Grandview Modified Pits Notes for 5/13/23 – Doug Manmiller Captures First Modified Win of Season at Grandview Speedway

Doug Manmiller survived 5 early cautions to track down leader Ron Haring on lap 25 and drive into victory lane with a 2.38 margin of victory over 2^nd place Jeff Strunk.  Manmiller posted his  first win of the 2023 season and his 31^st career victory at Grandview.

Ryan Beltz led the first two laps to only see a strong outside run by Ron Haring sweep him into the lead on lap 3.  Haring pulled away from the field until he hit lapped traffic on lap 17 while Manmiller moved into 2^nd place on lap 20.  Doug Manmiller then moved into the lead on lap 25 and pulled away from the field to take the win by a 2.4 second margin victory over 2^nd place Jeff Strunk.

Heat race winners for the 34 car modified field were Darrin Schuler, Ron Haring, and Ryan Grim.

 Ryan Watt won the consolation race.

T.P. TRAILER NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (30 laps):

1. DOUG MANMILLER, 2. Jeff Strunk, 3. Ron Haring Jr., 4. Mike Lisowski, 5. Jared Umbenhauer, 6. Nate Brinker, 7. Ryan Beltz, 8. Tim Buckwalter, 9. Craig Von Dohren, 10. Jimmy Leiby, 11. Kevin Hirthler, 12. Eddie Strada, 13. Bobby Trapper Jr., 14. Jesse Leiby, 15. Brett Kressley, 16. Joe Funk, 17. Darrin Schuler, 18. Ryan Watt, 19. Lex Shive, 20. John Willman, 21. Justin Grim, 22. Chris Esposito, 23. Bobby Gunther-Walsh, 24. Dylan Swinehart, 25. Craig Whitmoyer, 26. Ray Swinehart, 27. Carroll Hine III, 28. Mark Malcolm, 29. Ryan Grim, DNS – Bob Trapper Sr.

DID NOT QUALIFY: Kyle Weiss, Eric Biehn, Kevin Graver Jr., Chris Gambler

MODIFIED PIT NOTES – 5/13/23 NASCAR POINTS RACE # 3

Doug Manmiller took the win from the 9^th starting position to post his first win of 2023 and his  earliest points win of the season in recent years.  Doug had an extremely consistent 2022 season posting only top five and top ten point finishes through August of the 2022 season.  The 2023 season started completely on the other end of the spectrum with Manmiller rolling down the front stretch on lap 8 of the Moneymaker and sustaining heavy damage on opening night.  3 straight rainouts off weeks were put to good use by Manmiller and crew to completely rebuilt and be ready to go for the second race of the season only to have a good car again to get in his second tangle of the season in the feature.

Three was the charm for Doug tonight; As his 3^rd race of the season had plenty of tangles with 5 cautions in the first 4 laps but this time, he missed all the tangles and drove to the front on lap 25 and into victory lane for his first win of 2023 and 31^st career win.

Doug reflected “this was something we needed to do.  We were running well the first two weeks but had problems and got caught up in messes that we did not start on our own but that’s how racing is.  We didn’t get to see how good our car was and still didn’t because a couple of the better guys had problems tonight.  It was good.  I felt very comfortable in the car.  I could go top to bottom and race all over the track.  You can’t ask for more than that from the track.  It didn’t rubber up tonight and the track suited me just fine tonight.  I got to the front first tonight and was ahead of the wrecks and the better cars.  The first 4 laps were just stop and go and I couldn’t get into any rhythm with the 5 cautions but then the race went 26 green flag laps.  I decided to follow Haring’s line hoping that my car was better than his car.  It was better and I was able to get to him and then move under Ron to take the lead.”  

Jeff Strunk finished 2^nd from his 13^th starting position.  Jeff made a consistent push forward throughout the entire race moving into 2^nd on lap 28 and running out of time catching Manmiller who had over a 2 second lead at the checkered flag.

Strunk has posted a 2^nd, 3^rd, and 9^th this year and has snuck into the early points lead by 6 points over Jared Umbenhauer with Von Dohren and Kressley within 30 points.  

Jeff noted “We expected the dryer track conditions which is usual when any kind of sprint cars are on the Hill.  We made some gains on the setup from the first and second weeks which allowed us to make the handicap from an 11^th starting position in a caution free heat race.”

“Doug had a fast car last year and again at the beginning of this year. I knew he was going to be tough.  He got to the front first and we were both the same speed at the end of the feature, so a late race yellow could have made it interesting.  Doug is a great driver and doesn’t make mistakes.  Another 2^nd wasn’t what we wanted but all in all a good night for us.  I have a lot of respect for Doug and have been good friends and racing with him since 1979.  I have a lot of 2^nd place finishes to him from go-karts to stock cars and congratulations to Doug and his team.”

Ron Haring finished 3^rd from his 3^rd starting position and led 23 laps of the feature until Manmiller took over the lead on lap 25.

After a wreck in week one and just missing the setup in week 2, Ron posted his best finish of the season.  Ron debuted the current car in late in 2022 and posted his career first modified win last year so expectations for this car and driver were high coming into the 2023 and this 3^rd place finish proves he’s not far off another trip to victory lane.

Ron commented “After two off weeks I went over the car and found some small things wrong with it that seemed to make a difference.  The heat race win was good and was aided by an early lead and then clean air.  In the feature we were good until lap 20 when the car started to go away.  We lost our handling as the right rear tire was used up but nonetheless, I got beat by two of the best slick track drivers at Grandview.”

Mike Lisowski finished 4^th from his 6^th starting position for his best Grandview finish of the season.  Mike’s luck turned around this week and he was able to stay out of the 5 cautions in the first 4 laps.

Mike noted “We have been caught up in wrecks all season so far with last week’s being while we were running in 5^th place.  We were finally able to get some clean laps here at Grandview so we can make some adjustments going forward.”

Jared Umbenhauer finished 5^th from his 15^th starting position and continues to gather momentum with his self-owned #19 team car.

Jared recalled “Tonight was a slick track which is what I like.  It was slick from bottom to top.  We were terribly tight in the heat race which was totally opposite of last week.  We make some adjustments for the feature and came out for the feature with a pretty good car.  In the feature it took a while to get going and I was waiting for a late caution to bring everyone back together but just didn’t get that one more caution.”

Nate Brinker posted a 6^th place finish from his 4^th starting position and posted his best finish of the season.

Nate recalled “Car was great right out of the box on Saturday.  Dave Hoffman really has this car rolling every time it hits the track with a setup that is on point.  I just need to make less mistakes as a driver to allow us to stay running up front.  As always, the heat races at Grandview are tough and making the invert is huge.  The car was strong throughout the feature, and I just made a mistake not running a few different lines on a very good racetrack, Keith and Dave Hoffman have built us a fantastic race car for this year.”

Ryan Beltz finished 7^th from his pole starting position in his 2^nd outing of the season.

Ryan noted “This is our second race of the season and last week we ran the back of the field to feel the car out and stay out of trouble.  This week our heat race went well.  We got beat on the start but finished 2^nd.  Made a couple of minor changes for the feature and changed tires which took a couple of laps to come in, but we still finished a solid 7^th.”

Tim Buckwalter finished 8^th from his 12^th starting position.  He also ran a non-winged 360 and started on the pole but had the misfortune of the car not being able to fire for the feature.

Tim commented “The 360 ran pretty good in the heat and we drew the pole just unfortunate we couldn’t get the car to fire for the feature.  It has been 3 years since I have been in a non-winged 360 but tonight a bad distributor ended our night before it started when we couldn’t get the car to fire for the feature.”

“We did OK with the modified, but we are still missing something this year.  I wasn’t in any of the pileups tonight but always manage to come out several times with damages while getting through the caution incidents.  We just have to get our car better and I have to get better behind the wheel.”

“In the last 7 or 8 years of racing here, I don’t remember a modified feature going single file on lap 4 but it certainly was the right call as the next 26 were green flag right to the checkered.”

Craig Von Dohren finished 9^th from his 24^th starting position.  It was not a business as usual night for Craig but in the end, he still found his way to an impressive 9^th place finish in the feature.  He started the night on the hook after a tangle in the heat race before lap 1 was even in the books.  For the consolation he had to pull out the backup car which he used to finish 4^th from a 13^th starting position.  In the feature Craig was back to normal despite being in the backup car and in one of the tangles but still moved forward 15 spots to a 9^th place finish.

Jimmy Leiby finished 10^th from a 10^th starting position and posted a career best modified feature finish.  In his heat Jimmy moved forward to a 4^th place finish from his 7^th starting position.

Jimmy stated “ In the heat we just missed the spinning car and passed wisely to make the handicap for the feature. We also tried something new in the heat which we adjusted and got working better in the feature.  The feature was a good run with some fast guys on a track that was rubbered on bottom and fast on top so both lanes were fast.  I was just too loose for the top and we just missed a big one on the initial green on the front stretch, so we were able to learn a lot and gained some speed.”

Kevin Hirthler finished 11^th from his 22^nd starting position.

Kevin commented “Heat race was one of those deals where two cars fighting for the same real estate, just came out of that one on the short end of the stick and needed a bit more patience with the handicapped traffic in these larger heat races.  Made a few adjustments for the consolation after watching the track and had a very good car working on both the top and bottom and transferred into the feature.”   

In the feature I made my way forward to around 13th and then got caught in a wreck when the 19k car spun the 33.  I got some minor damage and went to the rear but was able to salvage an 11^th coming from the rear.  Car was banged up from all the contact in the incident and throughout the night, but the car was certainly fast, and I just need to have more patience early on and pick the cars off one at a time. Yes, the feature is a race to the front but if you crash out you never get a chance to get to the front.”

Bobby Trapper Jr. finished 13^th from his 29^th provisional starting position in a borrowed car from his father.

Bobby Jr recalled “ Our Heat and consolation were obviously a rough deal for us .  I was in the wrong place at the wrong time twice in a row going off on the hook in both the heat and consolation which was very disappointing.  My dad was qualified but gave up the car because he wanted me out there in the feature.  In the Beginning of the feature, I was very timid with all the cautions I didn’t want any more damage from what was already a very difficult night for us.  It took me a bit to get comfortable in my dad’s 2X car but I felt like the last ten laps or so I started going pretty good and advanced enough to salvage a decent finish all things considered.”

The night started off just fine for Brett Kressley in the heat race finishing 5^th from his 12^th starting position and making the handicap.  In the feature a lap 3 incident saw Brett get sent to the back for turning Eddie Strada and resulted in the 4^th caution and then a red flag for a six car pile in incident.  On the lap 4 restart Kressley was involved in contact resulting in a trip to the pits for repairs and the 5^th caution in 4 laps of the feature.  Brett returned for 26 laps of green flag racing to move from the back of the field to a 15^th place finish.

Brett reflected “It was one of those Grandview nights that happens during a season of racing.  The car got banged up and it was an uphill battle all night on a tough night for us.  We were able to gain a handful of positions in the final 26 green flag laps.”

The five cautions in 4 laps resulted in a rare early single file restart and then 26 green flag laps.  The big one of the night was the 4^th caution on lap 3 with six cars getting collected in the incident which included Willman, Watt, Von Dohren, Dylan Swinehart, Hine, Hirthler and others getting damage while avoiding the main incident.

Next up on Saturday, May 20 will be a two-division program under the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series banner for the T.P. Trailer 358 Modifieds and T.P. Truck Equipment Sportsman. The program will consist of qualifying races leading up to the 30-lap Modified and 25-lap Sportsman main events with another round of Trivia Night.