Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 5/28/22 –  Brian Hirthler Wins 3 Way Battle with Kyle Smith and Cole Stangle

The sportsman feature was won by Brian Hirthler who picked up his second points race win of the season coming from his 14^th starting position.  Cole Stangle was the early leader in a three car checked of from the field battle with Kyle Smith and Brian Hirthler.  Kyle Smith took the lead on the lap 15 restart and was engaged with Brian Hirthler in a tight battle for the lead lap after lap.  Hirthler took a too close to call lead on lap 23 and as they entered lapped traffic Hirthler got bottled up behind a lapped car and then the caution came out before lap 24 was completed.  On the ensuing lap 23 single file restart; Hirthler took the lead and then the checkered flag for his second points event win of the season.

SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps):

1. BRIAN HIRTHLER, 2. Kyle Smith, 3. Cole Stangle, 4. Dylan Hoch, 5. Mike Stofflet, 6. Jimmy Leiby, 7. Ryan Graver, 8. Lex Shive, 9. Joey Vaccaro, 10. Logan Bauman, 11. Mike Schneck Jr., 12. Cody Manmiller, 13. Jesse Hirthler, 14. Dakota Kohler, 15. Nathan Mohr, 16. Josh Adams, 17. Decker Swinehart, 18. Zach Steffy, 19. Parker Guldin, 20. Colton Perry, 21. John Leiby, 22. Adrianna Delliponte, 23. Anthony Raisner, 24. Wayne Rotenberger, 25. Jesse Landis, 26. Mike Myers

DID NOT QUALIFY: Kyle Hartzell, Tyler James, Matt Clay, Mike Faust Jr., Zane Roth, Mark Gaugler, Nathan Horn

Sportsman Pit Notes  – 5/28/22

The sportsman feature had 4 different leaders with Wayne Rotenberger leading the first 7 laps giving way to Cole Stangle who led the next 8.  On the lap 15 restart Kyle Smith took over the lead for the next 7 but was in a battle the whole time leading with Brian Hirthler who took over the lead for only the final 3 laps to take his second win of the season.

14 crate motors and 12 sportsman motors qualified for the sportsman feature.

Brian Hirthler took the win from his 14^th starting position posting his 2^nd Grandview win of the season after a spirited 3 way battle with Kyle Smith and Cole Stangle.  Brian grabbed his first lead of the day on lap 23 by a .078 margin and then caution flew in turn 2 setting up a two lap shootout from a single file restart.  Brian stayed out in front and took the checked flag with a comfortable 1.25 margin of victory.

Postrace Brian noted “ The heat race is always a battle with the handicap and being top 5 in points you are always starting in the last row of an 8 lap heat race so there isn’t much time to wait around.  The heat race went smooth coming from 11th to 5th to make the handicap, car was as good as it’s been in a heat all year.”

Brian continued “Come feature time I knew the track might be tackier than normal since we had a bit of rain after my heat race, so we made some adjustments to the car and hit the track.  Started out my normal pace, slow and steady but I knew I was on the clock as the laps were ticking off quickly.  Once we got moving through traffic, I made pretty good time and was in the top 5 by the first caution on lap 13.  I realized I had some pretty good cars to contend with in Stangle & Smith, and with only 12 laps remaining it would be cutting it close to get a win dealing with those guys.  I got lucky to get another caution after only one lap and it gave me a chance to regroup on how the car was on the bottom and  see how their cars were working and develop a plan to get into the lead. On the ensuing restart, Smith took the lead and I got past Stangle a lap later moving into 2^nd.   After that it came down to just trying to track him down and figure out a way to get around him.  Once we got into lap traffic, he got caught up on a slower car which allowed me to get side by side with him and run with him for 2 laps before squeaking by him at the start finish line by just .078 seconds and then the caution flew on lap 23. That set the stage for a single file restart with 2 to go and the lead.  On the restart we powered out to a 3 car length lead taking the checkered for our 2nd win of the season.  It was a fun race and was glad to dice it up with a few of the top contenders for the win.”

Kyle Smith has had two down to the wire heartbreaking 2^nd place finishes this season and still currently holds the early points lead in the sportsman division by 22 points over Dylan Hoch.

Kyle noted “We had our fastest car of the year in practice tonight.  We started 11^th and dead last in the heat.  We were lucky to get through a heat race wreck and make it into the handicap.”

Kyle continued “We started 15^th in the feature.  I got to the top and able to move quickly through the field to the front.  On the lap 15 restart I was able to pass Cole for the lead and thought I had a winning car because I didn’t think anyone would be able to get past me on the bottom.  I got behind a lapped car when Hirthler slide up off the bottom and we went side by side until the caution came out.  I still believe I had him at the line.  Based on our tech inspection it looks like we have our transponder too far back and you can bet that will be corrected for next week.  We had a very good night overall and a good points night.”

Cole Stangle finished 3^rd from his 11^th starting position after a DNQ last week chasing electrical gremlins.  Cole lost hot laps to the continued electrical issues but had the car back on point in the heat race moving into the handicap for the feature.  In the feature Cole lead 8 laps and had the car back up front with a 3^rd place finish to Brian Hirthler and Kyle Smith which a few of the names he expects to compete with every week.

Postrace Cole commented “This week was a rollercoaster of events for us but it sure was an improvement over last week when we couldn’t get the car to run and couldn’t find our electrical issues.  In the heat I got up to 4^th and rode the heat race out right were we wanted to be in a handicap spot.   From our 11^th starting spot in the feature, we quickly went forward and into the lead on lap 7.  I didn’t want to see any cautions, but we got two around lap 15.  I made a mistake when I choose the bottom on the restart which was the wrong lane.  Kyle went by me for the lead and then Hirthler moved by putting me back to 3^rd after the restart.  We are getting closer every week and looking forward to a solid season at Grandview.”

Dylan Hoch finished 4^th from the 21^st starting position for the second week in a row.  Dylan has struggled to get forward in green to checkered 8 lap heat races yet only to dominate his last chance race then rampage from deep in the back to front pretty much all season.

Dylan commented “We have three 4^th place finishes already this year and each one was a run from 21^st or further back so we are working on figuring out a heat race setup that will get us in the handicap.”

Mike Stofflet finished a career best 5^th from his 3^rd starting position after a spring of tough luck and disappointing finishes for the 38 team.

Mike Reflected “I had high hopes coming into this season with an updated chassis, switch to coils, fresh parts/motor, and the new crew guys with a lot of racing knowledge but we have been still dealing with getting the bugs and gremlins worked out of this car so far this season.  Last week we  had a good car, but on lap 4 while running in 4^th, the trailing arm broke allowing the driveshaft to come out and ending our night early again.  We were on a good run last week when we broke, so we put car back together exactly the same for this week.  We are always decent in the heat but seem to have no luck come feature time.  When we got switched to first feature of the night that threw off our tires and we had to find the right tires to get the stagger right.  We had a good car this week in the feature but not perfect and still had some setup issues that we are in the process of addressing for next week.”

Mike continued “We were good in the feature but had to wait too long to pick the throttle back up in the center of the turns and I saw three cars go around me on the top.  I tried the top but then Hoch got around me on the bottom and I decided to go back to the bottom and protect 5^th place.  I didn’t want to see the yellow with 2 to go and had a drag race and battle with Jimmy (Leiby) to hold him off by a mere .027.  I was racing Jimmy so hard that I spun in one after the checkered on my own and I totally apologize to the rest of the field for that and a big thank you for everyone for missing me.”

Jimmy Leiby posted a 6^th place finish from a 24^th starting position to rebound from a disappointing 15^th place finish last week.

Back at the trailer Jimmy noted “Our sportsman heat ran after the rain delay.  We started in the back we couldn’t move forward.  In the consolation we got the last spot to make the feature.  We drove from 24^th to 6^th and had a rocket of a car from some changes we made this week.  Last week I just wasn’t in the game mentally and it resulted in a disappointing 15^th place finish but this week I drove with a different frame of mind which definitely made a difference.”

Ryan Graver finished a season best 7^th from a 9^th starting position in his sportsman feature.  After a DNQ last week Ryan rebounded to a 7^th in the sportsman feature and a 15^th in the 602 crate feature to cap off an outstanding day for the 101 team.

Ryan noted “We corrected a problem from last week and was hopeful it would make a difference for us this week.  We had a real good car in the sportsman heat going forward from 6^th to 3^rd.  We battled with top 5 guys, but I just made a few mistakes that dropped me to 7^th.  We were happy to turn things around after a couple of rough weeks and especially thrilled that we are now moving forward in our heats and features.  We had a good car most of the night and it was great to make both the sportsman and crate feature for the second time this year.”

Joey Vaccaro finished 9^th from his 5^th starting  position to record his second 9^th place finish of the season.  Joey changed over to coils during the winter and is improving every week with the new setup.   They also had a 7^th place finish in the 602 crate feature for a top ten doubleheader and adding two successful features on different tracks to their notebook.

Joey stated “Our year hasn’t been going so well for us and Saturday was definitely a confidence booster for us.  The open feature ran before the mods this week and when we do that it is hard for the crates to keep up with the open motors on the top, so I knew it was going to be tough going and was pleased with getting our crate in the top 10 on a sportsman motor dominate track in the sportsman feature.”

Zachery Steffey qualified for both the sportsman and crate features turning his best performance of his rookie season at Grandview.  Zack stated “ We have been missed 3 weeks so it was great to get back and qualify for two features in one night.  We made some successful changes during the night and I’m getting more comfortable at Grandview.  I can’t thank my sponsors and crew enough because without them we wouldn’t be here at the track.”

Next weekend the T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds and T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman will be competing in a two-division program on Saturday, June 4 starting at 7:30 pm. The program will include qualifying events for both divisions leading to the 30-lap T.P. Trailer Modified feature and the 25-lap T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman main event. Pit gates will open at 4 pm. with grandstand gates opening at 5:30 pm. and warm-ups starting at 6:30 pm. Adult grandstand admission is $18, while children under age 12 are admitted free of charge.