Grandview Modified Pit Notes 6/11/22 –  Brett Kressley Claims Second Grandview Win

Mark Kratz led the first 17 laps of the modified feature with a strong run from the pole position but on the 3^rd restart of the night at lap 17 Brett Kressley drove into the lead and endured 6 cautions to hold off a late charge by Craig Von Dohren to take his second Grandview win of the season.

Heat winners for the 36 car modified field were Mark Kratz, Jordan Henn, Carroll Hine III, and Ryan Beltz .  Jared Umbenhauer and Bobby Gunther Walsh won the last chance consolations.

 MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 laps):

1.BRETT KRESSLEY, 2. Craig Von Dohren, 3. Ryan Grim, 4. Doug Manmiller, 5. Tim Buckwalter, 6. Jared Umbenhauer, 7. Eric Biehn, 8. Jordan Henn, 9. Craig Whitmoyer, 10. John Willman, 11. Jesse Leiby, 12. Justin Grim, 13. Steve Swinehart, 14. Duane Howard, 15. Ryan Beltz, 16. Nate Brinker, 17. Joe Funk, 18. Bobby Gunther-Walsh, 19. Dan Waisempacher, 20. Jeff Strunk, 21. Kevin Hirthler, 22. Mark Kratz, 23. Carrol Hine III, 24. Brad Grim, 25. Cory Merkel, 26. Mike Lisowski, 27. Dylan Swinehart, 28. Ray Swinehart

DID NOT QUALIFY: Kevin Graver Jr., Kyle Lilick, Darren Schuler, Brad Arnold, Dave Dissinger, Ron Haring Jr., Brett Gilmore, Brad Brightbill

Modified Pit Notes  – 6/11/22

Brett Kressley won his second feature of the season from the 15^th starting position and was the only top 5 points drive to make the handicap this week.  Nonetheless, Von Dohren was still in 2^nd at the checkered flag only a half second behind despite starting in 18^th.  Brett continues to lead the early season points by 41 over second place Doug Manmiller and 61 points over Craig Von Dohren in third place.

In victory lane Kressley noted “We got up into the cushion were mud or something jammed in the right rear and created a vibration that I wasn’t sure what it was, and it was scaring the heck out of me.  Near the end I saw Craig peak his nose and was just praying and hoping it would be over soon.  We had a good track tonight and I just stayed up top. “

Postrace Bett commented “Our night was really decided by getting into the invert in the heat while most of the guys around the top 5 missed it tonight.  We developed a vibration in the feature after getting in the cushion and I slipped up with two to go giving Craig a chance to offer a slight challenge.  It was very tricky and hard to pass, and you had to be in the right spot at the right time to make a pass.”

Craig Von Dohren finished 2^nd from his 18^th starting position.  Craig did not make the handicap in the heat race which dropped him a few starting positions behind Kressley who the only driver in the top 5 in points was to make the handicap.  But despite starting outside of the handicap, he was still in contention for the win and finished a solid 2^nd place finish and kept pace with Kressley and Manmiller in the early season points chase.

Ryan Grim finished 3^rd from a 12^th place starting position.  Ryan returned with his familiar pink and blue #17 after a three week absence waiting for motor parts. Ryan’s return was marked by a season best 3^rd place finish.

Back at the trailer Ryan noted “We went for it tonight and got a 3^rd place finish which was great except we developed a vibration around lap 23 and later found we had broken the rear pan hard rod.  We got bounced off the front stretch wall and fell from around 10^th back to 15^th but were still able to work our way back up to a 3^rd place finish.  This is an achievement with the amount we spend to race competitively with these guys.”      

Doug Manmiller finished 4^th from his 16^th starting position while posting his 6^th straight top five finish and staying a close second to Brett Kressley in the early season points chase.

Back at the trailer Doug reflected “Early on tonight we were always in the wrong lane.  It was like picking the wrong lane to exit the turnpike you never get the right one.  At lap 17, I counted cars and we were still in 17^th, and I thought ‘we are in trouble tonight’.  But then the yellows came at the right time for us, we avoided the wrecks, picked and choose our way to a solid 4^th place finish.”

Tim Buckwalter finished 5^th from 17^th starting position.  Tim now has 4 top fives in the last 5 races with the only exception being the week the distributor cap broke and relegated him to a 14^th place finish.  He has quickly made his presence known this season every week.

Postrace Tim commented “We had a good car again, just some bad spots on restarts and ended up breaking the secondary on the carburetor which caused us to struggle with firing on restarts.” 

Jared Umbenhauer finished 6^th from his 21^st starting position.  Jared started the season strong with a 7^th and 8^th place finishes but then his new 19 team experience some new car gremlins for the past three weeks which he has hopefully overcome with a strong 6^th place finish tonight.  After a career best 3^rd place  in points last year, it has been disappointing to be struggling early season, but this finish moves Jared back into the top ten in the points standings at 10^th with only 17 points separating him from 7^th place.

Jared noted “Our car was much better this week.  We have been struggling in the heats and making the handicap.  We also have had some handling issues with our new car so far this season and hoping we have put them behind us and to bed tonight.”

Eric Biehn posted a 7^th from his 5^th starting position stringing together two consecutive top 10 finishes.  Eric struggled with fuel issues for several weeks, but then found his answers at the Thunder on the Hill race when he switched from gas to alcohol which solved his fuel issues enough that he was able to qualify for a tough Tri-Track Series field.

Postrace Eric noted “We were really happy with our run but at the same time disappointed that we got bump passed out of what should had been a top 3 finish.  We had a good car on a good track with multi grooves, but we were just a little tight.  We are going to continue with alcohol for a couple of weeks but will switch back to gas in a few weeks to see if we can get even better results on gas than on alcohol.”

Jordan Henn has found speed in recent weeks finishing 8^th from his 2^nd starting position.  Last week he was leading after 25 laps only to have the steering box break causing  him to spin and get collected by Jeff Strunk which ended his night after leading the feature for 13 laps until lap 25.

Back at the trailer Jordan stated “My car was good on top but on every restart, I ended up on the bottom and lost positions every time to the top.  I thought if I could have gotten out in front of Kratz it would have been a different race for us.  We struggled for our first 4 races with driveline trouble, carburetor problems and fuel issues but hopefully we have turned the corner with having a good car for the past two weeks.”

Craig Whitmoyer’s season has come to life with a 9^th place finish from a 14^th starting position putting together 3 straight weeks of top ten finishes after a rough start to his season with two DNQ’s and a 20^th finish.  Craig has already moved into 8^th place in the early season points standings.

Postrace Craig commented “We had better results in our heat races which has put us in the handicap and improved our starting position in the feature.  We have been making improvements to the car each week and it has been showing.  We got shuffled back in the feature to about 20th but were able to come back through the field to a 9^th place by the finish.”

John Willman finished 10^th from his 11^th starting position.  John has corrected all the early season mechanical woes and has now posted back to back 6^th and 10^th place finishes in the KAM Racing 291.

Back at the trailer John noted “We struggled all night and were way tighter than we were last week when we ran 6^th.  We changed a bunch of stuff this week and the car is still not turning good enough.”

“I was following Craig through a tangle, he got through, but the hole closed on me, I got collected and had to go to the tail of the field.  But we were able to work back to the front and finished a solid 10^th.  Our car was decent tonight and worked on top or bottom and I could move around which surprised me since we are so tight.  We had good restarts tonight which helped with our 10^th place finish.  I know we have more speed we just have to find it.”

Jesse Leiby finished 11^th from his 26^th starting position and has seen improved consistency and forward movement in recent weeks.  Jesse has qualified for his past five races with an average finish of a 11^th  place and currently is 7^th in the early season points.

Jesse stated “We struggle in our heat due to missing the setup.  We came in from the heat and I didn’t even get out of the car before we were called back to the lanes for the consolation race.  So, I stayed in the car and made no adjustments except for tire pressure, and I knew this one was going to be all on driving.  We threw something big at the car for the feature and I can finally say we have what we need.  We just need to get an improved starting position and I think we have some good runs in the works.”

Nate Brinker finished 16^th from his 28^th starting position.  After an 8^th place finish last week, Nate was able to move through the field from the 28^th and last starting position to a 16^th place finish.

Nate reflected “We are way ahead of where we were this time last year and very happy to have 6 runs and come out straight every night so far this year, consistent qualifying and the ability to move forward through the field from our starting position.”

Mark Kratz had a career best run leading the first 17 laps and was able to defend his lead on the first two restarts but on the 3^rd  restart Brett Kressley used the top to take the lead and Kratz fell back and eventually retired to the pits for a 22^nd finish.

Duane Howard, Dan Waisempacher, Carroll Hine III & Brad Grim were running in the top ten or top five when mechanical failures ended their night after the half-way point of the feature.

Jeff Strunk had his 3^rd disappointing finish of the season with a 20^th place DNF after an another unavoidable tangle.  Jeff has posted a 2^nd, 2^nd and 4^th but alternating with 19^th, 12^th, and 20^th for an up and down finish every other week, but he is still maintaining 6^th place in the early season point standings.

The next event on the Grandview schedule will be Tuesday, June 14 starting at 7:30 pm. The program will be the second NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series event featuring the USAC National Sprint Series non-wing Sprint cars along with the 358 Modifieds participating in round three of the PA 358 Modified Tri-Track Series. Adult grandstand admission will be $30, children ages 6-11 will be $10, and kids ages 5 and under are free. Pit admission is $40, and a license is not required.

The T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds and T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman will be running another double-header program next Saturday, June 18 starting at 7:30 pm. The program will include qualifying events 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.