Duane Howard Claims Modified Season Finale and Craig Von Dohren Crowned 2021 Points Champion at Grandview & Pit Notes

Grandview speedway closed out their 2021 regular season with the 19^th and final points race of the season & crowned their 2021 champions under sunny skies and cool crisp fall temperatures.  Fireworks and $5,000 of additional bonuses were paid throughout the field by event sponsor Hope Mortgage Team.   

The modified 30 lap feature was won by Duane Howard who took the lead on lap 14 and never looked back as he took his 3^rd Grandview win of the season. 

Craig Von Dohren won the 2021 modified points championship and has 12 career Grandview season championships.

Craig Von Dohren noted “We wanted more wins this year and we got five but we will push even harder again next year.  We got to get more than five wins to win this championship next year.  One bad night here can kill you.  Every week we drag a spare car along with us for just in case.  It really paid off tonight; as the car we won the championship with last year is our backup this year and we had to pull it out after the heat race crash of our primary car.  The backup car won its second championship tonight.  You have got to give 100 % every night and every week is unbelievable and nerve racking to win this championship.  We just missed somebody who was flipping and he flipped right by me tonight.”

Kenny Gilmore won the 2021 sportsman points championship and is his first championship in 36 years of racing.

Ron Haring took the early lead in the modified feature and led the first 9 laps until a red flag was thrown for a multi-car tangle that put Craig Whitmoyer into an end over end tumble.  On the restart Joe Funk charged to the front until lap 14 when Duane Howard took over the lead.  Howard stayed out in front for the remaining 16 green flat laps and drove into victory lane with a 1.3 margin of victory over 2nd place Jeff Strunk.

In victory lane Duane Howard stated “I just want to thank Hope Mortgage for sponsoring a great evening of racing, fireworks and the 9/11 tribute.  I was in my Diamond car tonight and I’m really comfortable behind the wheel.  Timmy showed me his nose on the bottom and I realized how good it was down there; so I got out in front of him and dropped down to the bottom for the rest of the race.  The car was really good tonight.  We had a tough year and things didn’t go our way; but this is a nice start that we hope to carry to the 6er next weekend.”

The top ten was rounded out by Jeff Strunk in 2^nd place followed by Brett Kressley, Tim Buckwalter, Craig Von Dohren, Jared Umbenhauer, Jordan Henn, Brian Hirthler, Mike Lisowski and Joe Funk in 10^th place.

The heat races were won by Eric Biehn, Joe Funk and Jordan Henn.  The last chance consolation was won by Ryan Grimm.

Modified Feature (30-laps) Results:

1. Duane Howard, 2. Jeff Strunk, 3. Brett Kressley, 4. Timmy Buckwalter, 5. Craig Von Dohren, 6. Jared Umbenhauer, 7. Jordan Henn, 8. Kevin Hirthler, 9. Mike Lisowski, 10. Joe Funk III, 11. Doug Manmiller, 12. Ron Haring Jr., 13. Eric Biehn, 14. Justin Grim, 15. Brad Arnold, 16. Nate Brinker, 17. Dave Dissinger, 18. Chris Gambler, 19. Ray Swinehart, 20. John Willman, 21. Ryan Lilick, 22. Craig Whitmoyer, 23. Dylan Swinehart, 24. Ron Kline, 25. Brad Grim, 26. Brad Brightbill, 27. Brett Gilmore, 28. Ryan Grim.

 DNQ: Jesse Leiby, Carroll Hine III, Bobby Gunther Walsh, Cory Merkel, Mike Laise, Jack Butler and Dan Lane.

Modified Pit Notes

Duane Howard returned to victory lane from his 13^th starting position to earn his 3^rd Grandview win of 2021.  Duane was in his Big Diamond car which had a solid run from 10^th to 4^th in the heat race and secured a spot in the invert for the feature.   In the feature Howard quickly moved forward and into the lead on lap 14 leaving the rest of the field behind to battle for second place.  All eyes now turn toward next week’s 76er.

Postrace Duane commented “We brought our Big Diamond car which has been strong all year.  The car was really good in the heat and we made the invert for the feature.  In the feature we drove through the field with relative ease.  When Buckwalter showed me his nose I knew I had to be down there.  I went to the bottom and the car felt real good down there so I never moved off of the bottom the rest of the race and it all worked out for us.  Once I got to lapped traffic I was able to negotiate through them with no problems.  This was a good night and uneventful with no problems.  This car is one of the best of our fleet and fits me really well.  This motor and suspension package feels right and is my favorite car to drive.”

Jeff Strunk finished 2^nd from his 12^th starting position.  Postrace Jeff reflected “It was a good run for us.  It is usually a race to the front and this was a good example of that.  The 15g got there first and we seemed to be in the wrong lane on the two restarts.  By the time we got to 3^rd; the 23x had half a straight away and the 15g had a full straight away.   We mad up a lot of ground to run second.  I have been fortunate enough to win the 76er eight times and am looking forward for a chance at # 9.”

Brett Kressley had another good run and finished 3^rd from his 16^th starting position.  Brett commented” The heats were tough and we qualified but didn’t make the invert.  In the feature we started 16^th and slowly worked our way forward to the 3^rd and another near miss this season.  Car was really fast in the feature and definitely had a car capable of winning tonight.”

Brett Kressley led the points for the majority of the season until a 3 week tangle streak in August relegated him to second in the points.  Nonetheless; Brett won a career high 5 features at Grandview and recorded 14 top five finishes along with 2 top ten finishes in the 19 points events.

 Tim Buckwalter returned after missing three races due to other racing commits and posted a 4^th place finish from a 14^th starting position.  His last four races have all been solid top 5 finishes.  Tim noted “We were trying some things with our new coil suspension to see what we can do to prepare for the 76er.”  His last 4 finishes at Grandview point races have all been top 5 finishes which includes a 2^nd at the Forrest Rogers Memorial. He also has a 2nd at the Coal Cracker while winning the Big Diamond points championship on the last night of the season.  Buckwalter and the 23X team have their sights set on winning the 76er and no more 1^st losers (2nd place).

Craig Von Dohren needed a 10^th place finish to wrap up his 12^th points championship but it didn’t come easy and without some drama in the heat race. In his heat race; Craig was involved in a tangle on lap 10 with Doug Manmiller and Jack Butler which left him with a destroyed front end and on the hook going into the pits with a heat race DNF.  He had to pull the backup car out of the trailer for the consolation and started 14^th in a field of 14 taking 7 to the feature.   Craig finished 6^th and qualified in the 27^th starting position leaving the championship still in question despite a 143 point lead.  In the feature Von Dohren was already moved into 11^th by the 4^th lap and cruised to a 5^th place finish from his 27^th starting position.

Von Dohren collected his 12^th Grandview points championship with consistent top 5 finishes every week. He had 15 top five finishes and 2 top ten finishes in the 19 points events.

Jared Umbenhauer finished 6^th from a 23^rd starting position in the feature.  A late flat in the heat sent Jared to the consolation where he started 12^th but still managed to qualify for the feature.  In the feature the Jared was up to 17^th when they had their second flat of the day and had to go to the pits on lap 6.  Jared returned to the rear of the field in 24^th position and managed to move forward to a 6^th place finish.

Postrace Jared stated “In the heat we had a setback and got a flat on lap 10 and couldn’t get back out.  We started in the back of the consolation but had a good car and qualified in the 27^th position in the field.   We made some adjustments and had a good car in the feature.  We got another flat early in the feature and had 23 green flag laps to move forward from the back.  I went where ever they weren’t and the car worked where ever I put it. I got back up to a 6^th place finish and had a top 3 car for sure. In the end I was racing with Craig and didn’t push the issue for one more spot since he was racing for a championship.”

Jared finished 3^rd in the season points standing by a 320 points over 4^th place Duane Howard.  Jared had his best points season of his career with 7 top five’s and 10 top ten’s finishes during the 19 points events.

The 2021 modified points top ten:

1. Craig Von Dohren           5103
2. Brett Kressley                  4981
3. Jared Umbenhauer         4562
4. Duane Howard                4241
5. Doug Manmiller              4171
6. Jeff Strunk                        3986
7. Kevin Hirthler                   3253
8. Danny Bouc                      3186
9. Ryan Grim                        2918
10. Craig Whitmoyer            2646

Jordan Henn finished 7^th from a 3^rd starting position.  After a rough season; Jordan was able to close out the season with his 3^rd top ten of the season.  He started his night with a heat win and ran top 5 in the feature until the last few laps when he fell back to a 7^th place finish.    

 Kevin Hirthler finished 8^th from his 22^nd starting position in the feature.  Kevin’s day started with a flat tire in the heat which sent him to the last chance consolation.  In the feature Kevin was involved in 10 car tangle that resulted in Craig Whitmoyer going over and ending up on his lid.  Hirthler did have body damage but was able to continue to an 8^th place finish.  Postrace Kevin noted “We made big setup improvements from last week.  The flat in the heat put us behind the 8 ball for the night.  We had no time to make adjustments for consolation so just settled in and took 2^nd.  On the flipside the flat sent us to the consolation which was a good opportunity to see what the feature track would be like and helped us with the feature setup.  This is the car that will be bringing to the 76er this year.”

Mike Lisowski finished 9^th to record his first back to back top ten finishes of the season at Grandview.  Postrace Mike stated “We have the car better and still have some work to do to do better.  Tires are affecting everyone in some way.  We have to be smart with tires these days and get creative on reusing our old tires.”

Joe Funk’s 10^th place was his best feature finish of the season.  Postrace Joe noted “We have had an electrical issues all year with a hesitation and misfire.  We finally found the issue and corrected it a few weeks ago.  We still had not been good in the feature.  We changed a lot of things before the feature this week and it gave us more forward drive but we were still hanging on to a 10^th place finish.  This is the toughest place to race…………..I watch them go by me one by one………Howard, Strunk, Kressley, Buckwalter, CVD………it ain’t easy.”

 Doug Manmiller had another brutal night with the tangles and yuke tire encounters but managed to finish 11^th from a 19^th starting position.  Manmiller got into a 3 car tangle in the heat but was able to continue and qualify for the feature despite the tangle.  In the feature Doug found the turn 3 yuke tire again this week and was part of a 10 car tangle.  This one required a trip to the pits but he was still able to finish 11^th.  Back at the trailer Doug noted “We got the car tore up in the heat race again.  In the feature we were up to 8^th place and got put into the turn 3 yuke tire again this week.  We had a lot of front end damage and didn’t think we were going to make it back out.  But another yellow came out on the restart and gave us additional time that we needed to fix the front end and get back out.”

If you race enough you have ups and downs and sometimes it all happens in two days.  Craig Whitmoyer took field trip to Penn Can and it was a good one as he collected his first career modified win on Friday night.  Back on the home front on Saturday he had a pretty good night going in the feature when disaster struck in a tangle that stood the 99 on its nose and into a flip that ended with Whitmoyer on his lid.  Safety crews put the car right side up and Craig drove the car back to the pits to the cheers of the turn 4 grandstand.  He even brought the car back out with the sheet metal stripped off but then retired for the night on lap 13.

Postrace Craig noted “We were thinking on heading to Georgetown Friday night but changed our mind and went to Penn Can instead because one of our crew guys was racing there and it turned out to be a great decision.  Tonight I got tagged by someone and it sent the car over.  I have flipped before so this is not my first rodeo with being on my lid.  We did bend the front clip and will need to get it fixed this week or bring out our second car for the 76er.”   

Chris Gambler in the 121 qualified for his first feature this season and finished in 18^th.  In the heat race Chris started on the pole and held on for the 7^th and last transfer spot into the feature.   Postrace Chris reflected “We are a small low budget team and lost our #1 motor early in the season.  So something like starting up front is a big help to us.  We developed handling issues in the heat and had a shock go bad so we were happy to be able to hang onto the 7^th and final transfer position.”

The Rest of the Story    

 Brett Gilmore had his 2^nd outing on his new motor and the heat race was one of his best of the season.  But plans changed for the younger Gilmore as the elder Gilmore was in pursuits of his first championship in 36 years of racing and things weren’t going as planned.   Dad Kenny had racing contact in his heat race with extensive damage.  Kenny was in need of a header; so they took the header off of Brett’s modified and with all hands on deck got dad’s sportsman car back out for the consolation and into the feature.  Kenny had to finish 10^th or better to win the championship and that he did with a 3^rd place finish.  Brett’s dad won his first championship in 36 years of racing.

Eric Biehn had a good car last week when he lost the brakes and broke the motor.  The 87 team went to their backup Ford motor and returned this week.  This was their first outing with the backup motor this season and Eric was able to win his heat race and had a real good car. In the feature Eric was holding 6^th place when he got tagged and spun in front of the field. Eric had the good fortune of everyone being able to avoid contact and came out of the incident with no damage other then being sent to the rear.  The car continued to be good in the feature as Eric came back through the field to a 13^th place finish.  Postrace Eric recalled “A car on the bottom washed up and hit my front end.  We were very lucky to have no damage but we were disappointed to get spun out because our car was real good at the end of the night.”

Ray Swinehart continues to drive the 12H and was on the way to a top ten finish when their brand new tire chunked and peeled apart like a recap or retread would do.  Ray dropped from 9^th to a 19^th place finish from the flat.  Postrace Ray noted “I felt the car loosen up and it started moving around.  The car had been real good before the tire came apart.”

Dylan Swinehart continues to have a good car but can’t keep it on the track in the feature due to mechanical gremlins.  Dylan started in 6^th and had to pull off again this week due to brake issues.

Ryan Grim made the feature with a strong run in the consolation but had to pull off on lap 1 of the feature.  Postrace Ryan noted “The car was working real well but somehow water got in the fuel and ended our night on lap 1 of the feature.”

The next race is the Sportsman 38er on Friday night September 17^th with racing starting at 7:30 followed by the Freedom 76er on Saturday September 18^th with racing at 7:00 PM.