Dylan Swinehart Claims Second Crate Victory in a Row at Grandview Speedway & Pit Notes

The forecasted tropical rainstorm hugged the coast just enough to keep the heavy downpours off of the hill for just enough time to complete the three division program in  2 and a half hours before the rains picked up. A rainbow showed up during the heat races and it wasn’t surprising when the three division program was completed in its entirety – all 104 entries strong.  The 11 heat; 4 consolation and 3 feature program was run without an intermission or track prep and victory lane was held until night’s end.  

The final feature of the night was the 602 crate feature which won by Dylan Swinehart for his second consecutive career 602 crate win at Grandview.

The 602 crate feature was led to green by Rick Wegner Jr with Tyler Peet taking over the lead on lap 2 only to see a charging Dylan Swinehart take command of the lead on lap 7.  Dylan Swinehart held off Dylan Hoch in second and Ryan Grim in 3^rd to march to his second 602 crate win and trip to victory lane in a row at Grandview. 

The top ten was rounded out by Dylan Hoch in second place followed by Ryan Grim Tyler Peet, Richie Hitzler, Cody Manmiller, Doug Snyder, Ryan Beltz, Rich Wegner Jr. and Talene Carter.

Heat races were won by Ricky Wegner Jr., Tyler Peet and Ryan Grim.

602 Sportsman Crate Feature (25-laps):

 1. Dylan Swinehart, 2. Dylan Hoch, 3. Ryan Grim, 4. Tyler Peet, 5. Richie Hitzler, 6. Cody Manmiller, 7. Doug Snyder, 8. Ryan Beltz, 9. Rick Wegner Jr., 10. Talan Carter, 11. Matt Yoder, 12. Zach Steffy, 13. Decker Swinehart, 14. Ryan Conrad, 15. Logan Bauman, 16. Kenny Bock, 17. Alyssa Fogel, 18. Glenn Strunk, 19. Jimmy Leiby, 20. Wayne Rotenberger, 21. Joey Vaccaro, 22. Brian Blankenbiller, 23. Dakota Kohler, 24. B.J. Joly, 25. Cody Kline – DNS, 26. Nick Faust – DNS

Sportsman Pit Notes

Kenny Gilmore’s win this week brings the open sportsman to a 9 to 7 win lead over the 602 crate motors in season wins.  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 – 4; Kenny Gilmore – 2; Jessie Landis – 1; Kyle Lilick – 1 & Kyle Smith – 1.   Kyle Smith has one win with a 602 crate and one win with an open 604 crate.

21 drivers competed in both the open sportsman and crate 602 divisions.

10 crate drivers qualified in both the open sportsman and crate feature

Top three drivers who competed in both the open sportsman and 602 crate divisions:

1. Dylan Hoch – 3^rd  in sportsman and 2^nd  in crates
2. Ryan Beltz -11^th in sportsman and 8^th in crates
3. Doug Snyder – 15^th in sportsman and 7^th in crates

Dylan Swinehart won the 602 crate feature from his heads up 7^th starting position to post his second consecutive crate win at Grandview.  Postrace Dylan commented “crates can’t usually run up top and that is the reason I went up there.  I started 7th and everyone went to the bottom which caused them to have to get out of the throttle and I used my momentum to drive around them while they were banging wheels; I was going by them up on the top.  The cars battling for position on the bottom scrub off speed when they beat and bang and lose momentum which creates an opportunity on the top if you can time it right.  I also used the cushion.  On the second restart I ran the middle to edge Tyler and then pinched him off on the bottom and stayed there.  No one else went to the top because it wasn’t fast enough and I just got lucky with my timing and caught them just right when they were rubbing wheels.  We have all the best equipment on this car and it should be dominating and we have had a lot of good luck both times out with this car.”

Dylan Hoch finished 2^nd from his 9^th starting position and continued his dominance in both the open sportsman and crate division.  In the open sportsman division Dylan has 4 wins and is only 71 points behind Kenny Gilmore for the points lead.  In the crate 5 race mini-series he has 2 wins and sits second in the final points standings.  Dylan was leading and on his way to his third crate win of the five races when a flat tire sent him to the pits and the tail of the field 3 weeks ago.  Postrace Dylan noted “We were able to end the night with two strong finishes but we struggled all night with a tight car and couldn’t take advantage of the cushion on the track tonight.  These double races are always rushed running both classes but tonight went to another level with the additional push because of the impending rain.”

Ryan Grim finished 3^rd and wrapped up the points title for the 5 race mini-series.  Ryan also had a busy night with double duty between the 17 modified and the 119X crate entry.  Ryan commented “With the weather adjustments to the schedule it turned out to be a logistical challenge to run both the modified and the 602 crate tonight.  I went from the crate heat right to the modified feature and then directly to the 602 crate feature.  Just got out of one car and right into the other.  Can’t thank my crew enough for them making it possible for me to jump from car to car tonight.  The crate car was tight tonight for the first time.  I was just cruising tonight in 3^rd and not taking any chances.  We were able to win the 602 crate points deal for this 5 race series.” 

Richie Hitzler finished 5^th from his 8^th starting position and had two strong runs in his late season appearance in the crate division.  Richie was running modified until June when a failure of his only engine ended his modified season early.  His first of two races in the Grandview 602 crate mini-series was actually his first crate race ever as his background before modified racing was actually 600 mods.  Richie has recorded a 7^th and 5^th in his two appearances in the 602 crate mini-series at Grandview.  Richie commented “We like to run this series because we get extra track time and up until 3 weeks ago I have never been in a crate 602 car.  In the sportsman heat we broke an axle and decided not to run the sportsman consolation which would allow us enough time to fix the axle right and be 100 % for the 602 crate heat race.  We were a little too free in the heat and managed to finish 3^rd and the heads up format put us starting 8^th in the feature.  In the feature I went into the first turn too hard and fell back to 17^th but with a couple restarts I was able to quickly work my way back to 10^th by lap 5.  I was driving angry at myself for my early mistake and drove hard through the field to a 5^th place finish.  The track had a cushion tonight and it was a lot of fun.  This track had a lot of racing on it tonight and the track surface held up amazingly well with no prep after hot laps.  There are not many tracks around that can pull this off but Grandview is one that can.”

Cody Manmiller finished 6^th and is hoping to find some momentum to take back to the sportsman division next week.  Cody reflected “We’ve been in a bit of a slump since early June and just haven’t got the finishes I should be getting.  I didn’t qualify from the sportsman consolation and was mad at myself for some driving mistakes.  So it was good to get back on track with a positive 6^th place finish tonight in the 602 crate feature.  We were able to drive the car onto the trailer and hopefully I can use this success as a springboard for getting back in the top 10 in the weekly open sportsman racing here at Grandview.”

Ryan Beltz finished 8^th from his 11^th starting position and welcomed the extra laps after switching to a crate for the first time a few weeks ago.  Postrace Ryan commented “Andy’s car is the first time I’ve ever ran a crate car and the power difference from the open sportsman motor is very noticeable.  For the crate heat I didn’t draw good and started 7^th in the heat.  Car was good in the heat and we were able to finish 4^th.  We started 11^th in the feature and finished 8^th on a rubbered up track.  Car got real tight in the last 15 laps.  The rubbered up track destroyed three tires which makes it tough for us with the current tire shortage.  I’ll be back in Andy’s car next week and should have my car back on track in the first week of September.”

Matt Yoder made his sportsman debut on the final sportsman and crate division double header so he jumped hip deep into the deep end of the open sportsman and 602 crate racing on the same day and came out above water on both counts. In the 602 crate feature Matt finished 11^th from his 16^th starting position.   Postrace Matt reflected “We were loose in the crate heat but still moved forward from our 10^th starting spot to a 6^th place finish in the heat.  With the impending weather pushing the program we had no time to make adjustments for the 602 crate feature.  If we had time we would had tighten the car up for sure.  We ran the feature with a right front that was leaking and caused a push and by the end of the race we had a right front flat.  Since we just wanted to get some laps in we ran old junk tires.  We came into tonight with only an expectation to get some laps and seat time so to actually qualify for both programs and to finish 16^th and 11^th is far better than we expected for our Grandview debut.  Want to thank my sponsors who make all of this possible – Christman’s Meat Market; Heffner Mowing & Landscaping; Steve Shrawder Construction; Generac Dealer; and Bloomsburg Chevrolet and Cadillac.  Definitely wouldn’t be able to do this without the support of my wife and parents.  Our game plan is to run Grandview weekly.”

Jimmy Leiby raced in two features and the outcome in each were complete polar opposites; with a strong second place finish in the sportsman feature to rolling and flipping in the 602 crate feature.  Jimmy reflected “In the first feature we actually got to battle for the lead for the first time in a while and got a 2^nd place finish which was our best finish of the season.  I told my dad that was the best the car felt all year.”

Jimmy continued “Coming out of tech we didn’t have time to do much to the car and we drew the last starting position in the heat which was 9^th.  We moved up to a 7^th finish place finish in the heat which put us in 20^th starting position in the heads up feature.  On lap 4 I had a flat that we changed and I came back out.  I had worked my way back up to about 15^th when everyone checked up.  I ran into the back of Ryan Conrad and ripped the right front tire off which caused the car to hop and flip over.  It was the first time that I’ve ever actually flipped a car.  We’re going to have an extra busy week fixing the 9L and putting the modified motor in the 9 for my first modified race at Thunder on the Hill on Thursday.  We’ll be back next Saturday with the 9L as there are 3 points races remaining and we are currently 6^th in points.”   

Speaking of first time flippers; Jimmy Leiby was not the only one to go on his lid for the first time as BJ Joly joined the ranks with a rollover.  BJ went over in the first lap of the sportsman feature from contact coming out of turn 2 onto the backstretch.  BJ went back to the pits on the hook with what looked like heavy body and front end damage.  But BJ came to race in two features and thanks to his racing friends that helped get the car ready that exactly what he did race in two features.  Despite his rollover in the sportsman feature; BJ still made the call for the 602 crate feature and took the green.  BJ reflected “Started the sportsman feature in 4^th and laid back as the front row was swearing into one another.  I took a chance to pass them but they both came down on me and somehow some way I ended up flipping onto my lid for the first time.  It was a weird feeling seeing the fuel pour out and run toward me.  I was trying to get out but the EMS told me to stay put.   I would like to thank the track crew and EMS for their excellent response time.”

BJ continued “When we got the car back to the trailer we had to change the front axle and make some brackets to fix body damage.  We came back out to prove we can fix the car and are not going to quite today or tomorrow.  We got the green money and accomplished my goal of qualifying for both the sportsman and 602 crate features.  I want to thank Lex Shive, the Stoffletts, Colton Perry, & the Leibys for all the help.  I would also like to thank Tina Rogers for giving us the opportunity to come back out for the crate feature to take the green and everyone who called, texted and messaged to see if I was good and needed anything.”

Wayne Rotenberger came into the night with a goal of qualifying for the sportsman and 602 crate feature in the same night and that’s just what he was able to do.  By putting his 69X in both the sportsman feature and 602 feature he was able to double his number of qualified events this season from 2 to 4 in one day.  Wayne reflected “The car seems good for the wet heavy track.  We are still chasing a dry slick setup and with no track prep because of the looming weather it didn’t seem like a good idea to start up front in the first feature so we opted for the back.  We did want to try to really race with the 602’s but a clutch issue had me late to lineup and we had to start in the rear again.  The car and driver haven’t really found a comfort zone with the dry and slick track yet.  It was great to get feature time in both classes but it did cost us a right front tire because of a push we had in the turns.  I did pull off early to stay out of the leader’s way and not get caught up in someone else’s mess.  It is important for us to bring the car home in one piece so we can make improvements rather than just trying fix damage and get it back together.”

On Thursday August 26 at 7:30 p.m. Tony Stewart’s All Star Sprints and Modifieds are featured in a doubleheader at Grandview Speedway

Then on Saturday August 28 the Modifieds, Sportsman and Outlaw Vintage Racers have a tripleheader with racing starting at 7:30 P.M.