Money Maker Sportsman Pit Notes

The sportsman feature was led to green by Dakota Kohler with Mark Kemmerer taking the lead on lap 1.  Kemmerer lost the lead in lap traffic on lap 12 to Jordan Henn who took off to a 2 second margin of victory for his 3^rd win in a row with the 4R sportsman entry in green to checkered 25 lap feature which was run in 7 minutes.

The top ten was rounded out by Mark Kemmerer in second followed by Cody Manmiller, Jimmy Leiby, Dakota Kohler, Logan Bauman, Dylan Swinehart, Brian Hirther, Ryan Grim and Matt Clay in 10^th place.

The heat races were won by Dakota Kohler, Mark Kemmerer, Logan Bauman, and Cody Manmiller.  Last chance races were won by Matt Yoder and Kyle Smith.

SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps):

 1. JORDAN HENN, 2. Mark Kemmerer, 3. Cody Manmiller, 4. Jimmy Leiby, 5. Dakota Kohler, 6. Logan Bauman, 7. Dylan Swinehart, 8. Brian Hirthler, 9. Ryan Grim, 10. Matt Clay, 11. Kyle Smith, 12. Mike Schneck, 13. Adrianna Delliponte, 14. Nathan Mohr, 15. Michael Burrows, 16. Kenny Bock, 17. Jesse Landis, 18. Colton Perry, 19. Bryan Rhoads, 20. Tyler James, 21. Ryan Graver, 22. Decker Swinehart, 23 Matt Yoder, 24. Mark Gaugler, 25. Parker Guldin, 26. Jesse Hirthler

Did Not Qualify:

Wayne Rotenberger, Nate Horn, Mike Stofflet, Chris Esposito, Kyle Hartzell, Mike Myers, Zach Steffy, Michael Faust, Joey Vaccaro, Michael Cinelli

Next Saturday, April 9 will be the first point race of the brand-new season, part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series featuring a double header with the T.P. Trailer Modifieds and T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman starting at 6 pm. Pit gates open at 2 pm and grandstand gates open at 4 pm. Adult grandstand admission is $18 while children under age 12 are admitted free of charge.

SPORTSMAN PIT NOTES –

22 crates and 14 sportsmen signed in for the Moneymaker.  The top ten in the feature had 4 sportsman and 6 crates.

Jordan Henn had the best night of his career with a win in the sportsman feature and a 7^th place finish in the modified feature.  Jordan picked up his 3^rd win in a row and wheeled the Tyler Reber owned 4R into victory lane from the 5^th starting position.

Back at the trailer Jordan commented “I never dreamed of having a night like this at Grandview with a modified top 10 and sportsman win.  We had a bad pill draw for our heat and started 6^th but still managed to finish 2^nd which set us up with a good starting position in the heads-up qualifying format for opening day.  After running the modified feature, I knew where the track was coming in and that the top was going away.  In the feature, when we got in lapped traffic the leader left the bottom open which allowed me to tuck underneath him and make my pass to take the lead.  I had contact with a competitor that put me into the wall and broke something that created a vibration, but it held together without slowing down and we were able to pick-up our 3^rd win in a row with the Tyler Reber’s 4R sportsman entry.”   

Mark Kemmerer was one spot away from a perfect season opener and finished 2^nd.   Mark had a strong finish to the 2021 season which enticed him to return for one more season with hopes to get his daughters Jordyn and Taylor a trip with dad to victory lane before he calls it a career.  Mark finished 7^th in the 2021 sportsman points championship at Grandview and with 3 of the top 5 drivers in 2021 no longer competing weekly in the division; Mark looks to be in contention for the 2022 points title if he can keep his momentum and luck going from opening night.   

Cody Manmiller finished a strong 3^rd from his 4^th starting position.  With his first year at Grandview racing under his belt, a new enclosed trailer, and a new crew chief; Cody is poised to make a run for the 2022 sportsman championship.

Cody noted “This was my first time in the car this year and I couldn’t be happier with our start to the 2022 season.  We had a good draw and the heads-up format played out to our advantage today.  The lapped traffic was a bit hectic, but we were able to move around and pass cars on the top and bottom in the feature.  We had an awesome track tonight that was slippery and all about throttle control.  My brother-in-law Michael Storm has been a huge addition to our team and his tuning has already had an impact on our performance.  This was a great way to open our season.”

Jimmy Leiby moved from 7^th to 4^th in the 7-minute caution less sprint to the checkered flag.  Jimmy noted “In the feature I was able to make some early moves into 4th and then it just came down to waiting for someone to make a mistake which didn’t happen.  Can’t be happier with a 4^th place start to the season in the 9L sportsman and qualifying for my first modified show in the 10 with both cars also coming home straight tonight.”

Dakota Kohler finished a solid 5^th place and gets his 2022 season off to a strong start.  Last season Dakota finished 8^th in points despite a very luckless and rough 2021 season. Things are looking up for the 59K team with a good start to their 2022 season. With some better luck this season Dakota hopes to be in the hunt for the 2022 Grandview sportsman title.

The Bauman team cars ran a solid 6^th and 7^th with Logan Bauman (14) and Dylan Swinehart (14L) behind the wheel of the 14 team cars.  Logan will be in his 2^nd year of competition at Grandview and is looking to make a run at the championship this year.

Brian Hirthler finished 8^th from a 12^th starting position.  Brian also posted a 13^th place finish with his modified and rounded out his double duty night by qualifying for both the sportsman and modified features.

Brian noted “When I run two cars in one night I am generally worn out before I get the track since I do all my own prep work on both cars except Kevin does the engine work.  I devoted a lot of time to the modified throughout the night so didn’t have as much time as usual to fine tune the sportsman to the track conditions.  We just went out with our basic setup and some older tires since we were starting 12^th.  We had a good car but track wasn’t as racy a usual.  I think the extra modified laps dusted the track off.  We will see what we can do next week when things are back to normal.”

It was definitely a busy night in the “Hirthlerville” section of the pits with the addition of Brian’s modified and Kevnin’s son Jesse now driving the 604 crate.  The Hirthler cars were 4 for 4 with all cars qualifying for their features.

Jesse Hirthler qualified for his first feature through his consolation and got his first competition start in the sportsman division at the age of 14.  Jesse comes to his first year of sportsman racing with extensive quarter midget racing experience.   

Jesse noted “I was very happy coming across the checkered knowing I qualified for my first time in sportsman competition and the car was straight.  The transition to sportsman division is going really well and this was my 6^th time in the car.  My dad talks to me about what I should do in different situations, and it helps when I get into them and don’t have time to think.

I will be racing Grandview for the entire season and make a few trips to Georgetown.  I will also continue to race a full season of quarter midgets with my Light 160 and Light World Formula.”

Kyle Smith is another driver who doubled up in modified and sportsman.  Kyle had a bad pill draw in the sportsman heat but won his consolation race to start 22^nd in the feature.  He was able to finish in 11^th from a 22^nd starting position despite only a 7-minute 25 lap feature race with no cautions. 

Kyle’s debut in modified saw him miss qualifying by one position and end up as 1^st alternate.  He made a good showing in his consolation race finishing 6^th from a 10^th starting position.

Postrace Kyle stated “We had two fast cars tonight and are looking forward to the rest of the season.  The sportsman car was on rails, and I was able to put it wherever the car in front of me wasn’t and pass them on either the top or bottom.”

Joey Vaccaro had a frontend break and made heavy contact with the wall. Both Joey and the chassis were fine and be back next week.

Chris Esposito had a good car only to see his driveshaft break and end his night early.

Mike Stofflet also had a good car but was involved with a competitor contact incident which launched the car skyward in turn 4 and broke something in the distributor or carburetor when the front end landed on the track.

Next Saturday, April 9 will be the first point race of the brand-new season, part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series featuring a double header with the T.P. Trailer Modifieds and T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman starting at 6 pm. Pit gates open at 2 pm and grandstand gates open at 4 pm. Adult grandstand admission is $18 while children under age 12 are admitted free of charge.