Dylan Hoch Claims 4th Win as Points Battle with Kenny Gilmore Heats up 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 Sportsman feature saw first time heat race winner and polesitter Hunter Latalese lead the field until lap 13 when Decker Swinehart took over the lead of the race.  On lap 20 after a couple of no starts; it was Dylan Hoch grabbing the lead on the restart for the final 5 laps to take his 4^th win of the season by nearly a two second margin of victory over 2^nd place Kyle Lilick.

The top ten was rounded out by Kyle Lilick in second place, Decker Swinehart, Jimmy Leiby, Kenny Gilmore, Kenny Bock, Mark Kemmerer, Brian Hirthler, Mike Stofflet and Nathan Mohr in 10^th place.    

The heat races were won by Decker Swinehart, Hunter Latalese, and Adrianna Delliponti.  The consolation race was won by Brian Hirthler.

Sportsman Feature (25-laps):

1. Dylan Hoch, 2. Kyle Lilick, 3. Decker Swinehart, 4. Jimmy Leiby, 5. Kenny Gilmore, 6. Kenny Bock, 7. Mark Kemmerer, 8. Brian Hirthler, 9. Mike Stofflet, 10. Nathan Mohr, 11. Joey Vaccaro, 12. Dakota Kohler, 13. Cody Manmiller, 14. Kyle Smith, 15. Adrianna Delliponti, 16. Parker Guldin, 17. Logan Bauman, 18. Lex Shive, 19. Hunter Iatalese, 20. Steve Young, 21. Glenn Strunk, 22. Ryan Beltz, 23. B.J. Joly, 24. Bryan Rhoads.

 DNQ: Wayne Rotenberger, Mark Gaugler, Anthony Raisner, Nicho Flammer, Ryan Laise, Nick Faust and Robert Wosyluk.

Not to be outdone by the modified division; the sportsman points chase has also seen dramatic developments in the past two events.  Last week Kenny Gilmore had his first finish outside of the top 10 in 2021 with a 20^th place finish while 2^nd in points Dylan Hoch finished 4^th and closed the gap from 249 to 109 points as of 7/31/21.  This week Dylan Hoch’s win reduce Kenny’s Gilmore to points lead to a mire 60 points with 5 point races to go in the season.

Sportsman Pit Notes

Dylan Hoch’s win this week of the open sportsman feature brings the 602 crates into a 7 to 7 tie with the Open Sportsman motors for the season.  The Crate winners have been Dylan Hoch – 4; Logan Bauman – 1; Decker Swinehart – 1 & Kyle Smith – 1.  The open sportsman winners have been Brian Hirthler – 3; Jessie Landis – 1; Kyle Lilick – 1; Kenny Gilmore – 1 & Kyle Smith – 1.   Kyle Smith has one win with a 602 crate and one win with an open 604 crate.

Dylan Hoch won his 4^th feature of the season from his 12^th starting position.  In the past two weeks Dylan has made up 200 points and is now only 60 points behind point leader Kenny Gilmore with 5 races to go in the season.  It is setting up to be a nip and tuck weekly battle for the point championship right down to the final feature of the season.    Dylan noted “We had our best heat race this season.  I kept the car on the bottom and gained some positions putting us in the handicap invert.  We definitely need to be faster when the track is heavy early in the feature.”

Kyle Lilick finished 2^nd from a 13^th starting position in the feature.  Kyle continues to have a real strong car able to move forward in both his heat and feature.  In the past 6 races Kyle has a win; three 2^nd place finishes and a 4^th place finish.  Postrace Kyle noted “Just trying to give myself a drivable car every week and be patient.  We don’t need a perfect setup; just need it to be good enough to make moves when they are available.”

Decker Swinehart had a strong 3^rd place finish from a 5^th place starting position.  Decker was able to get out of a 6 week DNQ / back of the field slide with his 3^rd top three of the season.  Postrace Decker recalled “From the start on Saturday the car was a rocket ship and we didn’t change anything from hot laps to the feature besides tires.  This week we made some shock adjustments that have given the car more drive off of the corner.”

Jimmy Leiby finished 4^th from an 11^th starting position.  Postrace Jimmy reflected on his day “We went out for hot laps and had to pull right in because the rev limiter was set wrong so we ended up missing hot laps and went into the heat race blind.  Despite no warmups; we were able to move forward in the heat from 6^th to 4^th and qualify for the invert.  In the feature we had a real cool moment were I was able to get underneath 3 cars in the corner and made a rare 3 for 1 pass.  We missed the setup in the feature and the car was too tight but we’ll take it and move on.   This car has been phenomenal this year.”

Kenny Gilmore finished 5^th from a 20^th starting position and the Grandview veteran turned a bad luck night into a good run.  Back at the trailer Kenny reflected “We were in a qualified spot in the heat when a tire went flat and we had to pull off with 1 lap to go so that sent us to the back of the consolation.  We managed to finish 3^rd from the 11^th starting position in the consolation which put us starting 20^th in the feature.  In the feature we had a real good car and was able to pass and move forward until the very end when the track started to go away.  A few more laps and we could have won this race.  Last week we got put up into the wall; developed a vibration and then had driveshaft let loose taking us out early.  The car has been good enough to win the last two races.”

Kenny Bock got his 3^rd top 5/10 of the season and it couldn’t have come at a better time as the team has been struggling with luck and mechanical issues for going on now two months of a busy racing season for the 6 team as they run Grandview weekly and the STSS South races.   Kenny noted “We started 3^rd in the heat and got a good jump at the start which made a huge difference.  It became follow the leader and a fight for the bottom but our good start paid off and we finished 2^nd which sent us to the feature in the 6^th starting position.   It is great to have a good heat race and it has been awhile since we qualified so well in the heat race and it makes a big difference in the preparation for the feature race.  In the feature I thought I was going to be able to get the lead early but couldn’t get further up front then 2^nd.  The car went away and got loose becoming a handful by the end of the race.  We have had a rough beginning of the year as well as this summer so hopefully tonight’s great car and outing will continue for us through the remainder of the season.  It was great to get 6^th and even greater to have a straight car at the end of the night.  Seems like I can’t remember the last time the car was straight at the end of the night.”

Mark Kemmerer took a break and a little advice from his wife and has had 5 straight top 10 finishes for his best consecutive outings of the season.  Mark continued his strong outings with a 7^th place finish from a 16^th starting position.  Postrace Mark commented “We tried something different in the heat race that was not the answer and we were lucky to hang on for the 6^th and final qualifying spot.  Not making the invert again; made it another tough road to hoe in the feature.  Starting outside in 16^th is doable but not optimal.  The track widen up after the modified feature which was a help.  The car was good on top but could have been a little better.  That last yellow with 6 to go did not help us at all since it came out when we were on a roll and then put us on the inside for the restart which caused us to lose a spot.  All in all another good week for us.  My goal is to win one before the season ends and get a pic in victory lane with my girls as they are what I am racing for anymore.

We finished 7^th and the car was straight and in one piece.  It may have taken years; but I have learned one thing; that bringing a car home in one piece is sometimes the biggest win of all.  When you own your own business; a busted car and having to be in the shop all week makes for a miserable week all the way around – at work, at home and at the shop.  Just trying to be a little more patient on track and take the available opportunities while not trying to force things that result in getting into trouble can make a big difference in the quality of the racing experience and the quality of life during the week.  Having said that; it is much easier said than done once the green flag drops.”

Brian Hirthler finished 8^th from an 18^th starting position.   Brian ran the 117 for a month while the 4* was being repaired due to engine damage.  The 4* returned to action 6 weeks ago and has been in the top 5/10 every week since returning.  Postrace Brian noted “In the heat race I tried the top but it was too dirty from everyone running the bottom and we couldn’t move out of our 7^th starting position and got sent to the consolation.  In the consolation the car seemed okay but it was tough to judge starting up front.  We missed the setup for the feature and the consolation got us out of our normal routine so we forgot a few changes but the car was still okay.  Starting in 18^th I was extra cautious to make sure I didn’t get the front end bent up.  With only two restarts there was not a lot of opportunity to make things up off of a restart.” 

Mike Stofflet finished 9^th frim his 4^th starting position. Postrace Mike recalled “We ran the vintage car at Grandview on Friday night on a very slick track.  I definitely feel that the last few weeks when we have been running the vintage car has been helping us on Saturday with the sportsman car. We used the vintage setup on the sportsman car on Saturday.  It looks like our tire selection on Saturday hurt us in the feature and we were loose again but I think we are heading in the right direction.  We been adjusting our axel locations and been working on improving our shock package.  I think as a team we are building some momentum with our consistency and hopefully we can take it into the year-end races in the coming weeks and also carry the consistency into next year.

Nate Mohr finished 10^th from a 15^th starting position in the feature.  Nate has put together back to back top ten finishes and moved into the top ten in points this week.  Back at the trailer Nate commented “We had a great car tonight for the second week in a row.  We started in the back with the good guys.  The car got loose in the end but tonight we were able to manage the car and the big thing was we didn’t get our front end run over tonight.”

Kyle Smith came into tonight with two consecutive wins in the sportsman division at Grandview.  He also is the only driver with one win with a 602 crate motor and another with a 604 crate open motor.  Kyle was in 5^th looking for another top five finish but on lap 20 he was knocked out of contention by contact from behind which turned the car and put him into a spin that sent him to the back of the field and a disappointing 15^th place finish.

Parker Guldin had an off night based on a recent string of three top ten finishes but he did stay out of trouble and turned in a 16^th place finish which was good enough for the 11 team to continue their climb in the point standings to 9^th place in the point standings.  In three short weeks with consistent top ten finishes Parker managed to move from 19^th in the points standings to 10^th.  With 5 weeks left Parker would like to stay in the top ten when the season concludes.  There are five strong cars right on his heels so a few strong finishes and continued consistent finishes will be what Parker is looking for in the final 5 weeks of the season. 

Parker reflected “In the heat I thought it was going pretty good in the beginning but just couldn’t get the car to move forward.  We started 5^th and finished 6^th which qualified us but not in the invert.  We made some minor adjustments and the car was consistent but I just have to drive better. I made a bunch of little mistakes that added up.  Luckily we came out with nothing broken except the usual sheet metal and brought the car home in one piece.” 

Parker continued “we were real lucky to be here racing this week since when we returned to the shop last week we found out that we broke a rocker arm during the crate feature last week.  We were very lucky to be able to finish the race and to be able to get the motor fixed in time for this week.  Thanks to Craig Whitmoyer’s help we were able to get the motor fixed and make it back to the track this week.” 

After only three DNQ’s; sportsman weekly newcomer Hunter Iatalese has qualified for his last two features.  This week he was able to win his heat race as well as lead the feature for 11 laps until he fell back through the field to a 19^th place finish.

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.