Grandview Modified Pit Notes – Von Dohren Wins Points Opener With Second Win in a Row at Grandview Speedway

Craig Von Dohren led the modified field to green from the pole position but didn’t lead the first lap.  Mike Lisowski took the early and held onto to it for the first 17 laps of the 30-lap feature.  Von Dohren had to battle a stubborn Lisowski side by side for 5 laps until finally taking the lead.  Jeff Strunk also moved into 2^nd on lap 19 and made a strong bid for the lead but in the end, Craig Von Dohren took his second trip of 2022 to the Grandview victory lane and Jeff Strunk finished behind him in 2^nd also for the second time this year.  

Heat race winners were Craig Von Dohren, Mike Lisowski, Jeff Strunk, and Tim Buckwalter.  Last Chance heat winners were Brad Arnold and Jordan Henn.

MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 laps):  

1. CRAIG VON DOHREN, 2. Jeff Strunk, 3. Mike Lisowski, 4. Duane Howard, 5. Doug Manmiiller, 6. Brett Kressley, 7. Tim Buckwealter, 8. Jared Umbenhauer, 9. Kevin Hirthler, 10. Brad Brightbill, 11. Cory Merkel, 12. Ray Swinehart, 13. Ryan Beltz, 14. Brad Arnold, 15. Craig Whitmoyer, 16. Nate Brinker, 17.  John Willman, 18. Ryan Lilick, 19. Justin Grim, 20. Ron Haring Jr., 21. Dan Waisempacher, 22. Carrol Hine III, 23. Ryan Grim, 24. Dylan Swinehart, 25. Joe Funk, 26. Mike Laise, 27. Jordan Henn, and 28. Brad Grim

DID NOT QUALIFY – Kevin Graver Jr., Brett Gilmore, Dave Dissinger, Darrin Schuler, Bobby Gunther-Walsh, Jesse Leiby, Eric Biehn, Steve Swinehart, Mark Kratz, Mike Gular

MODIFIED PIT NOTES

What some predicted as a CVD run away feature win since he had the heads-up pole position; turned into a 3-car battle with Mike Lisowski leading 17 laps until Von Dohren took the lead and then a  final 13 lap battle with Jeff Strunk who made a strong bid for the lead.  Von Dohren took the win over Jeff Strunk in second and Mike Lisowski in third.

Craig Von Dohren started on the heads-up pole position but didn’t lead on lap 1.  Instead, it was Mike Lisowski  surprising Von Dohren and everyone else to take the lead on lap 1.  On lap 17 Von Dohren broke through for the lead and motored to his second win in a row at Grandview Speedway.  Last year Von Dohren did not take the points lead over Brett Kressley until August 26.  This year he seems to have a different plan; and is already leading the 2022 Grandview points after night 1 of the season.

Back at the trailer Von Dohren noted “Yeah we chased tonight and didn’t expect Lisowski to be the guy we were chasing.  He took off and was good.  I had to fight a long time to pass Mike (Lisowski).  The top slicked up enough that we were better on the bottom, but the top did last longer than I thought which could have let Strunk or Buckwalter get by me, but he didn’t.  The track was slippery and the sportsman were in front of us and were factors that affected track conditions in the feature.  After I got past Mike (Lisowski); I got tapped on the bumper and knew somebody was back there and figured it was either Strunk or Buckwalter.”

Jeff Strunk posted his second consecutive 2^nd place finish behind Craig Von Dohren this season.  The night before, Strunk had a bad draw at Big Diamond and coupled with a single lane track the night turned into a DNQ for the 88z team.  One night later Strunk rebounded for a strong 2^nd place finish behind Craig Von Dohren.

Postrace Strunk noted “It was a good night for our Zubi’s Racing, Lobas Production, Northeastern Office Equipment, Lisa’s Landscaping Bicknell car.  We benefited from a good heat race draw.  Lisowski kind of surprised me and I think he surprised Craig too.  Mike ran a great race.  There were a few times throughout the race I had momentum enough that I thought I could get next to Craig but there were cars in the lane we were running.  Would have liked a restart from 2^nd with Craig but it didn’t happen.  All in all, it was a good run for us, and it is always really hard to beat Craig when he has track position.  He’s always spot on when he is out in front.”  

 Mike Lisowski turned a lot of heads by leading 17 laps at Grandview over Craig Von Dohren and Jeff Strunk and finishing a solid 3^rd place.  Mike won at Big Diamond last year, so he has a history of being able to run with the big dogs and not staying on the porch.

Postrace Mike reflected “Last night we had problems with our Big Diamond car, so we went home and got our Grandview car but didn’t get back in time for our heat race. We did get to run this car in the consolation race at Big Diamond last night.  This car is our same combination as last year.  We had a good draw today and was able to get a respectable finish.”

Duane Howard had a nice 4^th place finish from his 12^th starting position.

Duane commented “Yeah we had a good run tonight and it’s helped us get some of our Gremlins taken care of that we have been looking for and fighting all year.  We finished fourth at our last two local points races recently so we have a good start on getting our baseline for the season.  I think we’ll improved consistency this year from last year since this is my second year with the 15g team.  The new lighting at Grandview is great for the track, fans, and drivers.  In the past you could look out at the surface to read the track, but the new lighting makes it look different, so you almost have to go onto the track to read it now before the race.  Tire wear was pretty darn good this week and the track was racy and hopefully it stays that way throughout the season.”   

Doug Manmiller finished 5^th from an 11^th starting position to post his best start of the season in recent memory.  With top 5 start to this season and late season improved consistency last year; Doug hopes to be on track to improve on his 5^th place finish in the points last year and move into a top three or better finish in the 2022 Grandview points chase.   Doug reflected “I am happy with our start of this season. This was a nice run from 11th to a top 5 with a lot of good cars in front of me in the starting grid. It is great when you start your consistency this early in the season.”

Brett Kressley finished 6^th from a 7^th starting position.  Postrace Kressley stated “We were on a strong run and moving forward but I made a couple of driving errors in lapped traffic and the top went away early so ended up back in 6^th.”

Jared Umbenhauer finished 8^th from his 13^th starting position and has the tough task of trying to improve on last year’s career best season in his first year as a team owner and driver.  Jared commented “The car was just ok today.  The heads-up lineup today made it tough with all the top cars in front of you instead of handicapped behind you.  With our feature being the 2^nd feature behind the sportsman; the track was pretty used up and very tricky.”

Kevin Hirthler finished 9^th from a 14^th starting position.  Kevin commented “I think we had a top 5 car tonight as far as speed was concerned.  We got bent up a bit in the heat race and put back a couple of positions due to a heat race infraction penalty.  There were a lot of good cars in front of us in the feature.  To get a 9^th  place finish from starting 14^th was a good run for us and  we also didn’t break anything .  It’s going to be a tough year with all the new suspensions and  how lock down they make the cars now; the guy that gets in front first is going to get the win.”

One driver that moved up to modified this season is Ryan Beltz in the 221.  Ryan posted a 13^th place finish from a 10^th starting position.  He also qualified for the Moneymaker getting his 2021 season off with two consecutive qualifying efforts.

Corey Merkel debuted a new Bicknell with an 11^th place finish from a 20^th starting position which already matched his best finish of his 2021 season.  Corey noted “The new to me Bicknell is just what I needed.  I was very comfortable in the car already and hoping to get better with it every week.  Big thank you to everybody who makes this possible; my sponsors AD Moyer Lumber, Merkel’s Tree Service, Great Bear 15 Minute Oil Change, Abbey Merkel Designs and my crew Abbey, Jason Hernley, Troy Snyder and my dad.”

Ryan Grim had a strong run in his heat race but motor issues end his night early in the feature.

Brad Grim pulled off early in the feature due to fuel pressure issues.

Next Saturday, April 30 the T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds and T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman will be racing in a two-division show starting at 7:30 pm. Pit gates will open at 4 pm. with grandstand gates opening at 5:30 pm. warm-ups begin at 6:30 pm.