Craig Von Dohren Collects 4th Win of Season at Grandview Speedway & Pit Notes

Under seasonably warm and cloudy conditions with low humidity Grandview Speedway completed their 14^th modified and sportsman points race of the season.  By night’s end; the season long point battles became much closer and tighter with only five races left to determine the point championships.

The modified feature was led for first 24 laps by pole sitter Glenn Owens while an intense battle between Umbenhauer, Kressley and Vo Dohren developed.  On lap 14 a spin by Umbenhauer caused by contact from Kressley resulted in both cars going to the rear of the field and sending Von Dohren and Strunk to 4^th and 5^th in pursuit of the top three of Owens, Hine and Hirthler.  On lap 24 Von Dohren took the lead and is where he stayed until the checkered flag for win # 4 of the season at Grandview Speedway.

The top ten was rounded out by Jeff Strunk in second place, Doug Manmiller, Kevin Hirthler, Ryan Grim, Dylan Swinehart, Jared Umbenhauer, Carroll Hine III, Brad Brightbill and Danny Bouc in 10^th.

Heat Races were won by Mark Kratz, Cory Merkel and Carroll Hine III.  The last chance consolation was won by Darrin Schuler.

Modified Feature (30-laps) Grandview 8-7-21:

   1. Craig Von Dohren, 2. Jeff Strunk, 3. Doug Manmiller, Kevin Hirthler, 5. Ryan Grim, 6. Dylan Swinehart, 7. Jared Umbenhauer, 8. Carroll Hine III, 9. Brad Brightbill, 10. Danny Bouc, 11. Jack Butler, 12. Duane Howard, 13. Jordan Henn, 14. Jesse Leiby, 15. Brett Kressley, 16. Darrin Schuler, 17. Cory Merkel, 18. Joe Funk III, 19. Glenn Owens, 20. Ryan Lilick, 21. Mark Kratz, 22. Bobby Gunther Walsh, 23. Nate Brinker, 24. Ron Haring Jr., 25. Justin Grim, 26. Ray Swinehart, 27. Kevin Graver, 28. Brad Grim.

 DNQ: Mike Lisowski, Craig Whitmoyer, Brad Arnold, Brett Gilmore, Eric Biehn and Mark Levy.

The story of the night was a huge development in the points championship were points leader Brett Kressley saw a difficult weekend of racing have a dramatic impact on the 159 point lead he brought into tonight’s race.  On Friday night at Big Diamond; some racing drama developed between Brett Kressley and Jared Umbenhauer with contact between both cars several times in the final laps ending in Kressley spinning the leader and being disqualified for unsportsmanlike contact in the final turn while taking the win only to be sent to the back of the field and handing the win to 3^rd place Craig Von Dohren for his 100^th career Big Diamond win and giving Von Dohren his first win of the weekend.

Unfortunately for Kressley the penalties continued on Saturday at Grandview as he was sent to the back of the field in his heat race for aggressive driving but was able to recover and qualify for the handicap.  In the feature Kressley and Umbenhauer again crossed paths and for the second time this weekend resulted in Umbenhauer spinning and Kressley being sent to the back of the field for aggressive driving.  The big winner on Saturday was Craig Von Dohren as he again won his second race of the weekend and able to cut Kressley’s points lead to less than 20 points with 5 races remaining in the season.  The battle for the points championships will continue on the platform of the Forrest Rogers Memorial with a 50 lap $10,000 to win race which will only add to the intensity of the points chase on August 14.

Modified Pit Notes

Craig Von Dohren picked his 4^th win of the season and his 3^rd win in his last 5 races at Grandview Speedway. To say Craig is on fire at the right time to make a run for the championship is an understatement.  After 12 weeks of top 5/10 finishes Craig had an average finish of 3.25 for 12 outings this season and was still behind Brett Kressley by 100 points after week 12.  Last week disaster struck for the top three in the point standings of Kressley, Von Dohren and Umbenhauer with all three of them involved in a 14 car wreck.  Brett Kressley limped home in 18^th with Van Dohren towed to 25^th and Umbenhauer towed to a 26^th.  This was the first time all season any of these three drivers finished outside the top ten and after 12 consecutive weeks of top ten finishes for all three drivers.  In week 13 Kressley was able to extend his points lead to a season high 159 points by having the best worse day of the top 3.

This week (14) started out like any other week with Umbenhauer, Von Dohren and Kressley starting – 12^th, 13^th and 14^th in the Grandview feature.   A midrace incident between Umbenhauer and Kressley; ended up with Von Dohren in 5^th while Umbenhauer went to the back due to a spin from contact by Kressley who also went to the tail of the field due to an aggressive driving penalty.  With only two laps to go Kressley who was in 13^th got caught up in an incident with Lilick and Henn which sent him to the back of the field a second time with only two laps to go.  Craig Von Dohren won his 4^th race with Jared Umbenhauer in 7^th place and Brett Kressley in 15^th place resulting in the biggest one race point swing of the season.  Kressley’s points lead is now down to only 19 points over Von Dohren.

Next week the point chase continues with only 5 point races remaining on the schedule but with one other complicating factor – next week is also the $10,000 to win Forrest Rogers Memorial race.

Jeff Strunk finished 2^nd from his 19^th starting position for his 5^th top five finish of the season.  Back at the trailer Jeff noted “We started the heat race from 10th and had a tough time to go of it like most heat races but was able to make the cut in 7^th and transfer from the heat. We started the feature in 19^th. It’s a long road to 2^nd from 19^th but we got there and had a good car and a good run tonight.  Coming from 19^th you are behind the eight ball and have to go where there not and put the car anywhere you can to get around other cars.  We had one bad restart and lost some spots; but were able to get them back on the next restart.  I have an awesome pit crew that I’ve been with for a long time and I can’t do this without them.  They were great again tonight and I can’t thank them enough.”

Doug Manmiller had a strong 3^rd place finish from an 11^th starting position and was his second top 3 finish in a row.   Doug commented “Had a good car again tonight.  In the heat race we were on the bottom and rode it out.  We were able to make the invert for the feature and start 11^th.  In the feature we made it up to 4^th and then got shuffled back to 10^th on a bad restart but was able to work back up through the field to second before the final restart.   Tried a little too hard on the final restart and got passed by Jeff so we ended up with 3^rd for our second top three in two weeks and the car is straight.   In the last couple of weeks we are really building on something here.” 

Kevin Hirthler finished 4^th from his 10^th starting position.  Last week Hirthler’s 2019 car was in the big wreck and not available for this week; so the 2016 car was back in service tonight and has been his most consistent car this season.  Back at the trailer Kevin commented “The track has been so fast and these cars are really hooked up and the heat races are really rough starting with Kressley and Howard in the back. There is a lot of beating, banging and shoving and it can be tricky keeping the car straight.  We made the invert and started 10^th in the feature.  We were shot out of a cannon at the start of the race and went right to 3^rd place.  The car was better early and tapered off later in the race.  I should have won this race but I let this one slip by and get away.  I made a mistake and rode behind the 114 and then got pinned on the bottom behind him.  It was still a good night we ended up 4^th and the car is straight.  We’ll move on and be back for the Forrest Rogers Memorial next week.”

Ryan Grim had his best car since week 1 of the season and finished 5^th from a 16^th starting position in the feature.  Ryan has been battling both handling and motor issues in the heat races on a weekly basis but had his best handling car of the season this week.  Back at the trailer Ryan reflected “Finally for once this season we got better in the heat and the car was handling and could go forward.  The changes worked and the car was much better handling.  I’m not sure what we found but we found something in the handling of the car.  The motor still doesn’t feel quite right yet and now we still need to get the motor to work a little better.  We were able to qualify in the heat which for us has been rare this year and a big improvement.  In the feature we continued in the right direction and finished 5^th from 16^th.  We were able to move forward and pass some cars tonight.  We’ll take it and see if we can get the motor a little better next week at the Forrest Rogers Memorial.”

Dylan Swinehart finished 6^th from an 8^th starting position for his best finish of the season.  Dylan reflected “We have had a very good car every week but just not been able to stay out of jingles and keep from getting run into but this week it all finally came together for us.  In the heat the car was fast and we went from 5^th to 3^rd.  I could have gone to 1^st but there was nothing to gain so I settled for 3^rd.   Started 8^th in the feature;  I went real hard into turn 1 and the track was still really greasy which slid me across the track and I got freight trained to the back on lap 1.  Got into an early tangle which bent the front end up and couldn’t get through the corners the same.  On the restart we started 14^th and worked back to a 6^th.   The car was hooked up, we could pass easily and were able to stay out of the late wrecks.  This car is now where we want it to be and we are ready for the Forrest Rogers Memorial.” 

Jared Umbenhauer finished 7^th from a 12^th starting position but took the long way to the front coming back through the field a second time after getting tagged & spun by the 19K.  This week was disappointing; but last week was far a worse week for Jared.  In the heat last week; Jared was in a jingle that ended with wall contact and a bent the frame. Despite the bent frame; they was able to get the car out for the feature only to be involved in the “big one” 14 car incident and get flipped upside down on the front stretch.   It was questionable if the car would be repaired and ready in time for this week or if Jared would have to drive his dad’s #5 as a replacement car this week.  Bobby Strunk had the front half completed earlier in the week and Jared and crew had the car put back together and ready to continue the points chase for this week.

Back at the trailer Jared recalled “We have the same car as last week and thanks to Bobby Strunk, my crew and many hours in the shop to get the car ready for this week after two major incidents last week.

Today we were able to qualify for the invert in the heat race which is always tough due to being handicapped in the back.  After all the work we had to do last week after our heat wreck; it was great to have a straight car after the heat this week that we could tune instead of fix.

In the feature we got up to 5^th and were looking for more when I got taken out from behind by the same guy who took me out one turn away from a win on Friday night.  I just got done working through the field to get to the front and then we get spun by the 19K and end up back at the tail of the field.  We were fortunate to be able to run back to front for a 7^th place finish in the remaining 15 laps of the feature.”

Carroll Hine III uncorked his best finish of the season with an 8^th place finish.  Carroll held 2^nd place for the first 15 laps of the race but the car started to fade back to his eventual 8^th place finish.  Postrace Carroll stated “We won the heat race with our strongest car of the season.  In the feature we started 3^rd and the car was really good to just about the halfway point of the race.  By the end of the race we weren’t as good getting through the turns and we were getting pasted on the top.  Our 8^th place finish was our best this season.  This car was awesome tonight.  Dad made some stagger changes and shock tuning that seemed to make a difference for us tonight.  After the race we found that the right rear tire was blistered which is probably the reason the car was fading later in the race.  The car was still awesome tonight and hopefully we have found what we what have been looking for in the feature setup.  We have improved our qualifying setup with making 6 of our last 8 features.  Now we are looking for consistent top 10’s in the feature.”

The 114 car is also a prime example of the shortages of body panels that exist this year and their sheer determination to continue to race every week.  The 114 is red on one side and white on the other.  They are using body panels from two different years after they destroyed one side of panels earlier this year.

 After a few weeks absence; Brad Brightbill returned in the Breitenstein Motorsports 14 and finished 9^th from a 23^rd starting position.  Back at trailer Brad reflected “In the heat we started far back in 11^th; everyone got crossed up and we got involved in some contact. We broke the header and bent the right front so the car was not handling well but we managed to just miss qualifying by one position which put us in the front row of the last chance consolation.  We ran 2^nd in the consolation and the car was not bad.  In the feature we started 23^rd and the car was better on the top as we were not finding much grip on the bottom.  We were able to pass some cars and survive the wrecks and come home with a 9^th place finish.  We’ll be back next week for the Forrest Rogers Memorial.”      

 As has been the recent trend for Danny Bouc; once again he was unable to get a forward push in the heat race and finished 10^th sending to the last chance consolation race.  Starting back in 9^th; Danny was able to move forward to 5^th and transfer to the feature in the 26^th position.  The car came to life in the feature on the top side and Danny was able to move forward 16 positions to a 10^th place finish.

Jack Butler was coming off only his second DNQ of the season last week and was looking to get back on track by qualifying for the feature this week.  Postrace Jack commented “We ran 6^th in first half of heat but got shuffled back to 9th on a restart and clawed our way to 7^th place which earned us the last transfer spot into the feature.  We made some chassis adjustments for the feature to tighten the car up.  Car felt good early and we were able to stay out of the wrecks.  We were in 9^th but just didn’t get to the bottom quick enough when the top went away late in the race so lost a few spots and ended up in 11^th.  Another consistent run for us and a good night with the car is in one piece.”

Brett Kressley started the day with his biggest point lead of the season at 159.  By the end of the day; his lead was the smallest since the first week of the season and only 19 points.  Brett started the day in the heat race with a penalty and being sent to the back of the field for aggressive driving.  He was still able to work his way back to 5^th and transfer to the feature in the invert.  In the feature he tangled with Umbenhauer and several other cars on lap 15 and was sent to the back of the field again for aggressive driving for a second time.  With only 15 laps left and in the back of the field with Jared Umbenhauer; both drivers made a strong move forward in the field.  On lap 28; Brett was collected by a spinning Ryan Lilick and went to the back of the field a second time with only two laps to go.  Every position counts; and with Kressley getting back to 15^th place he was able to stay in 1^st place in the points standing by 19 points with CVD closer than ever.    

Cory Merkel was rebounding from his second DNQ of the season last week and managed to win his heat race and qualify for the 3^rd starting position in the feature.  Cory stayed up front in 4^th position for the first 16 laps but on a restart was involved in a 4 wide bump ripple from inside to outside which ended with Cory spinning in the turn 2 to end his best run to date.  Postrace Cory noted “During the prior week’s race we broke our shock tower in warmups and couldn’t get it welded in time for the heat race.  We came out for the consolation but the car wasn’t 100% so we picked up our 2^nd DNQ in 14 races last week.

Today we came out in the heat and took the win from the 2^nd starting position and it was awesome to get right back into the fray.  We started 3^rd in the feature this week and it was going great when a domino effect bump of four cars ended up with us spun out and turned around sending us to the back of the field.  We know we are getting closer and closer every week which was proven even more by running a solid 4^th for over half of the feature.  Car wouldn’t be ready week in and week out without the help of my father-in-law Jason, my dad Ken and crew Troy Snyder, Paul Hassall and Jordan Umbenhauer.”

Glenn Owens started on the pole for his second outing in a row and led the feature for 24 laps and was on his way to a strong 2^nd place finish when his car had fuel pressure problems and he pulled off on lap 28 for a heartbreaker in only his 2^nd feature of the season after 5 DNQ’s.  Glenn noted “We found our problem in the fuel tank that took us out on lap 28.  We have it fixed now and we were so close to that first win this week.  We’ll keep digging and hopefully that first win comes very soon.”

Nate Brinker finished 23^rd in the feature and drove his car into the trailer at the end of the night.  After the past 4 races; the Brinker 14 team sees being able to drive the car into the trailer as a win.  In their last 4 races they had to rebuild the front end four times to be able to get the car in the trailer.  A 23^rd finish and driving the car into the trailer was a big win for the 14 team.

Nate stated “The guys are really looking forward to tuning on the car this week rather than fixing front end and body damage like they have been for the past 4 weeks.  We had the car front halved by Bobby Strunk after our flip and we are looking forward to dialing in the updated frame in the next couple of weeks.  I can’t thank the guys on this crew enough for all they do to keep this car under me.”

The rest of the story notes:

Last week’s winner Kevin Graver had some front end damage and pulled in early during the feature.  Kevin commented “Car was good and we were racing with the top guys so we are happy and ready for next week at the Forrest Rogers Memorial.”

Ron Harring had a solid 2^nd place run going in the feature when motor issues ended his night on lap 9.

Craig Whitmoyer may have been involved in a tangle with Brett Kressley but that did not end his night.  A broken camshaft ended his night.

John Willman was a casualty of “the big one” wreck from last week damaging his 2^nd frame in two months of racing.  John is expecting to be back in time for the Forrest Rogers Memorial and is in the process of getting two frames and will ready with a backup chassis for next time which hopefully will be none too soon for John.

Mark Levy returned in his 711J and was shaking down some new equipment.  Mark’s second car is set to debut next season.

Next up on Saturday August 14^th is the 51^st annual Forrest Rogers Memorial 50 lap $10,000 to win modified feature and sportsman division double header program with racing starting at 7:30 PM.