November 4, 2024

Kyle Smith (77) and Mike Burrows (55) at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 9/03/22 – Kyle Smith Drives to his First 2022 Sportsman Win Season

Kyle Smith drove from his 13th starting position to take the lead on lap 21 and into victory lane for his first win of the 2022 season.

Kyle Smith in victory lane for his first win of the season at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Michael Burrows led for 19 laps until the first caution of the night waved for a spinning Steve Young.  On the restart Kyle Smith moved from 5th to 2nd but caution again flew when Zach Steffy ended up in the turn 4 wall which also brought out the red flag.  On the second and final restart, Kyle Smith took over the lead and broke away to a 1.5 second margin of victory over Michael Burrows.  Brian Hirthler finished out the podium in 3rd from his 15th starting position.

Heat winners for the 32 car sportsman field were Keith Haring, Michael Burrows, and Zach Steffey.   The last chance consolation was won by Steve Young.

Kyle Smith at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps):

1.KYLE SMITH, 2. Michael Burrows, 3. Brian Hirthler, 4. Jesse Landis, 5. Jesse Hirthler, 6. Joey Vaccaro, 7. Dakota Kohler, 8. Dylan Hoch, 9. Kenny Bock, 10. Mike Schneck Jr., 11. Jimmy Leiby, 12. Cody Manmiller, 13. Keith Haring, 14. Parker Guldin, 15. Nathan Mohr, 16. Mark Mohr, 17. Addison Meitzler, 18. Josh Adams, 19. Logan Bauman, 20. Adrianna Delliponti, 21. Ryan Graver, 22. Steve Young, 23. Zach Steffy, 24. Chris Esposito

DID NOT QUALIFY: Kaitlyn Bailey, Decker Swinehart, BJ Joly, Nathan Horn, Wayne Rotenberger, Kyle Hartzell, Molly Struss, Bryan Rhoads

Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 9/03/22

#77 winner Kyle Smith #6 Kenny Bock #29 Dakota Kohler race at Grandview. Scott Bender Photo

Kyle Smith picked up his first win of the season from the 13th starting position and ended a 4 week bad racing luck streak of getting caught up in early tangles in the feature.  On the first restart of the night on lap 19; Kyle made a move from 5th to 2nd which set him up to take the lead on the final lap 20 restart.

In victory lane Kyle reflected “We started the year off great, and things just went downhill for us in the last 6 or 7 races.  It is great to finally get a win this year.  It would be great to go back to back wins next week like we did last year.  The top held out just long enough to get me up front in 5th.  The restart saved me since everyone in that lead group of five cars were equal.  Jesse spun his tires, and I was able to get under him.  I had the bottom on the restart in 5th place, the car felt good in the rubber on the bottom so that is where I stayed for the final 6 laps right to the checkered flag.  The work in the shop has been tough recently as we have been in a lot of wrecks in the past few weeks.  Dad is in the shop by himself 4 days a week since I’m in college now.”

Kyle Smith & Jeff Ahlum in Grandview victory lane. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Kyle stated “Our car is always good, but we just went through a stretch of really bad luck in the last month or so until things turned around this week.  Car was fast in the heat, but as usual there wasn’t much passing so once I was in a handicap spot, I didn’t force anything.  Before the feature, my dad and I decided to put a 50 on the right rear because of how much wear there was on the track.  It took us awhile to get to fifth and at that point the top four were pretty spread out.  The first caution with 6 to go saved me and bunched everyone back together.  I was able to pass 3 cars on the restart by holding the bottom and then was able to get the lead on the next lap from the bottom as well.  The top was good most of the race, but at that point I believed it was starting to go away especially in 1 and 2 so I stayed on the bottom and was able to pull away and hold on for the win.”

Mike Burrows at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Mike Burrows finished 2nd from his pole position for his best finish of the season and his first time out with his sportsman motor this season.   Before tonight Mike had been running a crate motor all season long with limited success so he decided to give his sportsman motor a chance tonight.

Back at the trailer Mike commented “It is tough to go back to front all season and especially with a crate motor.  We couldn’t get the monkey off our back with the crate, so we changed back to our open sportsman motor for this week.  We had our first good handicap of the season in the heat and ran away with it and secured the pole in the feature.  In the feature we were again running away from the field with a straight away lead when the caution came out on lap 19.  I didn’t want to see the caution and it bunched the field back up and also let my tires cool off.  This was our best night of the season, and we are hoping to close out the season by staying up front at the final two races of the year at Grandview.”

Brian Hirthler (4*) at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Brian Hirthler continued his consistent top 5 finishes with a 3rd from his 15th starting position and he has locked up the 2022 points championship.

Brian noted “In the 2nd heat race I started 10th which put us in a tough spot so I thought, but the early tangle on the start took out 8 cars and moved me to 2nd when most of them rejoined the field but that pretty much set the tone for the heat. On the restart I just tried a few things and a few lanes to see how fast the car was and didn’t want to have anything silly happen as I was safely in the handicap.”

“In the feature I lined up 15th which was much different than last week as a good portion of the top point cars made the handicap this time.  I started racing from the drop of the green, but there wasn’t much room till things opened up after a few laps.  When your that deep in the pack most of the traffic is side by side. By the time the first caution came out on lap 19, I was already up to 8th and then had a really good restart moving from 8th to 5th before the next restart on lap 21.   From there we worked up to 3rd but, ran out of time to chase down the leader.  Overall, a good points night and learned a few things with the setup that I have been wanting to try.  It is always fun when I get to run with my nephew in the top 5.”

Jesse Landis at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Jesse Landis finished 4th from his 6th starting position for his best finish of the season with his crate motor.  Jesse broke his open sportsman motor while running 3rd at opening night of the season and decided to make the change to a 602 crate this season rather than later.

Jesse reflected “Once the heat race got going after a few poor starts, the car was good, and it went forward from 5th to 3rd.  In the feature the car was good but not great. I got hung up in 4th behind a car for way too many laps.  I needed to make the pass in the first two laps not the 5 or so it took me to make the pass which allowed the leaders to get too far out in front of me.  Around lap 10, I was really hoping for a caution, but it didn’t come till lap 19 when the leader was in the back of lapped traffic and the 2nd place car and I where cutting into the lead pretty good from a half track to almost in the same corner when the caution came out.  I don’t know if in 6 laps I could have gotten to the leader, but definitely felt I had the 2nd place car.  On the restart the leader got a good jump and I seemed to spin the tires come off 4 which let Kyle Smith to my inside, we were 3-wide, in turn one and 2, came out 3rd but Kyle got by me on the inside.  4* got me on the last lap in 1 and 2 and I tried to slide him back, but he was too far ahead to get him back.  So, 6th to 4th isn’t a bad run just didn’t have the car or cautions to help me out to get a better finish.  Car wasn’t great but good enough to go forward. With breaking the transmission in warm-ups and missing the feature last week that kind of hurt us because I wasn’t able to test out the setup changes that I made to get the car better. We were just a bit off from what I wanted.  Only lost to 2 open motors and a 604, so with a 602 I think I got what I could get out of the motor.  Several laps in the feature I was wide open, not lifting to catch the leaders.  My son Owen attended his first race with his mother, and both had a good night at the race track.”

Jesse Hirthler (117) and Keith Haring (85) at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Jesse Hirthler finished 5th from his 9th starting position and posted his 4th top five of the season.  Jesse noted “In the heat race I didn’t have anywhere to go on the start and ended up in an accident.  Then from there I was just holding on to get the last handicap spot.”

“In the feature I started in the 9th position and from there I picked some cars off early and was in 4th for a while, trying different lines to see if I could gain on 3rd.  Nothing was really working except the bottom but for some reason I wasn’t down there.  Then at the end of the race, there was a couple of cautions and we ended up 5th.  Not too disappointed with a top 5 finish, but we will see what we can do in the final two weeks of the season. The couple times I first ran the car and at the beginning of the 2022 season, I was getting positive feedback from a lot of people, and I am still.  I have a lot of confidence in myself, but I was also nervous as well.  I never get a big head and I am either very humble about my finish or upset with things that I could’ve done better in the race.  Sometimes it’s a little of both, but mostly I’m upset with things that I could’ve done better even if I had no control over it.  I did not expect to have a season like this, but with 4-5 top 5’s I am very grateful for what I have accomplished this year.”  Jesse is currently 9th in the season point standing.

Joey Vaccaro (53) and Keith Haring (85) at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Joey Vaccaro finished 6th from his 7th starting position and posted his second consecutive 6th place finish.  Joey commented “Went out for the heat race starting 5th and the guy running 2nd decided it would be a good idea to just turn left on Rhodes and sent him into the inside wall which then I ended up on top of Rhodes front end.  I didn’t want to just go into the pits right away, since I figured everyone else that piled in behind me would go in and get checked out which would put me up a couple spots and it did as I restarted 3rd.  I stayed out there with a tore up racecar but still managed to finish 3rd.  The front axle was bent, and the toe was way out of whack from what we could see in the pits, so we adjusted it and got ready for the feature.”

Untangling the 6 car heat race tangle in turn 4 at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

“I believe I started 7th and I ended up 6th in the feature but the car just didn’t feel right after the accident in my heat.  Once we got the car back to the shop and tore apart, we found that when I drove over Rhodes it bent the floor assembly and put a nice sized dent in the oil pan.  Luckily, the oil pan didn’t crack or anything otherwise we would have had to park the car for the rest of the year.  We have the ole girl all fixed up and she’s pretty much ready to go for Saturday again.”

Joey continued “I also can’t thank my crew enough for the work that they have put in this year. We have had a pretty rough season, but this team won’t give up and it truly means the world to me.  We have put together two 6th place finishes in the past 2 weeks, and I look to better that this week.”

Dakota Kohler (59k) and Kenny Bock (6) at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Dakota Kohler finished 7th from his 10th starting.  Dakota noted “We were in the right place at the right time in the heat tonight and I just went to an open lane, and it worked.   In the feature we missed the setup a little making the car stand up abruptly off the corner and a light front end made the car too darty.  The car is still on bars, and we are using them for the rest of the season with this car.  We are still putting the Higfab car together hopefully for the end of the year Deyo shows.”

Dylan Hoch (35) & Keith Haring (85) at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Dylan Hoch finished 8th from his 14th starting position.  Dylan stated “Yeah we are missing something here lately. I wish I knew what it was because I’d fix it.  Just been struggling a lot more than usual to get forward.  It’s a mix of getting caught up in traffic too but the car is just not reacting like it should.”

#6 Kenny Bock battles #69x Wayne Rothenberger at Grandview. Scott Bender Photo

Kenny Bock finished 9th from his 5th starting position.  Kenny noted “We were on the outside and fast in the 3rd heat race and able to carry momentum on the top to a 2nd place finish in the heat.  We had the car dialed in for the feature and started 5th but I made a mistake early and clipped a car so I lost a few spots that I couldn’t get back as the track slicked off late in the race.  We’ll take a top ten and look for a better finish at the season points finale and 38er.”

Mike Schneck (2) & Parker Guldin (11) at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Mike Schneck finished 10th from his 11th starting position.  In the heat things didn’t start too well with Mike getting stacked up from the front and piled in from the back in a 6 car tangled at the start of the heat.  He was able to complete the heat race without going to the pits and drove the ill handling damaged car to a 4th place finish and a handicap spot in the feature race. 

Mike also made some positive movement in the point standings and is currently only 16 points behind Parker Guldin for 5th place with one final points race to go.  Mike needs to finish 2 places or more in front of Parker to claim 5th place in the 2022 Grandview Sportsman point standings.

Mike noted “Yeah, I couldn’t see what happened in the heat it happened so fast. I figured I broke a shock tower off or bent the axle by the way the cars were wedged in there. It ended up being just a radius rod and I was still able to finish 4th and make the handicap for the feature.  I still had problems with the front end in the feature.  I felt like a windshield wiper all over the place trying to get the car to turn in the middle.  I went forward the best I could with the situation and after the first restart, I  was able to make passes on the bottom when the top slowed.  Another good and bad night again and another top 10 finish.  I felt that if the car could turn, I could have gone forward to a top 5 finish.”

Parker Guldin (11) and Mark Mohr (20m) at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Parker Guldin finished 14th from his 16th starting position which was enough to keep his 5th position in the sportsman season points by only 16 points over Mike Schneck with one race remaining to determine who gets a top 5 finish in the 2022 Grandview season points.

Parker Guldin reflected “This week was pretty good but not great as we wanted. Being in the first heat of the night it is always tough because it’s usually one lane on the bottom and there is always a mucky muddy groove because of the freshening of the track after warm-ups.  I get why it’s there, but it just makes it tough for the first few heats of the night to have 2 good lanes.  I got boxed in by cars in front of me and then again on a later restart.  I try my very best not to beat and bang on anyone, because we all work hard and pay for our cars, or at least someone does  and to go out and bang them up is just ridiculous.  I was a little discouraged with my heat finish because I knew I had an amazingly good car and just couldn’t get the right breaks tonight like some did, but it’s still way better than being towed in or pushed off the track.  Hopefully this coming weekend I can maintain my 5th spot in points.  This year has been the hardest for us with the countless hours spent in the garage and the amount of work that goes continuously into a Saturday night deal.”

The Rest of the Story

Logan Bauman and the Yuke Tire at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Logan Bauman’s night looked to be over on lap 3 of his heat race when he made heavy contact with the yuke tire in turn 3 sending his car into the air and the flying yuke tire into the air & Adie Delliponti.  Logan was towed to the pit with what looked like a broken racecar that was done for the night.

First accomplishment was that the car was able to be repaired quickly and made the call for the consolation.  The second accomplishment was that the car was good enough in the consolation to qualify for the feature with a 5th place finish from a 12th starting position.  Logan posted a 19th place finish in the feature.

#6 Kenny Bock battles #14 Logan Bauman at Grandview. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Logan noted “I’ll be honest, when we got back to the pits, I fully expected the front end to have collapsed with a hit that hard.  Luckily, we only bent the shock and that was because of the front end slamming back down on the ground when I landed.  I was a man on a mission in the consolation.  I knew how much thrashing my guys did to make sure everything was 100% for me to race safely and be competitive. I wasn’t going try to retaliate because that’s not the type of driver that I am.  I was able to drive by him like he was sitting still and that was good enough for me and thanks to my guys giving me a good car for the consolation.  We got boxed in during the feature and couldn’t go anywhere but from what I saw there weren’t any back to front runs in the feature this week.  We will do some more assessment to see if anything is wrong and get it ready for the final points night.”

Zachery Steffey at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

Zach Steffey won his heat race and started 3rd in the feature.  Zack held a solid 2nd place for the first 19 green flag laps.  On the first restart Zack lost a few spots but jumped the cushion and hit the wall which ended his night on a tow truck.  Zack was only 5 laps away from his best run of the season and he has two more big races at Grandview this season to get it done.

Zach recalled “We finally go the car to have no issues tonight and Jerry Stark found something in our setup that made us bad fast tonight.  I jumped the cushion and hit the wall with 5 to go but we’ll be back next week.”

Mike Schneck (2); Josh Adams (44a); Kyle Smith (77); Cody Manmiller (00) and Dylan Hoch (35) at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography

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.

Sportsman Heat race at Grandview Speedway. Photo Credit: SDS Photography