Grandview Modified Pit Notes 5/21/22 –  Von Dohren Drives to his 3rd Grandview Win of Season

Craig Von Dohren moved into the lead on lap 7 from his 12^th starting position and cruised through lapped traffic to a 2 second margin of victory over Jeff Strunk for his 2^nd points race win in 3 races this season.

Darrin Schuler led the field to green, but it was short lived as 3 cautions flew before the first lap was in the books and Schuler suffered a flat tire sending him to the back.  Joe Funk emerged from all the lap 1 yellows as the leader until Craig Von Dohren used a novel three for one pass to take the lead from 4^th place on lap 7.  The final 23 laps of the 30-lap feature were all Von Dohren with Jeff Strunk a distance 2^nd place.

The top ten was rounded out with Jeff Strunk in 2^nd followed by Tim Buckwalter, Doug Manmiller, Brett Kressley, Jesse Leiby, Duane Howard, Brad Brightbill, Mike Lisowski and Mike Laise in 10^th place. 

Heat winners for the 37 car field were Tim Buckwalter, Mark Kratz, Joe Funk and John Willman.  Jared Umbenhauer and Mike Lisowski won the last chance consolations.

T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 laps):

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

DID NOT QUALIFY: Brett Gilmore, Bobby Trapper, Bobby Gunther-Walsh, Kevin Graver Jr., Craig Whitmoyer, Steve Swinehart, Brad Grim, Eric Biehn, Dave Dissinger

Craig Von Dohren moved from 12^th to 4^th in 6 laps then made the move of the race making a three for one pass from 4^th to the lead on lap 7.  Craig has won three of four Grandview modified races this season and was leading the 3^rd  one when a late flat took him out of contention for the win.

Jeff Strunk has run 2^nd to Von Dohren in both his points race wins.  Jeff noted “It was a good night, and we had a good car, but he is just a little better than we are.  We are 2^nd fastest and got to go back to the drawing board and get a little faster to try to beat Craig.  Tonight, I got caught on the inside on lap 7 and Craig was right where he needed to be and that was the race.”

Tim Buckwalter is quietly  throwing his hate in the ring for the 2022 Grandview modified championship.  Tim logged another podium finish with a 3^rd place finish to add to his previous 2^nd and 7^th place finish and currently leads the point standings by 3 points over Brett Kressley.

Doug Manmiller has posted a 3^rd, 4^th, and a 5^th place finish so far this season in points races at Grandview.  Doug commented “ We had a good run again tonight and got caught behind some trouble early on, but we were able to get around it and just couldn’t catch Buckwalter.  The car has been balanced and very easy to drive every week this spring.” 

Brett Kressley had a left front flat tire on lap 12 sending him to the pits and the tail of the field.  Brett was still able to work his way through the field to a solid 5^th place finish.  Brett noted “We had a really good car were already up to 6^th when we got a flat and had to go to the tail of the field.  We were really happy to get back up to a 5^th place after going to the rear of the field midway through the race and not getting any cautions in the final 18 laps.”

Jesse Leiby posted a solid 6^th place finish from his 7^th starting position for his best outing of the season thus far.  Jesse reflected “At the start of the night I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen.  I put some big changes in the car and wasn’t sure if they would work and how the car would react.  I went out as late as I could in hot laps to try to get as close to the heat race surface that I could.  The car was much more comfortable, and the changes were a huge step in the right direction.  We didn’t make any changes from the heat to the feature since we had no history on the new setup.  But now I think I know the adjustments we need to make, and I am super excited to see what we can get done this year.”

Duane Howard finished 7^th from his 14^th starting position after getting a flat on lap 1 that sent him to the back of the field.  Duane continues to post solid finishes with two 4^th place finish and a 7^th this season.   Duane commented “ We had a flat early but don’t think we would have mustered up better than a 4^th or 5^th place finish anyway.  We tried something this week in attempt to get better since we felt we were missing something the week before. The balance of the car just wasn’t to my liking this week, so we’ll regroup and try something different next week.  We were very lucky to get the flat early in the race and able to come back and get a nice top 10 finish.  We just need to do a better job of preparation and get better on track.”

Brad Brightbill finished 8^th from a 19^th starting position and continues to be consistent adding this week’s 8^th to two prior 10^th place finishes and currently sitting 8^th in the point standings.  Postrace Brad reflected “ car was good in the heat just not much passing.  In the feature we were good and getting closer but just not quite there yet.  I am very pleased with our performance so far this year.  Our goal is to keep the top tens coming every week and stay out of trouble.”

Mike Lisowski finished 9^th from his 22^nd starting position.  Mike also had a tangle on lap 10 and had to go to the tail of the filed but still managed to run back to front for his 9^th place finish.  Mike noted “We had a decent car for the feature and salvaged a decent finish after an eventful night on track during the feature.  We just have to do a better job with our heat race setup early in the night.”

Mike Laise posted a season best 10^th place finish.  Mike reflected “ We have had a good car all season and been able to qualify just couldn’t seem to stay out of tangles in the feature until tonight.  Our prior two features ended in early tangles and DNF finishes.  We didn’t touch another call all night which is how I like to race and hopefully how it stays for us the rest of the season.  We destroyed our headers last week in a tangle and had different headers this week which our Rick Wallace motor responded well to.  We also were able to add new DIG shocks in the front this week.  Now that I finished a feature, we can start tuning the setup this week instead of fixing a wrecked car.  Huge thanks to Timmy  Buckwalter and crew enough as they have helped us a ton.  The Laise and Levy 715J team would like to thank Jordan Levy, Mark Levy, Darrin Schuler, Ryan Laise and my dad for all their tireless help keeping the 715J on the track this season.”

Cory Merkel continued with his consistent finishes this season by adding a 13^th place finished from his 19^th starting position to his previous 11^th and 14^th place finishes.  Cory currently sits 9^th in the points standings.  Cory stated “We are still learning our 2020 Bicknell and it’s been a world of difference from our 2009 Teo.  I’m getting more comfortable every week and happy with our results so far.  We are really happy with our consistency and to be sitting 9^th in the current point standings.”   

Dylan Swinehart posted his best finish of the season with a 12^th from his 20^th starting position.  Dylan noted “Big changes for the 81 car this week.  We were a lot better, but this was only week 1 of the changes we have planned.”

Brad Arnold battled all day and was rewarded with a 15^th finish from his 27^th starting position.  Brad reflected “We had some throttle linkage issues in hot laps and couldn’t make the call for the heat race.  We got it fixed in time for the consolation where we started 10^th and were able to secure the final transfer into the feature with a 4^th place finish.  We just road around in the feature and avoid all the wrecks and ended up 15^th.”

 The Memorial Day holiday weekend will include a special Thunder on the Hill racing program on Sunday, May 29 starting at 7:30 pm. The racing event will be the first of two PA Tri-Track series events to be held at Grandview this season. The 358 Modifieds will be competing in a new event called the Balls to the Wall 50, and the All-Pro SpeedSTR’s are also on the card.

On Sunday, May 29, pit gates open at 2:30 pm, grandstand gates open at 5 pm. with racing at 7:30 pm. Grandstand admission will be $30 for adults, children ages 6-11 are $10, while kids ages 5 and under are admitted free. Pit admission will be $40, and no license is required.