Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 6/04/22 –  Cody Manmiller Claims First Win of Season at Grandview Speedway

Cody Manmiller started the feature from in 10^th and was stuck in 9^th for the first 10 laps.  The only caution of the race flew on lap 10 and on the ensuing restart Manmiller moved from 9^th to 3^rd.  After leading the race for 22 laps Hunter Iatalese could not hold off Manmiller from moving into the lead on lap 22 and taking the win by nearly a 2 second margin of victory and his first career trip to victory lane at Grandview Speedway.

The 33 car field saw heats won by Hunter Iatalese, Mark Gaugler and Mike Myers.  The last chance consolation was won by Dakota Kohler.   

SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps):

1. CODY MANMILLER, 2. Hunter Iatalese, 3. Tyler James, 4. Dylan Hoch, 5. Jimmy Leiby, 6. Nathan Horn, 7. Nathan Mohr, 8. Cole Stangle, 9. Mike Schneck Jr., 10. Mark Gaugler, 11. Brian Hirthler, 12. Parker Guldin, 13. Kyle Smith, 14. Jesse Hirthler, 15. Josh Adams, 16. Mike Myers, 17. Chris Esposito, 18. Dakota Kohler, 19. Adrianna Delliponte, 20. Kenny Bock, 21. Jesse Landis, 22. Joey Vaccaro, 23. Zane Roth, 24. Lex Shive

DID NOT QUALIFY: Logan Bauman, Matt Clay, Ryan Graver, Decker Swinehart, Anthony Raisner, Bryan Rhoads, Beau Drobot, Zach Steffey, Colton Perry

SPORTSMAN PIT NOTES – 6/04/22

Cody Manmiller took his first Grandview win from the 10^th starting position using a lap 10 restart to go from 9^th to 3^rd place in just two laps.  In the next seven laps Cody erased the 1.7 second lead that Hunter Iatalese held and took over lead on lap 21.  Cody then drove away from the field in 4 laps to take the checkered flag by nearly a 2 second margin of victory for his first Grandview trip to victory lane.    

As if that wasn’t enough in one night; Cody & his dad Doug became the second father and son duo in Grandview’s 60 year history to win features in the same night.  The only other time a father and son duo won features on the same night was Randy and Mike Bailey in 1998.

In victory lane Cody noted “In the first half of the race I didn’t go anywhere.  I tried the top, but it wasn’t great but then everything broke the way it needed to be on that restart, and I was able to roll the bottom and went 9^th to 3^rd in a couple of laps.  Hunter was pretty good, but I was able to run him down.  I watched a ton of races here and when it gets slippery you just go “slow to go fast” and hit the bottom and pedal around.  I grew up in these grandstands and this is just crazy to be here now in victory lane.”

Back at the trailer Cody reflected “ I watched the modified feature and knew I had a good car that could go to the front.  The lap 10 restart was the turning point of the race for me.  It was an incredible restart with everyone shifting off the bottom and I was able to run right around the infield tires and quickly got into 3^rd.   I knew I had plenty of time to run down the leader.  I told myself to relax & hit the bottom marks.  It all worked out and I was able to drive under Hunter for the win.  We didn’t change anything on the car all night long.  This is a hard place to win with all the good cars here every week the list goes on and on but tonight it all worked out for us.”

Hunter Iatalese started on the pole and finished with a career best 2^nd place finish after leading the first 20 laps of the 25 lap feature.  After a slow start to the season, Hunter is now looking to  only improve one spot to post his first career sportsman win at Grandview Speedway.

Tyler James posted a career best 3^rd place finish from his 3^rd starting position.  Back at the trailer Tyler reflected “We struggled with our carburetor last week, so we changed jets for the heat this week.  We were OK in the heat, but we are still flat in the corners and could be better.  We left the car alone for the feature as we expected track to slick off and quickly go back to black despite being cut before our feature.  In the feature we were tight, but the car was drivable, and I did the best I could.  I thought someone was right behind me the entire race and you never know what is going on back there.  We could have been a little better if we changed the gear but all in all we had a great night.”  

Dylan Hoch finished a familiar 4^th from his 13^th starting position.  For the 4^th week in a row Dylan has finished 4^th and for three of those weeks he started in 21^st starting position.  His only finish not a 4^th this season was a 7^th where he started 27^th in a provisional.  Dylan’s four 4^th place finishes and one 7^th place finish has him on top of the early season points by 70 points over Kyle Smith.

Dylan commented “I did a few things different for the heat race and it worked pretty well for me.  The caution in the heat race was huge and helped me get things back under control. We got back in the handicap this week which helps a lot.   I was looking forward to having a better starting spot then 21^st  for the feature but it through me off a bit when they dug the track up.  I did have time to change everything back that I wanted to, and it wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t bad either.  As far as feature results, it just seems like I keep running out of laps right around the 4th place position. I know I have a good enough car to keep going but I run out of time.  Running 4^th for four weeks in a row is just a coincidence I suppose.”

Jimmy Leiby finished 5^th from a 17^th starting position.  Jimmy posted his 3^rd top five in 5 point races and one 6^th place finish and currently sits 4^th in the early season points only 87 points behind points leader Dylan Hoch.

Jimmy reflected “our heat was tough, but we made it into the feature and started 17^th.  The track was great with very little tire wear.  Not much on the top to work with, so just had to dig on the bottom with new shocks from Timmy Buckwalter that hooked up and were top notch to get 5^th.

Nate Horn finished a career best 6^th from his 4^th starting position and posted his 2^nd top ten finish of his rookie season. 

Nate noted “For past three races we have been battling with fuel pressure issues that have kept us from qualifying.  We still had fuel pressure issues because the car shut off just as we went out for hot laps.  We added ten gallons of fuel and we were fine with fuel pressure the rest of the night, so we are thinking it is a fuel pickup issue.  We made the handicap with a 2^nd place finish in the heat and started 4^th in the feature.  We snugged the car up so it would hug the bottom and put a spoiler on to help with the slippery track.  I was able to hold my own in the feature until the lap 10 caution.  After the caution I knew the fast guys were coming, Hoch and Leiby passed me.  I learn something every time those fast guys pass me.  This was our best finish of the season, and the car is straight, so we are really happy with tonight.”

Nate Mohr posted his best finish of the season with a 7^th place finish from a 6^th starting position. 

Nate commented “We have been struggling all year so far with our new car.  But tonight, we finally hit the setup and were on rails in the feature.  It was a welcome change from finishing in the back of the field like we have been.  I really felt we had the car to beat but got shuffled back on the outside and lost a bunch of positions.  We were able to race back up through the field to a 7^th place finish.  Our main struggle this season has been to get the car to turn on entry and we are hopeful we have turned the page tonight and staying up front for the rest of the season.” 

Cole Stangle finished 8^th from his 19^th starting position after battling reoccurring electrical problems.  After a 3^rd last week Cole and team thought the problems were behind them, but their electrical problems were right back in hot laps.  This time the 20 team replaced the entire distributor and believe they got their electrical problems corrected once and for all.

 Cole reflected “What a crazy night.  We started out with electrical problems that we have been fighting for several weeks.  We got it fixed but were late to the heat and had to start 12^th.  We managed to run back through the field to get a 5^th place finish only to be moved back to 7^th for over aggressive driving.  That led us to the last chance consolation where we qualified with a second place finish.  In the feature we started 19^th and moved through the field to an 8^th place finish on a one groove bottom track which was a very good finish for us on a slick track.  Even after the track was cut it was still slick and blew off after lap 5.  All in all, a very good night for us.”

Mike Schneck finished 9^th from a 16^th starting position for his first top ten finish of the season which has him sitting 7^th in the early season points standings.

Mike noted “We had a good weekend with finishes.  We finished 9^th with sportsman car here at Grandview and 7^th on Friday at Big Diamond with a crate.  I always want to win or finish better but if I move forward like we did tonight, and the car is in one piece I’ll take it.  Our heat was a struggle the car in front of me had motor issues and never fired so I went to the back but was able to come back through to 6th and stay out of the last chance consolation.  The feature track was good, and it’s usually really slick after the mods, so I like that they cut the track before we went out.  I didn’t burn my tires off and I’m sure with the tire shortage that’s what the track is trying to prevent.  We tried a little different set up in the feature and it worked very well.   We have been consistent enough to get 7^th in the early season points standings but the trick at Grandview is being able to stay there.  We’ll hoping to stay consistent at Grandview all season long which is not an easy task for sure.”

Mark Gaugler finished a season best 10^th from a 2^nd starting position.  Mark commented “ We made some changes to the set up and they definitely made a positive difference and gave us some speed.  Warmups were interesting as we lost our right rear tire but were able to put everything back together in time for our heat.  We won our heat race which was an indication we were heading in the right direction.  I made changes after the mods ran, but then after I saw they were cutting the track we made some more quick changes.  It might have been a little premature because the track dried much more quickly than I expected.  In retrospect I might have been better staying set up for a real dry track.  We were very good under green for the first 10 and I wasn’t looking for any cautions.  I made a few mistakes and over drove the car but very happy with our best finish if the year.  Ron Seltman has been a huge help this year.  I think we are heading in the right direction now and I’m finally excited to get back on track next week.  Got some more changes to try next week to see if we can get better.”

There were 20 crate entries and 13 sportsman entries making up the 33 cars in the sportsman field.

The sportsman vs crate win count is at 3 wins for the sportsman with Brian Hirthler posting two wins and Lex Shive posting the other sportsman win. 

The crate win count is a two which includes crate wins by both Cody Manmiller and Parker Guldin.

UPCOMING EVENTS at Grandview Speedway:

Friday, June 10 – Outlaw Racing Series Enduro and Outlaw Racing Series Vintage – 7 pm.   

Saturday, June 11 – T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds, T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman – 7:30 pm. 

Tuesday, June 14 – NAPA Auto Parts THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES – USAC National Sprint Series Eastern Storm Jesse Hockett Classic, Tri-Track Series 358 Modifieds – 7:30 pm. 

Saturday, June 18 – T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds, T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman – 7:30 pm.

Saturday, June 25 – T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds, T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman plus Outlaw Racing Series Vintage – 7:30 pm.