Grandview Modified Pit Notes 9/03/22 – Craig Von Dohren Claims 8th Saturday Night Points Race Win and Closes in on 2022 Points Championship

Craig Von Dohren moved into the lead on lap 17 and drove away from 2nd place Dylan Swinehart to take the win by nearly a 6 second margin of victory.  Craig also extended his point lead to 291 points on his way to his second points championship in a row with only one race remaining next week to finalize his 2022 points championship.

Ryan Beltz led the first 11 laps from the pole position.  On the first restart, Steve Swinehart moved into the lead until lap 16 when Dylan Swinehart briefly moved into the lead for one lap only to see Craig Von Dohren sweep by for the lead on lap 17 and pull away from the field to drive into the Grandview victory lane for his 8th point race win of the season.

Cautions & or red flew on lap 11,12, 13 & 14 for a series of tangles and the 5^th and final caution flew on lap 15 for a Brett Kressley flat tire.

Heat winners for the 32 car modified field were Ryan Beltz, Bobby Gunther-Walsh, and Brett Kressley.   The last chance consolation was won by Jeff Strunk.

MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 laps): 1. CRAIG VON DOHREN, 2. Dylan Swinehart,  3. Steve Swinehart, 4. Jared Umbenhauer, 5. Ryan Beltz, 6. Brad Arnold, 7. Nate Brinker, 8. Kevin Hirthler, 9. Jeff Strunk, 10. John Willman, 11. Tim Buckwalter, 12. Ray Swinehart, 13. Bobby Gunther-Walsh, 14. Brett Kressley, 15. Dan Waisempacher, 16. Mark Kratz, 17. Joe Funk, 18. Lex Shive, 19. Cory Merkel (alternate), 20. Mike Lisowski, 21. Bobby Trapper Jr., 22. Jesse Leiby, 23. Ryan Grim, 24. Justin Grim, 25. Kyle Lilick, 26. Duane Howard, 27. Eric Biehn, 28. Kevin Graver Jr., DNS – Doug Manmiller

DID NOT QUALIFY: Carroll Hine III, Ron Haring Jr., Brett Gilmore

Grandview Modified Pit Notes 9/03/22

Craig Von Dohren picked up another win from his 19^th starting position.  Craig has won 8 of the 16 points races this season and goes into the final race of the season with a 291 point lead over 2^nd place Brett Kressley.

By lap 12 Von Dohren moved from 19^th to 6^th and then into the lead on lap 17 where he pulled away from the field to drive into victory lane with a 5.5 margin of victory over 2^nd place Dylan Swinehart.

In victory lane Craig noted “We went from 9^th to 5^th on one of the midrace restarts and just saw an opening on the bottom and got a run to the front.  I’m thankful to be here in victory lane and this place is something else.  We got a very good car here and sure as hell going to miss this place.  Brett was right there so I had to leave nothing on the table and get there for the American Racer points win and the NASCAR championship points.”

“I never look at the scoreboard, but I got to the lapped cars and saw the 81, so I picked up the pace with 3 laps to go since you never know what’s going to happen.  This points situation can drive you crazy and you think about it all the time.  My wife and I took a week off week off and got away from racing for a couple of days.  There is a lot of money to the winner, and you just got to survive and be able to run well every week.  We got lucky tonight and just got to keep running good with one to go next week to put this thing away.”

Dylan Swinehart finished 2^nd from his 5^th starting position and posted his best finish of the season.

Dylan stated “We have had a tough season with 5 engine failures this season but I’m grateful my team and grandfather always has my back no matter what.  We didn’t make any setup changes in the heat from last week.  In the heat race the track was different this week, but it was still fast and we were able to quickly jumped up with the leader and finished 2nd in the handicap for the feature.”

“We started 5th in feature and finished 2^nd while running a soft tire that we didn’t kill.  I had a good race with my uncle and finally got by him for the lead but didn’t have a chance to get away from Von Dohren who past me a lap after I got the lead.  After all we have been through this season, we will take this one as a win for us all the way.  We made a small adjustment before the feature and had a good handling car for the entire feature.  We ran the top in 3 & 4 and bottom in 1 & 2.”

Steve Swinehart finished 3^rd from his 2^nd starting position and posted his best finish of his season.  Steve recalled “holding on for a podium finish at Grandview has a real good feeling to it.  The setup on the car was not much different than it was two weeks ago with our 6th place finish.  We are still giving up to much speed at both ends of the track especially on entry to apex of the turn.”  

“Last week broke a drive line in warmups due to a failed RR coil spring which knocked us out for the night.  We have been really struggling to keep the car from spinning out in heat races recently, but the car has been better and more manageable in the feature better.  It’s not too often that I get to race with my nephew Dylan in any capacity.  I don’t really approach racing him any different than any other competitor. The task at hand is always the same with 101% effort and concentration. I had a slight chance in the end to get him but maybe next time.  To me it’s pretty cool to just be able and live these moments racing your nephew in complete enjoyment.”

Steve continued “in hot laps this week the steering wheel came off for first time ever in my career.  I really thought I was going to destroy the racecar since it turned immediately straight towards wall.  When I jammed the brakes on hard by the “hand of spirit slid” the car came to a stop almost untouched and it was as if I asked for a miracle which was granted. .  Hopefully, we can get this car to the point where I can attack the corners more aggressively and make a run for the money in these final two weeks of the season.”

Jared Umbenhauer finished 4^th from his 16^th starting position.  Jared reflected “Heat 1 was tough on a usually a one lane track and we managed a 6^th from a 9^th starting position and qualified for the feature but not in the invert.  In the feature it felt like I had a magnet on me.  Every time I started to go around someone I got hit and got shuffled back or got boxed in.  I had a real good car that was definitely a top 2 car.  My car was one of a few that still worked on the top at end of the feature.  Everyone was running the bottom, so I had to use the top but it worked for me.”

Ryan Beltz finished 5^th from his pole starting position and posted his best finish of the season.  Ryan is hoping to be peaking at the right time with the season finale and 76er in the next two weeks.

Brad Arnold finished 6^th from his 10^th starting position.  Brad commented “I redid the whole car from shocks to brakes looking for the speed that we haven’t had all year.  I think tonight was the first night all season that I didn’t have to qualify through the consolation race.  We had our best heat of the season finishing 4^th from our 6^th starting position.  In the feature the car was just as good, and we went from 10^th to 3^rd until the red flag came out.  During the red the right rear sealed and I went to the bottom too late so we faded a bit from 3^rd to  a 6^th place finish.  We tried a lot of new things tonight and they worked.  The car is now rotating well and working better in the corners.  Our motor continues to be the least our concerns this season.”

Nate Brinker finished 7^th from his 7^th starting position.  Nate stated “We got lucky starting 3^rd in the heat and the car is definitely much better than the past three weeks.  I finally found a baseline setup that I like. Feature time came and we made good adjustments but we just didn’t move up in the beginning. The bottom came in for me later in the race.   It was a dog fight out there on Saturday, but that race was a ton of fun.  Always a blast running side by side with the top guys.  Overall, we are having better luck and I’ve been more disciplined as a driver.  More laps help a ton too, and the key is to not waste any laps.”

Kevin Hirthler finished 8^th from his 12^th starting position.  Kevin stated “Heat track was narrow; I got a couple spots on the start then just got in line.  There was no reason to push the issue and step out of line and risk falling out of the handicap. In the Feature we made some headway but struggled a bit to pass. Track was wide and started to slick off in the feature. Car was off a bit, just had to hang on at that point and see what we could salvage.  Not a bad run but was definitely hoping for a top 5.  Jesse had a terrific run and again we are very proud of him as he continues to learn and improve every week.”

Jeff Strunk finished 9^th from his 22^nd starting position.  Jeff and Craig Von Dohren battled for the entire heat race with Strunk passing Craig early only to miss qualifying by one position when Craig passed him back late in the heat race.  Jeff ran away with the consolation race which placed him 22^nd in the starting grid.  He moved forward through the field for a 9^th place finish.  Strunk posted his 10^th straight top ten finish and moved into 3^rd place in the points standing when Doug Manmiller could not make the call for the feature.

John Willman finished 10^th  from his 11^th starting position.  Willman noted “We got stuck behind a car and couldn’t pass him.  We broke the header at the beginning of the race, and we were better than last week.  I now have a decent baseline to work off of to get the car better for the heat race next week.”

Timmy Buckwalter finished 11^th from his 26^th starting position in Brett Gilmore’s #7 entry.  After Tim broke a valve in his 23X he jumped in the Brett Gilmore #7 and was able to make the feature with a 6^th place finish in the consolation from his 10^th starting position.  Once in the feature Timmy was able to advance forward to an 11^th place finish.

Tim commented “We started smoking in hot laps and broke an intake valve  in the heat race on a motor with only 5 races on it.  We are a small race team are not sure where we go from here after breaking our second motor of the season.  We expected to use a provisional, but big thanks to the Gilmores who allowed us to run their car and hold our points position with what was actually not a bad night for us in the feature despite a last minute jump into a car I have never been in before.  We had 4 or 5 teams offer us rides, in this business were you all have expensive equipment it hard to believe so many teams are willing to offer someone a chance to run there car.  When I sat in the car I couldn’t see out of the car or reach the pedals and steering very well.  We adjusted the steering, brakes, added our tires and driver.  You don’t want to drive too aggressively in someone else’s stuff.”

The Rest of the Story

Ray Swinehart has a history of winning the last race of the season which he did two years in a row a few years.  This year Ray was ahead of schedule getting his first win of the season with two weeks remaining in the season.  This week the Swinehart late season charge was joined by Ray’s Grandson Dylan who posted a 2^nd place finish while son Steve posted a 3^rd place finish with one week to go in the season.  Who knows what the Swinehart clan has in store for the final point race of the season and perhaps final point race at Grandview.

Brett Kressley finished 14^th after having a flat tire on lap 15 and going to the rear of the field.  Last year Brett ran out of racing luck and lost the points lead to Craig Von Dohren at the end of the season and again this year as Von Dohren continues to increase his points lead over Kressley to nearly 300 points going into the week of the season.

Brett noted ” We had a great heat race with a really good car which put us in the best position possible in the feature but we just couldn’t capitalize due to the flat tire. We encountered some unnecessary banging around and I think that is what ultimately did the tire in.”

Lex Shive’s sportsman motor broke a few weeks ago ending his sportsman season a bit early but led to his long awaited modified debut this week.  Lex managed to qualify for the feature from the last chance consolation and start his first feature in 26^th starting position.  Qualifying for his first modified feature was a life-long dream come true for Lex.  Lex got in a tangle in the feature but finished the race with a 18^th place finish.

Postrace Lex reflected “We were totally thrilled to qualify first time out in modified. We were not expecting anything other than to feel the car out. Very happy we were not far off with the setup and the car was half decent throughout the night. This small team drove home all the way home with huge smiles on our faces. We can’t wait to make adjustments and hit the track this week to see if we can find more speed and better lap times.”

Cory Merkel has worked all year to maintain a top ten finish, but with only one race to go it’s turning into a close battle for the tenth in the points standings with John Willman closing to within 41 points.  Last week Cory had his first DNQ of the season after qualifying for 14 consecutive features.  This week Corey was again on the outside looking in, but at the last minute Doug Manmiller had to withdraw from the feature and Cory made the feature as the 1^st alternate and finished 19^th . Cory noted “I’d love to hang onto a 10^th place finish in the points and I knew it wouldn’t be easy because this is Grandview.  One more race to go and we are going to give it everything we got to stay 10^th in the points.”  

Duane Howard just can’t string together any consistency or luck since the last week of July.  Things were looking up in the heat race going from 9^th to 4^th and getting in the handicap only to have two flat tires in the feature relegating him to 26^th for the night.

Doug Manmiller was not feeling well and withdrew from the qualified field for the night giving first Alternate Corey Merkel a spot in the field.  Postrace, Doug was feeling much better and is prepping to be back on track at the final points race of the season.

After A hard flip last week in the feature Justin Grim returned this week with his motor in his backup car and he once again qualified for the feature.  Justin is the only car not in the points top ten that has qualified for all 16 point races this season.

Racing next weekend at Grandview Speedway will be on Saturday, September 10, featuring Championship Night. It will be 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 be the final night of points racing, and the 2022 track champions will be crowned in both divisions.

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.