Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 7/30/22 – Brian Hirthler Makes it Back to Back Sportsman Victories

Brian Hirthler came from his 15^th starting position to take the win over Kenny Bock for his second win in a row for his first back to back wins of his career.

A resurgent BJ Joly lead dominated the first 15 laps with a 3 second lead over 2^nd place Zane Roth.  On the lap 16 and second restart of the night Kenny Bock moved into the lead and Brian Hirthler into second and Joly dropped to 3^rd.    Bock’s lead was short lived as Hirthler went into the lead on lap 18 and pulled away to win his second sportsman feature in a row with a 3 second margin of victory.

The top ten was rounded out by Kenny Bock in second, followed by Zane Roth, Dakota Kohler, Parker Guldin, Cody Manmiller, BJ Joly, Jesse Hirther, Logan Bauman and Kyle Smith in 10^th.  

Heat winners for the field of 29 sportsman were Mark Kemmerer, Kyle Smith, and Mike Myers.  Cody Manmiller won the last chance consolation.

The cash dash was won by Mark Kemmerer over Kyle Smith in second and Mike Myers in 3^rd .  Cash dash was sponsored by SDS Photography and V & M Towing.

 SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps):

1.BRIAN HIRTHLER, 2. Kenny Bock, 3. Zane Roth, 4. Dakota Kohler, 5. Parker Guldin, 6. Cody Manmiller, 7. BJ Joly, 8. Jesse Hirthler, 9. Logan Bauman, 10. Kyle Smith, 11. Mark Gaugler, 12. Dylan Hoch, 13. Nathan Mohr, 14. Mike Schneck Jr., 15. Josh Adams, 16. Jimmy Leiby, 17. Matt Clay, 18. Adrianna Delliponti, 19. Cole Stangle, 20. Mike Myers, 21. Mark Kemmerer, 22. Decker Swinehart, 23. Ryan Graver, 24. Joey Vaccaro

Did Not Qualify: Nathan Horn, Mike Stofflet, Michael Burrows, Kaitlyn Bailey, Steve Young

SPORTSMAN PIT NOTES – 7/30/22:

Mark Kemmerer won the cash dash and got his picture taken in victory lane but more importantly he kept a promise to his daughters to have their picture taken in victory lane this season.  A trip to victory lane is never an easy thing at Grandview but the “Cash Dash” presented another opportunity, the moons aligned with racing luck for a change, and Mark was able to deliver a trip to victory lane for his girls.

Mark reflected “We had a good starting spot in the heat and the car setup felt very good.  We were able to capitalize on those two things and tonight of all nights it paid off and got us into the cash dash.  In the cash dash I was lucky enough to pick the pole.  We made some changes from the heat and had the car a little too tight.  We got a good start and was able to hold on and get the check.  This was the best thing to happen to us since the season started.  Finally got my pic with my girls. We have been in victory lane a few times, but my girls were never there until tonight.”

Mark continued “I was hoping for a little different ending but ended like many other nights with not much to say other than typical handicap racing ending with a wreck that you hoped you were able to avoid but didn’t.  We got stuck between the concrete wall and a spinning car which is just the way it has been going for us this season.  This will be the fourth front end we had to put in the car this year.  I have been trying very hard this year to do things outside of racing with the wife and girls while also staying in racing and it is proving very hard to find that balance.  This sport is so fun at times and so addicting that it really puts a strain on the whole family dynamic.  Racing wives and racing kids are a some of the most unselfish people and  drivers are very fortunate people to have their patience and support.  I’m grateful to be able to get all my girls in victory lane tonight.”

Brian Hirthler won the feature from his 15^th starting position and for the first time posted back to back wins in consecutive weeks of racing for his 4^th win of the season.

Brian noted “I think there has been less give and take lately, not sure what the reason but it is resulting in a lot of jingles and bent race cars again tonight.  I try to keep my car straight as I can  because a straight car is 99.9% of the time faster than a bent one.  Back to back wins has always been a goal of mine, but the closest I ever came was winning the last race in 2019 and the first race in 2020 so that doesn’t really count.  The car has been pretty decent, so the main thing is just watching the track and seeing what adjustments we need to apply to the setup.  We have tried to sort out what the car likes and doesn’t like in previous months of this season.”

“Car felt good in warmups which I use just as a light guide since the track can change very quickly.  In the heat race we had some trouble early and just missed a tangle but barely bumped a car that stalled at the end of the jingle.  It resulted in no damage, but we restarted last and got blocked in for a while, but once the track opened up, I was able to march from 8th to 3rd in the last 5 laps of the heat race.”

“In the feature I wasn’t sure what to expect following a win.  As I’ve gotten more experience, the main thing I try to remember is if the car is fast, you don’t need to push the issue early on.  I had a plan to start racing after lap 5 and as things panned out, I was able to make it right around 11th or so before lap 11 when a caution took out some of the better contenders.  Restarted 5th and got to run side by side for a while with Bock, Roth & Joly.”

“Once we got to 3^rd, we were kind of boxed in as Bock was challenging the leader on the outside, but I felt I may have an edge as the top was better at that point, Bock and I were pretty close to equal except I was on the bottom.  Once a restart happened, Bock cleared Joly and I was able to follow him around into second giving us some open track to battle for the lead.  I was able to find some grip in the middle and edged by for the lead on lap 18 and hold on for the win.” 

“It’s been a good month and we will try to keep it going in the modified at Thunder on the Hill and into August with the sportsman.”

Kenny Bock finished 2^nd from his 4^th starting position.  Kenny has had a top 5 car in the last few weeks only to have tangles take him out and end his night early but not tonight.  Kenny posted a second place finish after his win three weeks ago over Hirthler.

Kenny stated “Our season story has been ups and downs.  A couple of good nights and then lots of bad ones but tonight was one of the good ones.  We’ve had a good car all along just coming off of three consecutive weeks of getting knocked out by tangles, but we kept our nose clean tonight and our good car ended up in 2^nd and on the podium.  If we didn’t have any cautions, I think we may have been able to pull a win off.”

Kenny continued “ We were good in the heat with our normal setup.  We made some big feature setup changes with help from Tom Umbenhauer.  The track had a lot of laps on it tonight and my car was tight early in the feature.  Our car came around towards the end of the feature.  We were too slow on the bottom, so I went back up to the top late in the feature.  Last time I raced Brian  for the win he didn’t catch me but tonight he was fast and did catch me for the win but I’ll take it and try again next week.”

Zane Roth posted his best finish of the season with a 3^rd place finish from a 2^nd starting position.  Zane has been qualified for 7 out of 8 races with a 3^rd and 8^th finish and is looking for more consistency in finishing in the top 10 in his rookie season at Grandview Speedway.

Zane commented “We were a little tight in the heat race and made a few adjustments for the feature.  But we were still a bit off because I adjusted to the track and figured out a way to get my car to turn.  We had some good clean side by side battles tonight.  We are moving in the right direction.  I have learned a lot in the past 2 weeks and after tonight I hope we can keep rolling and we have put our bad luck in the rear view mirror and can finish out the last half of the year strong.’

Dakota Kohler finished a season best 4^th from a 17^th starting position.  Dakota continues to search for consistent top ten finishes in his first full year on coils.

Dakota reflected “We were not great in practice and with we made some changes for the sprint cars being here this week and the anticipated track conditions they will bring.  We barely qualified in the heat race and made some changes for the feature.  We made some spots up on restarts and the coils are starting to work how we want.  The track was slick but didn’t rubber up, so it was still racy.”

Parker Guldin continues to struggle with qualifying in the heat race but still manages to qualify in the consolation and then runs back to front to a top ten finish which was a top 5 this week with a 5^th place finish from a 18^th starting position.  

Parker stated “I couldn’t be happier with our recent finishes as well the performance of our car and with the driver.  Every week it seems that our car improves more and more.  This week with the sprints was crazy one to say the least.  The recent typical roller coaster continued this week of not qualifying in the heat and then up on the wheel in the feature lap after lap.”

Once again, and I really hate repeating this, but it’s awful to see the amount of extensive damage done to my fellow competitors, week after week in all the classes but most importantly the sportsman class which is an entry level class in terms of cost and experience but is quickly becoming a class with premium costs and efforts rather than a learning experience.  With keeping that in mind, I’m extremely grateful that we have been successful most weeks this season and been able to stay clear of wrecks.”

Parker continued “Despite the wrecks that unfortunately become common place in the last few weeks, the efforts of the track crew have been able to provide a track surface with no limitations for the sportsman feature.  I have no complaints and nothing but compliments for the track surface we are being given to race our in the feature on especially since this week there was a 3^rd division and 3 more races than on a normal Saturday night.   To say that I’m extremely thankful for all the help we’ve been receiving with this car is a complete and total understatement.  We will continue to push on and hope to keep our nose clean for the coming weeks.”

Cody Manmiller also continues to get off to a slow start in the heat races again this week, but again continues to  post a back to front top ten finishes in the feature for the past three weeks with a 6^th place finish from his 19^th starting position this week.

Cody reflected “I need to figure out this heat race stuff.  I got balled up again this week, driven into after checkered, blew left rear tire and door folded over.  We had a decent consolation and 19^th to 6^th in the feature which I’ll take it any week, but I would like to start near the front again.  Being back as far as we have been recently makes getting to the front with your nose clean half the battle.  We just need for improved racing luck in the heat races.  The track really slows down in the feature, and I have methodically been going where they are not, and it’s been working.”

BJ Joly started on the pole and finished 7^th after leading the first 15 laps and posting his best finish of the season.  BJ recalled “We got a door from the Dakota Kohler team which may not have matched the car but got us on track and can’t thank them enough.   In the feature the car was good right from the start.  It was awesome until the yellows started to come out, and I could see who was coming and that my chances of winning were getting slimmer.   On second caution, I notice the temperature rising and the motor seemed to start laying flat.  I’ll take the 7th and learn from it and move on.”

Jesse Hirthler finished 8^th from his 21^st starting position for his 3^rd top ten or better finish in his last 4 races.  Jesse also moved into the top ten in points in 10^th position for the first time during his rookie season.

Jesse noted “I wasn’t so fortunate in the heat race this week and did not qualify from the heats.  The track was not how it usually is and of course because of the rescheduled URC race.  I dropped back a few spots in the heat and it set back our whole night right from the start.  I do need to learn how to know where and when to run.  I qualified for the feature from the consolation and rolled off from the 21^st starting position.  I took it easy the first couple of laps since you never know if there’s going to be a 10 car pileup before cars start to string out.  I got more comfortable in the car as the feature race progressed.   I started working the bottom pretty good and passed a couple of cars before we had a red flag in turn 2 with 10 laps to go.  As soon as they threw the green, everyone was fighting for the bottom, and I knew I didn’t want to play follow the leader so with about 5 to go I went out of line and tried to run the top.  It was  really good up there and I was able to pass 5 cars in about 3 laps.  I thought that I did a pretty good coming from deep in the field and had an OK night in the feature.”

Logan Bauman finished 9^th from his 16^th starting position and is seeing the early season change over to coils start to pay off and provide some consistent top ten finishes.

Logan noted “We had a rough heat race starting 5th but got to 3rd when a few other guys pushed up the track and unfortunately a yellow came out, so we had to give those two spots back up.  We have been super sluggish the past few weeks and seemed to have lost almost all our straightaway speed.  We threw tons of gear to it for the feature, and we were fast on the top and had plenty of restarts to move forward.  We were fortunate enough to be far enough away from all the tangles that we could stop and not get involved in them. The past 2 weeks we have had good luck in the feature, but we need to get faster and carry that speed all throughout the night without getting stuck behind the 8 ball and then having to dig ourselves out of a hole all night long.”

Kyle Smith finished 10^th from his 13^th starting position and weathered a wreck and a trip to the pits.

Kyle recalled “Yeah car was great in the heat and with 2 lanes I was able to drive from 8th to the lead.  I feel like I should’ve won the cash dash, but I made the mistake of not going to the top.  In the feature we were running good but had nowhere to go and got caught up in a wreck.   I drove the car into the pits and had to make a quick change of the front Panhard bar.  We got back out and the car was still fast, but traffic only allowed us to get back to 10^th.”

Dylan Hoch finished 12^th from 14^th starting position and for the second week in a row started from the back of the invert only to be collected in a major tangle.  Dylan commented “Just got in the one big wreck.  It’s a shame our car was probably one of the fastest again this week, but we got up in someone else’s mess again.  I almost need to be more patient and hang in the back until the guys driving like knuckleheads take themselves out, but I just don’t have enough time to wait around most nights.  It’s a tricky game to play.  I commented earlier today on Manmiller’s post, but I’ll say it again.  The way these guys are racing you’d think it’s $10,000 to win every week.  It’s not.  Its $500, and most weeks here lately we are all putting out more than that to race and including all the damaged we bring home.”

The crates have 6 wins over the sportsman motors who have 5 wins.  The crate winners were Parker Guldin, Cody Manmiller, Dylan Hock, Kenny Bock, Decker Swinehart and Keith Brightbill.  The sportsman winners were Brian Hirthler with four wins and Lex Shive with one win.  This week 17 crates went up against 12 sportsman motors in the 29 car field.

The rest of the Story

Nat Mohr finished 13^th from his 23^rd starting position.  Nat noted “We just missed the setup in the heat race.  We were really fast at the end of the race but just didn’t enough race to use it.”

Decker Swinehart had the rear lockup which ended his night early.

Mike Schneck had a good car and moved forward to 6^th but after the red flag his tires sealed over dropping him to a finished 14^th.

Jimmy Leiby and Matt Clay both saw good runs go away with flat tires.

Next race is Saturday, August 6. This night of racing will be known as Do It in the Dirt Night featuring Bob Hilbert Sportswear as the race night sponsor celebrating the very first tee shirt that Bob Hilbert made and sold at the speedway, he first sold tee shirts at Grandview Speedway.  The Bob Hilbert Sportswear Team will be there with fan giveaways that evening along with selling the brand new 50^th anniversary edition of the Do It in the Dirt tee shirt.  They are rolling back the prices and selling this limited-edition tee for JUST $5.00 EACH!  This race program will include the T.P. Trailer Modifieds and T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman in another NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series double-header.  Pit gates will open at 4 pm. with grandstand gates opening at 5:30 pm. warm-ups will be starting at 6:30 pm. Adult grandstand admission is $18, while children ages 11 and under are admitted free of charge.