Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 8/20/22 – Mark Kemmerer Claims his First Grandview Sportsman Win of Season    

On lap 2 Mark Kemmerer took the lead of the non-stop caution free 25 lap feature to take his first win of the 2022 season by a 2.3 second margin of victory over Jesse Hirthler.

Polesitter Wayne Rotenberger led the first lap only to have Mark Kemmerer take over the lead on lap 2.  Kemmerer quickly separated from the field and held his advantage after hitting lapped traffic on lap 17 to take the win over Jesse Hirthler and Kenny Bock in 7 minutes and 12 seconds of non-stop caution-less racing.

 Last season Mark Kemmerer decided that retirement from racing may be in the near future for him, but he had promised to do one more thing before he retired from racing – win one for his girls and get a picture with his daughters Jordyn and Taylor in Grandview’s victory lane.  Tonight, that promise was fulfilled, as Mark picked up his first win since July 28, 2018, and the girls made it to victory lane to get their treasured picture with dear old dad and mom in victory lane. 

Heat winners for the field of 34 sportsman were Logan Bauman, Mark Kemmerer, and Wayne Rotenberger.  Jimmy Leiby won the last chance consolation.

SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps):

1. MARK KEMMERER, 2. Jesse Hirthler, 3. Kenny Bock, 4. Brian Hirthler, 5. Nathan Mohr, 6. Dylan Hoch, 7. Dakota Kohler, 8. Ryan Graver, 9. Decker Swinehart, 10. Zane Roth, 11. Logan Bauman, 12. Wayne Rotenberger, 13. Mike Schneck Jr., 14. Jimmy Leiby, 15. Kyle Smith, 16. Hunter Iatalese, 17. Nathan Horn, 18. Cody Manmiller, 19. Josh Adams, 20. Chris Esposito, 21. Parker Guldin, 22. Mark Mohr, 23., Kyle Hartzell, 24. Joey Vaccaro

DID NOT QUALIFY: Matt Clay, Adrianna Delliponti, Mark Gaugler, Keith Haring, Zach Steffy, Kaitlyn Bailey, Lex Shive, BJ Joly, Jesse Landis, Mike Myers

Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 8/20/22 –

Mark Kemmerer has been waiting for the moons to align for a long time, matter of fact since 7/28/18.  The moons did align, and everything fell right and with a little bit of luck along the way and Mark Kemmerer won the feature in 7 minutes and 12 seconds and headed to victory lane for his long awaited feature victory lane photos with his wife and daughters.   

Mark Kemmerer won from the 2^nd starting position to take his first trip to victory lane in over 4 years.  In victory lane Mark noted “This season has been full of ups and downs with a lot of bad luck along the way as well as things we caused for ourselves.  But to final get back in victory lane and win this one means an awful lot.  The race last week was non-stop, and we broke a driveshaft.  This week was also non-stop race, and we had a real good starting position in the feature and were able to take advantage of it with a win.  Big thanks to Brian Hirthler for all the help he has given us this year.”

Back at the trailer Mark reflected “We had a real good handicap in the heat race which lead to a favorable invert position in the feature.  We won heat with a comfortable lead, but we had a sputtering motor for the entire race which was concerning.  We figured it was an electrical issue but couldn’t find the problem before the feature, we got lucky, and it just went away.  We were all set to go out with a set of 48 tires but when I saw the grader broke and they decided not to cut the track, so I made a last minute decision to switch back to our 50 tire package.  The green flag 7 minute race was perfect for the 50 tire package, and we got lucky again.”

“I’ve been working on the car Brian Hirthler for the past month.  Can’t thank Brian enough for all the help with shocks and coaching on driving lines.

Mark continued “It is very hard to race, have a family, and run your own business.  If you don’t get it, you just don’t get it, but this is just so much fun racing.  This was a long fought and a hard fought win.  My family has stuck by me and put up with a lot of stuff but here we are in victory lane.  I’m just happy to be here.”

Jesse Hirthler finished 2^nd from his 10^th starting position and posted his second 2^nd place finish of his rookie sportsman season.  After a DNQ last week, Jesse bounced right back in his heat race and finished 3^rd from his 6^th starting position and made the invert for the feature.  Jesse has also moved into 9^th in the Grandview points standing for the first time in his rookie season in the sportsman division.

Jesse reflected “ My heat was the best one in recent weeks. I got a good start, tucked down to the bottom and then passed about 3 cars to lock my way into the feature invert.  After the heat race, we noticed that there was a brake fitting broke and my right rear tire was going flat.  We had enough time to get the brakes and tires figured out and we were ready for the feature.  In the feature, I knew I had a really good car that could go to the front.  I started on the top, so I wanted to stay up there and see what I could do.  I was able to pick off a lot of cars up on top but then once I got to the top five, I noticed there was a little bit of rubber at the bottom and knew that the track would be coming in by the end of the race.  From there I started digging on the bottom and was able to pass another car and reel in the 2nd place car and pass him by .002 to get my 3rd top 3 of the season.”

Kenny Bock finished 3^rd from his 3^rd  starting position to post his 3^rd podium finish of the season.  Kenny commented “What a different a week makes.  It’s nice to be up front with a good car when the feature goes green to checkered with no cautions and it sucks to be in the back when it goes green to checkered which is were I was last week.  Car was good both weeks and difference  between 3^rd place this week and 19^th last week was simply starting position.  We were in 2^nd the entire race except for the last lap when Jesse (Hirthler) had a head of steam and got by me on the bottom for 2^nd.  I ran top early then went to bottom and decided to go back up to top but found wheelspin and that was just enough to give up 2^nd to Jesse.  We had older tires that did start to go away in the end too. The tire prep doing the week and using what tires we have has seemed to make a real difference for our tire program.”

Brian Hirthler finished 4^th from his 14^th starting position to post his 8^th top five finish in a row which includes back to back wins.

Brian noted “This week the track was definitely different possibly due to the weather & excessive sun.  I felt like I had a car capable of winning but that is normally dependent on the circumstances presented during the race.  The track locked down with about 10 laps to go in the feature which really made passing on top or bottom very tough.  We still managed to move from 14th to 4th in a non-stop race, so not a bad result and matter of fact 2^nd  week in a row we were able to run back to front in a non-stop race as we ran 17^th to 4^th last week too.  Unfortunately, we hurt the tires this week more than I liked.  We’ve been trying our best to conserve tires as much as possible due to the tire shortage.  A family friend Mark (Kemmerer) picked up a well-deserved win this week.  I started helping Mark about a month ago with rebuilding his shocks, setup tips and other advice.  My nephew made a last lap pass for 2^nd at the line right in front of me and my brother led the mod feature for about 10 laps and ended up 2nd to CVD who is a man on a mission right now.  Overall, it was a very cool night.”

Nat Mohr has had a strong car since changing to backup motor in early July but has not been showing any consistent results due to bad racing luck & tangles.   Nat finished 5^th from a 5^TH starting position.

Nat noted “Heat race started 4^th and quickly got to 3^rd.  With 2 laps to go moved into 2^nd.  In the feature we just hit on something, and I could’ve used a caution late.  Overall, we are happy with our second 5^th place finish of the season.  We finally hit on something that works for me and now we are looking to make a run for the points top 10 in the final three weeks of the season.”

Dylan Hoch finished 6^th from his 15^th starting position.  The heat race didn’t start out too well for Dylan as the car got torn up on a lap 2 tangle and he had to go to the pits but was able to return and qualify for the feature from the heat race.

Dylan stated “We just had a lot of sheet metal and cosmetic damage in the heat.  The team was busy getting all that straightened out before the feature.  We were good for the feature.  I just over adjusted a little bit expecting a dry slick track surface.  It ended up rubbering up but still had a good run though in a non-stop race.”

Dakota Kohler finished 7^th from his 12^th starting position after changing to his backup car with bars suspension since his coil car was wrecked last week.  Dakota moved from 8^th in the season points standings to 6^th  with three weeks to go in the season.

Dakota noted “We needed to be a little tighter in the heat race but were good enough to make the handicap in the feature.  In the feature we were pretty good and could go just about anywhere especially at the beginning until the water was gone from the track surface.  During  5 to 8 laps the moisture stayed in the track until it took rubber at the end, but all in all we were pretty good for the feature.  There are still some changes we can make to improve since this was the first time we have raced the torsion bar car at Grandview in nearly 2 years.  Hopefully we can get better as we go on into the final three races of the season.  The bars suspension at Grandview seems more forgiving then the coil suspension.  There is such a fine margin you have to be within to hit the coils right and make them to work, whereas the bars have a much broader area to hit to get them to work.”

Ryan Graver finished 8^th from his 11^th starting position and posted his second top ten finish in a row during non-stop 7 minute races in the past two weeks.

Ryan stated “We started the night off with problems in warmups and had transmission fluid  blowing in the car.  We went into heats hoping the transmission fluid problem resolved and fortunately it was.  We had a pretty fast car in the heat but got lucky when a car broke right in front of us, and I was able to avoid any heavy damage.  I couldn’t find the right line that was going forward but ended up getting in a handicap spot in the feature”

Ryan continued “I started 11th in the feature and lost a few spots off the green since the bottom wasn’t going yet.   I moved to the top and started moving through the field.  As we started moving up, I had to stay patient to get around a couple cars without getting into them, but my patience also resulted in losing a couple spots again and using up a bunch of time that I needed to catch the front runners.  Definitely feel that we have something figured out now and just need luck to be on our side one of these weeks.”

Decker Swinehart finished 9^th from his 8^th starting position.  Decker noted “Track was pretty much one lane on the top for the first 10 laps and then the rest of the race was on the bottom. I’m pretty happy with the 9th place finish considering it was a non-stop green to checkered 7 minute feature.”

Zane Roth finished 10^th from his 4^th starting position and is showing improved consistency with a 3^rd, 7^th, & 10^th in his last four starts.  Zane noted “Car was strong in the heat, and we knew going into the feature we might be in trouble with not having the right tire selection for our stagger. With the current tire situation, we are limited with what tires we have and what we can do for the feature.  So, I did what I could with what tires we have and hung on to a 10th place finish.  I am very encouraged on how we are running. The short races have you up on the wheel and I like that.  We are looking forward to finishing the year out strong.”

Logan Baumann finished 11^th from his 9^th starting position.  Logan reflected “this car has confused us beyond our wildest dreams.  We over adjusted before practice causing a bad push and ended up taking out a few changes before the heat.  It worked and we ended up having a superfast car and won our heat race.  Started 9th in the feature and once again this track has been hard to figure out.  The track isn’t bad, but it’s just not a surface we’re used to being on.  We just seem to make changes in hopes that the track will come to us but these last few races it just hasn’t come to us at all.”

Mike Schneck finished 13^th from a 13^th starting position.  Mike has had two of his best heat races of the season in the past two weeks.  But the good heat race performance did not translate to the feature as Mike was unable to move forward.

Mike stated “Yeah the heat was really good.  I just waited for the openings and was able to keep moving forward from 8th to 3^rd and that is a great heat.  It was another non-stop feature after track crews put a small amount of water on the track.  I think it got slick on lap 6 or so.  I went up high trying to get around some cars and ended up losing a couple spots, so it was a bad move but then I was able to make some late race passes to get some of the spots back.  I knew going in I need to make the feature and get a reasonable finish to keep pace in the points standings.  Car did get tight after track slicked off so tried to make some adjustments in the car which seemed to help.  This was not the finish I was hoping for after a solid heat, but the car is in one piece.  One of those nights I could have used a caution.  We currently sit 5^th in the points with only 3 point races remaining and I would definitely like to hold on to 5^th in the point standings.”

The season points standings have broken down into three separate chases:

Brian Hirthler holds a 270 point lead over 2^nd place Dylan Hoch.   If Ryan can continue his streak of 8 straight top five finishes, he will lock up his 3^rd  Grandview points championship.

Kyle Smith has moved back into 3^rd by 7 points as he battles with Jimmy Leiby for 3^rd place in the points standings.  Last week Jimmy Leiby was in the lead and now Kyle Smith has moved back into the lead with a slim 7 point lead.   Jimmy & Kyle started side by side in 18^th and 19^th starting positions and finished 14^th and 15^th respectively.

 Mike Schneck finished 13^th but extended his lead over 6^th place Dakota Kohler by 131 points with Parker Guldin in 7^th and Cody Manmiller dropping to 8^th after his 1^st lap heat race crash last week which  gave him an inopportune DNF.

Wayne Rotenberger finished 12^th from his 1^st starting position to post his best finish of the season.  Wayne has led several features this year to  only to fall out or go to the back before the feature ended.  Not tonight, Wayne fell through the field but held at 12^th and posted his best finish of the season.

Wayne commented “We would have liked to finish in the top 10, but it wasn’t meant to be. I’m pretty comfortable starting up front in the heat, but so is everyone else when the track has some grip, and you can run hard.  We have 4 heat wins and a second to the point leader which we’re proud of considering our budget.  The feature has been a problem for me, it is still difficult for me not to drive harder than the track will hold.  We practiced Friday at the Enduro/ Vintage race and I tried to just be smooth which meant easier on throttle from the middle off, which hasn’t been my strong point.  We need some better tires on the car and that will probably help, the left rear was pretty worn out after the feature.  We’re going to keep chasing it and try to get a top 10 this season.”

What a difference a week makes. Mike Myers finished a season best 3rd last week. Went home and did maintenance and returned this week. Immediately in hot laps Mike had a driveline vibration and had to park the car for the night. Mike reflected “I have no idea what happened as I drove off the track last week after a 3rd place finish. I don’t know but think that the transmission may have given up right at the end of the race last week.”

Rookie Mark Mohr is running a part time schedule and qualified for the feature in only his 5^th outing this season and finished 22^nd in his first Grandview feature.

Mark reflected “I have no words on how I feel making my first ever sportsman feature start in my rookie season.  Grandview has some of the toughest competition out there and finally make the show in only my 5^th outing had me speechless.  We handicapped to the pole in the heat race and just missed qualifying from the heat by one position.  In the heat we made contact on a restart and fell back through the field and found out later we only had 3 pounds of air in the right rear.”

“We got a second shot at qualifying in the last chance consolation and again started on the pole position.  Car was super tight and held on to qualify for the main event and start 20th in the feature.  We loosen up a little bit, with starting 20th I just wanted to learn, follow the veterans, and see how things go.  I worked the top side for about 10 laps and transitioned to the bottom for the rest of the race.  We were running about 17th when we had contact with another car which forced me into the wall and to a 22^nd place finish.  Making the show at Grandview isn’t an easy task even with a handicap.  This is my rookie season, and we are running a part time schedule this year and just looking for seat time to get use to racing in the sportsman division at Grandview.  I’m looking forward to running Grandview full time in the sportsman division next year.  My goal for the rest of the year is to learn from the veterans and learn about track to keep getting better for next year.”

Mark continued “I also race a Stage 1 modified at Shellhammers  on Wednesdays and will continue to do so next year while running sportsman on Saturdays at Grandview.  This car is

 Briggs Danner former 78 car.  I can’t thank Briggs enough for all the help during my rookie year.  Despite a busy touring series schedule, he has helped us setup the car for every race.  I want to thank my dad, Tom and Jay who spent countless hours at the shop & track every week working on the modified.  Also, a thank you to Tommy, Shawn, Gregory, Maddie, and mom for all there help and support.  We wouldn’t have been able to do all this and make plans for 2023 without the support of our sponsors who make all this possible:

Jimbo’s Gutters

Alliance Fire Water & Restoration

Staudt’s Detailing

Diane Mertz Keller Williams Real Estate of Allentown

Marvic Supply of Whitehall and Certainteed

Ben Layser Construction Service Partners of Pottstown

Certified Auto Hail Repair Team

Maddie Naska Photos

 All J’s Landscaping & Lawncare

The next event on the Grandview Speedway schedule is next Saturday, August 27, featuring the T.P. Trailer NASCAR Modifieds and the T.P. Truck Equipment NASCAR Sportsman in another NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series program, that will see the Outlaw Racing Series Vintage Racers joining the show starting at 7:30 pm.

Pit gates will open at 4 pm. with grandstand gates opening at 5:30 pm. warm-ups will be starting at 6:15 pm. Adult grandstand admission is $18, while children ages 11 and under are admitted free of charge.