Grandview Open Sportsman Season Opener Pit Notes – Brian Hirthler Wins Dramatic Three Car Battle

The sportsman feature was a runaway by Jessie Landis early; but then a few huffs of smoke developed on lap 19 and Jimmy Leiby and Brian Hirthler moved in and made it a 3-car six lap dash to the finish.  On lap 24 Brian Hirthler took the lead over a smoking Jesse Landis in heavy lapped traffic with Jimmy Leiby right on his back bumper to take his first Open Sportsman win of the 2022 season.

SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps):

1.BRIAN HIRTHLER, 2. Jimmy Leiby, 3. Jesse Landis, 4. Cole Stangle, 5. Kyle Smith, 6. Ryan Graver, 7. Dylan Hoch, 8. Jesse Hirthler, 9. Chris Esposito, 10. Adrianna Delliponti, 11. Logan Bauman, 12. Dakota Kohler, 13. Bryan Rhoads, 14. Mike Schneck, 15. Colton Perry, 16. Kenny Bock, 17. Mike Stofflet, 18. Nathan Mohr, 19. Tyler James, 20. Matt Clay, 21. BJ Joly, 22. John Leiby, 23. Wayne Rotenberger, 24. Decker Swinehart, 25. Parker Guldin, 26. Mike Meyers, 27. Steve Young

DID NOT QUALIFY – Joey Vaccaro, Josh Adams, Nathan Horn, Mike Cinelli, Mark Gaugler, Kyle Hartzell, Weston Mensch, Zach Steffy, Hunter Iatalese, Lex Shive, Cody Manmiller

Open Sportsman Pit Notes

Brian Hirthler took his first win of the 2022 with a pass of Jimmy Leiby for 2^nd on lap 21 and then a lap 24 pass on a smoking Jesse Landis in heavy lapped traffic for the lead and win.   away.  It was quite a chaotic final 5 laps with the leader smoking, the top 3 changing lines all amidst heavy lapped traffic.  Hirthler came from his 10^th starting position to win the season opener……………again.  Hirthler won the 2021 season opener which was the first of his five regular season point race wins last season on his way to a 3^rd place finish in the 2021 season point standings.  

 Brian reflected  “The first win of the season was by no means a give-me, it was a unique race from the start since the qualifying and the feature were spread across two weeks for most of the sportsman class except for the 4th heat.  For the three heats that ran last week; we had nothing but hot laps to use as a baseline for this week’s surface, so it really came down to watching the track and reading my notes from last year.  Coming out of 10^th, my first goal was to keep the car in one piece and move forward at a steady pace.  After a few early cautions we started to spread out pretty good and I got into a multi lap side by side battle with my nephew Jesse for the 4th spot which was a lot of fun.  I ended up having to clear him with a slider since I was beginning to lose pace with the leaders and the top was better at that point in the race.  Jesse is in his rookie season in the sportsman division.  After a restart and about halfway I had a chance to get grouped back in with the leader Jesse Landis who was setting a fast pace.  I got up to 3^rd  and then we got spread out a bit but I kept pace with the 2^nd place car.  I couldn’t pass him until lap 21 when I switched to the bottom lane which began to come in pretty good.  A few laps later, I was on the back bumper of the leader but in heavy lap traffic and trapped with nowhere to go.  As we were coming to the white flag in turn three, I had an opening for a slider between a lapped car and the leader which I took it since the leader was showing heavy smoke and my visibility was becoming difficult from the smoke.  I took the lead coming out of turn 4 leading the pack across the checkered by a .9 second margin.  Winning the race and racing side by side with my nephew for a portion of the race was the highlight of the night for me and a great way to celebrate my birthday weekend.”

Brian continued “The new lighting definitely helps drivers see the surface and other competitors, and I am sure it will help to some degree with accidents. But it always comes down to drivers and luck in the end when it comes to accidents.  We will see how it goes once the handicapping kicks in for the season.”

Jimmy Leiby finished 2^nd from a 4^th starting position and ran most of the race contending for the lead.  Jimmy noted “We had a good run and clean run in both the heat today and the feature in the sportsman division.  We went forward and had a solid car.  Racing with Jesse (Landis) and Brian (Hirthler) was probably the most fun I ever had in the sportsman division.”

Jesse Landis was in the unique position of starting this race last week before the rains came and secured the 3^rd starting position with a heat race win one week earlier.  Jesse had a strong lead in the feature until his motor huffed a few puffs of smoke and he started to back up to the field.  He led 23 laps but with the motor giving up more every lap he was fortunate to bring home a 3^rd place finish.

Jesse noted “The week before we were lucky to draw a good number and start of the front row of the heat.  Car was good and just pulled away with the heat win before the rain.  This week it felt good in warm-ups and was prepared for the feature despite lack of track time today. Feature went the way I had thought it was going to go.  I knew I had to get to the lead quickly and control the race.  So got the lead by lap 2 and just was out there putting in laps.  Cautions probably hurt me with the lead I had but saved me from dealing with lappers.  On lap 11 restart I saw 4 Star was 4th so I knew it was a matter of time for him to come forward.  I choose the bottom on that restart knowing if I pick the top, he’d get a better jump, so I was  kind of holding him back a little and thought it would help.  Also, if you pick the bottom, hopefully you can control the outside even if your side by side at the start finish line you can slide the guy on the outside because that’s the line I wanted to run anyway.  I got an ok restart on lap 11; I got to the outside and was just clicking off laps, knowing all along that running this pace I really don’t think anyone could run me down and pass me.  So, at about lap 19 coming off the corner it just didn’t pull like it had been. I was like “wow that’s weird” and then it kept on happening.  Looked a fuel pressure, that was fine and so was the oil pressure.  I kept on going even though every lap it got progressively worse.  Over the radio they let me know I was smoking; but at this point I was leading and pretty much committed to running it out not knowing if it would last or if I could hold onto my lead.  On the second to last lap, the 4star slide me into 3 and I cut back under him, and the car just wouldn’t go.  I knew I was done but I wasn’t going to quit unless the car did.  Got to the line and shut the car off.  Motor seems to be hurt pretty bad but won’t know full extent of damage till I have it tore down.

Jesse continued “As of now I have no other engine and what we do really depends on cost of repairs.  Not sure what that means for the rest of the season, could come back in a few weeks or could be done for the year.  Crates are an option, but would still have to locate one, buy it and I don’t know if that financially feasible.  So, we’ll have to wait and see.  Pretty gutted by everything that happened here.  Not just the cost of repairs, the loss of winnings, and the fact that it was there for me to win, and a parts failure ruined it on opening day.”  

Cole Stangle finished 4^th from a 20^th starting position. Cole stated “Running the consolation today helped learned the track conditions for the feature.  In the feature I could put the car anywhere I wanted to and just needed more time.”

Kyle Smith made a solid 5^th place run from a 13^th place starting position.  Kyle finished 6^th in the 2021 sportsman points championship and is looking to improve to top 3  this season.

Ryan Graver finished 6^th from his pole starting position after qualifying from the heads-up heats on the front row in both the sportsman and 602 crate features.

Ryan Graver reflected “I would say that I definitely had a ton of luck with getting to start pole in both of my heats. I had a good car for the heats which helped me get a win in both of my heats. For the sportsman feature, the track was top heavy, so having a crate against the opens along with being new to Grandview made it difficult for me to hold a lead against the stacked field at Grandview.  I had a fairly good car for the sportsman feature and was really happy to hold my own for the most part with those guys.  I just tried to follow those faster guys and just log laps.”

Dylan Hoch finished 7^th from a 27^th provisional starting position.  Dylan was a DNF in the consolation when the rub rail fell off and he had to return to the pits before the green flag.  Dylan used a provisional from finishing 2^nd in the 2021 points to get into the 27^th starting position and turned it into a 7^th place finish.  Dylan has a knack for the open / crate double headers and as usual pulled off another great day with a 7^th in the sportsman division and a win in the crates.   

Dylan noted “It was hectic Saturday for sure.  Our team had to be on our toes the whole night because it was pretty much one event after another racing both classes. It makes things a little more difficult having to make such quick decisions and barley having time to think about it but in a way it’s beneficial because we get more track time then the guys that are only running only a single division and I become more aware of how the track is changing.  Our team handled the double duty very well and we only had one hiccup resulting in disqualification in the sportsman consolation.  We were fortunate to have a provisional and made the best of the situation.  Whether it’s open or the crates, it doesn’t change what we do or how we prepare for the next race.”

Jesse Hirthler finished 8^th from his 5^th starting position and recorded his first top ten finish in the sportsman division in his 3^rd start in the division.

Jesse noted “Last week I was hoping it wouldn’t rain because I love racing and it is all our entire family really does on the weekend.  I was very happy that I was able to hold onto the 2nd position and lock my way into the feature event. This week I knew I was going to start 5th in the feature and was hoping to just stay up front and not drop fast.  Early in the feature I managed to get up to 3rd and was thrilled to be there. The car was a little off but was still decent enough for us to get a top ten with an 8^th place finish.  There were some minor things that maybe I could’ve did better and finished a few spots higher.  All in all, it was still a great night for me.  I’m very fortunate to have a lot of people with a bunch of confidence in me.  I can’t thank Ron Seltmann of FASTFOUR Racing Shocks and my entire family for their support.”

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.