the move of the night from 4^th into 2^nd and then set his sights on Young.  The veteran Young held onto the lead for several laps but on lap 11 Kyle Smith used the top to make the pass for the lead.  As pace of the drizzle increased; the race was checked just past the halfway mark on lap 13 and Kyle Smith took his first career Grandview win and made his first trip to victory lane at Grandview.

The top ten was rounded out by Steve Young in second place followed by Kenny Gilmore, Paul Effrig, Dylan Hoch, BJ Joly, Parker Guldin, Joey Vaccaro, Brian Hirthler and Mike Stofflet.

The heat races were won by Steve Young, Paul Effrig and Joey Vaccaro.  The last chance consolation was won by Cole Stangle.

Sportsman Feature (13-laps):

  1. Kyle Smith, 2. Steve Young, 3. Kenny Gilmore, 4. Paul Effrig, 5. Dylan Hoch, 6. B.J. Joly, 7. Parker Guldin, 8. Joey Vaccaro, 9. Brian Hirthler, 10. Mike Stofflet, 11. Mike Schneck, 12. Cody ManMiller, 13. Jesse Landis, 14. Logan Bauman, 15. Dakota Kohler, 16. Nathan Mohr, 17. Jimmy Leiby, 18. Lex Shive, 19. Bryan Rhoads, 20. Cole Stangle, 21. Kenny Bock, 22. Decker Swinehart, 23. Kyle Lilick, 24. Tyler James.   DNS – Ryan Beltz

 DNQ:  Hunter Iatalese, Colton Perry, Wayne Rotenberger, Nick Faust, Jason Duppel, Jesse Hirthler and Matt Clay.

Modified Pit Notes

Kyle Smith’s first sportsman win with his crate motor this week brings the crates into a tie with the open motors at 6 wins each in the Sportsman division.  Brian Hirthler (open) has 3 wins; Dylan Hoch (crate) 3 wins; Dylan Swinehart (crate); Jesse Landis (open); Logan Bauman (crate); Kyle Lilick (open); Kenny Gilmore (open) & Kyle Smith (crate) have points race wins in 2021.  The open motors winners are all long time Grandview veteran drivers while all the crate winners are the new emerging first or second year crate drivers.  This week the 31 car field saw the crates have a small numbers advantage with 17 entries over the 14 open sportsmen motor.

Kyle Smith won his first career sportsman feature at Grandview from his 14^th starting position and managed to get it done with an unexpected lap 13 checkered flag due to an unexpected rain drizzle arriving over the track.  Kyle had some rough weeks with back of the back finishes at 23^rd and 19^th but started to move back toward the front with in recent weeks with a 4^th and 6^th place finish in his last two outings.

 Postrace back at the trailer Kyle reflected “We were fast in the heat tonight and went from 8^th to 5^th which is right were we needed to be for the handicap.  I watched the modified feature and saw that the top was quick so decided I would stay up top early in the feature.  My parents always tell me they don’t know how I avoid wrecks and there were two close ones tonight that I got through but I did bend my brand new front bumper.  The second one I instinctively jerked the car completely right and missed it by only a foot.  I followed Joey (Vaccaro) through the bottom around two cars and then went back up top.  The rear of the car started pushing in every corner and it was hard to turn and I didn’t know it was from the light rain at the time.  I knew I had good drive off of the top but the leader was a veteran Steve Young who didn’t give me a lot of space to deal with and I couldn’t get by the first two times I tried to pass for the lead off of turn 4.  The last time I went up on his back bumper in turn 3 and just got momentum sooner and completed the pass for the lead.  It’s tough when you are leading trying to read the other lane you are not in and I was lucky that Steve didn’t know how good the top was otherwise he would have gone up there.  This is my 3^rd year racing at Grandview and tonight is my first sportsman win and it feels great to get a win here.”

Steve Young had a storybook run going but just came up 1 lap short and 1 place short with a 2^nd place finish in his best outing of the season.  Steve finished 24^th  in the feature 2 weeks ago but completely turned things around early on this week with a heat race win by nearly a full straight away.  The story continued with Steve handicapping into the front row of the feature and grabbing a strong lead early but a barrage of yellows and a long red flag kept the field close.  After 6 cautions Young still had the lead but on lap 8 the drizzle turned on and little did any of the drivers know they were racing for the win as they approached the midpoint of the feature.  As the drizzle continued Young was able to hold off Kyle Smith for 10 laps but Smith made the pass for the lead on lap 11 and the next lap the 7th caution came out due to the intensing drizzle and on the 13^th lap the race was checkered as the rain picked up.

Postrace Steve recalled “We won the heat race this week going away and got the day started on the right foot.  We really benefited from our first week in the handicap this week as we landed on the outside pole in the feature.  We were really close this week and just came up two laps short and a few too many rain drops for us to get our first win of the season.  I tried the top early but the car was too tight to go to the top so I had to commit to the bottom.  I was too heavy with fuel and had a push so I had to stay in the middle lane of the track.  When the car’s handling started to go away; I thought the right rear was going down but little did I know it was raining.  The rain didn’t help us out tonight.  I was really happy with the car tonight and we were really good with great competition here at Grandview.  I plan on returning to Grandview in a couple of weeks with a new modified for the fall racing season which is my favorite time of year to race.”

Kenny Gilmore weaved his way through the wrecks and was able to finish 3^rd from his 21^st starting position in the rain shorten 13 laps feature.  Kenny continues his streak of top 5/10 finishes in all 12 of the points races and added to his points lead yet again.  Back at the trailer Kenny noted “In the heat race the track was one lane and we couldn’t get out of the back of the field.  We weren’t real good in the consolation and started 6^th and got 4^th which got us in the feature.  I went from 21^st to 8^th in three laps and passed some car on the track as well as cars involved in the early wrecks.  Tonight we were in the right place and the right time to be able to avoid the wrecks and had a good night.  The track came in for the feature and was very racy and had two lanes.  I was able to pass using both the top and bottom.  When I saw water come through my screen I thought the leader 187 had blown a hose but when I stopped following the leader I realized it was raining and that was the reason the car was so hard to turn.  I’m really happy with 3^rd in a 13 lap shorten feature and with starting in the back.” 

The Gilmore racing clan had their best day ever as a family.  Kenny noted “It was great seeing my nephew Kyle get his first win and my son Brett with a strong 10^th place finish in modified from 24^th.  My 3^rd place finish behind Kyle just capped everything else off for our family’s collective best night ever as a racing family.”

Paul Effrig had his best night of the season and then some.  Not only was he able to qualify for the first time this season; he also was able to capitalize on his handicap position with a heat race win and a season best 4^th place finish in the feature.  Paul noted “We have been making changes every week and I think it after 5 weeks of racing it just all fell together this week.  We only made one change this week with right rear spring bar and it made the car’s reactions much more pronounced.  I’m getting comfortable in the car and had open track for the first time this season.  I was happy to see the rain and relieved it locked up the 4^th place finish but looking back I think I would have been able to hold up with a top 5 finish.  I ran sportsman back in 2016 and qualified most nights but this year’s competition is better than anything I remember.  I’m just trying to have some fun before we sell everything at the end of the season so I can have more time with my 3 year old son.”

Dylan Hoch sprung into the fray this season with three quick wins and now the first year sportsman driver is settling into the week in and out handicapped points racing with quality top 5 and top 10 finishes week in and week out and currently sits 2^nd in points behind Kenny Gilmore.  Dylan landed a 5^th place finish from his 17^th starting position in the rain shorten 13 lap feature and was involved with one of the early tangles.  Postrace Dylan noted “Yeah well everyone started wrecking on the first lap and I had nowhere to go to avoid it.  We came out of the wreck with a right front flat and a bent axle.  I came into the pits and we change the flat in time to rejoin at the back of the pack.  By the time the rain arrived we were up to 5^th place.  I think I had a little more left to continue to move forward but they checkered the race early due to the rain.  It’s really tough to get wins while handicapping in the back every week and also to avoid recent wrecks.  Unfortunately if you get caught up in an early handicap wreck you are fixing equipment all week.”     

BJ Joly returned to racing this week after a little over a month of recovering from injuries in a June 12 on track incident at Grandview.  BJ vowed to return by the end of July and he was right on schedule.  His return was a successful one with a 6^th place finish in the feature and a 3^rd in his heat race.  Postrace BJ reflected “I loved being back in the seat and felt really good to be back on track.  I was disappointed in the short feature because wanted to get seat time and get back where I was driving before the injury.  The motor started to get warm so I think the short feature actually helped me and I’ll take the 6^th place.”

Parker Guldin has come to life in recent weeks with three consecutive top 10 finishes.  This week got off to a rocky start with losing positions in the heat race and falling to a non-qualifying position and heading to the last chance consolation.  In the consolation Parker started 5^th and was able to finish 6^th and secure the 24^th and last position in the feature.  In the 13 lap shorten feature Parker was able to stay out of trouble and not be part of the 6 cautions to finish 7^th in the rain shorten feature.  In the past three weeks Parker has made one of the most dramatic moves in the point standings in recent memory by going from 19^th to 10^th in the past three races.

Postrace back at the trailer Parker commented “We had a consistent car but fell victim to circumstances with a misjudge restart and fell to the back in the heat sending us to the consolation.  In the consolation I couldn’t find a lane to get comfortable in and couldn’t move forward but did manage to stay in the final transfer position for the 24^th starting spot in the feature.  Thankfully starting in the back was a good thing this time as I had enough time to react to the several unfortunate pileups in front of me and I was lucky to be able to get through them all without any damage.  It would have been nice to have the full 25 laps and time to gain more positions if it would have been possible but I’m extremely happy with 7^th from the 23^rd starting position.  I had no clue that it was raining because in my 4 years of racing I’ve never been in a situation like this before.  I just thought the car was getting really tight and my visor was randomly getting foggy until the yellow came out and the track had a shine to it.  I’m very thankful Grandview called the race while under yellow because the rain was making the track dangerous and it would had been like driving on ice.”

Brian Hirthler managed a 9^th place finish from an 18^th starting position despite being involved in the first tangle of the night.  Brian noted “I knew the early yellows were coming and saw the first accident but got hit from behind and lost my left front.  We pitted and changed it and then was just riding and waiting for the big one………………. the 8 car pileup on lap 3 which got us to 12^th.  I passed 3 more cars before the rain came.  I had just gotten into clean air and was starting to race when the rain came.  I didn’t know it was raining and figured the car was not handling because of the earlier accident which bent a tie rod and axle.  I didn’t know it was raining until the final lap when I blew into turn 3 wide open and the front end washed out in the middle of the corner.  I was not happy to run only 13 laps.  I would have liked to see the track wait a bit to see how long the rain was going to last.  The track wasn’t bad and the rain stopped as soon as I got back to my trailer.  Regroup and come back next time.’

14 year old Jesse Hirthler made his crate sportsman debut in the 117 entry bringing to three the number of active Hirthler drivers. The brother Kevin and Brian are now joined by Jesse who is Kevin’s son.  Jesse comes from the quarter midget ranks and started racing at age of 6.  Back at the trailer Kevin noted “Jesse had a great night.  Got his first laps on the car and kept it straight.  It was Jesse’s first time in competition.  Addie was at micro speed week and we expect her to return to the car this week.”

Mike Stofflet was able to hold onto a 10^th place finish.  Postrace Mike commented “Last week we had what felt to be a good car until the distributor came lose due to a faulty hold down.  We came back this week with the same set up hoping for results that showed.  I feel it did, we just had zero luck with starting on the outside and having so many cautious.  It felt good on the bottom but was just a little off on my set up changes.  When I could get to the bottom and got some heat in the right rear it seemed every time I could get the car to come full circle and moving forward a yellow would come out.  As far as the rain; I really didn’t know it was raining till they said on the radio and I honestly thought the track just really slicked off.  In a way I really wish the rain would have held off and I could have gotten another shot at a longer green flag run to see if I could have made up some spots I lost.  I’m finally feeling like we got our 02 Bicknell a bit closer on the setup and that I can be a little racier with the fast guys.”

Jimmy Leiby was on the move from his 13^th starting position but then the “big one” happened directly in front of him and he involved with hard contact and was towed back to the pits.  The never say die Leiby crew and friends got the car back out for season points and despite the short 13 lap feature Jimmy got the car back up to 16^th .   Postrace Jimmy reflected “Car was great in the heat and was superfast; we just got caught up in some crazy crap that ruined our night and a great car that I had a real good feeling about in the feature.  We had a broken tie rod and bent drag link.  Many teams came together to thrash us back out for points and I was gratefully for all of them and their help.  We just had to stay out and finish to get points.”

In recent weeks cautions have played a big role in the outcome of the sportsman features.  Many positions are won and lost on the ensuing restarts.  This week there were six cautions before lap 8 with one turning red and resulting in about a 15 minute delay.  The 3rd caution on lap 3 was for an 8 car tangle in turn 4 with several cars hooked together.

Closing out the month on Saturday, July 31, will be the return of the 602 Sportsman racers as they join the Modifieds and Sportsman for a triple-header night of action. Headlining the Meet & Greet at 5 p.m. will be Modified ace Jared Umbenhauer along with Sportsman talents Kenny Bock and Lex Shive. An added attraction will be the appearance of NASCAR Xfinity driver David Starr who carries the same ATS sponsorship as Bock.  Racing starts at 7:30 PM.