Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 5/21/22 –  Lex Shive Claims his First Sportsman Win of Season

Lex Shive took the lead on lap 6 after the 2^nd restart of the feature and proceeded to pull away from Anthony Raisner with a 3 second margin of victory at the checkered flag for his first win of the season and 2^nd career victory at Grandview Speedway.

Hunter Iatalese and Anthony Raisner led the field to green with Raisner leading until a big scramble of cars going everywhere on the back stretch ended up with Joey Vacarro deep into the infield and drew the second caution.  On the lap 6 restart; it was Lex Shive charging into the lead and driving away from the field for the win.  Anthony Raisner posted a career best 2^nd place finish with Kenny Gilmore closing in 3^rd from his 16^th starting position.

The 37 car field saw heats won by Hunter Iatalese, Wayne Rotenberger, Lex Shive, and Mike Stofflet.  The last chance consolations were won by Dylan Hoch and Kyle Smith.

T.P. TRUCK EQUIPMENT NASCAR SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps):

1. LEX SHIVE, 2. Anthony Raisner, 3. Kenny Gilmore, 4. Dylan Hoch, 5. Dakota Kohler, 6. Matt Clay, 7. Logan Bauman, 8. Cody Manmiller, 9. Chris Esposito, 10. Kyle Smith, 11. Decker Swinehart, 12. Colton Perry, 13. Mark Kemmerer, 14. Parker Guldin, 15. Jimmy Leiby, 16. Zane Roth, 17. Kenny Bock, 18. Brian Hirthler, 19. Mike Schneck Jr., 20. Nathan Mohr, 21. Jesse Landis, 22. Hunter Iatalese, 23. Bryan Rhoads, Wayne Rotenberger, 24. Jesse Hirthler, 25. Joey Vaccaro, 26. Mike Stofflet

DID NOT QUALIFY: Tyler James, Mike Faust Jr., Kyle Hartzell, Josh Adams, Erik Renninger, Mike Myers, Ryan Graver, Nathan Horn, Cole Stangle, Weston Mensch

SPORTSMAN PIT NOTES – 5/21/22

At Lex Shive’s first outing of the year on April 23^rd, he ends up blowing a motor in a heat race just before the rains came and cancelled the race.  Three weeks later; Lex returns to Grandview with his backup motor and wins his first race of the 2022 season in dominate fashion with nearly a 3 second margin of victory at the checkered flag over second place Anthony Raisner.

In victory lane Lex reflected “We have been chipping away at our program week by week and trying to come back better every week for nearly 8 years now.  The car was tighter than I expected on lap 1 which allowed  the 99 & 625 to get around me early.  Once the tires heated up, I was able to get rolling and keep the momentum going but did have to stay on the bottom of the track.  We have found something that has improved our restarts coming out of the corner and it really makes a difference when combined with good placement of the car on the restarts.”   

Back at the trailer Lex noted “We broke our motor at our first race of the year and have missed two races and two rainouts to get our backup motor into the car.  Both of our wins have been with our backup motor.”

Anthony Raisner had a career best 2^nd place finish from a 3^rd starting position.  Anthony held off a strong bid for second from long time Grandview veteran Kenny Gilmore.

Back at the trailer Anthony commented “Hands down this was my best run on this car ever.  I come from sling shot racing, but I am new to crates and still learning something every time I hit the track in the crate car.  We didn’t qualify our first night out, so with two weeks of rainouts we decided to take the car completely apart and go back to our square one setup.  In hot laps we had electrical problems so had no idea where we were with the new setup.  I made a rookie mistake in the heat, but we still got 2^nd and realized we may have improved our setup.  We got outgunned by the open motors on the restarts but all in all our best feature run ever.  We are looking forward to returning next week and getting more track time on this combination.”

Kenny Gilmore jumped back in his 2021 championship winning # 7 for the first time this season.  Despite the layoff, Kenny didn’t miss a beat and posted a 3^rd place finish from his traditional 16^th starting position in the handicap.

Kenny noted “Adie will return next week as she is at her high school prom this weekend and I was scheduled to run the car this week.  With not racing weekly this year, I’m a little out of racing shape but it didn’t take long to shake the rust off.  We were fast early on and then the track took rubber.   By the end I was just protecting 3^rd place.  Adie will return next week.”

Dylan Hoch had another of his back to front feature runs finishing 4^th from a deep 21^st starting position.  Dylan just missed a transfer position in his heat race and then won the last chance consolation placing him 21^st in the feature lineup.  Dylan’s run to 4^th from 21^st starting position may have been the hard charger of the night but actually wasn’t anything new for Dylan this season.  In the prior two points races Dylan has finished 4^th from 19^th and 7^th from a 27^th provisional starting position.  With his weekly back to front runs, Dylan has run right into the early points lead over Kyle Smith and Brian Hirthler.

Dakota Kohler finished 5^th from his 13^th starting position and currently sits 6^th in the early points standings.  Back in the pits Dakota noted “We tried some new setups today with help from the Leiby & Swinehart families.  In the feature we got turned on the back stretch when cars were scrambling everywhere.  We were fortunate to not stop and be able to get our spot back.  From there things settled down and we were able to pick up a 5^th place finish which is our best finish  this season.” 

Matt Clay finished a season best 6^th from a 7^th starting position.  Matt stated “We made some small adjustments for the feature and had a great car in the feature.  As the night went on the car got real loose due to tire wear on the right rear, and we struggled with a couple late restarts.  All in all, a good night and our best finish of the season with the 6^th place.  We also had a good run going last race before the rainouts until front end damage from wall contact ended our night.  I’m looking forward to staying consistent and in the top ten this season.”

Logan Bauman finished 7^th from his 14^th starting position and currently sits 9^th in the early sportsman points.  Back at the trailer Logan noted “We struggled tonight with some of our changes that did not work but still got a top ten finish.  This is a new car we got at the end of last year and we are still building our notebook.  We are inching up on our setup and really looking forward to this season.”  

Cody Manmiller finished 8^th from a 14^th starting position and currently sits 8^th in the early season points despite missing the first week of racing.  Cody also has been racing with a cast on his left hand and has still posted a 6^th and 8^th place finish.  Cody commented “Our setup wasn’t the best this week, but I think we found what was wrong.  I made a few mistakes this week too.  We have a lot of upside potential with this car and with my new crew chief Michael Storms on board we are looking forward to next week’s sportsman and crate double header race.”

Chris Esposito finished 9^th from a 15^th starting position and currently sits in 5^th place in the early season points standings.  Chris reflected “ In the feature we got free around lap 10 and I couldn’t push the car as hard as I wanted to.  We broke the brake line on the last restart so ended up just riding around to get the 9^th place finish.  Car was good and proud of the crew for our start to the season.  I’m spending holiday weekend with the family and looking forward to returning in a couple of weeks.”

Kyle Smith finished 10^th from his 22^nd starting position and currently sits 2^nd in the early season points only 9 points behind Dylan Hoch.  Kyle reflected “We had a good car in the heat race but passing was really tough during the heat races.  We had clutch problems in the pits but were able to make it out for the consolation which we won.  In the feature the car was really good but it was very difficult to find holes to make passes through because there was 2/3 wide racing everywhere and the top went away.  Still a solid night in our quest for the points championship.”

Decker Swinehart finished a solid 11^th in his first time out after a hard back stretch crash a few weeks ago which destroyed his 2011 Bicknell.  Decker was up to 5^th in his 2020 Bicknell, but late tire issues dropped to a solid 11^th place finish. 

Decker reflected “The car was really fast all day and this was my first time ever in this car.  In the feature we worked our way up to 5^th and fell back to 11^th in the last few laps.  The new car was very fast and definitely an upgrade over our old car.”

Last week’s winner Parker Guldin finished 14^th from his 26^th starting position and currently sites 7^th in the early season points standings.  Parker qualified in the final transfer spot of the last chance consolation and then was able to drive from his 26^th starting position to a 14^th place finish.

Postrace Parker noted “We were on a rollercoaster all day.  It might not look like it, but the car felt and worked the best since I’ve owned it.  It worked good last week when we won but I still wasn’t completely happy with it, but this Saturday was our best car ever with our 14^th place finish.  I made some mistakes in the heat, but we were able to qualify from the last chance with a strong run from the back to secure the last qualified position in the field.  In the feature the bottom was locked down and it was hard to pass.  For once, I felt entirely confident in our car because no matter where I put it seemed to work perfectly.  I was able to stay right on anyone who was in front of me.  Everything seems to be coming together at the right time with our setup in the car and my confidence and understanding of how to drive and negotiate this racetrack.  We are looking forward to a solid season and our first top ten finish in the points.”   

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.