Kyle Smith Wins Second Sportsman Feature in a Row at Grandview Speedway & Pit Notes

Grandview Speedway hosted point race #13 and a tripleheader with the 4^th Crate special under pristine skies with bright sunshine and very comfortable weather conditions for July with no humidity.  There were over 80 entries in attendance for the three division program.

The Sportsman were the first feature of the night which saw 69X of Wayne Rothenberger lead the field for the first 4 laps until Steve Young overtook the lead from his 7^th starting position.  Young was battling with Kyle Lilick for the lead when Kyle Smith ducked underneath of both of them to make a two for one pass into the lead on lap 14.  Kyle Smith held off Kyle Lilick and Brian Hirthler for his second consecutive trip to the sportsman victory lane.

In victory lane Kyle Smith commented “I got to 3^rd and saw Steve Young was making passing him very difficult for Lilick so the next lap I dove under the two of them and it worked out and I got into the lead and was able to stay there.  I can’t thank my dad enough for figuring this thing out.  People were saying the ½ of a feature doesn’t count as a win.  Well this one should count as a win.”   

The top ten was rounded out by Kyle Lilick in second followed by Brian Hirthler, Dylan Hoch, Mark Kemmerer, Nathan Mohr, Steve Young, Tyler James, Jimmy Leiby and Dakota Kohler in 10^th place.

The heat races were won by Wayne Rothenberger, Steve Young and Adrianna Delliponti.  The consolation was won by Dakota Kohler.

Sportsman Feature (25-laps):

 1. Kyle Smith, 2. Kyle Lilick, 3. Brian Hirthler, 4. Dylan Hoch, 5. Mark Kemmerer, 6. Nathan Mohr, 7. Steve Young, 8. Tyler James, 9. Jimmy Leiby, 10. Dakota Kohler, 11. Lex Shive, 12. Matt Clay, 13. Kenny Bock, 14. Parker Guldin, 15. Mark Stofflet, 16. Colton Perry, 17. Chris Esposito, 18. Adrianna Delliponti, 19. Mark Gaugler, 20. Kenny Gilmore, 21. B.J. Joly, 22. Hunter Iatalese, 23. Mike Schneck, 24. Wayne Rothenberger, 25. Logan Bauman, 26. Decker Swinehart, 27. Joey Vaccaro.

DNQ: Bryan Rhoads, Kurt Betler, Brian Blankenbiller, Ryan Laise, Richie Hitzler, Cole Stangle, Brad Force, Cody Manmiller.

Sportsman Pit Notes

Kyle Smith scored his second sportsman this week with his 602 crate motor this week brings the crates to 6 wins while the opens continue to lead the win count with 7 wins.  Last week Kyle won the rain shorten race with his 604 crate which is considered an open motor.  Sportsman winners are:

 Brian Hirthler – 3 wins (open) 3 wins

Kyle Smith – 1 win (open – 604)

Jesse Landis – 1 win (open)

Kenny Gilmore – 1 win (open)

Kyle Lilick – 1 win (open)

Total Open Motor Wins – 7 wins

 Dylan Hoch – 3 wins (602 crate)

Logan Bauman – 1 win (602 crate)

Decker Swinehart – 1 win (602 crate)

Kyle Smith – 1 win (602 crate)

Total Crate Motor Wins – 6

Kyle Smith won his second Open Sportsman race in a row.  Both wins came from a mid-pack starting position – 14^th and 15^th.   The first win was a rain shorten 13 lap feature and the second was a full 25 lap feature.  In addition; the first win was with his 604 crate motor which is considered an open motor while the second win was with an actual 602 crate motor since the motor was still in from a midweek STSS race at Bridgeport.  Back at the trailer Kyle noted “We won two weeks in a row but they couldn’t have been more different wins.  Our first win was a rain shorten 13 lap feature and the second win was a full 25 laps.  In the first win we had a 604 crate in the car which used the top line for the win.  The second win used a 602 crate motor and the car was hooked up on the bottom this week which is typical of the crate motor. For the sportsman race this week the track was slick and perfect for a 602 crate.   We put the 602 crate motor in for a STSS race at Bridgeport and then left it in for this weekend so we can also run the 602 class at Grandview this week.  We are putting the 604 back in for next week at Grandview.  It gives us more options on the top of the track than the 602 crate.”  While the leaders Young and Lilick battled on the outside Kyle was able to duck underneath them both on turn 2 and made a two for one pass to take the lead and eventually the checkered flag for his second win in a row.

Kyle Lilick had a strong 2^nd place finish from a 14^th starting spot after a spirited battle with Gilmore, Hirthler and Hoch for the final 10 laps.  Kyle has finished in the top 5 in four of the last 5 weeks with a win, 2^nd, 2^nd and 4^th only interrupted by a pileup wreck and 23^rd finish in the prior week.  Postrace Kyle noted “We were just trying to rebound from last week which was an awful wreck and DNF. This week was a lot of tight racing and not a lot of time to make the pass for the lead with guys like Kyle Smith running the inside line.”

Brian Hirthler finished 3^rd from his 13^th starting position to keep his 4 week top 10 finish streak alive.  Postrace Brian noted “We didn’t have a perfect car but the car came in late and we just ran out of laps to catch the leaders.  Could have used a late caution to regroup the field.  It was nice not running the rev chip this week and was able to gear up and let her rip.”

Dylan Hoch continues to have strong feature runs from anywhere in the field and finished 4^th from the 21^st starting position. Dylan recounted “We were up to 13^th and then we got sent to the rear for driving through the infield to avoid a wreck but we were able to drive back through the field to a 4^th place finish anyway.”

Mark Kemmerer came back after missing two races for vacation and finished 5^th from a 12^th starting position.  Mark has been on a top 10 roll with a 6^th, 8^th, 9^th and 5^th in his last four races.  Back at the trailer Mark noted “We had 2 races off and with the rainouts we haven’t raced for 4 weeks.  It’s really nice to get back to the track.  My wife said I was calm and relaxed today after not racing for four weeks.  The car was real good today.  We were on the inside at the start of the feature and had to checkup due to a car that didn’t fire.  The top 4 points leaders all pounced on the opportunity and bolted past us on the outside and we lost 4 or 5 spots before lap one.  As the race progressed we were real lucky to be on the outside on restarts and were able to get the spots back and then some.  The track was real heavy; but that was OK since it had two lanes and was real racey.  Don’t want to say we were disappointed with 5^th but if we didn’t get bobbled back 4 spots on the start I’m just wondering what “woulda coulda” been this week but we’ll take it.  I’m just trying to be patience for once and trying to not force things.” 

Nate Mohr got back on track with a 6^th place finished after his first DNQ of the season a few weeks ago.  Nate commented “We had a good run tonight and had a lot of expectation with starting 10^th.  We were able to pass a lot of cars but got loose after one of the cautions.  I made adjustments during the race and the car got better.  Some good side by side hard racing out there tonight.” 

Steve Young has moved to the front of the field in the past two weeks and has been taking full advantage of the handicap.  Young fought hard for a 7^th place finish to add to his 2^nd place finish last week.  Postrace Young noted “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.”

Tyler James was able to turn around a rough three weeks of finishes in the high 20’s and a DNQ with an 8^th place finish which was his best finish of the season.  Postrace Tyler noted “It was nice to get into the top 10 with our best finish of the season and not have the car on fire or be in a wreck like in past weeks. I’m working really hard to not overdrive the car.”

Jimmy Leiby finished 9^th from a 20^th starting position.  Back at the trailer Jimmy noted “We got held up in the heat and had to qualify through the last chance consolation.  In the feature we were able to avoid some wrecks but tire wear did become a factor for us.  With 5/10 laps to go our stagger changed and we developed a push in the car.”

Parker Guldin had another tough night in the heat race and got sent to the last chance consolation for the second week in a row where he qualified for the feature in the final transfer position.  In the feature Parker again made a strong forward run this time to 14^th from a 24^th starting position to maintain his 10^th place position in the season points.  Parker reflected “We again struggled in the heat and consolation but were able to again get a strong finish in the feature and maintain our new found 10^th standings in the points.  Everyone in my crew busted their butt on Saturday and I’m thankful to them and that it was all worthwhile because I feel we had good outcomes in both the sportsman and crate features for us this week.”  

Wayne Rotenberger has been to 8 races this season and DNQ in every race.  But in race # 9 everything came together for the determined 69X team and they won their heat race and qualified for the feature on the pole position.  Wayne also led the feature for three laps and unfortunately had contact front end damage end his night with a trip to the pits on the hook.  Postrace Wayne reflected “The car has been a work in progress and honestly so have I.  I haven’t been in a racecar for 29 years and that was a late models at Penn National and Big Diamond.  This week we finally put in a drop rail and went to a left side pan hard rod setup.  I had our shocks done by Beyond 4 racing shocks and those changes combined to get me to finally feel comfortable in the car.  This heat was my first win.  The car was OK in the feature but we didn’t get to finish.”

Chris Esposito had another of those days for the second outing in a row; but as was the case last time a hard working crew keep a damaged car going and in the end they salvaged a decent 17^th place finish from a provisional starting position to stay in top ten in the point standings.  Two weeks ago they raced the car on 7 cylinders and then missed last week due to motor repairs not yet been completed.  This week it was body repairs for the crew to deal at the track.  Chris was in three separate tangles that created significant damage to the car.

Postrace Chris reflected “We had bad luck in the heat and got hit at the start and lost some positions then it was single file until the end of the heat.  We had no time to make any setup adjustments for the consolation because we had to fix damage from the heat and we were too loose in the consolation and couldn’t make the feature.  I had a provisional which I exercised to get in the feature.  We made some adjustments for the feature and the car was better but our luck didn’t change and we got in two separate crashes and hurt the car pretty good.  We have had a lot of trouble this year and it really seems like this year is not our year.  I’m really surprised we are in the top ten in points with all the trouble we have had.  We are taking next week off to get things back together and then should be at the track every week to the end of the season if everything stays together.”

The next race at Grandview Speedway is a Modified & Sportsman doubleheader on Saturday August 7^th with racing starting at 7:30 PM.