Thunder on the Hill Roaring 20’s – Ryan Grim Hangs on for Crate Victory over Brad Grim

Brad Grim took the early lead from the outside pole and led 12 laps until Ryan Grim went into the lead on the top just before caution came out for Jon Josko who hit the wall while running in 5^th place.  A couple of late cautions, and race leader Ryan Grim with a left front going flat added some late race drama to the last restart, but Ryan Grim was able prevail and stay out in front by a .377 margin of victory over Brad Grim for his first Thunder on the Hill Crate win.

Ryan Grim was followed by Brad Grim in second, Kyle Smith, Joe Toth, Jesse Landis, Dylan Swinehart, David Burns, Jesse Leiby, Cody Manmiller and Jesse Hirther to round out the top ten.

Heat races were won by Jimmy Leiby, Jon Josko and Nathan Horn.

Feature (25 Laps) –

1. Ryan Grim 2. Brad Grim 3. Kyle Smith 4. Joe Toth 5. Jesse Landis 6. Dylan Swinehart 7. David Burns 8. Jesse Leiby 9. Cody Manmiller 10. Jesse Hirthler 11. Logan Watt 12. Jimmy Leiby 13. Kenny Bock 14. Nathan Horn 15. Logan Bauman 16. Talan Carter 17. Ryan Graver 18. Josh Adams 19. Mark Mohr 20. Keith Harring 21. Mark Gaughler 22. Mike Toth 23. Zane Roth 24. Jon Josko 25. Joey Vaccaro

Thunder on the Hill – Roaring Twenties 602 Crate Pit Notes

Ryan Grim took the win from his 6^th starting position with a left front going flat which made the final two restarts a challenging but in the end Ryan was able to hold off Brad Grim to take his first Thunder on the Hill Crate win at Grandview Speedway.

Ryan commented, “ This is my first time in the 625 and I wasn’t all that comfortable in the heat race so wasn’t sure what to expect in the feature.  In the feature I wasn’t so good on the bottom so I just moved to the top and it seemed pretty good up there.  Took a couple laps to get a rhythm then slowly caught the leader.  I was pretty sure I had one shot to pass him, because if I didn’t finish the pass, I figured he would come up to block.  I was lucky to be able to finish the race with a low front left tire in the final 3 laps.  I figured it would be my luck that I get sent in with the flat left front but that didn’t happen.  We finished with it, and it had 3 pounds in it after the race.  I have helped Hunter Iatalese with this car before and I got in the car tonight in an effort to see if we can get the car better for Hunter this week.”

Brad Grim finished 2^nd from 2^nd starting position.  Brad reflected “Yes I always have a good run in this car.  I felt so good on the bottom I never tried the top and that’s where Ryan got me.  It was good race to the end and fun being part of this race.”

Kyle Smith finished 3^rd from his 3^rd starting position.  Kyle had a busy day pulling double duty with the #83 crate car of the Swinehart’s and his  # 77 spec 358 small block modified.  Kyle logged 101 laps with a 3^rd in the crates and  a 15^th, 18^th and 15^th in the modified triple 20’s.

Kyle stated “Running 60 laps in the mod was definitely a lot of racing but during every break I drank some water I was ready to get right back in the car and go.  This was some quality seat time in the modified.  It was nice getting to start up front in the crate feature & this 83 car was very fast but at the same time a lot different for me.  I feel like if I settled in a little earlier in the Crate feature, I would’ve been able to get the lead and win the race, but I was happy to get a good result in Swinehart’s car. Track was good, took a little rubber but not too much and there was plenty of good grip up top.”

Joe Toth finished 4^th from his 19^th starting position for the hard  charger of the night.  Joe continues to pile up to five finishes from New York to Delaware  this season.

Jesse Landis finished 5^th from his 7^th starting position and posted his career best crate finish.  Jesse changed to a Crate motor earlier this season when his sportsman motor broke.  This past weekend Jesse changed the car over to coils, so this 5^th place finish was his first time out on coils.

Postrace Jesse noted, “We had a good heat draw and got into the redraw.  We fell back to 9^th at the start after getting slammed but then found the top and passed Hirthler and Bock and I decided to stay up there for a while.  Later I did move around and found the track was good everywhere.  This was my best crate finish of the season.  I’m really pleased with tonight since we took last week off to fix frame damage, a broken rear and switch the car over to coils.  The car is not right yet but we got a good start on our coil program tonight.”

Dylan Swinehart finished 6^th after falling back to 10th due to lap 1 contact.  Dylan stated “We took this car to Oswego in the fall and found some stuff that makes this car fast were ever we take it.  We were fast in the heat going 8^th to 4^th and passing real good cars here tonight.  The feature got ugly really fast, and we got punted on lap 1 back to 10^th but were able to work our way back up to 6^th place finish.”

Grandview regular Jesse Hirthler posted his 4th top ten in 5 races with a 10^th place finish while Logan Watt made his Grandview debut with an 11^th place finish from his 21^st starting position.

Next Saturday, August 6 the 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.