Grandview Sportsman Pit Notes 6/17/23 – Ronnie Solomon Claims First Sportsman Win at Grandview Speedway

Ronnie Solomon took the lead on lap 3 of the green to checkered 25 Sportsman feature holding off Mike Schneck for 20 laps and a final lap side-by-side challenge to drive into victory lane for his first career win at Grandview Speedway.

Heat race winners for the 38 car sportsman field were Dakota Kohler, Nathan Mohr, Tom Miller Sr., and Logan Watt.

Ryan Graver and Decker Swinehart won the consolation races.

T.P. TRUCK EQUIPMENT NASCAR SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (25 laps):

1. RONNIE SOLOMON, 2. Mike Schneck Jr., 3. Brian Hirthler, 4. Dakota Kohler, 5. Logan Bauman, 6. Logan Watt, 7. Kyle Smith, 8. Cody Manmiller, 9. BJ Joly, 10. Jesse Landis, 11. Zane Roth, 12. Adrianna Delliponti, 13. Jesse Hirthler, 14. Decker Swinehart, 15. Mark Kemmerer, 16. Ryan Graver, 17. Nathan Mohr, 18. Colton Perry, 19. Michael Burrows, 20. Dylan Swinehart, 21. Addison Meitzler, 22. Parker Guldin, 23. Nicholas Hamm, 24. Brett Gilmore, 25. Kenny Bock, 26. Tom Miller Sr.

DID NOT QUALIFY: Andy Ressler, Molly Struss, Tyler James, Mark Mohr, Tom Miller Jr., Zach Steffey, Kyle Hartzell, TJ Mayberry, Mark Gaugler, Keith Haring, Nate Horn, Kaitlyn Bailey

SPORTSMAN PIT NOTES –  6/17/23 NASCAR POINTS RACE # 8

Ronnie Solomon got his first career win from his 3^rd starting position holding off Mike Schneck for the longest 20 lap green flag run of his life.  Off the green flag Ronnie move into 2^nd place and by lap 3 Ronnie was in the lead with Mike Schneck right behind him in a few laps which set up a 20 lap two-car battle for the lead.  In the middle of the final turn Schneck got underneath the leader and pulled even. But Ronny was able to recover and pull back in front to take the checkered flat by a narrow .34 margin of victory for his first drive into Grandview’s victory lane.

 In victory lane Ronnie recalled “We had a car that was ripping it up and moving tonight. We put on a couple of tires and changed some air pressure for the feature and that was about it.  I was able to move to the front and stayed there.  It was good racing, and I was stuck to the bottom, but I felt him right there behind me.”

Back at the trailer Ronnie reflected “Well in my heat the car felt very strong but was not really gripped up and I was fighting a bit of a push, but we got in the handicap which was a huge part of our night.”

“We made some adjustments for the feature and started 3rd, but I quickly got to 1^st by lap 3. Thankfully the race went all 25 laps green and as the feature went on the track was getting drier and drier.  My car got loose due to the dry track and on the last lap I washed up a little bit letting Schneck catch up and we did make some contact which threw us both of us a little sideways in turn 3 and 4 but we both made corrections and I was able to recover first for the win.  Got to thank all my sponsors and crew who without them I could have done this tonight.”

Mike Schneck finished 2^nd from his 6^th starting position.  Making the call for the feature it has been a huge hurdle for Mike in recent weeks due to mechanical issues.  Three of his past 6 outings Mike has been unable to make the call for the feature to exercise his provisionals due to mechanical issues including two transmission failures.  When he does make the call for the feature he makes the best of it with a 2^nd, 4^th, 5^th, and 7^th in his four times he has made the call for the feature.  A brand-new transmission should have Mike in position to qualify and make the feature call the rest of the season and worst-case scenario use some of those provisionals he has been unable to use. 

Mike noted “The heat went well but I wasn’t expecting the track to be so slicked off in the 3rd heat.  A the couple of cautions helped me to make some quick passes right off the bat.  On restart the car in front of me didn’t go and the bottom went by me, but the car was very good, and we recovered to a 2^nd place finish and made the handicap for the feature.”

“I got to thank Brad and the track crew for going out and doing some track work before our feature.   I started in 6th and moved up to 2nd in about five laps.  Once I got into 2^nd, I got right on the leader and was waiting for a small opening that just never came.  About lap 15 the bottom kind of rubbered up and I went to the top and lost some ground which took 3 laps to get back.  I was hoping for a caution, and that I would be on the top for that restart, but instead It was another 25 lap long green run.  Once I saw the lappers, I figured he would try and go to the top to get around them.  A couple times I was under him, but just didn’t have the room to get by him underneath. On the last lap corner, I saw a small opening and was able to get under him, but he got sideways and then we both went low until I hit some water and spun my tires to the finish.  I had the faster car he was just he was holding the bottom really well without any mistakes.  I just didn’t want to smash our cars up trying to make a banzai pass that just wasn’t there.  Congratulations and hats off to Ronnie.”

Brian Hirthler finished 3^rd from his 14^th starting position and seems to have turned the corner this season with three straight podium finishes.

Brian stated “Heat race was tricky and caught me off guard, but I was fortunate to pit during a red flag to change to our slick track setup.  I suppose situations like this is a benefit of starting last and not giving up and track position to go to pits for changes.”

“In the feature car was pretty good and the track was semi technical again which even got me a few times.  No cautions in the feature both helped and hurt to some degree, I probably could have used a caution once I got inside the top 5 because the leaders and top guys were about a straightaway out there,  but we still managed to get 3^rd.  I stayed up top all night.”  

Dakota Kohler finished 4^th from his 5^th starting position.

Dakota recalled “The heat race was pretty good besides having the water truck dumping water all over the track. That wasn’t supposed to happen, but it caused the bottom to get extremely packed in and blowing off halfway through the heat.  We got a good jump on the start and went 5th to 2nd in turn 1 and 2. We were running the leader on lap 2 down when the yellow came out.  I was able to get back to the bottom on the restart and got the lead into 3 and 4 and won the heat.”

“I was hoping they would not of touched the track before the feature since it seemed like it already had two pretty good grooves, but the track crew did cut and watered the track while we waited in the infield .  We had a 48 tire on, so it didn’t matter either way for us with the track prep.

“We had 2 good starts at the beginning of the feature but the first one was called a no-start call back due to a skirmish.  Off the next restart I got to 2nd on lap 5 so and I rode around trying to figure out what I needed to do get to the leader, and in that the process I got passed.  The track started to slick off which allowed Hirthler to pass me. I just needed a yellow to make a few adjustments to tighten the car up a little but never got one.  We were OK in the feature but could have used a little bit more driver at the end of the night.”

“Davey Hoffman has been working with us on this new car in the past couple weeks and he has been really helped us with getting everything setup and heading in the right direction.  Talking to Craig Whitmoyer and Ryan Watt have also helped us to get this new car figured out.”

Logan Bauman finished 5^th from his 10^th starting position posting 5 top five finishes in his last 6 races including a win.

Logan commented “The track has just been different every time we hit it recently and by the time our heat race went out it was dead slick and there was nothing left.  It was just kind of follow the leader and I just was too loose to make any moves but I fortunate enough to finish in the last handicap spot.”

“I was a little scared on the initial start of the feature because we got doored extremely hard, and I had no clue where it came from. When I watched the replay, we went 4 wide which was a little scary.

“I was definitely surprised when the track called us out and then made us sit there in the infield while they did the track.  I’m glad they took the rubber off the bottom, but I think they worked it too hard, and we ended up with a single file track for the feature.”

“We rebounded for a 5th place finish but didn’t know the top was there until Brian drove around me late in the race.  Glad we are back on to the good finishes and just hoping we can keep it going.”

Logan Watt finished 6^th from his 15^th starting position and continues to click off finishes with an average of a 5^th place finish in eight races which puts him in the current points lead over Brian Hirthler and Kyle Smith.

Logan stated “I started 9^th in my heat, I knew it was going to be slick and the key was going to be get as many cars as I can on the start.  I got to 2^nd on lap 1 and took the lead on lap 2 and held it to the checkered flag for the heat.”

“In the feature just couldn’t go anywhere in the beginning because the track was one lane.  Near the end of the feature, you were able to run the top and could pass some cars, but the bottom was still the preferred lane.”

Kyle Smith finished 7^th from his 13^th starting position.  Kyle stated, “In the heat the first yellow and restart helped us get to a 2^nd place finish on a very dry and slick track.”

“For the feature we went to a hard tire expecting a dry and slick track again but while we were lined up for the feature the track crew cut and watered the track which was a complete curve ball for us.  We made the best of the situation and was able to move forward some to a 7^th place finish.”

Cody Manmiller finished 8^th from a 19^th starting position and improved in his qualifying by staying out of the consolation but did miss the handicap.

Cody noted “I just can’t make the handicap from the heat; it just seems to be impossible.  I’ve only done it once all year, the cards just don’t fall my way and I don’t know why.  I did feel the best I have felt all year in the feature but starting so deep in the field makes it a struggle to just reach the top ten.”

BJ Joly finished 9^th from his pole starting position and posted his best finish of the season.

BJ reflected “We had a lot of changes since we raced a few weeks ago.  We went with a lot less stagger and some other odds & end changes.  We are still just trying to figure out the left side pan hard stuff with our torsion bars, and we are not on coils yet.  The guys that passed me just plain out motored me.  I stuck it on the bottom and wasn’t moving for anyone.”

Jesse Landis finished 10^th from his 17^th starting position.

Jesse commented “We just haven’t had any luck and things have been going wrong this year.  We cut in power steering early in a feature while running 5^th and then had a rub rail fall off during a feature.  I think we have only finished 3 out of the 8 features this year.  We haven’t been bringing a competitive car to the track every week this year, but recently we have been slowly making some progress in getting the car better.”

“In the heat race the car felt decent.  I made a mistake going for second and spun myself and second place out.  I was able to restart and make it back to a qualifying spot but missed the handicap which is always a key to the night.  I started 17th in the feature with a pretty good car and made my way forward in the first half of the feature.  In the middle of the feature, I stayed on the bottom for too long and when I moved to the top in the last 5 laps it took a lap or 2 to figure out how to run the top but still went from 13th to 10th by going up to the top.  

“I think cutting the track before the feature helped everyone out. Since I was starting pretty far back in 17th, I just put used tires on figuring it would rubber up. In retrospect I could have put better tires on, but I don’t think it would have made that much of a difference.  I’m just happy the track crew took the time prep the track and give us a great track.  I wish the track could find time to do that level of track prep every week before our feature.”

Next up on Saturday, June 24 will be Back to the 90’s with $10 general admission for 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 racing starting at 7:30 P.M.